10 Months

Owen and Lindy are now 10 months old.  They will actually be 11 months old on March 5th (I was a little late in getting this post done).  They are growing so much, and I swear they learn something new everyday.  Ryan and I couldn't ask for sweeter, smarter, happier, or healthier babies.  They truly are amazing.

In Lindy's 10th month she achieved many new things.  She started crawling.  She is starting to do some signs like "up" and "all done".  This should help us a lot because when she doesn't get her way she tends to get very frustrated and ends up screaming at the top of her lungs.  Ugh!  One new thing she's started doing is pointing.  She isn't pointing at anything in particular, but it is about the cutest thing ever.

Owen has also made great strides in 10th month.  He crawls everywhere, and can pull himself to standing with no problem.  Just yesterday he started walking.  He is not super steady yet on his feet, but I think he will be walking everywhere in no time.  He has no fear when he tries to walk, and when he falls it doesn't phase him at all.

Owen's Walking ????

Well, he's not quite walking, but he is quite speedy with the help of his push toy.  He is also very good at standing, and every now and then he takes one step.  Unfortunately, we couldn't get him to take a step in this video, but hopefully we'll have one soon.  So for now, enjoy these videos.  The first one is Owen walking with his push toy, and the second one features Owen standing on his own.

Triple Falls

We were lucky enough to get some awesome sunny weather last weekend, and we took advantage of it by getting out on a hike. We decided to hike up to see Triple Falls, which in in the Columbia River Gorge.  It is about 4.5 miles round trip, and it gained about 600 feet in elevation.  Most books and websites rate it as a moderate difficulty level.  

The hike starts at Horsetail Falls, which is right off of exit 35 on I-84 East.  It had a moderate incline at first, but then flattens out at .4 miles when it reaches Ponytail Falls.

Me carrying Owen, and Lacey in the background (pictured above), at the beginning of the hike on our way up to Ponytail Falls (pictured below).

Ryan and Lindy underneath Ponytail Falls (pictured below).

 

The hike continues to climb after the falls until you are looking down into the Oneonta Gorge (pictured below).  The Oneonta Gorge is quite spectacular to see, and pictures do not quite do it justice.  I have heard that it is a great place to go explore on a hot Summer day.  

 

Above is a picture of me and Owen crossing a bridge that goes over the gorge.  The picture below is of a small waterfall behind the bridge.

Here is Owen and me at the trail junction for Triple Falls.  On a side note, Owen always looks very uncomfortable in his backpack.  We are looking into getting him one similar to Lindy's.  Hopefully that makes him look a little happier on hikes. 

Here is Triple Falls.  This is the first viewpoint of the falls.  It was so nice and sunny right here, but it wasn't great for pictures.  Below is Me and Lacey at the falls, and then Marlee and Ruby at the falls.  They were very happy pups that day.  (Little Man was also with us, but he was in a shadow in the picture, so I cropped him out).

 

Above is Ryan (and Lindy) taking the picture that is below.  The bridge they are on goes above the falls, and the picture below is of the creek that feeds the falls. 

Below is Lindy at our lunch spot.  She was exhausted from all of the hiking.

All in all it was pretty good hike.  Ryan and I both felt it was a little too long for the babies.  They both got a little fussy during parts of the hike.  I think they just get a little uncomfortable in their backpacks, but regardless, it was an unusually beautiful day in February and I'm glad we got to get outside and enjoy it. 

Tickle Creek Trail

We didn't have weather on our side for a great January hike so we decided to go check out The Tickle Creek Trail here in Sandy, OR on January 29th, 2012.  Tickle Creek Trail is a trail that runs East and West along Dubarko Road between Hwy. 211 and 362nd.  It's path follows the Tickle Creek.  There is a rumor that there are plans to connect this trail with The Springwater Trail (which runs from Boring to Portland), and then eventually connect it to the Pacific Crest Trail up on Mt. Hood.  The total mileage of the trail in Sandy, OR is roughly 3 miles (down and back).  From our house, it made it a 4.5 mile trek. 

It was a rainy day, so we were all bundled up in our rain coats, and the babies were snug in their bear suits and protected from the rain with their rain cover.  (Above is Ryan with Owen, Lindy, & Marlee, and below is me with the gang.)  This is at the trailhead closest to Hwy. 211.

These are two of the places that the trail crosses Dubarko Road (pictured above & below).  You also have to walk on the sidewalk for a very brief moment.  You come out by a playground and stay on the side walk for about a block.  There is trail marker that always tells you where the trail continues so it is easy to know where the trail picks up again.

Above is one of the many views of the Creek from the trail.

You cross 5 bridges like the one pictured above on the trail  These were all built by the City of Sandy last year, and they are absolutely wonderful.

Here is a picture of our fearless hiking partner, Marlee.  She was a little soaked by this point, but was still in good spirits.

This is Ryan and the babies at the other trailhead closest to 362nd.  This is where we turned around and headed home (the same way we came).  To make it a shorter trip, you could park a car at each end of the trail, but I think it is nice enough to just go back to where you started.

This was a great trail to go explore.  It got far enough away from houses that you forgot you were in a city, and it was great for our jogging stroller the whole time.  This was a great trail on a rainy day, and would be even better on a nice day.

Big Things are Happening

Well, we now have two crawlers on our hands, and Owen can even pull himself up to standing on his baby gate and on furniture.  The following videos are of Owen pulling himself up to standing, and Lindy sitting up.  The video of Lindy was taken before she could crawl (she just started crawling last week).  I'll try to get one of her crawling up soon.

The video of Lindy starts out with a picture of Owen for some reason.  Something strange happened on the editing floor.  Sorry about that.