Feeling like a monkey!

Monkey that did not eat her Wheaties!

For some reason I always get a good laugh out of this video. And this was about her fifth attempt!

Mysterious Lake

Mysterious Lake was one of the names they original thought of calling Crater Lake. It is mysterious but I like Crater Lake better.

Highlight of the Summer...Crater Lake!

I can't believe that it took me almost 30 years to finally get down to Crater Lake. I guess you could say, "A dream come true." We have been talking about this trip for years and finally due to John Mark's organizing and planning we made it! We started the drive early Friday morning (coffee in hand). We drove straight to Crater Lake so that we could start the afternoon with a great hike up Mt. Scott. The views were amazing- the closest we'll get to an overlook shot of the Lake. The hike took us under three hours and we ate our sandwiches at the top-yummy! Next we drove down to Diamond Lake where we were camped the first night. Great camp site above the water and had trees towering around us. Everything was wonderful except the millions of mosquitos that buzzed constantly around. Our dinner and s'mores were cut short due to not wanting to be outside for one more second. We woke early the next morning in anticipation to ride the rim. The weather was perfect; sunshine with a slight breeze. The ride was a challenging 33 miles with over 4000 feet of elevation gain. We were exhausted afterwards and eager to check out our second night accommodations at the lodge! We rewarded ourselves with beer, salami, brie, and bread! Our third morning consisted of a boat ride around Wizard Island and eating a snack at a beautiful view point before hitting the road back to Portland. Quick trip but extremely memorable!

Birthdays should never last for just one day...

John Mark took Friday off so we could continue celebrating his 30th birthday. Fortunately, his parents were able to join us on our adventure to wine country...well, the Willamette Valley Wine Country! We first met Mark and Chris at The Allison Hotel and Spa in Newberg. Beautiful but of course with a price. After drinks and appetizers we headed to Hotel Oregon in McMinnville. Hotels are not easy to come by during the summer season so we were thankful to get a spot. A family friend of the Baldwins recommended a great Spanish restaurant in town called La Rambla. Great food and fun atmosphere but don't expect to leave with a full stomach! Right Mark? We loved our wine and even kept the bottle. Of course, we never let an evening end without a few rounds of cards. The next morning we started wine tasting right away. Starting with with White Rose, next to De Ponte, then Archery Summit, ate lunch at Horseradish, and ended with a tasting at Elk Cove. You are probably wondering what our favorite winery was...I think we would both have to say hands down...Horseradish (yep, I know that is where we ate lunch-but honestly amazing!).






Next on our list for the birthday weekend was camping with the Christensens. As you can see by the photo with Meagan...our tent was not going to win any battles against theirs! We had a great time exploring the newly opened park, Stub Stewart. Unfortunately, there wasn't a whole lot to do there (great for families though) and the weather was overcast but you can't complain when you get to make a fire....right John Mark? Ha!

Suprise...someone turned 29+1

Although he was dreading the day of turning 30...he at least was surrounded by friends and family. Fortunately for me, without having a job for the summer I could devote my day to organizing a small surprise golf tournament at Lake Oswego Municipal Course. I can't believe everyone was able to keep it a surprise and no major glitches (except for John Mark not wanting to put on his blinking 30 pin!). Thanks for all that showed up and supported his "plunge" into the world of thirties.

Exploring Oregon with the Aherns

Theta sorority sister (hmm, don't say those words often), Kelsey, and her husband Mike came out from Austin to explore as much of Portland as they could. They believe that Austin is "weirder" than Portland, so we were on a mission to prove them wrong. Highlights of the week include wandering around downtown, Saturday market, Hood River, hiking the Columbia Gorge, Mt. Hood and Timberline Lodge, bike pub crawl, wine tasting in the Willamette Valley, brewfest, home-cooked salmon in Lake Oswego, bubble tea, and my favorite slurping Huckleberry milkshakes from the Huckleberry Inn.