Halloween 2011 Count

This year started out slow, but had a big run between 7:30 and 8:00 to make it quite respectable.

• 6:00 - 6:30 -- 17
• 6:30 - 7:00 -- 50
• 7:00 - 7:30 -- 53
• 7:30 - 8:00 -- 100
• Grand Total: 220

Clara learns to stand on her own

Clara learns to stand on her own. Lots of photos in the 11 month album.

Enchantments Backpacking

Introduction
Allen organized a 2 night backpacking trip up to the Enchantments in Washington. We applied for ~10 permits back in February and came away with 1. The Enchantment are considered one of the top backpacking destinations in the Northwest. I will describe the trip along with photos below. You can also see all of my photos here.

Allen, Kelsey, Anna, Danny, Melvin, Chris, Mark, and myself took on the route up from the Stewart Lake trailhead to Colchuck Lake, up Aasgard Pass, through the Core Enchantment region, and then out through Snow Lakes. It was definitely one of the top backpacking trips I have ever taken.

We really got lucky. The snow this past winter was very heavy, and there was still significant snow in the area when we were up there, but enough had melted that ice axes and such were not required for Aasgard Pass. I just wanted to comment that the conditions report from the ranger station was fantastic. We called a few days before and they provided all the necessary information to make it a safe trip. If you are looking for a trip report, your best bet is to stop hunting around the internet and just give them a ring.

Day 1: Stewart Lake Trailhed up Aasgard Pass
The first stop was the ranger station to pick up our permits. There were a number of groups hoping to get a "day of" permit (most of which obviously failed). After getting our permits, we dropped off a car at our exit point and then headed up to the Stewart Lake trailhead. This is a very easy shuttle. We got started at around 9:30AM (a bit later than we had hoped).

The trip up to Colchuk Lake is a bit of a slog (~4.6 mi to the lake + 1.1 to the end of the trail below Aasgard with ~2.2K of elevation), but the trail is in good shape so it was not so bad. We got to the end of trail at Colchuk and had some lunch. Below is a view looking up Aasgard. Does not look too bad from here.

After having a nice lunch, we began the fun part of the day. The trail itself ends, and before you can start heading up Aasgard, you need to cross a rather larger boulder field. The first part is the hardest and in general this can be hammered out rather fast.

Then we began Aasgard. Melvin and Chris were already a good ways ahead at this point and I was stuck by myself in the middle. The rest of the crew (Allen, Kelsey, Anna, Danny, and Mark) took up the rear. Allen was chugging along with a 60lb pack complete with 3 liters of wine and a 6 pack of PBR. Ouch.

The route that we took up Aasgard (diagonal across the bottom and then up the left side) was basically snow free and completely safe. There is definitely no trail, and the cairns seems to be few and far between. The worst part was that it was HOT, especially at the bottom. There were about 2 trees that provided shade the entire way up. It is a good price to pay for clear skies though.

Here is a photo moderately close to the top looking down towards Colchuk.

And a photo of me at the top. I am not smiling because I am still pretty tired. I managed to make it up in ~2.5 hours. Not bad for a full pack and without working out for 2 years!

Group photo from the top:

After making it to the top, we started looking for a campsite. Most of the good ones were taken, so we ended up basically setting up camp on the trail. Not the best campsite, but it worked. It was rather windy and the spot was somewhat exposed, but there were no issues. Below is a photo of sunset from our campsite.


Day 2 - Core Enchantments
We woke up on day 2 and found out that the goats had found us. The mountain goats up in the enchantments are not at all afraid of people, and they are particularly interested in the salt that is left behind in urine. We had a ton of goats surrounding us before we knew it. I took a ton of photos which you can see in my picasa gallery. Here is one of a mom and her baby.

We got a bit of a late start and headed down through the Core Enchantments. After about 20 minutes we split up, with Allen, Melvin, Chris, and Mark heading up Little Annapurna and Kelsey, Anna, Danny, and myself heading down to try and scout out our next campsite.

There was still a good amount of snow, but it was quite safe. There was one interesting section heading down towards Inspiration Lake, but it looked worse than it really was. It would have been a bit trickier earlier in the morning or later in the evening when the snow is more like ice ... but mid-day it was not a problem.

We found a nice spot on a little side-lake off of Perfection Lake. The others had a great time heading up Little Annapurna. It is completely non-technical and has some great views of the entire state. The mosquitoes were voracious. I have not seen more mosquitoes with the exception of the Boundary Waters and Alaska.

Here is a photo from our campsite looking out towards Perfection Lake. Note that this was actually taken on the morning of day 3.


Day 3 - Heading Out
We got up Sunday morning and started the long trek out. It is a long way down (~6K feet over ~9.5 miles) from our site. The first part of the trek was great. Here is a photo right after getting started as we headed down from Perfection to Sprite Lake.

Sprite Lake was very nice, but we did not find a good campsite there (so it was a good thing we found the spot that we did).

Lake Vivian also was a good spot, complete with some good campsites.

After Lake Vivian, we began the long slog down to Snow Lakes. This took a good amount of time. A lot of the path is rather rocky, and we did not make great time. We finally made it down to Upper Snow Lake around 11:30. We had some lunch, and decided to split up so a faster group could take care of the car shuttle and fill up the gas so we could get started with the long drive home as quickly as possible. Snow Lake was a nice spot, and had a number of great campsites.

Mark, Kelsey, Anna, Chris, and myself were the "slow group". It was a rather tough trek down from Snow Lakes ... much harder than I had anticipated. I thought that it would be largely switchbacks on a good trail through the woods. Instead, you are in the sun for the majority of the time walking along a path that is very rocky and difficult to really get going on. Nada Lakes was a decent spot, but for the most part, the rest of the trail was a forced march to the bottom.

All in all, it was a great trip with excellent views and good times. Nobody got hurt. I wish I had brought my mosquito headnet and less food, but otherwise it was great.

Photography
I took my Canon T1i along with my Tokina 12-24 F/4 and Canon 55-250. I primarily shot @ 12mm and the wide-angle lens was great for this trip. The telephoto was great for the many many many shots of mountain goats that I took. I used my polarizer for 95% of my wide-angle shots. If anything, the sky came out too blue in some cases. An ND filter would have been fun if we had more time and I brought a better tripod. but under the constraints I am glad I did not bring mine. I brought along a Tamrac ZipShot Ultralight Tripod (11.6oz) instead of my standard Manfrotto beast (~5lbs). It worked okay, but I definitely will only be using it in special cases like this one. You definitely need a cable release when using that thing with an SLR -- even using a 2 second exposure delay is not sufficient to avoid shake.

My Grandpa's Garden

They did a story about my grandpa's garden in the local paper.

My grandpa:


This year's plan:

Mt Hood Camping

We attempted Clara's second camping trip up to the Lost Creek campground near Mt Hood with Melvin, Michelle, Julien, and Avinash. Despite the fact that both nights we were out there Clara freaked out and had to be taken to our "backup plan" (a crappy hotel ~15 minutes away) it was a fun time.

Saturday Janel, Clara, and I went hiking with Michelle and Julien up to Mirror Lake. Melvin and Avinash attempted another more challenging hike. The weather was great, and Clara enjoyed the relatively easy 3 mile hike. There were plenty of dogs for her to screech at.

Here is a photo of Mt Hood from our lunch spot:



Ian, Janel, and Clara at Mirror Lake (courtesy of Julien):


Michelle and Julien:


After Mirror Lake we brought Clara back to camp for her nap. Julien and Janel hung around camp while Michelle and I hammered out Ramona Falls (the 8 mile hike was only ~5 minutes from our campground). I carried my tripod the whole in my hands (only brought the baby carrier) only to be rewarded by crappy lighting. Oh well.


Clara enjoyed camping ... except for the part about sleeping at night. Here is one of her enjoying Julien's camelbak:

Clara 9 months old

That means that the 8 month album is ready here. Stino came for a visit this month, and some of those photos can be found here. Grandma and Grandpa Alonzo also came for a visit, and those photos can be found here.

Some select photos from the last month:

Grandma and Grandpa Alonzo Visit (June edition)

The Alonzo's came out for a visit. We mostly took it easy and hung out around our place. They also started looking into some potential Condo purchases.

Anyway, here are some photos:

Clara, Janel, Grandma & Grandpa


Clara and Grandpa playing:


Clara and Grandma:


You can see all the photos here.

Stino Visit

Stino came for a visit. We went Wine Tasting and hiking at Silver Falls (among other things) (see previous post). Here are a couple more photos with Stino and Clara:

Clara showing Stino how it is done:


Clara and Stino at the park:


You can see all the photos here.

New Camera Toys

Stino is in town right now. I will blog about the visit next weekend. For now I wanted to do a quick post on some new camera toys I have been playing around with. I recently bought a 64x ND filter (B&W) and a Holux GPS logger. We took a trip out to Silver Falls with Stino. I have taken plenty of photos there before, but this was a good chance to practice with my new filter and try out the GPS. The GPS worked okay, but I lost reception a few times. I think in heavy tree cover I need to be a bit more careful about where the GPS is sitting. The filter, on the other hand, worked out great. For those of you who don't know, ND filters basically darken what is coming into the lens, allowing you to take longer exposures (which is nice for waterfalls and rivers during the middle of the day). The 64x ND is a pretty aggressive amount amount, but I am happy with it. I kinda wish I would have stacked my Polarizer on top of it (next time). Most of these shots were shot around f/9, so I think the polarizer would "work" still, but I am a bit worried about composition and metering, as it was already difficult to see what I was taking (since the view through the viewfinder also darkens), auto-focus had a hard time a couple of times, and I had to clean up the exposure in post processing a bit more than usual.

Time for some photos.

First off, South Falls. Perfect example of where the Polarizer would have helped a lot (cutting down on the mist reflection):


Here is one that turned out a bit better (although I should have taken a shorter exposure). This is from the side of Lower South Falls. Note that there is basically no vignetting despite the photo being taken @ 12mm with the filter. Hopefully that will hold up when I stack on the polarizer.


This one turned out well. Unlike the last one, the long exposure (6s) was not too long (IMHO). This is the bridge below Double Falls and above Lower North Falls.

Reusable Produce Bags

Do you already use your own reusable grocery bags, but hate filling them up with plastic produce bags? If so, check out these produce bags from Amazon.

Haircut, Teeth, and More

Clara turned 8 months old a couple days ago. So, I have wrapped up the 7 month album and started a new 8 month album. Clara is starting to get her first teeth in now and she got her first haircut (too much hair in the eyes and food in the hair). She is still not too interested in crawling, but manages to get around just fine by rolling and scootching. We went on our first hike about a week ago, and are planning to do more now that the nice weather is getting rolling. I also started a separate album that will be home to hiking photos from this year. I also got a little GPS logger that I am going to geotag some of my photos moving forward. Let's dive into some photos:

Clara and Mom at Wahclella Falls:



First tooth coming in:



First Haircut:


Playing in her dress from Grandma:

7.5 months old already?

Clara is 7.5 months old now. It is amazing how time flies. She is now sitting in a high chair eating food, rolling all over the place, babbling at us (mamamama, papapapa, dadadada), and sitting up on her own. She is still not crawling though and does not yet have her first teeth (both of which makes Mom happy). She sleeps "okay" at night. Some nights are great, others she wakes up once or twice. All in all she continues to be a pretty easy baby though.

I finally got around to processing a bunch of photos this past weekend. I finished up my 6 month album and started my 7 month album. I also have a small album of photos from Amy's Wedding and started another album with misc spring photos. Below are some of my favorite from these.

Summer is right around the corner, which means I will hopefully start have some more exciting photos than just Clara in the house. We have 3 camping trips planned, a trip to Hawaii, at least 1 backpacking trip (for me), along with a bunch if visitors (parents, Stino, Rohini, Laura, ...) so it should prove to be a fun and busy summer.

Clara shortly after starting to eat food:


Clara and her blanket:


Clara sick, but still happy:


Family photo before Amy's wedding:


Clara in the backyard:


Clara with Mom:


Clara with Dad:


And some tulips in the backyard:

New Baby Purchases

A good friend of mine recently announced that he and his wife will be having a baby. I figured I would take some time to write down some suggestions on what to buy and what not to buy. Clara is ~5 months old now, so we have a decent idea of what works and what does not for the first couple months. This does not get into stuff that gets more important down the road (like High Chairs, etc). The goal is to help out with the stuff that you probably want to have when you come home from the hospital.

Amazon Mom

I suggest signing up for Amazon Mom (just google it). Not sure how long the promotion will be available, but for us we got free Amazon Prime (free 2 day shipping) for 3 months. Then you get up to 9 more months free (1 every time you spend $30+ in Amazon Mom). Amazon in general is a great place to get baby stuff (a lot cheaper than Babies R Us and even Target in many cases). Free 2 day shipping makes it even better.

Stroller and Car Seat

You have two options here: "Travel System" or not.

Travel System

I strongly advise against Travel Systems. These contain an infant car seat + base and a stroller that it fits into that can also be used as a "normal" stroller once the baby reaches ~1yr old. These are definitely a good deal ($$) and you can save money going this route. However, they are a real pain. For a whole year, you will be carting around a stroller that holds your infant car seat. It is big and bulky and heavy. The vast majority of people I know that bought one regret it.

Infant Car Seat Stroller Frames

Instead, I suggest getting an infant car seat and an "Infant Car Seat Stroller Frame". These are relatively small and light weight, and definitely get the job done. I personally bought the Graco one because I bought a Graco infant seat (~$60).

Infant Car Seats

For the car seat, we bought a Graco SnugRide 32. Good reviews on Consumer Reports. We went to a car seat installation check (which we would also recommend) and the police officer that checked out our install said that he recommends the SnugRide. Relatively good price and great safety features. The only drawbacks are (1) it is heavy and (2) it takes up a lot of space in the back seat. Definitely make sure it is going to fit in your car before you purchase it. There are a couple of different SnugRide sizes. I would recommend against the 35, but I think both the 32 and the regular one are good. The Chico Keyfit is also highly rated. It did not fit well in the Stroller Frame, so that is why we decided against it.

Do not get one of the "convertible" car seats. These transform from an infant seat into a 1-year old seat. They have poor safety ratings.

BabyBjorn

These are for holding your baby on your body. Great when you don't want to deal with a stroller (think shopping). Buy one or borrow one from a friend (thanks Lynn!).

Crib, Bassinet, Mattress

We got a crib from a friend (thanks Kim!). It came from Ikea. Just get a simple stable one with no moving parts that you like the look of. Check out Ikea. You definitely want one that you can raise/lower the level of the sleeping surface. It should take some effort though (screw drivers, etc). Recommend against any that quickly transforms.

Mattress

Recommend against the mattresses at Ikea. They are a bit too soft. You want a HARD mattress for newborns (SIDS risk). Recommend hitting up Babies R Us and talking to someone about their mattresses. The person we talked to was very well informed. Don't get a cheap one, but you also probably don't need the most expensive one either.

Bassinets and Travel Cribs

You have a couple options for how to have your newborn sleep in the first few months (and beyond). First you have to decide if you want them to sleep with you in your room, or if you want them in their own room. You probably will at least want baby sleeping in your room the first week or so (just because you will be too nervous to leave baby alone even if they would be fine).

If you want the baby in your bed with you long term, people suggest a co-sleeper. We don't do this, so we have no advice.

If you think you want your baby in your room but not in your bed, you can use a bassinet for the first month or so. After that, most babies are too big for bassinets. We moved Clara out of our room before she outgrew the bassinet. We don't think you need to buy anything expensive.

If you want your baby out of your room sooner rather than later (like we did), we suggest getting a portable crib that includes a bassinet. We got a Graco Pack N Play. There are a lot of different kinds. We got one of the cheaper ones. This worked fine as a bassinet, but because it is cheap it is also small, and therefore Clara is not really able to use it durin the day very well anymore (now @ ~5 months). I would suggest paying a bit more for a slightly larger one. All the fancy extras are pretty pointless -- you just need somewhere to put the baby.

Bedding

We suggest just getting some sheets and mattress covers (at least two of each). Bumpers seem rather pointless (and some claim that they are a breathing hazard). Blankets are a waste of time. You can't put them in the crib anyway. They have these fancy bedding sets that are tempting, but I think they are a waste of time.

Mobile

We bought a mobile (Fisher Price Precious Planet). It's okay. Can't say we love it, but we do use it from time to time.

Swing

We did not buy one, although I almost clicked "buy" about 4 nights straight during the first month. After that she started sleeping better and we have not really looked back.

Boppy Pillow

Get one if you are planning to breastfeed. Bring it to the hospital with you. Another option is the "Babies Breast Friend".

Bottles

Recommend a drying rack. Do not recommend any sort of sanitizer system.

We got some Born Free bottles. The bottles work fine. Our only complaint is that they don't seem to seal all that well. So, if you want to take a bottle on the road, you have the be careful.

Diaper Stuff

We so far are very happy with the Tiddee Didee diaper service. Recommend getting some infant disposable diapers for the first week or so (until the umbilical cord falls off). Start the service once the doctor checks the bellybutton and tells you all or most of the chord is gone. Recommend the Thirsties Duo diaper covers (~$!3 each at Amazon). Get the ones with velcro fasteners at the top (and snaps to adjust the size).

Janel bought some fleece at JoAnne fabrics that she cut into rectangles. We stick it in the diapers at night. It helps keep things dry against the baby's butt. Seems to work well. Definitely don't bother if your baby is still going #2 at night.

Wet Bags

These are little bags that hold used diapers. They are way better than crappy plastic bags. Highly recommend the Kushies On the Go Wet Bags (2 for ~$10 @ Amazon).

Diaper Doubler

These are little inserts that you can stick in the diapers for night time. For a while we were using 2 diapers at the same time. We have bought a couple of these but are yet to try them. Verdict is out. ($8 for 2 @ Amazon)

Changing Table

Table -- Just get something simple and sturdy.

Pad -- find one that fits your table.

Pad Covers -- We like to have a few. We have a "nice" one that covers the pad itself. We have a couple "Carters Super Soft Dot Cover". That is the last layer of defense. You don't need more that 2. On top of that, we have a simple waterproof rectangular changing mat that sits on top of the nice changing pad. That is the primary layer of defense. We have 3 of them. On top of that we keep a cloth diaper. That is the first layer of defense in case they decide to go to the bathroom on the table (which is not uncommon).

Clothing

There are a few things you definitely want to get for coming home. Don't buy too much other than this though until after you get presents (because you will get a lot).

Miracle Blanket (~$30 @ Amazon): Great for swaddling newborns. Recommend getting 1 or 2. Some babies love them. Clara liked hers for a few weeks, but then got annoyed.

Sleep Sack (~$20 @ Amazon): Your baby should sleep in this after they get sick of a miracle blanket. Get 2. Highly recommended.

White Onesies: Get 3-5 of these for PJs (under the sleep sack). Recommend Carters over Gerber. Long sleeve for colder seasons, short for warmer. I don't think they carry these at Amazon and Target only has Gerber (at least ours only has the gerber ones). You have to go to Babies R Us for Carters.

We also like the one-piece snap-up/zip-up outfits. Most of them have feet, which we prefer, since then you don't have to deal with socks.

Rocking Chair

Janel likes it a lot. You at least need some kind of chair in the room. A rocker is nice. Ours does not recline backwards and that has not bothered us. The foot rest has not been that important. Some people seem to love them, but we rarely use it.

Bouncers

Highly recommend getting a bouncer. These are little reclined chairs that the baby can sit/lay in while you do stuff. We got the Fisher Price Rainforest Bouncer (~$40 at Amazon).

Baby Monitors

We did not get a video monitor. I think that they are more of a toy for the parents (albeit a fun one). We do have a decent audio monitor. We got the Sony 900MHz BabyCall (~$50 at Amazon). The squelch is not adjustable. They are not DECT (encrypted). Audio quality is so-so. If you care about people spying, then get a DECT pair. We do not :). Definitely get a pair with some kind of squelch so that you don't have to listen to white noise.

Chicago Visit - Post 2/2

Here is round 2 of photos from the Chicago visit. This round has photos from Janel's side of the family.

You can see all the photos here.

Clara, Janel, and Grandma and Grandpa A


Clara and Grandpa A


Clara and Grandma A


Clara and Uncle Stino


Clara, Uncle Frankie, and Brian


Clara and Great Grandma K