Silver Falls 10k mud run

It took some convincing from Jim and Jason, but I ran the Buck Mountain Mudslinger, a 10k run through Silver Falls State Park.  

 

The trail was a bit muddy, and the hills were long, but I was happy to make it all the way to the end!  I was a little nervous about it given that my knee was still a little sore, but I made it and felt pretty good at the end.  It was great to run it with friends!

 

This cute girl and cute baby were among those who were waiting for me at the finish line - and they arrived just in time!

Afterwards, we went for a hike to Upper South Falls with the kids.

 

We hiked down to the bottom of the waterfall.  About the time we got down there, we realized that Jacob had a baseball evaluation a little over an hour later - and it is about an hour-long drive back home... after the hike up to the car!  We booked it up the trail and made it only a couple minutes late! 

Tough life lessons

We aren't exactly what was going through Liam's head as he sat on the potty holding the potty-training toilet seat, wondering if it would fit over his head, but it's likely that he won't try it again!  Fortunately, it did come off!

Science fair

Jacob and Claire decided they wanted to participate in the science fair this year.  Claire was going to participate with a friend, Leslee, and Jacob wanted to answer the question, "which will cause its lid to be shot further in the air - a mixture of Mentos and Diet Coke or a mixture of Alka-Seltzer and water?"  As is classic, the project became urgent when Jacob realized on Saturday that it was due the following Monday, so Saturday became a day of science projects.

We wound up doing 2 iterations of the experiments.  Experiment #1 involved smaller 20-oz bottles of water and Diet Coke.

The results were somewhat underwhelming.  The Mentos caused the Coke to fizz a bit - enough that I couldn't get the cap on - enough to be exciting.  The Alka-Seltzer caused the water bottles to expand, but not to shoot their caps off.

For experiment #2, we used a larger Diet Coke bottle and a smaller container for the water and Alka-Seltzer - a film canister.  The audience decided they wanted to keep their distance, expecting something way more exciting.

Fortunately, neither one disappointed!  The Diet Coke shot up into the air as tall as Jared, and the film canister cap shot into the air high enough that no one actually got to see and measure how high.

Jacob and Claire worked on the project's hypothesis, procedures, results, and conclusions, and mounted the pictures and text onto the board.  Just as they were finishing, Claire's friend Leslee, who Claire had discussed doing a project with, knocked on the door, and off Claire went to work on their project, which meant that Jacob was the one on this project.

Claire's project was a question of whether a volcano would erupt similarly the 2nd time to the way it erupted the first time.  The girls had a fun time doing some experiments with it.

The kids loved to stand by their projects, standing proudly anticipating questions from the parents and kids who were attending.  All in all, it was a pretty solid first effort into the world of science fair projects for the Jensen family! 

Little girls

Kate likes to play dress up, especially when she has people over to dress up with.  Little 3-year-old girls love to play Elsa and Anna!!!

Other times, Kate just likes to dress up to be goofy, like wearing Dani's Hunter boots!

The latest tricks

Some of Torin's latest tricks are:

"So Big!"

"Give me five!" (which he always does!)

"Da da da da" (we think he's saying Daddy)

Torin loves to scoot meander around the house.  He doesn't move all that fast yet, but he stays low enough to the ground that he will often end up under the chairs in the living room, typically chasing down some toy that has made its way there.

Torin loves sitting with a pile of toys, and he'll often reach first for a book to eat.

Dani likes to take Torin for walks while Kate and Liam are at preschool.  Fortunately, there have been quite a few days that have been sunny enough to take a walk.  Torin likes walks, but I think Dani would love to take a little bit longer walks that Torin wants to take sometimes!

Some of our best pictures of Torin have come while either changing, dressing, or just hanging out with Torin on our bed.  He really has a sweet demeanor and loves to engage people.

Torin absolutely loves baths!!!  He would sit in a bath tub for hours if he could.  By mid-March, he started sharing his opinion (even if it was pretty brief) about not being pleased with getting out of the tub!  Dani likes to set Torin up with toys and a blanket in the bathroom so she can keep an eye on him while she showers.  Torin seems to like the setup!

Trader Jacob

Jacob loves baseball cards.  Even more, he loves to trade baseball cards. His school backpack has a little pocket that is the perfect size for 20-30 cards, so he brings them with him to trade with his friends. He will often report that he has made trades with friends, typically acquiring cards from the A's and Reds and giving up cards from his friends' favorite teams. Jared is so proud!

Why wear pants?

Liam decided he needed to wash the dishes.  Without pants.  

Liam without pants on is not an uncommon site in our house!

Book Monsters

Claire was part of the a school competition called Battle of the Books with a few friends from school.  Their team's name is the Book Monsters. They are all supposed to read a certain selection of the competition books so they can participate in a quiz competition. We will find her reading all over the place! She doesn't just read one book at a time - she is often in the middle of 2-4 books

The Book Monsters did great in their competition, advancing to the 2nd round of the competition. They were pretty pleased with themselves, and we loved getting them to read a variety of genres.

Valentine's Day part 2 - the after-party!

We continued a great Valentine's Day tradition of unconventional dates with a return trip to the Roller Derby.  We decided it would be even more fun to bring Trisha and Trevor, and it certainly was!  Trevor quickly determined his favorite team and derby girls and provided entertaining commentery throughout.

We decided to skip the very Portland-esque after party, which we were told had a spanking room and a wheel they would put people on and send them for a spin.  Maybe next year?

Valentine's Day part 1 - the family party

Valentines Day fell on a Saturday, which meant that we spent the entire day celebrating, starting with love balloons and pink pancakes

Afterward, we went to Champoeg for a bike ride.  It was warm enough that Liam decided he didn't need a jacket!  We took the trail east along the river for a few miles, exploring an area we hadn't previously explored.  It is fun, now that Jacob and Claire are becoming stronger bike riders, to venture out to other areas.

Kate and Torin were trailer buddies behind Jared.  Torin talked quite a bit throughout the ride until falling asleep.

This time of year, despite the sunshine that we have been enjoying this year, that it is so damp that moss grows on everything - even sidewalks and parking lots!  Today, with the bright sunshine, everything was an especially bright green!

 

Musical homework

Part of Jacob and Claire's homework each day is to practice math flash cards.  They both have a unique way of practicing - through song.

Nana and Papa visit

We got to spend a week with Nana and Papa.  Torin was thrilled to spend some quality time with his Nana and Papa and it seemed like everyone had a great time!

Nana and Papa had gone on an amazing safari last summer.  They brought a book and shared the pictures of the safari with us.

As any trip with Nana and Papa includes, we played the candybar game.  We all had a great time!

For weeks, it has been sunny.  For weeks after Nana and Papa were here, it was sunny.  Fortunately, we did get some sunshine, so the boys all went outside to play some baseball.  Liam was hilarious in his bike helmet.

The adults all got to have a fun night with great food at Andina!