AB/CDEzra

Just a few quick shots of the little guy:

• Hanging out with Mom and Grandma Pearl -- GP's been his full-time buddy this week, freeing up Daddy to sit here uploading photos and listening to music.
  
• This one is a lot like the other one shown here, but really shows off those chubby cheeks and crazy-blue eyes....just like his sisters, apparently.
  
• Who made who? Who made you? Check out the rockin' duds, received from rockin' friends.

Added...

...the previously promised video of Ella riding her new bike on her birthday.

Fall Riding

This time last year, my mountain bike season ended with a dump of snow that stayed for months. It's supposed to snow tomorrow, so I'm heading out on my sixth ride in eight days this morning. After years of being mocked for posts like this, I usually only post the special rides. The common ones on the trails around town don't make the cut, but their absence from this personal record is misleading -- regular riding is still an essential part of my identity because it gets me into nature, keeps me from getting an oh-so-manly beer gut, and feels fantastic. The regular rides are often social, too -- this photo shows my friend Richard winding up Giant's Head on Thursday. I still like riding alone, but it's great to have a compatible riding partner for the company and the extra motivation to ride on cold windy mornings.

I went back through my Flickr photos and dug up a bunch of biking-related shots from the last couple of months:

• This time of year brings brilliant fall sunshine and brooding wintery clouds over the lake. Oddly enough, the sunny days tend to be the cold ones.
  
• It might seem futile and irrelevant (even Sisyphean) to climb up mountains just to roll back down (video) again, but in addition to the immediate joy, it sets me up to enjoy the rest of my life more.
  
• One area near town has several herds of wild horses, which make excellent singletrack -- it's always fascinating to watch them for a while and see how the newest ones are doing.
  
• You have to look closely to see the bear's track beside my tire track, which might have been from this mama bear I saw nearby with a couple of cubs.
  
• If I'm alert, I come across all kinds of neat stuff. Most times I don't get a photo, but I liked these two unique finds: gopher snake (info here) and purple puffballs.

Miss You

I'm missing the beach today, as a few flakes float down to remind us that winter is really coming. I kept meaning to post this photo from back in September -- I love the perspective on the fun and chaos. It shows Lorne's total commitment to his role, too; his continual willingness to step up for his girls.

I was going back through a bunch of photos I had never posted earlier in fall, and found a few good ones from the beach. It seems like a fitting theme to officially say goodbye to summer:

• Myron and Tracey playing pepper on the last really hot day in late September (and one of Myron digging)
  
• me and Ezra when he was still looking newborn
  
• the girls "whale-riding" and walking along the water on Sept.26th
  
• Tannis, Ezra and Ella on a gorgeous October morning at Powell Beach
  
• Elf-Ivy at Bertram on Thanksgiving weekend

Trip Clips

A way-late update: I thought I'd upload some of the video clips from our Tofino trip, in sorta-chronological order -- the kids packed up and ready to go in the back seat, a couple of aquarium creatures, playing on the beach in front the Sylvia, first morning in Tofino, Long Beach, then a quick clip of chaos at Steve and Ang's, and Ivy's chopsticks experiment in our room when we had takeout noodles and Malaysian with Esther (yum).

Merritt Madness

Angelo and I stole one from the jaws of winter yesterday, driving from our respective homes through snowy passes to ride and pub together in Merritt. The mountain bike association there has done an inspirational job, and we keep going back for more. The whole experience made me feel 24 years old instead of 34 (or the 44 I've been feeling lately); even just cruising up the highway with some vintage tunes cranked (Soundgarden's Badmotorfinger and The Real Thing by Faith No More, both SO solid after all these years), coffee in hand, and no interruptions from the back seat.

The Godey Creek trails delivered yet again, with that long, mellow singletrack climb through sparse forest, then across a huge ridge of open grasslands, and finally the amazing technical descent along the creek. Sprinkle in some excellent conversation with an old friend to stretch the ride to three hours, an hour and half at the pub (Black Bear on tap!), and you've pretty much got my dream day. A few photos for posterity:

• Singletrack twisting through the trees and mossy spots
  
• At the coldest point in the ride, when my energy was running low, Angelo cracked open a secret thermos of hot chocolate and shared -- GENIUS
  
• Lots of smiles this day.

Oh, and a neat little video showing Angelo riding a section (in two parts, because I had to move in between) of the creekside trail, with the adjacent waterfall providing the soundtrack:

Ezzie Ezborne

One would think I could at least throw the occasional update up here on our newest family member. Truth is, he doesn't do too much worthy of mention -- just the usual baby stuff. That said, he's cute like crazy and he seems to be going into a new stage right now with some giggles and grabbing things consistently. A few recent photos:

• Hanging out with Ella, the only one of us who seems to be able to make Ezra laugh consistently.
  
• Mr. Blue Eyes, enjoying the crisp fall air
  
• laughing on his impromptu change table on our recent road trip

I put together a bunch of the recent video clips we've taken of him, including some crazy cycling practice (watch those legs), and his attempts at conversation, singing with his sisters, and laughing. A quick minute-and-a-half tribute to Ezra:

Fall Photos

A few people have taken the lack of posting here as a sign that there's something wrong over here in Summerland, but really, just look at this photo -- our family is enormous and it takes a lot of time to keep it running semi-functionally. That's my excuse for not updating the blog, anyway.

Speaking of that photo, it was the result of a very cool idea our newest Summerland friends had a few weeks ago to meet at Sunoka beach on a perfect fall day and take family photos of each other. Seems like a fair trade, right? It would have been, except that Robin is basically a professional photographer and I...am not. And we used his amazing Nikon and wicked lens for all of them, which could have very bad consequences for my bank account in the next year or so.

Anyway, it was mellow and fun and Robin got about a hundred great photos of us and of course we should print one and send it out in the mail to all of you for Christmas, but we never get it together enough to actually do that. So here are a few just for fun: me and Ezra, Ezra and Tannis, and Ivy grinning.