Oregon Holts: Day of the Dead: The Theme for the Weekend in More Ways Than One

Unbeknownst to many, we love cyclocross around here. Especially the Cross Crusades. Ever since moving from Hood River to Bend, a big thing we miss is being closer to Portland to attend these fun and festive races. But, the two day Halloween races are held here in Bend now and we were more than excited to host some friends, see even more friends and partake in all the action.

Our Hood River friends, the McGeeney's, came to visit with their two darling boys. Saturday was the dad's race day. Kate and I packed up the kids after naps and headed on over to catch their start time. Noella seems to love these as much as we do. People in costumes. People racing bikes. In the dirt. Ferris wheels. Music. Beer (oh wait, that's just us, and really only Adam at this point, since I really can't even enjoy that). We saw so many friends - old and new. Adam had a good race. Noella got to ride the ferris wheel. Happiness was experienced by all. Post race, we met a small army for dinner at Deschutes Brewery for dinner where all 88 kids that were in our party were actually really good.

The next morning, Adam was making "pumpcakes" for a crew: the McGeeney's plus the St. Clairs (our other Hood River friends who also happened to be in town). While some of our party was sitting at the dining room table, looking out our windows, we happen to see three deer frolicking along in the empty lot next to ours. It was so serene, the kids were tickled to see them so close from our window. "Oh, how wonderful!" -- right? Here's where the other part of "Day of the Dead" theme comes in. A jogger spooks the deer and they start running towards the next house over, which has a wrought-iron fence. One deer attempts to jump through the fence, BUT GETS STUCK. What can we do? The deer is struggling terribly, it's so hard to watch. Adam goes out there to try and push him out from the front, but the deer is too distressed. We call animal control, and they send the sheriff. Adam and Brian (the other dad) go back out to see what else they can do to help. Several minutes later, they come back in and tell us to close the blinds. They have to put the deer down. It was bleeding too badly. WHAT THE HELL?! So, I close the blinds and shortly after hear two gunshots -- to which the children said "that sounds like fireworks". Good grief. I still cannot believe this happened and we witnessed the whole sequence. To anyone who cares, these types of fences are apparently "deer traps" and it happens a lot, so be thoughtful the next time you're in the market for a new fence. And THAT'S NOT ALL. The sheriff tells us that they need to drag the deer to our circle and LEAVE IT THERE until monday so the City of Bend Services could pick it up. It was sunday morning. We have guests with small children who are itching to play outside, and they leave a dead bloody deer in our cul-de-sac for 24 hours. Unbelievable.

Anyway, enjoy some happy photos from our weekend: