Developments With Dominic, Patrick, and Jack

Friday, October 2, 2009

Hiking at Mill Trail

We went hiking last weekend at the Mill Trail on the Fremont-Winema National Forest (where Kirsten works). It's a short trail that links with a big network of trails, part of the national scenic trail system and the most-visited one in the area. It was super nice to get out in a forested area right here almost in town, with a stream and lots of green. We wanted to try out the new backpack carrier we bought (actually Kathleen did in Tri-Cities) off Craigslist. It worked great, and Dommy liked it a lot. Hopefully this will let Daddy check out trout streams and hunting spots with Dominic in the coming weeks!

Backyard Fun in the Fall

Here are some quick fotos of Dominic playing in the backyard with his new balls. He got a set of "sensory balls" from Aunt Nicole for his birthday and really loves them. He looks like Meadowlark Lemon when he palms the little ones, and has even kicked the bigger ones around a bit like a soccer ball. Also attached is a photo of our apple tree. Not tons of apples, but all ripe and ready for eating! Dominic "helps" us by collecting them and putting piles of apples under our feet, which is nice.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Tighes Visit and Planting Dominic 1

The Tighe grandparents came to visit for a short trip between visits to WA and ID last week. It was fantastic, and above are two different babysitting techniques pioneered by Dad and Mom (ha,ha,ha!). We had a great time doing a multitude of things, and Dad lightened his pocket of some change as he was leaving. We decided to put it in Dominic's new "First Piggy Bank" he received for his birthday from the Powers Family. After showing him how to slide a few coins in the slot, he took to doing it himself very well. Actually, half went in the bank and the others were redirected towards his mouth. He's either gonna save a lot or eat it all away--scary.

Grandma and Grandpa also took a trip up to Black Cap, the high peak overlooking Lakeview (6,355 ' above sea level). We had a great view of the area, and also saw some smoke on the horizon toward Abert Rim off the back side of Black Cap.

Near the end of the visit we finally fulfilled our family tradition of planting a local species of tree in the woods on Dominic's birthday. This year it was a ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) that we planted up Bullard Canyon just on the edge of Lakeview (N 42 11'29.3", W 120 18' 23.0"). Dominic was helping as much as he could when he wasn't scouting the area or playing with paintballs. We dug the hole about "waist deep" and added lots of water. Even though it's a ponderosa site, the mountain pine beetle isn't far away. Let's hope it stays far away from Bullard Canyon!

Hunting Sunstones in Plush

Last week Dominic and Mike went out to Plush to pick sunstones with Grandma and Grandpa Tighe. It's 36 miles to Lakeview to Plush, then another 26 on gravel roads to the public collection site (two miles past Nowheresville). Probably a little too much washboard than the Toyota (and Grandma and Grandpa), but we made it!

We picked a whole bunch of sunstones (the state gem of Oregon) while there, and they are currently with the Idaho Tighes for polishing. The gems are semi-precious at best, but really cool, and they make jewelry from them here locally.

Apples and Tighes

The past week the apples on our backyard tree have really begun to ripen, exactly coinciding with Grandma and Grandpa Tighe's visit. We capitalized on the opportunity to attend an apple class at the Oregon State Extension office with the Tighes. There, we made apple pie filling and learned about the different kinds of local apples locally. Here are a few pics of our tree, along with an action shot of Grandpa Tighe coring Gloria Munda apples during the OSU class. The pie was delicious!