Adventure Girl!

Another fun-filled day...we headed out to Mt. Hood Adventure Park with Rachel in tow. It's a quick hour's drive from here, and it's basically a bunch of fun mountain-themed (as opposed to carnival) rides. So: there's an alpine slide at the top of a chairlift -- and Rachel had NO PROBLEM with the chairlift, which bodes well for Drew's plans to take her skiing this winter -- and, she being Rachel, after going down the slide with Drew the first time, she wanted to switch to the "fast track!" the second time. And third. And fourth....she just didn't want to give up, this kid of mine, and we finally had to drag her away to go on more rides. We caught a shuttle to the other side of the park, and then Rachel got on a kiddie cart (a mini-car with a real car battery, and, yes, within a minute of getting in she had taught herself to drive around the track without crashing into the sides, which really impressed the ride operator who told us he's seen 15-year-olds with car licenses crash!) and then, later, went down an inner tube slide, screaming with laughter the whole time. She especially liked the part where Drew bonked into her when he slid down behind her.

The outing made us realize that we really need to make more of an effort to play in the Columbia River Gorge. It's so close, much closer than the Oregon Coast, and the coast is always cold and foggy whereas the mountain is beautiful, and the drive up there inspiring. This could be the winter we finally break down and get tire chains and head up to Hood for downhill and cross-country skiing, and winter games. Drew is determined to teach Rachel how to ski, and I'm already planning a picnic lunch with sandwiches, homemade hot chocolate and Drew's chocolate-chip cookies. I'll need to take a refresher ski lesson, but I would love to re-learn how to do it. Or I'll just bag it and rent cross-country skis....

When we got home I raced around the kitchen making Drew's (very belated) birthday dinner (and mine too, I suppose...) fried chicken, popovers, salad and chocolate birthday cake with Alice's chocolate frosting recipe. Rachel wisely left me alone during the chicken and popover prep but happily decorated the cake after I wrote "Happy Birthday Daddy" on it. She actually did a great job, so much so that I am toying with the idea of putting her in charge of all cake decorating in the Lednicer/DeSilver household.

Random Rachel musings today:

"Scones have brains," she announced at breakfast. "They talk to their mommy scones that the real mommies eat!"

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"You know what you look like, Mommy? You look like a little traveler. You look like you're traveling to South Africa. You look like you're traveling to WEST Africa!"

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Drew and I rented the movie "Contagion" last night, about a fast-spreading virus that kills a lot of people as doctors race to find a vaccine, and Drew was telling the plot to Rachel this morning.

Rachel: Are you really scared?
Drew: Yes, I was.
Rachel: Calm down, don't be scared. It's just a movie!
 (Drew was explaining the above conversation to me and said Rachel was being "very calm and gentle" as she attempted to reassure him).

"And soothing!" she piped up. "The disease will never come to you."

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In two weeks Drew will be gone for a couple of days to visit his friend Jack in Madison, WI. I've decided that the girls in this house need a road trip, so we'll head up to Seattle to visit Anne, David, Jean, Amanda and Jenn. Amanda and Jenn have already suggested taking Rachel to a hockey game.

"And guess what you're going to do?" Rachel said tonight. "You're going to stay home and do boring work while I go to the hockey game with my aunties!"

Hey, Amanda and Jenn, how about keeping Rachel the whole weekend while I get to play by myself? JUST KIDDING! We can't wait to see everyone!!!