Joooose!

We bought a high quality juicer a few weeks ago and justified it by being able to stuff all those good healthy veggies that Kian won't usually eat straight into his gullet through a quick shot of tasty juice. It took us awhile to get the recipe right: he didn't like the strong snap of ginger, the bitter bite of lemon or celery, or the strange funk of spinach or other leafy greens, at least not without the sweet additives of apple, orange, and carrot. Here he is this very morning enjoying the simple pleasure of a fresh extraction.

Breathe, Kian, breathe....

Still mulling the taste over on his pallet: the verdict, Kian?

Oh yeah, he likes it!

In celebration of Movember: a superfood stache!

More!?

More More Mud!

"More mud" was Kian's slogan for the day -- we think he heard the announcer or a passing racer say it, and it became his mantra as he rode laps through all the deepest, dirtiest mud holes. A bunch of the Team Soulsport gang rallied down south for the race and the weather was perfect for NW CX: muddy, chilly but clear and sunny with 2-3 wild rain squalls which kept the mud fresh and the puddles full.

Just put the mud right here.

Presiding over the action.

The RV's parked belly to belly for maximum awning coverage.

First Cut

Kian's bronzed buddies.

I think it was shaping up to be a big lazy rainy Saturday in October, but after a big lazy rainy day breakfast we decided to rally and get out for some fun. We started at the zoo where we caught most of Kian's favorite attactions: elephants, orangutangs, all kinds of monkeys, the meerkats hippos penguins and giraffes. Then on the way home I offered to pay for Kian's first haircut if they'd let me (but I had to counter-offer to pay for cupcakes at Trophy too)-- he's hair was getting unruly and at 2 Kian decided that he was ready for a new look, an image changer.

Monkeyin' around!


Pick out a chair: Kian chose the boat, but
hmmm... that tractor looks nice too.

Pick out a toy: yep, a train.

A couple squirts, a couple clips, no problem...

Then all of a sudden...

Icing on the cupcake: helped Kian to deal with the loss
of his locks. Helped mommy deal too.

Backtrackin: Pumpkin Patch

Annie has a ton of pictures on her camera that need to get posted and some go waaaaay back into late summer. Its almost winter now. Most of these pics are coming from October and that month really flew by. Here we are already in November with the daylight savings shift coming up, my least favorite time of the year. Why? In these latitudes children are destined to go to school in the dark and come home in the dark whether you shift the day an hour in either direction. Lets get on board with the forward thinking States and boycott it -- tomorrow is election day, lets get this one on the ballot!

Kian has been a super-stinker the past couple of months, of course he is two now so that comes with the territory, we're told. He's in daycare now and learning all kinds of tricks, and every day he comes home with new way of expressing himself: often new words, sometimes new means of manipulation. Otherwise he's doing great and physically he has caught up: he's finally reached the thirty/thirty club (30-lbs/30-inches) and he's above the 50th percentile in both of those.

It began as a super foggy morning but it all burned off and was fabulous for the rest of the day. We were up north of the city with Mari and her kids and we picked out a few pumpkins, rode a tractor-train and then went for a hayride.

One of Kian's favorite things right now is trains, he's really really into trains, and so about once a week we'll hike down Jackson Street to the "tube" and we'll hop the light rail into the city, and back, and forth, until he's happy... or I've had enough which, so far, comes first.

Not sure whats going on in this picture but it looks
compelling enough. Poor little guy has had his share
of nagging ailments last month.

First Cyclocross Ever

Kian and I drove down to Portland one weekend to get out of mommy's hair since she had a test to study for. And also because there was a cyclocross race organized by my team Veloce Cycles-- Kian just had to give the sport a try. It was another epic day of mud and Kian and I both did pretty poorly, to be honest. Kian just didn't have the legs on this day, and I didn't even have the heart to finish (I was stung 3X by bees, crashed into a sticker patch shredding my legs and skinsuit, and I was crashing every 50 feet).

At the start line, Kian with no Portland call-up, still looking for that hole-shot!

And they're off!

C'mon Kian, hit it!

Where'd everyone run off to?

Battered, bruised and bloody.

Here's a cameo of the new rig! (not even fully built-up yet).
Not looking forward to getting this thing muddy.