Category Archives: adventure

Let’s Go on a Safari

1 Reply

Alternate title: My child has possibly watched the one Dora video we have too many times because when I said to her we were going to see animals, she instantly said we were going to Diego’s Animal Center.

But, really, that title is a bid too long.

Saturday we made the 100+ mile trek South to visit Wildlife Safari. The last time I was at Wildlife Safari I was probably 8 or 9 years old, so it’s been a while. But we had free passes, so we figured, why not. The weather was fantastic and we had a great day. {until she decided she was D.O.N.E. but I’ve decided we’ll focus on the positive here, people.}

Ready to get started!
There were even 2 baby zebras. Ry said her favorite was the cheetah though.

“Hey Look Mommy!”
“See!?”

Like I said…it was a gorgeous day. However, at about this point, Ry was done with the driving through the safari and requested that we go home and watch Dora. {FAIL!}

She quickly forgot about Dora when we said it was time for a picnic in the back of the Jeep!

After lunch we headed into “Safari Village” to see the smaller animal displays and run around a bit.
Because Andy and I are both 12 year old boys at heart and I have an uncle named Kirk.

There was a little petting zoo too. Ry wasn’t so much into touching the animals though.
Such a sweet face that one.
A seriously creepy encounter with a Burmese Python.

I do believe that giant snake would have eaten my child had it not been for the protective barrier. Also? Don’t let it’s small head fool you, this thing was at least 12 feet long and as big around as my thigh!

On the bridge over the pond. {FYI: Grammy’s Koi would kick these Koi butts}

And, of course…it wouldn’t be right if Andy had the camera and didn’t take his “signature” shot.

2010: Year of the…Tiger?

2 Replies

According to China, it’s the year of the tiger. For us, it’s more like “2010: Year of the Rice Family Roller Coaster”.

Happy New Year’s Eve ya’all. It’s 10:00 PM Pacific time and I’m ringing in the new year sitting on my couch, with my teeth brushed, face washed, sporting my flannel pj pants and oversized sweatshirt next to the warm, crackling fire, typing this by the twinkling lights of my Christmas tree.

And I couldn’t be happier.

This year was a crazy one filled with challenges and sadness. But also one filled with love and an abundance of blessings. And so, I give you our 2010, a year in review.

January: Rang in the new year with money troubles, the worry of losing our home, a puking kid, followed by a puking husband, followed by a business trip to Columbus, OH. Mid-to-late January was spent in and out of the pediatrician’s office with Rylee battling bronchiolitis. We celebrated Grandma Rice’s 88th birthday!

February: Spent the better part of February in and out of the pediatrician’s office, again, while Rylee battled RSV and croup. At the same time. I did manage to work in a quick, weekend trip with Kristen to fly out to Chicago to help Kelli celebrate her 30th birthday.

March: More time spent in the pediatrician’s office {the receptionists knew Rylee all too well}. This time with another bout of pneumonia, followed by the flu. We took Ry on her first trip to the zoo and transitioned her from her crib to a “big-girl” bed.

April: Ry got the flu…again. I went to my first Cirque De Sole show with Julia and Kristen. April is when the floodgates called Rylee’s Vocabulary opened up.

May:  We celebrated Rylee’s 2nd birthday. Unfortunately, we ended the month on a low with the loss of Andy’s Grandma Rice.

June: Started off June with Julia’s bridal shower. Andy wrapped up another school year. Rylee repeated her first bad word {that I said!}.We took Rylee to the Oregon Coast Aquarium and her first real trip to the beach. Julia and Spencer said “I do”. Best. Wedding. Ever.

July: 4th of July. Always amazing. We took Rylee on her first camping trip. I headed to Minnesota for a work trip, visited family I hadn’t seen for nearly 20 years and received a phone call that would leave me with major decisions to make…

August: Andy and I celebrated 5 wonderful years of marriage. I stepped way out of my comfort zone and left my very comfortable, very familiar job to work for a company that was less than 1 year old and in a new, unfamiliar industry. Andy started another school year.

September: Canned dozens of jars of fruit and potty trained Rylee in a weekend…all while Andy was gone {thanks Auntie Kristen!}. Andy spent that weekend with a much needed/deserved visit with his best friend. Ry started back up in daycare. We got to help celebrate our “nephew’s” first birthday.

October: We started out October with the phone call that Andy’s grandfather (his mom’s dad) passed away. I harvested a forked horn blacktail. We booked plane tickets for Andy and his dad to visit his best friend in Alaska this coming Summer for 12 days! {I am accepting wine donations starting now.}

November: Andy received a much deserved promotion at work to Head Teacher. Celebrated Thanksgiving with family.

December: Spent the first half of December waiting for Andy to get home from work and eating dinner at 8:00 at night…some promotion {I have been assured that it will not continue this way}. Spent the second half of December celebrating the birth of Jesus, and the rest of Christmas break, with some much needed family time.

That about wraps it up. It’s been a wild year and it flew by.

I am looking forward to all 2011 has in store for our little family.

The ups and the downs.

Also? This happens to mark my 200th post. So, in honor of my 200th post, picture me throwing confetti in the air, raising the roof and even busting out the head-down-knee-popped-fist-clenched-elbow-back-DJ Tanner-style “YESSSsss”.

Or not. Your choice.

Meet Our Official Jr. Fire Fighter

4 Replies

Last week when I dropped Ry off at daycare I noticed a flyer in her cubby {can I just say I think it’s so cute that she has a cubby}. Anyway, I grabbed it on the way out. It was a flyer promoting a fall festival at the local elementary school. Then, on the way home from work that night I saw a sign outside the local fire station promoting an open house the same day as the festival. They both looked like fun so when we got home I told Andy about it and we put it on the calendar for Saturday.

Saturday rolled around and after an early, lazy morning we headed out the door to the little fire station. It’s a small, country fire station manned with 2 trucks and 4 volunteer fire fighters. They were super nice, however, Ry was having nothing to do with it. I was finally able to convince her to climb up in the fire truck with me…

{She was not impressed.}
The super nice volunteer firefighters told us that the main station “downtown” {I’m sorry, but “downtown” in a town of 3,000 is just silly to me} was having an open house there as well and there would be a lot more to check out. Since it’s just down the road from the school, we figured we’d go check it out too.
The school’s fall festival was a little less than amazing, but Ry got a balloon ladybug bracelet and she got her face painted! I thought it was kind of funny she chose a soccer ball, but that’s what she wanted. We munched on a caramel apple and a wanna-be elephant ear while listening to the “live band” sing old country covers. 
After the face painting, we headed down the street to the main fire station. Here she was a little more outgoing. She had fun checking out the helicopter and antique fire engines. She insisted on climbing up the ladder, oddly enough, they wouldn’t let her. I have no idea why. She also insisted on doing the obstacle course making her the youngest Official Junior Firefighter in Rural Lane County. {Ok, I made that up, I don’t know that she’s the youngest.} She got a badge and hat and certificate and everything!
 {Don’t be judging the outfit…other than the shirt, she chose it}
 {Sportin’ the soccer ball quite nicely}
 {I’m still trying to figure out why they wouldn’t let her climb the ladder}
 {She carried a doll to safety, crawled through a tube and learned how to stop, drop & roll. Offical Jr. Firefighter material for sure!}
 {Oh yes, Ry…I did catch that smile. Don’t act like you didn’t like it!}
{We only had about a 5 mile drive home.}

Blackberries and apples and pears, OH MY!

8 Replies

We are blessed to live on 12.5 acres with huge, beautiful fruit trees that produce some really great fruit. We also have an excess of blackberries. It’s always a shame to see any of it go to waste. I haven’t ever done any canning or food preserving myself and we always try to give as much away as possible. I grew up with my mom and Grandma canning every summer/fall, then we would have pears, cherries and peaches and raspberry and strawberry jams all year long. That holds such great memories for me. This year, I decided I wanted to do some canning. Auntie Kristen came down from Portland on Sunday and we got to work!

First, we spent over 2 hours picking the fruit…{don’t judge, it’s more than what it looks like plus we had Ry with us}

We didn’t finish picking until after 5:30 that night, we made dinner, Ry had a bath and while I was putting her to bed Kristen got to work. That night we made a batch of blackberry jam and got the apples cooked down for applesauce.
The next day, we were up and canning before 8:30 am. Ry was quite the “helper”. Oh, and let me tell you, if you don’t have an apple corer/peeler/slicer jobber and you are planning on doing a lot of canning, for the love of all things holy, GET ONE! It makes things go so much faster.
We had 2 canners going at once so we set-up shot outside. We prepped all the food in the kitchen, then when it was ready to can we brought it out. It worked so much easier this way…good thinking sister!

Like I said, Ry was quite the helper. Rylee enjoyed taking the apples from the dehydrator and putting them in her mouth the ziploc back for storage.

After nearly a full 24 hours of straight canning (minus 7 hours for sleep) we came out with all of this goodness! 17 quarts of pears, 5 quarts and 5 pints of applesauce, 12 jars of blackberry jam, 6 quarts of apple pie filling, 6 quarts of apples, 4 pints of salsa and a bag of dried apples. The best part? All the fruit came from our property. The really best part? Spending the time with my sis.

Now I need your help! A lot of these items will be used for gifts so I want to make up some fancy-schmancy labels for them…the trouble is…what do I call them? Almost like a brand…As in: _____ blackberry jam. I hate “Rice Ranch” and I really don’t like “Rice Farm” either. I was thinking maybe Rice Acres, but I am open for suggestions and better ideas…ready? And…GO! If I choose your name, I may or may not send you some blackberry jam! 
Next on the list? I’m going to make lemon cello. YUMM!

Weekend Fun/Update/Crazy Uncle Kirk

3 Replies

The new job is…wow…a whirlwind, but I don’t want to disappoint my loyal blog follower…s? With a quick count on my fingers…Yes, followers because 2? is technically plural. {thank God I have 2 sisters!} Anyway, the new job: been busy with industry research, looking into PR contacts, relaunching a brand, drinking from a fire hose, asking too many questions…little stuff like that.

Before I had decided to take a new job, I had planned some time off for an Antelope hunt. When I didn’t draw the tag, I kept the time off for a family camping trip. Then, I got the new job. My dad and sister still went camping. Andy, Ry, Dante and I were going to go spend Saturday night with them. Then Dante decided to play with a skunk (third time this year!). Since we didn’t want to leave him home alone outside overnight, we decided to make it a day trip instead. Here’s a quick recap of our day:

We played in the water…
We went for a hike…
A really dusty hike…
We enjoyed the scenery…
We shared fresh fruit…
and ate it nearly as fast as it was cut…
We made fresh ice cream…
We played in the dirt…
We laughed…
We ate…
WE HAD FUN!
 On our way to the trailhead for the hike, we ran into Uncle Kirk and Aunt Sandi, so they joined us for the rest of the day! We also came to the conclusion that Uncle Kirk (the one wearing Ry’s hat while making ice cream) will be “that crazy uncle” that Ry always has stories about. Every family has one.