Hazel Tackles Mount Adams

(Above) Hazel admires the view of Mount Adams from her perch atop Sleeping Beauty Peak.
As you are surely aware, Hazel is a very busy baby. So far this summer she has visited Mount Hood twice, Mount Rainier, the Olympic Peninsula, Mount Saint Helens, the Sisters, Seattle and now Mount Adams.

Hazel loves to ride in her backpack and tell her daddy where to go. She talks most of the time she goes on hikes.

Hazel's dad took extra care to identify nearly every tree Hazel and he passed. Hazel likes touching the tree and practicing her "tr" sounds. Hazel also enjoys camping and learning about camp-fires. She is getting used to sleeping in her tent and slept 12 hours Saturday night while bundled up in her own sleeping bag.

The next day Hazel went hiking on Mount Adams' east side on the Yakama Nation Reservation. Hazel observed many waterfalls from her perch on Daddy's back, but she really enjoyed hanging out at Hellroaring Viewpoint, staring out at the Mazama Glacier and declaring her love for her BOTTLE!

Hazel and her apparatus

Hazel Walks, on Video, Kind of

Bald Mountain

Aunt Ailey came to town!  Aunt Ailey came to town!  Upon her return from Tajikistan, Mom immediately took Aunt Ailey and her friend, Jen, hiking.  Ailey actually volunteered to carry Hazel and Mom didn't have the heart to protest.

Lewis River

Mom and Hazel set out for their last beach adventure of the summer season and headed to Lewisville Park.  Sadly, this was also Mom's favorite of all the swimming holes they have visited over the summer.  Happily, it was also beautiful and warm.  Hazel approves.

New kicks

Summer is slowly drawing to a close, which means that Mom and Hazel are both heading back to school.  It also means that sometime soon the weather might get a little cooler and Hazel will no longer be allowed to run around barefoot, as she has done all summer.  Today, the inevitable happened and Hazel got some *real* shoes.  She wasn't too pleased about giving up her wild ways, despite evidence to the contrary in this photo.

Bantamweight

Hazel finally had her 1-year appt. today and here are her stats:

Weight: 18 lbs. 2 oz. (5th percentile)

Height: 30 inches (71st percentile)

Hair: NONE.  Well, okay, maybe a wisp or two.

Teeth: 2 1/4, but that's kind of generous.

Walking: HA HA HA HA......nope

Talking: Mama, Dada, Duh (Dog), Ball, wow, AAAAAHHHHH (in an ear-piercing screech, for something she wants)

Food preferences:  Does it taste like refried beans or resemble cheese?  Then, yes.  Otherwise, HECK NO.

Eyes: Bigger than ever

Personality: Bigger than ever

Hazel's first podium

The initial plans were for Mom to race the Portland Triathlon and then meet Hazel and Dad for coffee or brunch.  But when Mom found out she won 2nd in her age group, Hazel decided she just HAD to be there to see Mom on the podium.  After all, this was Hazel's first chance to be on a podium too.

Hazel eyes Mom's second place prize suspiciously.

Afterwards, Mom showed Hazel some love.  This was pretty much all Hazel's doing: Mom got a lot faster after having Hazel even with much less training.  Hazel doesn't seem to mind the extra appreciation.

Sisters

Hazel and Mom took off for three days of fun in Sisters, OR without any silly dads or dogs or friends around.  To say they had a fantastic time would be an understatement.  Hazel charmed everyone in the town of Sisters, they hiked and played in lakes and pretty much laid claim to summer.

Hazel helped fill out the wilderness pass at the Tam Mcarthur Ridge trailhead.  She made sure it was nice and soggy before submitting it.

Notice the lack of hat?  Yeah, Hazel kept taking it off.  So Mom kept putting it back on, best as she could with a baby on her back.

Hazel tells Mom, "See?  I told you we would make it!"

Hazel approves of Three Creeks Lake, especially its sandy shores and warm temps.

"See that ridge?" Hazel says, "We went all the way up there!"

There's a new sherpa in town

And her name is Breen!  Breen is Mom's friend who moved to Philadelphia a year and a half ago and Mom really, really, REALLY misses her.  Like, a lot.  (Mom wants to know why all of her friends who do cool things like telemark ski and rock climb MOVE AWAY, but that's a discussion for another day.)

Breen kindly offered to schlep Hazel on a hike on Mt. Hood.  The plan was to go to Horseshoe Ridge.  The plan was foiled and re-formatted to be a hike to Ramona Falls because that's where the road ended.

So.  It was a beautiful day.  Breen carried Hazel.  Hazel babbled away.  Mom hung out with Breen.  SUCCESS.

This is at the beginning of the hike, before Breen realizes how heavy Hazel really is.

The HOOD!  Now this is what August should look like.  Breen hypnotized Hazel before she had a chance to even see anything.

Crossing the Sandy River.

3.5 miles later, at Ramona Falls.  Hazel had just woken up.  "Uh...what's that roaring sound?" she asked.

Hazel takes the time to explain the inner workings of her baby backpack.

AUGUST?!?

Hazel spent her weekend camping and hiking at Mt. Rainier, where the weather was decidedly UN-August-like.  It was so wintry in fact, that Mom and Dad were forced to break out the fleece suit to keep Hazel warm.  She slept in her long underwear, fleece footy pajamas, fleece bunting AND her sleeping bag in the tent on Saturday night.  Hazel wants to know, where did summer go??

All was not lost on Hazel's trip to Mt. Rainier.  On Sunday, the clouds cleared, Mt. Rainier showed itself and Dad said, "Let's go RIGHT NOW!"  So, the Barkers hightailed it to Paradise and hiked as high as they could.  Hazel's favorite word for the day? "Wow, wow, WOW!"

Hazel does not like wearing this much fleece in August any more than Mom and Dad do.

Learning how to start a campfire from Mom.  This is a crucial skill that all girls must know.

Riding on Dad's back up a mountain is so supremely awesome.

Hazel tried hard not to fall off the mountain during lunch.

WAY too cool for this mountain.  Next!

*SIGH*

Wishing the rain away

It's been raining here in Portland. In August. During the summer. Isn't that supposed to be illegal or something?


Hazel made the best of it and crawled around in the mud at Washington Park with her new friend, 9-month-old Eli, and Eli's 3-year-old brother, Adrian. Eli's mom and Hazel's mom were friends back in high school (through CHURCH. I know, hard to believe.). They found each other because Hazel's dad and Eli's dad now work together at the fire department.


Long story short, everyone got together for a muddy good time.

Hazel is currently obsessed with bike water bottles, even on the swing. Good thing Mom and Dad keep, oh, about 500 of them in the kitchen at any given time.

Threatening anyone who even comes near her water bottle.

Eli is one seriously cute 9-month-old who outweighs Hazel by about 5 pounds. Hazel quickly conceded the title of Queen Bee upon Eli's arrival.

Snackin' on stuff during a rare moment when they weren't stealing each other's toys or crawling on top of each other.

Sorry...

But we don't have any pictures of Hazel from the last few days since she was with her grandparents and her parents were busy doing this:

Seattle

Hazel is on a trip to Seattle for the next several days. She enjoyed her grandparents' visit to Portland so much, she followed them home. On Thursday, she got to play the part of tourist.

Mom and Hazel went to the aquarium with Mary, her daughters Charlotte and Madeline and Madeline's friend, Amelia. It was an exercise much like herding cats since Madeline and Amelia are both 2 years old. Charlotte is only 5 weeks old, so she slept through the whole experience. Hazel just said, "Wow, wow, WOW."

Mom couldn't go to the waterfront without a visit to Ivar's Fish and Chips. Hazel refused to share her food with the seagulls.

As part of their aquarium ticket, Mom and Hazel went on a tour of the harbor. Hazel was very excited about the boat.

Mom and Hazel have some fun with the camera.

Hazel is scowling because she would rather be crawling around the boat and making friends than posing for this silly picture.

Hazel has people to see in Seattle. She completed her day with dinner on Portage Bay with Kevin and Joanne. Afterwards, Joanne wanted to put a crown of flowers on Hazel's head. Hazel had other plans.

One

Hazel turned one on Tuesday. She celebrated with some of her favorite people: her family. For her, it was an excellent opportunity to go to the zoo, eat cake, and open presents. For the rest of her family, it was a day to reflect on the wonder of having Hazel in their lives for the past year. No doubt, we love this kid.

Hazel checks out the view outside of the zoo train.

Showing off her party dress pre-cake.

Wondering just how much longer she has to wait before she digs her fingers in to that delicious cupcake.

Mom explains Hazel's newest toy: a front-end loader truck. Hazel slept with it that night.