HALLOWEEEEEEEEENN

Well it was a great Halloween in Bridgetown. We all gathered at the Raymond House. We had a dog, a cop, a pink lady, spider woman, Helmut Newton, Pippy Long Stocking, Smokey the Bear, a horse and cat women. The party starts in the backyard jump-ropes, hula hoops and soccer balls. Once the backyard was a wreck we continued to thrash the inside of the house, ate dinner and then hit the streets. We trick n treated around Nicoles hood then moved over to the sunnyside hood where the action was packed. After numerous houses we settled in with a piece of licorice each and the kids had lollipops in which we timed for two minutes. We watched Eden go crazy and crazy and crazy. They finally crashed and so did we .....This was the first real halloween and we can't wait till the next year.

Crazy Weekend

Well last weekend was Eve's Birthday. We kicked it off after violin practice on Thursday with a trip to the Bush Gardens for some Japanese fare. Eden refused to sit in the private floor seating because it was not "restaurant" enough and then both her and Cedar ate all the tempura,tofu and udon and we went hungry.
On Saturday we went to the pumpkin patch. Eden and Cedar rode on the ponies and Eden refused to get off after her three minute ride. This turned into something a little more than simple refusal and we had to carry her to the car while she loudly exclaimed her displeasure and tiredness.
We also had Nicole and the rest of the Raymond gang toddler watch for a couple of hours. This was great Eve and I rode our bikes down to Masu and indulged in some Sushi and drinks. We had a great time and it satisfied our Japanese craving.
We want to tell the Raymond Clan that they are living one of Gandhi's most important mantras. "You must be the change you wish to see in the world." We love you and are proud of you...

Anniversary

We had our anniversary over the weekend.... 11 years married.... and my abs are a washboard as ever! YES! We went hiking in the gorge and watched the salmon spawn and then we biked around in the afternoon and all caught colds the next day. So things seem to be the same with us. I am in love with the same gal I met on 11th street wearing purple go-go boats and leather miniskirt..anyways

Cedar is starting to ride a bike. He can make it about three blocks before he wants to switch to a three wheeler. But he looks cool on Canyon's old bike and loves to wear his helmet all the time. Eden is trying to break a world record. She has sung the ABC's at least a trillion times and other then an occasional train songs seems to be entirely obsessed. Looking to finish some house stuff this month and then start on another canoe. Hoping to make a 18 ft Atlantic cedar strip with a rudder system.

The last Canoe Race

It was windy and the brackish salt water slipped over the deck of my canoe. I paddled and paddled. Me against the torture and history of the jaws of the Columbia River. I beat back the sweat off my brow and held tight against the shifting tides. As I rounded the 5K mark I bared down and cruised into a first place finish amongst the single canoes. As I waited at the finish line for my fierce rivals to come in, the minutes ticked by, the pride swelled and somebody off handily remarked that it must be great to be the only boat in your division. STOP!! My heart sank, what I had no equals, no one to chastise for coming in behind me but myself. . . Well maybe next year. In fact the guys I feared, Mike Harrison & Jeff Lasley, most did tandem canoe and one a very competitive race against the always fast Scharffenberg Team. I retained my winning streak at the Bakerbay Race in Ilwaco and improved my time by 24 minutes this year and came in around 10th overall. It was a great end to a good seaseon. 3rd place -Willamette Challenge Tandem Canoe, 2nd place Yaquina run-in Single Canoe, 11th place MR340 single mens and 1st place at the Bakerbay Race single canoes. Now I can get fat until next year and dream of building more boats.

BIGWAVEDAVE TRIBUTE BLOG

I can not figure out why I have nothing better to do then throw up a blog about the BIG WAVE DAVE. The Wave as he is lovingly know started humbly on the plains of the great Rockies. Next to the thundering and deafening falls of the Missouri ( one that I have canoed hundreds of miles of) he learned the value of a nod when misunderstood. Laboring for hours under the bright lights of basement windows he finally got his big break with the West Coast Team Walk Alot. An original member he bit is teeth on the West coast Beach circuit and numerous weddings, baptism and reunion gigs. Currently venturing out on a solo gig. There is rumour they he may be back to do a reunion tour with Team Walk Alot next year. Maybe....

Big Birthday Bash

So here I am and there I went. We had a big birthday bash last week. The Hawthorne twins (max and zadie), The Division twins (castle and August) and the Belmont twins (Cedar and Eden). In addition we had the Burnside group (canyon and Glacier) and the LO group (jimmy). Oma and nonnie ran after all the kids and we showed off our half finished house. The pic is Oma's present to the twins. What can I say it is sweet.

I have a race next week. The last of the year and I haven't been paddling much. I hope my fatty boom boom doesn't sink the boat.

नमस्ते