Babyup!

Chloe wants me to appear on the humerous baking show called Nailed It! Click here to watch Nailed It! on Netflix.

So we made a baking video of us baking. I thought we were supposed to send in a 10-minute video, but actually when I found the correct instructions it turns out the video is only supposed to be ONE MINUTE. Oops, we’ll need to re-make it.

So here’s the original video. Perhaps I will get around making this shorter, after all it’s merely an hour long… but it is full of humorous commentary. Click this link to watch: https://www.tikimojo.com/share/hedgehog-unedited.mp4

Did you know that I’m a cake consultant for NASA? Now you do!

Our terrible Hedgehog cake: google that for more horribleness. Turns out it’s a “thing”.

While you weren’t looking, we went to the Holiday Expo:

Wut?

Raindeers…

Plants!

It lives on air!

It was time – October 31st – time to trick ‘o’ treat!

Chloe turned down the crab hat…

She went as a Cheeto!

Four teens ready to hit the neighborhood…

Halloween is almost here.
Pumpkin carving time!

Chloe’s school has a harvest festival every fall, here’s some photos.

Chloe volunteered to do face painting.

Here she is painting a dinosaur, soon to have a top hat and a tutu.

A dino and a fish for her, a ghost for pops!

Goats – they might stand on anything!

Hiya there.

Here’s Shady, the cat who always knows where to sit to be in the way.

Doodles while waiting for tacos. Can you tell which side of the sketchbook is Dad and which is kid?

A friend of mine made this glass heart in her glass blowing studio! Neat!

First day of 7th Grade! (how did she get that tall?)

What’s this? More bunnies?
Since she was leaving the eating program, Chloe crochet’d 15 bunnies to give to her fellow students.

Chloe and Dad go for a walk…

Dinner! Chicken casserole with cheese biscuits on top.

Today: Pizza Schmizza for lunch!

RAARRRR!!!

And a whole bunch of doodling. Dad drew Captain Toast & Butter Boy and The Criminal Flip Flop Brothers. Here we see several renditions of Chloe’s Banana Man stuffy, as seen below in real life.

Spotted on the campus of Pacific University (right there in Forest Grove).

…a closeup…

Placed 1949. I find it interesting to observe how fashions in establishing monuments changes over time.

Frequent viewers may know that for the past 26 years I’ve been hosting a sport called Mondo Croquet. It’s croquet – only bigger, with bowling balls and sledgehammers! It’s so mighty fun it was voted Best of Portland. You can read more about it and see loads of photos here: http://mondocroquet.com

In a pleasant turn of affairs I was invited (and paid!) to host Mondo Croquet for three days at the Realms Unknown festival. This is a family-friendly event populated with fairies, pirates, vikings, ogres, time travelers, mermaids, dragons and all sorts of fun-seekers.

This mermaid swimming in her tank lit up at night was absolutely enchanting. I taking photos of the festival to others and just took photos of what we were doing. Here’s a few:

Here’s some foreshadowing…

Chloe intends to be a Cheeto for Halloween.

And we’ll finish off this post with a photo of some recent Chloe art. Yes, she painted that!

Hello from the Ferris wheel at the Washington County Fair!

Chloe, cows, Sophia.

Sophia prefers to look serious.

Aliens!

Check the height… yep, we’re good!

Safety bar down, let’s roll!

Chloe is a little uncertain about the next ride.

“The Zipper”

Let’s eat!

Sophia enters the duck races.

And away they go!

And she (and her duck) took first place!

A break from blood-pressure-raising rides with the Ferris wheel.

And in a carnival game they each won a “stuffy” turkey leg.
(A few more wins and they’ll have the whole turkey)

…and as we head for the exit gates, we see The Bears…

Chloe and I went back to Sellwood Riverfront Park, this time with the lobster floaty.

Here’s Chloe getting a light head from blowing up Carl, the lobster.

Into the river!

Step 3: Float!

We try some funny faces.

What to do after you’re done being hot and wet? ICE CREAM! Hand-made in a little food cart in Sellwood – Hurry Back! http://hurrybackicecream.com

And so, it’s birthday party time!

This is North Clackamas Aquatic Park. Wave pool! Waterslides!

Here’s a blurry, long-distance photos of the kids frolicking in the water.

Snack time!

Then the bunny ears came out…

Cupcake time!

Our new teen-ager, still a bit wet.

Obligatory Group Photo

Hello sailing fans! With Chloe’s birthday party the day after her actual birthday due to scheduling, I borrowed a Force 5 from a friend I took her sailing for her first time on her 13th birthday!

Here I am taking the boat out for a shake-down cruise.

The Willamette Sailing Club was out in force.

Here she is, the birthday girl!

Out on the water.

That’s it for photos as I declined to risk my phone going in the drink.
Perhaps more next time!