Hazel is not a very good ski jumper

It was a very merry Christmas

For the first time in years, Dad had Christmas Eve AND Christmas day off.  A weekend followed that, so Hazel took her parents to her grandparents' house in Sammamish for the holiday.  We HAVE to get more presents! she told them.  And there was no lack of presents nor relatives to love on Hazel in Sammamish.

Grandma and Grandpa bought Hazel a Little People nativity scene, complete with palm trees.  Uncle Nate puts it to good use by "crowning" Hazel.

Having a lot of people who love and adore you is good- most of the time.  Then, it can become a little exhausting.

The ever-growing Kaiser family.  The Hizz has a new cousin on the way!  She can't wait to show him or her the ropes.

Toddlers do not pose very well for photos.

Playing Wii ski-jumping.  Mom and Dad make a very conscious effort to not let Hazel watch tv or play video games, but hey, it's Christmas.  Let's eat some refined sugar and stay up until 9pm while we're at it!  Long live the holidays!

Rain, rain, and more rain

Uncle Nate and Aunt Marissa came down from Seattle for a fabulous weekend of skiing.  Except it rained...a lot.  Everyone bagged the mountain on Saturday and went to Beacon Rock instead- in the rain.

Hazel catches raindrops on her tongue.

A wet family picture in the clouds.  Not much to see here today.

Hazel was angry to have missed another chance to use her season pass.

After a wet afternoon, everyone joined the entire metro population of Portland for Zoo Lights.  At this point, Hazel has been to the holiday parade in Bellevue, WA, PIR Bike Lights, and Zoo Lights.  Enough! she says (or maybe that was her mom who said Enough!).  

And, then, on Sunday, Hazel sucked it up like a good Northwestern girl and braved the rain to go to the mountain anyway.  Except for some walks outside, she mostly made the rounds of the lodge- again and again and again, and then fell asleep on Uncle Nate.

After driving home in- guess what? MORE RAIN- Hazel went back to bed for a nap.  She was SO over the rain.

On the mountain

Hazel was supposed to spend two days on the mountain this weekend, but Mom came down with bronchitis, so Dad went up and ski patrolled by himself on Saturday.  Mom and Hazel spent the whole day in their fleece pajamas in front of the fireplace, so it wasn't too bad.

On Sunday, though, Mom couldn't take it anymore and all of the Barkers went back to the Hood.  It looked like this, sunny with 5 inches of fresh, cold powder:

Hazel spent her morning entertaining various skiers in the lodge and then promptly conked out in front of the fireplace.

Afterwards, Hazel quickly made friends with the big kids in the lodge and basically following them everywhere they went.  Those big kids are just so AWESOME.

Lights by bike

Every winter, PIR creates a Winter Wonderland of lights.  Usually, visitors drive through the light shows.  This year, the show was opened up to bikes for one night only- no cars allowed.  Unfortunately, bike night fell on one of the coldest nights of the year.  The temperature was only in the 20s, but the wind chill made it a true arctic blast.  Mom and Dad hemmed and hawed a little before finally deciding that the Barkers are tough.  Everyone bundled up and headed out in to the cold on their bikes.

Before boarding her chariot aka bike trailer, Hazel shows off her winter fashion.  Remind you of anyone you may have seen in A Christmas Story?  The gloves and boots (and fleece socks you can't see), by the way, come from Molehill Mountain, the only company Mom has found that makes true winter clothing accessories in Hazel's size.  Ten points for quality AND affordability.

The family, with the hidden Hazel, at the entrance to the light show.  Mom and Dad had on all of their ski clothes.  Hazel was nicely enconsed in her chariot and didn't feel a breath of wind.  Some babies have all the luck.  She did, however, point to lights (as best as she could with big, warm mittens on), when asked.

Once back at home, in front of the warm fire, Hazel plotted which ornaments to destroy first.  So many to choose from, so little time.

Christmas tree hunting

It was an atypical Saturday for the Barkers.  Dad was on call and the skiing probably wasn't any good anyway- it was 12 degrees on the mountain with no new snow for over a week and a half.  Mom made the most of the situation and raced the USGP Cyclocross race early in the morning.  In the afternoon, everyone went in search of a Christmas tree.  Turns out that Hazel is a pro at choosing the best tree.

Hazel explores the finer points of wagon-riding. 

Dad and Hazel admire a mighty fine tractor tire.

Despite clear instructions to guide Mom towards some affordable Douglas Firs, Hazel really wants a very expensive Noble Fir.  Can you say "after-school job" for the Hizz?

On the way back to hot cider, cookies, and a warm fire.

Hazel on the Snow - In Video

Does this baby look sick to you?

Well, she was last night and kept Mom and Dad up for HOURS, the first time she had done that since she was 10 weeks old.  She and Mom slept in until 10:30am today and are spending the day hanging out in their pajamas.  Hazel seems no worse for the wear.  Her mom, on the other hand, could use several strong cups of coffee.

All in a day's work

It's hard work helping your parents ski patrol each weekend.  First, Dad took off for Skibowl where he took the morning shift.  Hazel and Mom set out on a winter snowshoe which quickly turned in to just a hike due to snowshoe malfunction.  Hazel didn't seem to care too much- she promptly conked out:

Then, Mom took the afternoon shift and Dad took Hazel skinning up to Silcox Hut and then skied down.  Hazel is missing her sunglasses in this picture because she decided to rip them off her head halfway up:

Afterwards, Dad and Hazel came back to Skibowl to pick Mom up and Hazel got to ride in her perfectly-sized toddler sled.  She also learned the word "GO!"

To finish off the day, Hazel helped Mom and Dad organize all of their skis, skins, snowshoes, packs, boots, poles, and baby:

On the way home, Mom and Hazel took another nap and Dad hammed it up for the camera.  Ski patrolling is hard work!

Bring on the holidays!

While Hazel visited her grandparents over the Thanksgiving break, she went to visit Santa and experience the uniquely American phenomenon of "mall hordes".  Here she is, ready to visit the Big Guy, toothbrush and toothpaste in hand (in case Santa has bad breath, of course):

Upon arrival at Santa's workshop, Hazel immediately started looking for her presents.  Mom and Dad regretted to inform her that she has approximately 27 more days until they arrive.

Hazel took the opportunity to play hide and seek with her skirt and Uncle Nate's head.  

When the big moment came, Hazel was not interested in meeting Santa AT ALL.  So Mom and Dad had their picture taken too, even though they weren't dressed up nearly as nice as Hazel.

And, in the end, everyone except for Grandma and Grandpa had their picture taken with Santa too.

Afterwards, the family stuck around for the Christmas parade.  Then, Hazel melted and fell asleep.  Happy Holidays.

Happy Thanksgiving! Hazel's Walking

Hazel has had a very busy Thanksgiving.  She went and visited her grandparents in Sammamish, Washington, just outside of Seattle.  While there she practiced her walking.  In the past two weeks she's gone from a timid tumbling stepper to a full-time walker.  She rarely crawls now.  

A quick one

Mom and Dad had a major party foul this weekend and completely forgot the camera. Instead, we bring you this grainy Blackberry image of Mom and Hazel reading by the fire at the Cascade Ski Lodge, where everyone stayed on Saturday night. It's a family-style hostel in Government Camp and it allowed the Barkers to avoid driving to mountain two days in a row to go skiing.

While on the mountain this weekend, Hazel hung out with her buddy, Eli, and enjoyed snowshoeing in fresh powder with Dad while Mom was ski patrolling in a blizzard. Hazel thinks mountain weekends are quite grand.

Hazel Walks, For Real

Hazel walks more and more each day!

Skiing and cyclocross

Hazel and Dad spent some quality time together while Mom was ski patrolling:

Mom and Dad switched spots at lunch and Dad went ski patrolling while Mom watched Hazel. She also snuck out for some turns while Mom's friend, Lydia, watched The Hizz.

On Sunday, it was back to the muddy bike races, where Hazel did her best to demonstrate her best GRRRRR face to the bike racers:

And then, Hazel came home and crashed.  It's tough to be a skiing, bike-racing baby and keep up with your parents.

Back at the Races

The look says it all.

Crusader

Hazel has a lot to write about her Sunday at The Crusades, but she is a little busy. For now, you can enjoy this picture (courtesy of Heidi Swift):

First snow of the season

This is Hazel at Timberline Lodge a little over a year ago.  It was her first winter day on the mountain and she celebrated by rolling over.

Fast forward twelve months.  Hazel has a few tricks up her sleeve and roughly the same amount of hair.  The Barker family celebrated the first snow of the year by going straight to the source- Mt. Hood.  Pre-departure, Mom and Dad worked with Hazel to teach her what to do in case of emergency- call for PIZZA.

Neighbor Sue gave Hazel this sweet snow suit from Columbia and Mom and Dad couldn't pass it up today.  Notice the lack of snow boots.  Finding snow boots in an infant size 1-2 is proving especially difficult.  Hazel apparently has REALLY small feet.

Before hiking, Dad taught Hazel about proper snowball production.  You know, just in case the need arose.

The snow just kept dumping all afternoon.  It got so heavy in fact, that Mom and Dad cancelled the baby sledding session and went to the coffee shop instead.

Hazel had the opportunity to try out her new ski goggles, even if her feet are still too small for her toddler skis.  She was less than pleased.

Good morning, Sunshine!

Bike racing Halloween madness

Hazel eschews kid Halloween parties as too "babyish".  She spent her Halloween at the cyclocross races in Astoria with Mom, Ky and Joe, and Heather.  Dad was on call so he, sadly, stayed home.  Despite missing Dad terribly, Hazel spent her weekend eating, heckling costumed racers and laughing at bikes.

During Mom's race on Saturday, Hazel practiced her trick-or-treating negotiations.  Mom and Dad had agreed not to give Hazel any candy, but it seems Hazel didn't know that, nor did Dad's teammates.  Besides, she drives a hard bargain!

Hazel was a tiger.  However, she was a tiger without a head since she hated the hood.  She, was, however, very quick to point out the bikes she saw.

Mom's friend, Heather, was also a cat.  Together, they made for some very cool cats.

In a nod to the past, Mom was Strawberry Shortcake. Hazel didn't care too much.  She was a lot more interested in her spoon.