They Have Canyons in Seattle

Okay, not in Seattle, per se, but just a short drive out, you can find the south fork of the Snoqualmie river which cuts a pretty sweet canyon. My dad decided that we should check it out since it got pretty good reviews.  Once we got to the pools, we got an inkling as to why.  It's some pretty stuff.

The whole canyon is supposed to take 4-6 hours with about four rappels down waterfalls.  Due to a typo in the directions, we weren't able to find the trail head until really late in the day.  Luckily, there was a way to enter into the canyon halfway down so we opted for that...and a good thing too.  Turns out we are pretty slow hikers, especially when it comes to trekking down a mossy, boulder-filled creek bed.  That sucker ended up taking us almost 5 hours and we even bailed early out by clambering up a mossy cliff before doing the final rappel because we were worried about time.  I'm pretty glad we decided to do that impromptu climb, though, because it ended up being the most exciting part of the trip.  It looked like a relatively easy climb from below but halfway up, we realized that the only handholds were moss and a few crumbling, rotted tree roots.  We were at that awkward point where it would be too tricky to climb down but going up looked even more dangerous.  We decided that the best thing would be to make an anchor out of the most solid thing available (a fallen tree dangling down the cliff with it's roots still seemingly solidly planted) and Dad would belay me from there.  It did the trick because it gave me confidence that I likely wouldn't die if I fell so I was able to kinda just shimmy up and over the last 20 feet of moss crumbles and then belay him from the top.  Action packed adventure at it's best, I tell you.  All in all, quite good times.

Have I Still Got It?

I took this body shot before going out on the town with some girlfriends because I was feeling the need to document one of the rare times I'm not all decked out in mom wear.  unfortunately, there was no time to also take a picture of my face.   Apparently.   Anyway, the point is that for the first time in a while, I was feeling like maybe I'm still somewhat attractive and not just a frumpy mom, thus the need for photographic evidence.

Now, before you decide for yourself the matter of whether I've still got it or not, I feel like full disclosure is needed.  The other day I was feeling a bit bloated and again felt the need to document the state of my body.  Does the latter picture negate the former?  You might be surprised by the answer...

...and so will I because I just don't know what the answer is.  But I feel like maybe "bloated" is the new "ripped abs."

The Power of Observation...

...is sadly a power I do not possess.  Bears and I were walking back from a trek to the local fancy hippie market when suddenly I decided to cross the street.  Well, not suddenly per se, since we were at the appropriate intersection and I had been waiting a minute or two for the right time.  But for the sake of a riveting story, I'll stick with it.  There we were, rashly crossing the street...

 ...when I noticed that we also had to cross in the other direction in order to get to our destination.  After again waiting for the appropriate time, we boldly headed out.

 This is when my limited observational powers came into play.  I noticed that I couldn't continue going in a straight line because there was a car in the way.  I idly wondered what a car was doing out in the middle of the intersection but kept plowing ahead.  When I brushed past it, I noticed that it was a bit jagged and crumpled.  And also that there were a couple of other crumpled cars mashed into it.  That's when I realized that there had been some sort of accident.  The cars involved looked pretty mutilated but luckily no one seemed injured.

Now in my defense, I was wearing my new sweet action jogging shoes.  As you may have noticed, they're blindingly glorious and very distracting.

Stay Cool

 

I couldn't let Ryan steal all the glory with that picture in the last post.  Not sure if this one competes but it's the best I can come up with on short notice.  

 Before I tell this story, I guess I should explain that I get really nervous around cops.  Like I'm gonna get busted for breaking laws that I don't even know exist.  I feel like this is very rational and it serves me well as you'll see if you read on.

So earlier today I was driving past an officer and thought to myself "okay, stay cool, just look natural.  we don't want this cop getting suspicious of any foul play," and promptly crashed the van into the curb, peeled out when I floored the gas in an attempt to brake, finally found the brakes and violently skidded to a halt.  I even had the presence of mind to roll my window down and explain to the officer that I've got this fear of cops which will sometimes result in my inability to function physically.  Which is completely untrue since I was obviously way smooth and casual the whole time but he totally bought it.  Job well done, I say.  He never suspected a thing and I got to go on with my day without being arrested.

Okay and so this post isn't too disappointing  to grandma elkins, here's a picture of ryan and baby man.

...and baby man after a bath.

Lookin cool...and more random pictures

Fancy Dandies

Last night we got the opportunity to get all fancy shmancy and go to the Governor's Gala, courtesy of John Pestana (guy who co-founded omniture and who's been big time helping Ryan and Jason with their company). It was some good times with good company.

Unfortunately, Baby Man wasn't invited due to his passionate personality. He's way too into Keepin It Real to attend these types of functions so Grandma Cupcake and Grandpa came over to watch him. They must have fed him really well because the next day, something of quite an alarming magnitude happened in his diaper as you can see here. It must be some sort of record.