School starts, someone turns 30, and the beer is good.

School started for the kids and you know what that means. Back to school shopping, homework, enforced bedtimes, all sorts of fun! Kay-la has opted into the G.E.D. program and is already ready to test on 4 of 6 subjects. Noah is starting to really take off with his reading skills. He's found that he can read books all on his own if he just pays close attention to what the words REALLY are.

My 30th bday just passed and it was a BLAST! We had a number of folks over to help me celebrate and the party went into the wee morning hours. Thankfully we warned the neighbors and let them know that if we were too loud we would like them to let us know....not that we where loud, but we did go pretty late!

Late Summer Camping Trip

The Corcoran Family and friends went camping last weekend and here is a shot of the waterfalls that were just down the way from our camp site. This was one of the best trips we've made. Though smoky for the first few days, the last two cleared up nicely. Starry skies at night, crystal clear water during the day, it was almost paradise.

Its very strange, when camping, Ted is very energetic and excited about everything. All day he wants to explore, river walk, run around, go swimming...he never stops. Noah on the other hand was content to do what ever Dad was doing. We swam a lot in the river, explored the little fern gullies, slide down the rock slide, or just hung around the camp fire. The girls were mainly content just sitting in the river and relaxing.

A few guests showed up over the four day camping trip. Matty showed up both Saturday and Sunday. Chris and Tiff came out Saturday night for a few hours, and Bryan and Scandal came out Saturday and stayed through Sunday.

This spot is a great location. Just over the CA border its usually pretty quite. This time though there were people all over the place. This didn't really ruin any of our fun, we just had to be a bit more respectful of others. What really upset me though was all the trash these temporary neighbors left behind. I'm not talking about one or two beer bottles, I'm talking 4 or 5 days worth of trash, bottles, bags, broken items...most of it not even bagged up!

4th of July weekend White Water Rafting Picutes

We went white water rafting on the Rouge River through Noah's Rafting Adventures and WOW it was fun. We went on the Hay's Fall/Powerhouse Dam stretch. The dam was in the process of being removed and would have been completely gone the following week so we were some of the last rafters to go over the dam. Anyways, there are a few pic of us going over Hay's falls.

Whoops! Forgot the bday gift post...

Birthday wish list:

Video games:

Spore
Rockband 3

Books:

Radical Brewing
Classic Style series (any)
Brew Chem 101
Principles of Brewing Science

Beer equipment

Faucet locks (2)
Bonnet Angler
Tap handles
Aeration system
Kegs
Counter Pressure bottle filler
Eirlimier Flask 1000mL
Beer glasses and misc merchandise (shirts)

Gift Certificates and Misc

Itunes, MoreBeer.com, Amazon.com, American Homebrew Assoc. Membership, Barnes and Noble, Beer of the month club,

Several Updates rolled into one!

We bought a new camera so expect to see quite a few more photos soon!

T.e.d.'s 30th bday is coming up soon and we'll be holding a Hancock and balls party. Basically its a go watch Hancock (new Will Smith superhero movie) and then finish out the night bowling at lava lanes.

My 30th is coming up in a few months, still not sure what to do to celebrate that, but it'll be themed Beer:30.

Front yard finally got all the weeds pull, now its time to lay down new top soil and build up. The somewhat final concept is "xeriscaping" or "no grass and hearty plants". Really looking forward to that.

Shannon is planning on moving to Portland in Sept., Kay-la is headed to Job Corp in (Likely) late summer, noah isn't back until 4 weeks, I head off to the O.B.F. in 3.5 weeks

Jenn is still wondering where her Kitchen Aide is and she is going to have to keep wondering for awhile, since there isn't another good gift giving holiday until Halloween.... "Trick or Treat"....(kerplunk)..."Gee thanks!"

Lastly, the weather is kinda tough today. Lots of dry lightening over the week has spark over a thousand wild fires in N. CA and all the smoke is drifting north in to the valley here. So, its very hazy today.

I'm a monkey

Corcoran Family Summer schedule

With summer almost here its time to start planning our summer vacations. Noah will be gone between June 21st and late July. Kay-la is heading off to Job Corps soon up in Seattle. So, that means that we have some time this summer to go camping, or day tripping. If you are coming into town this summer, or taking a vacation let me know so that we might be able to meet up.


Jenn is working in a new positon and won't be able to take vacation until this fall so that rules out anything longer then a weekend for her, but I plan to attend the Oregon Beer Fest in late July in Portland. We are also working on a weekend coast trip.