Kris Zito

Our Last First

2009-10-25T20:52:00.000-07:00

I got back from Chicago on Friday. No interesting pictures from there because everything that mattered never left here. We had been plotting some things before I left so the plans were already in motion. A friend at work had mentioned that there was a great orchard in Junction City and the apples were ripe.

So Saturday morning we headed out the Deterings Orchard

They had pick your own apples for 40 cents a pound so we set out to hunt for just the right ones.

They grow more than a dozen varieties and all of them were ripe.

They encouraged us to sample the goods and we were really agonizing over all the possibilities so we didn't hesitate.

It was amazing to pick and eat them right off the tree. Each row has a different kind of apple so you can get a different one about every 10 steps. It was wonderful to enjoy the subtle differences and the freshest of freshness.

It took a while but we finally settled on about six varieties and filled a box.

We went on a carriage ride. The horses were huge.

The kids helped me haul everything back to the van.

Our neighbors invited us over for Chili and cider on Sunday. Anybody recognize the contraption we are using? It wasn't any match for the industrial sized hand powered one we used to use. But it got the job done.

It didn't take my crew long to get down to business.

By the end they were managing all parts of production. I was so proud of them. They worked very hard and were really curious about how everything worked.

The final product of all that labor. MMMMM sot tasty the brand of apples we used were almost exactly the same as the ones on the old ranch. It certainly plunged me back into some amazing memories of us in another lifetime.

I thought this clip was pretty cute especially when I heard the song playing in the background.

And all at once I realized that this is the last season we get to experience for the first time in the Willamette valley. It seems like just the other day we were unloading the U Haul and moving in, and wasn't it just last fall that we were making cider and having apple fights out in the orchard after school?

Campin with Granny & Pappy

2009-10-06T18:51:00.002-07:00

Granny and Pappy came all the way from Wyoming to see us in their new mansion on wheels.

Of course in true grandparent form their first act was to spoil the kids. The kids loved their new toys. Domoniqe dances pretty good with her new High School Musical game, so long as she thinks nobody is looking.

The kids just started swimming lessons a couple of weeks ago. They had tons of fun showing granny what they could do.

We went camping out on the coast. The kids discovered that granny is a master at marsh mellow roasting. Over the years she's also become quite the expert at passing on the skill. (along with that terrifying story about th flaming marshmellow and a waving stick) Domonique got quite good by the end. Granny was even able to teach this old salt a few new secrets on how to make the perfect smores.

No sense in sleeping outside we had everything we needed in their huge fifth wheel. I struggle to remember why we used to make fun of people that camped like this. We certainly didn't have any complaints!

Dad and I managed to get out on the Siuslaw to fish for king salmon and dungeness crabs. Although it rains out on the coast most days this time of year, both rain and wind were in the forecast all week, the weather broke just for us and both days were sunny, 70 degrees and completely amazing.

That little green dot out there is a kayak. The guy was fishing for 40 lb king salmon in his 20 lb kayak! As if he wasn't already fisihing with a little less boat than he needed, a seal took his bait fish. I don't think the thing was hooked but it was to stubborn to let go. He'd dive tow the guy a hundred yards or so then surface to give him an angry look and then dive again. I'll bet it took him the better part of 30 minutes to give up and let the poor guy go. I've seen lots of fishermen catch a fish but that's the first time I've ever seen a fish catch a fisherman.

We didn't catch anything ourselves so we went to a seaside resteraunt where we ordered clam chowder and shrimp. The clams and the shrimp were caught right outside so we still got a taste of the pacific ocean.

We scoured the beaches for some treasures mom could take home. Just when we thought we were going to have to send her home empty haded we found a dozen or so sand dollars.

I managed to sneek a few pictures of some sweethearts on the beach.

And way to soon it was over. We were sad to see them go. We all wished we could go with them....

... right up until we heard about the early snow and freezing weather back east. Perhaps we'll follow them home in the spring when the weather is a bit more agreable :)

2009-10-06T18:51:00.001-07:00

Blackberry bRamble

2009-08-08T20:36:00.000-07:00

I finished the Blackberry bRamble century ride on Sunday. It was a 100 mile bike ride through the mountains around Eugene. I made it a point not to look at the rout until they handed me the map at the beginning of the ride. link to ride map http://ridewithgps.com/routes/2708. Had I checked it before hand and seen that there was almost 5,000 ft of elevation gain I might have reconsidered.

Yes, I used my hybrid instead of a road bike and no I never planned to take 3 weeks for the trip those monster saddlebags were my anniversary present and I just had to try them out.

Ready to go.
There were a couple of times I wasn't sure if I was going to do this thing or not. The first time I started second guessing the decission was when I was working the biggest hill in the ride, I thought the climb was done. But it was the metric century (62miles) arrow that pointed down the other side my arrow pointed straight up a set of very steep switchbacks. I took these from the top.And the second time well...

I checked a map when I got home and the really funny thing was, I could easily have rejoined the group withhout going back over that hill.

All in all it was amazing. I couldn't believe my body could put out that much energy for such an extended period. I rode 116 miles in about 8 hours including the rest stops. Would certainly do it again. minus the switchbacks and detours :)

And here are some of the vegetables from my garden.

A friend had some luck crabbing last weekend so he brought us four crabs. I cooked us a locavore meal. That's fried zucchini in the middle made with the first zucchini I’ve ever grown. Haven't had it for years and just as good as I remember.

And here is our new addition. I got up last Saturday at 8:00 and found Domonique had been up for a while "saving the world from injustice." Hanna (our cat) brought this tree frog in the house to toy with for breakfast. Dominique couldn't bear it. She saved the little thing, made it a home and started calling it Bugsy. Her and Jenn have been catching spiders for it from the backyard. I think it's more than a little strange that I'm the only one feeling a bit squeamish about the situation.

In a flash

2009-07-15T20:32:00.000-07:00

I know that's A thousand words but I just can't help but add just a few. My ride got some awesome new upgrades yesterday. Now she has drop bars and pedal straps I picked up 1.5 or 2 mph with the straps and now I could probably pull a car up the hills if I had to. Century ride 2 weeks and counting. And in the background you'll see my garden. It survived the drowning I gave it for the first several weeks and finally has soil treated with nitrogen (code for seagull turds). Now it's really growing. We're getting cucumbers, and some tomatoes.

Time

2009-05-26T19:16:00.000-07:00

It's amazing how time slips past. It seems like winter was just yesterday and here summer is just around the corner. We continued on our exploration of the area by heading over to Cottage Grove. It's a small mountain town about 30 miles from where we live.
We took the bikes with us. Dominique rode like a champ. She can keep up 11 mile an hour cruising speed indefinitely. We rode 12 miles.

We got to have a picnic on a creek and play by some waterfalls.

The Willamette River is only about a mile from our house. It reminds me so much of the Bitteroot. We've been wanting to check out the closest access but somehow we always find something else to do. Jennifer wanted to take a nap on Sunday so we decided to keep the house quiet and do some exploring.

Turns out the nearest river access isn't quite a mile away and there is a bike path all the way there. Even better yet we had the spot to ourselves and it was Memorial Day weekend. This may be our new favorite spot. That's my huge splash and sandal sticking out of the water. Check out the video at the end to see the kids play it was pretty funny.

We went to the beach yesterday.

After the requisite posing we got to work and built a castle. Our castle was within tide line so we took up arms against the Pacific. It was our vow to fight back the ocean defend our castle and end the war between ocean and shore once and for all.

We drove back wave after wave of invaders.

After much fighting weary and cold my army was routed. All lost...But wait the king turns and makes a last desperate attempt. Stabbing and slashing deep into enemy lines.
With a defiant flail of his fist he disappears, buried beneath the fray.
.............................

Blue lipped and wild eyed the king retreats to fight another day.

After all that it turned out that there was a traitor in our midst. We stole Merilee's idea and brought some sand home for a sandbox. The kids sure thought it was novel to bring back a piece of the beach.

It was cool to see how excited Tyler got when he finally figured out what we were doing.

Tyler Kodak moments two weekends in a row. Both times would have been more funny without much damage but my dang instincts are always overriding my better judgment.

P.S. Jenn was with us the entire time except the river dunking. Apparently I didn't feel like taking pictures :(

A day of insparation

2009-05-06T19:06:00.000-07:00

HAAAA...I finally got my camera back good as new. Apparently my Canon Pro shot doesn't agree with camping on a windy Florence beach in the April rain. I got home slapped in the old memory card hit the botton and perspective shifted immediatley. Everywhere I looked there were fun ideas to do and blog. I'll bet when our kids grow up they'll have a tender spot for these things. It's weird to think how much more fun we get to have together just because the lense I'm seeing through is slightly different.

It’s May and we're rapidly approaching the safe date for frost. My square foot garden project is on the cusp of really taking off.

There is some action going on already

It appears that we're going to get strawberries from the plants Pat gave us the first year.

And this little boy has been quite impressed by the peas climbing steadily up the lattice. They are up to his shoulder now.

I've been working on the garden a little bit most days for several weeks. It wasn't until I got my blogger goggles on that I was inspired to ask them if they wanted to grow their own gardens. Tyler was so excited he could barely eat his dinner. Every time I turned my head he was half way out to the garden.

He's been very interested in my plants we check them together almost every day. He's managed to just pick a few and none for the past week or so.

We all had lots of fun. There won't be much work from here on, my 100% compost growing material has no weeds and it rains enough to grow them without watering. The exercise is going to be if they can let the things alone or not. I'll be interested to see if Tyler has the same discipline when it's his own plants as he does with mine. I told him he could pick them or dig there if he wanted but that it would be neat if they could grow big like mine. We'll see :)

It’s a little hazy but I think I remember a certain very crafty lady had some excellent ideas to help me be safe in the car after I learned to mess with my car seat. The picture I have in my mind is a brown car seat with duct tape on the chest strap and bailing twine tied underneath.
The thought was good inspiration. Tyler has become obsessed with unbuckling his car seat every time we ride. There is no talking him out of it and it's hard to see when he does it because it's out of sight at almost any angel.

True or not it was good inspiration and it brought a smile because the reason it probably sticks in my mind is that I was so proud of myself when I thwarted that crafty lady and escaped.

http://lewbyronfamily.shutterfly.com/

2009-04-27T19:41:00.000-07:00

So I'm pretty sure that everybody that reads this got the e-mail notification from shutter fly this morning but I thougt the new pictures Scott posted were pretty neat. I honestly didn't recognize the young woman in this photograph until I read the caption.

This is my grandpa Byron all dressed up and ready to get on the ship. I'll bet that was the same ship he was on during the attack on Pearl Harbor. He sure looks like a hero to me. By all appearances he's is going to operate the thing all by himself.This is also grandpa aboard ship in a relatively compromising position. This is exactly what I imagined the life of a sailor must be like 99.99% of the time.

I only got one person in this picture and it took me a while. Wow that guy coming through the door looks buffed.

and last but not least that isn't mom on the far right that is Grandma Byron. Uncanny

April 15th

2009-04-17T16:45:00.000-07:00

Finally 04/15, I wasn't sure it was ever coming. All accounting firms have a party on the 15th to celebrate the end of the season. I tried to cancel my plans to go at the last minute. However, apparently parties (even parties with a bunch of ragged stuffy old accountants) are still important to a certain little girl, I won't name any names but... you guessed it I ended up at that party. As soon as I could extricate myself I hightailed it for the beach (about 1.5 hours away). When I arrived it was well after dark. I'd never camped there and realized I didn't have a clue where I could go to pitch my tent. Not to be deterred I drove until I could hear the ocean, you’re not allowed to camp on the beach so I walked a mile or so along the dunes and hid my tent in them, figured I'd make them work for it if they wanted to enforce the rules.

Woke up to a completely different world than the one I'd been in the day before. I wondered briefly if it could be the same one but quickly decided NO WAY.Although a friend at work warned me against it I almost didn't set up the tent. When I broke it down the next day I was glad I made the effort. There were about 200 of these little worms under it that would have been just as happy in my bag with me.

These sea lions must have known is was 04/16 also. They splashed and goofed off all day, the only time I saw them take a time out was when they got curious about me.There is nothing wrong with the video in the clip below. There is no picture in the first part because it was too dark.

One Spring Day

2009-04-05T19:25:00.000-07:00

Well I've been itching to blog this beautiful early spring. I've been waiting and waiting...until today. I ride a couple of miles through the park along ponds and the river every day. This is the first day I've seen the turtles out. They appeared to be quite content with the perfect blue skies and 70 degree spring temperature. So it must be time.

This tree is in the yard next to us. You have to double click to get a bigger view to appreciate it.
There are new wonderful smells and colors every day. I don't miss a thing because I'm right in the best part of it for an hour or so every day during therapy ohhh I mean my commute.

Wow.

And this is my completed square foot gardens. We finally went and got a yard of compost so we would have perfect growing material. I have peas and radishes coming up and our super cool neigbor Pat showed up just in time to present us with a small gift, some of her strawberrie runners.
These last pictures weren't taken today but I just had to include them in my spring blog. This is the best view of the ocean I've seen so far and I think it will be very hard to ever beat. To the south is a spectacular view.

And to the north is the Heceta lighthouse (another pic you have to enlarge to appreciate). We'll explore it soon I hope. It's open to visitors.

and 200' straight down is the Sea Lion Cave. This is a picture from the cliff above.

But there is an elevator that takes you 200' straight down inside the cliff to the Sea Lion cave.

2009-03-22T21:55:00.000-07:00

My wife masters one more family favorite. I just had the first almond rocha I've ever had that wasn't made by mom. mmmmm mmm. My woman has some mean cooking skills :)

2009-03-22T20:26:00.000-07:00

At long last after approximately 4,000 phone calls and a hundred patient hours on the phone in less than 90 days Maca was finaly reunited with her grandchildren. Everybody was so happy to see her. I don't think I've ever heard that many giggles out so few people in my life. We were all up till about 1 in the morning.

We headed out to the coast early today. It snowed, rained and sleeted but it was actually sunny for most of the day. Only in Oregon.

I've been itching for an excuse to see The Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport and it wasn't very hard to get the rest of my crew on board. We saw lots of cool sea creatures.

The kids even foregot that should be feeling pretty sour after the late night. They actually got on pretty well all day.

We got to touch all sorts of things from star fish and a tiny crab to sting rays and sharks!! I was especially impressed that a certain little girl was eager to poke a slimy predator.

After spending all day feasting our eyes on fish we could think of nothing better to do than feast our bellies on them. We ate fresh halibut at an oceanside pub for dinner ..... dinner and a show :)

Oregon Coast Aquarium in 30 seconds

TAX SEASON IS HERE

2009-02-27T18:16:00.000-08:00

Well my PC internet has been down for three weeks. not that it matters there are hardly any pics on my camera so I haven't updated my blog in how long? And what in the world is that terrible stench in the air......ohhh ya it's tax season. Well I finally broke down and set up the laptop.

We have managed to have a little fun in spite of the time of year. We barbequed one night. Jennifer made an awesome marinade. Tyler helped me cook and Domonique

always the creative one, thought of something I never would have. Barbeque marsh mellows mmmmmmm (it's there if you look we only had the mini-mellows)

She put her talents to good use making cute cards and packages for her classmates for Valentine’s Day.Of course Hanna Montana always rocks in our house.

After 60 hours of work and two kids that have been sick at home for the past week watching a Hanna Montana marathon. Hanna Montana the rock star can be a little annoying she's lucky she has her distance.

However hanna the cat is a little to close for her comfort....this was to picture perfect to be anything but pure spite

but if you can't beat em join em

Crabbing

2009-02-07T19:18:00.000-08:00

I finally got to make good on my promise to take Tyler on a crabbing boat. One of the guys I work with "John" invited us to go on his father in law Ray's boat. He was so excited. It's a real crabbing boat complete with a live capture pot and an arm with a pulley to help us pull the pots.
Tyler got to do quite a bit of the piloting. I'm not sure what he liked best crabbing, getting to drive or his new best friend Ray.

I would have expected him to be afraid of them but he wasn't at all. Even after I told him they would pinch him very hard he wanted t touch them and play with them.

Domonique made a new friend at school. She lives just down the street from us so it's nice we can just walk them home. We went to Chuck E Cheese.

She is very nice but she has our favorite quality, one that I’ve found to be relatively rare . She can hold her own with Domonique without fighting. It’s funny to watch, she is just so matter of fact that there isn't any room to push or argue.

We ended the evening at a Chinese place that has become our family favorite.

We have some new friends around the house also.

Hanna and Miely. Both Domonique and Tyler love Hanna Montana. It's funny. Tyler’s two favorite people on TV are Hanna Montana and Barak Obama. He never fails to mention when he sees them.

And here are some new acquaintances.
A Pelican in the river we were crabbing

A chipmunk in the walnut tree outside our house

And a friendly half crazy pink monster

MOLY & ME

2009-01-30T20:18:00.000-08:00

I met MOLY just a couple of days after we moved.

She is quiet and shy but she loves the scenic trails just like me.

We spend time together every day in the parks down by the river.

MOLY AND ME

MOLY

2009-01-24T15:19:00.000-08:00

It rained today so we went looking for an indoor activity. We ended up at the Science Factory.

Dominique got to practice her stage skills. She loves Hanna Montana and hopes to be a rock star some day. The gear they had allowed us to record three tracks and play them at the same time. So we sang some songs then played some instruments and strung them together, not bad for amateurs. We sang some of Hanna's songs first

When I left her she made up her own song. Turns out she is a bit of a shy artist...We'll have to work on that before we put out her first CD.

She also got pretty excited over Renegade the Iguana

Tyler went straight for the machines.

And of course the heavy eqipment...it's becoming an obsession. Check out the video he got pretty good at it.

They worked togeather to build a dam.

They used this stationary bike to make smoothie. I just might get April one of these. With the time she's putting in on hers she could probably make a four course meal.

Good bye to "Noah Baby"

Ended the day with chocolate waflfles. Doesn't get much better than that.

2009-01-18T17:03:00.000-08:00

There are tons of cool bike trails in Eugene and the weather has been pretty nice compared to what we are used to. There is an awesome shop here called Eugene Bicycle Work. They refurbish bikes and sell them for next to nothing. We got a real nice one and a helmet for Dominique for $56 on Saturday. I got Jenn’s old bike and trailer working and we headed off to see our neighborhood.

Dominque on her first real big girl bike. It’s a mean machine with 21 gears. She is calling it Asher after the only kid at her old school that could run faster than her.

2009-01-11T20:26:00.000-08:00

On Sunday we headed for the coast. Another beautiful day. I think the kids were both a little shocked. It took me a while to get Tyler to get that close. He kept telling me how dangerous it was and that I should stop walking toward it so I wouldn't die.

By the end he was letting the waves chase him up the beach and stomping on them as they receded back into the ocean.

Of course Domonique was the exact opposite she'd have jumped in as soon as she got there if I wouldn't have held her back.

We collected a whole box of seashells and sand dollars. We even got to see a seal.

All in all not a bad start, things are looking good. We were already plotting next weekend on the ride home.

Dominique and I got Bus Passes on Saturday and headed out to explore the town

She got to read to a puppy at the library.
This is one of the many bike bridges crossing the Willamette river. I take it when I ride my bike to work. Most of my commute is straight down the river with no vehicle noise to disturb the birds and river sounds. There are more bridges for bikes than there are for cars here.

Sunshine green and 50 degrees all day. WOOOHOOO!!!

2009-01-09T22:59:00.000-08:00

So I had all of these great pictures of the move. A picture of me and the kids, homeless and jobless, sleeping in transitional housing (an igloo) built by uncle John and Tyler during Tyler's last ride on his favorite thing the Z&Z "tractor". The tame timber wolf that happened to show up for a picture with Dominique in Livingston where we spent our last night in Montana. A picture of Waffle breakfast at Grandma's house in Idaho Falls that made me feel like I was 9 years old again. A photo of the 2.5 feet of snow outside her house that represented the terrible weather that closed roads and caused turmoil for miles ahead of and behind us and the pic. of the dry mountain roads that represented destiny guiding us to the promised land by clearing the roads in our path so our travel could be safe and fun. Our first picture of the supposedly non-existent December sun that just happened to show up on the west coast of Oregon to warm our chilled Montana bones and welcome us to our new home. And last but not least my poor worn out herd ringing in the new year by snoring in their beds in Portland. Now that we have gotten settled and unpacked I realized I left my $500 camera and all of those pictures under the seat of the truck we rented. Wonderful relatives, a family I love, moving safely and chasing dreams...priceless.... for everything else there's MasterCard :)

2008-12-28T16:32:00.000-08:00

Turns out I took these pictures off the camera before we left. This is Tyler's last ride on the Z & Z tractor

Courtesy of Mr. Z & Z himself, thanks John

Our completed transition home. The right price, energy efficient and envirnmenally friendly.
Time for some hard earned R & R

2008-12-26T16:48:00.001-08:00

A couple of quick stops to see people we'll miss and we're off. The next post will be from our new place in Eugene.

2008-12-26T16:28:00.000-08:00

Pappy hands out the presents.

Tyler has been T-man for quite some time. His super hero double was revealed to everyone.

2008-12-18T10:05:00.000-08:00

Mike & Grace Neal had their baby December 17th. Her name is Selina Michelle. Mike is my oldest friend we became good friends when we were small children. It's weird how our lives have come full circle.

2008-12-16T16:56:00.000-08:00

Good oll Billings is giving us a gentel nudge out the door. I must say I won't miss the wind and sustained sub zero temperatures.

2008-12-16T16:44:00.000-08:00

Moving

2008-12-16T14:58:00.000-08:00

Well I promised myself the day I passed the exam I'd update my resume and take a close look at the west coast. Well I did and I even sent it out to a couple of potential employers. We got some bites so we took a trip over the Thanksgiving weekend to do some interviewes and the results are in. I've accepted a position with an accounting firm in Eugene, OR. I have some things to wind up but plan to be there to ring in the new year. The job looks great. Jenn is going to go to school at the U of O. We hope to get Domonique into a spanish immersion elementary school where they boast that 5th graders are bi-lingual. And of course I'll make good on my promise to Tyler and take him crabbing on a boat.

2008-09-22T11:51:00.001-07:00

CPA exam is history

2008-09-22T11:49:00.000-07:00

Well it’s all over for me I passed!!! I’m not much on book burning but few things in my life have been more satisfying.