Monthly Archives: September 2012

Daddy is home!

Dave is catching a little rest after getting in at midnight last night from NH. I'm tired, too - this cold that wants to catch me just won't let up. And waiting up for Dave last night didn't help, on top of an adventure to a Lumberjack Festival and eating the most horrendous corn dog EVER. It was huge. The size of a club. And heavy. And so salty. We bought two of them thinking they'd feed the three of us. Well, we had the equivalent of one whole corn dog left over! I was going through some pictures looking for Haleakala because Sam's class is talking about national parks this week. I found this really cute one and thought I'd re-share it. We were out on a jog with the double stroller. Ben had just turned 1 and Sam was almost 4 1/2. I had a dream last night that we had a third baby named Colby. After a cheese???

Eagle Harbor rendezvous

Getting ready to head out for a paddle on Eagle Harbor! This is our fourth outing - the fourth bay to explore. Just one more on my list. The sun decided to come out just as we launched. It was beautiful seeing the reflection of the sun and clouds in the glassy water. Lots of herons and other birds flying around. A seal popped up to check us out. I always get a little weirded out when they follow us, though. I'm afraid they'll just come up under me and huli us! We also popped in on Randy and Krissy at their boat - Sam's guitar teacher!

Manzanita in the mist

A foggy, drizzly morning on the water. It is surprisingly peaceful to be out there - more light than in the woods on a hike, and calm water. We had the right clothes on for a little excursion so we were just fine. Then off to get windshield wipers for the truck. It hasn't rained here in more than 50 days! Such a beautiful morning with my buddy. He really enjoyed bringing his canoe along and letting it float alongside us. He learned to keep the bow up out of the water so it didn't capsize. We found an underwater spring at the end of the creek (entrance to the bay) so that was fun to watch bubble up. And the leaves floating on the water looked so relaxed. I can't believe I managed to get that huge SUP off the truck, in the water, then back on the truck. I did a couple huge fist-pumps when everything was stowed away again successfully! I think we're ready for a NW fall... In other news, I had a London Fog latte today and it was really great - never had one of those before (Earl Grey tea latte). And Sam would like me to record his best times on solving a 3x3 (2 min 06 sec) and a 5x5 (12 min 54 sec).

A random Monday night

From Richard this morning - a nice memory. This is Ben about 6 months old after hiking out to Kaena Point. That's a shave ice he is really interested in! Look at that little hand grabbing mommy. And Sam - you are a trooper, man. You hiked out on your own! Gosh - we still have that little red plane, too. Unreal! You were playing with this yesterday morning! I love you two boys so much.

Dave is working late tonight so I’m stealing a few minutes to record the events of the evening for him.

Dave still at work so I enjoyed those little boys all to myself tonight. They get so enraptured with things – it is fun to follow them from thing to thing to thing even though it is exhausting with them both exclaiming at once. We bought both of them stop watches because they love to race around the house. So this means that since yesterday at 5:12pm when we set the time on Ben’s watch, he has been asking “Mom, what time is it on my watch?” “Ben – can you read me the numbers?” “It’s – uh – it’s FIVE TWO TWO!” “So that is five-twenty-two.” And so on. This morning while I was watering plants it was more of the same, from 9:40 to 9:52. Every minute. I’d say “Now it’s nine forty three, what minute would be next?” “Uh – Nine forty FOUR!” Then “I wonder if I can be done by 9:50?” “When is 9:50?” … Tonight we were doing laps around the house – outside on the gravel driveway and walkways. Many of them. Timing ourselves. My hamstrings are sore because of course I had to set myself a PR, in my Wal-Mart jeans. I was hot. You should see my hair now, after flapping around and getting hot! ha ha! I have WINGS, baby!* We had fun, though. We each set a PR. Then we found a wooly caterpillar. Had to set up a habitat for him. Now he is camping out in the room with the boys. I really hope they remembered to close the lid on their terrarium…hmmm… Sam was very animated thinking of things the caterpillar might want. Both boys worked hard to set him up well and comfortably, and tried to get me to touch him. I faked it.

*I cut my own hair yesterday in an effort to look nice for my first day helping out with a few students from Sam’s class doing math. I usually cut my own hair, have been doing so for years now, but yesterday something possessed me to try a new technique to get more layers in front. It looks better today after a wash, but yesterday it was…interesting. More like a mullet, which if you Google it apparently it’s coming back, but only among the quite daring, edgy crowd. So I’m a trend-setter of sorts. I am not releasing pictures, but suffice to say when Sam’s teacher popped in with the camera to take a picture of us I was thinking about diving under the table along with Ben (who was also at the school with me and was picking up some pieces of a puzzle from under the table!). Now it’ll be in the yearbook!!! Truthfully it is not bad – no one would know. Those who noticed said it was really cute and when I confessed they told me they couldn’t tell. Just a little touching up perhaps needed…

New photos from August and September

A sunflower taller than I am!

 


 

Another gorgeous day, another beautiful bay!

We had another great day out on Liberty Bay in Poulsbo this morning. It was much windier so that made it more interesting for me on the SUP (but I do like a challenge!). Just not so much with Ben on the front and the water so cold. Thankfully Amy and Brie graciously toured Ben around in the canoe while I struggled to keep up with them (I was more like a sail today!). The seals seemed pretty interested in us - even launched off their napping spot to come intimidate us into leaving. They followed me for a while. Do I look like an Orca or something? (My SUP is black and white, and BIG!) Ben enjoyed seeing a jellyfish and probably the biggest star fish on the planet. Seriously. Then he convinced me to go out to lunch at JJ's Fish House - our favorite spot. Reminded me of those times I went on a hike with my girlfriends when Sam was a baby riding in my pack. We'd sometimes wrap up with a nice citrus salad at JJ's. I hope I remember this day with my young date for a long, long time. He loves to relax at lunch. In NO hurry whatsoever, just chillin' for an hour over his lunch, chatting from time to time with me. Then we stopped in at a little gift shop and got a treat for my brother and a good friend of mine. Very nice day. Then back to work at home, and now off again to a park with TWO big boys!

And while all this is going on, here’s a sample of Dave’s life lately. I had asked him what the night and weekend is shaping up to be…

> think I will be leaving shortly, will likely not have to come in tonight or
> really early again tomorrow, will take a few calls throughout the night. I
> may be working and/or on call through the weekend or I may not. I was
> supposed to travel next Thurs but I may not.
>
> I am already behind a lesson or two with Randy but I am bushed tonight –
> been up since about 2.

building a compost bin

Both boys were pretty helpful building the pallet-compost bins. Ben handled the hooks on the ends and Sam did some drilling. He was actually able to get that wily screw started even though it was a really long deck screw! We managed to run RIGHT into nails on the other side, though. So it was a good project to work on for all of us. Alli is trying to get certified on power tools so she can do more building projects...certified by Dave.

Time to snuggle some chickens! We put the "grown-ups" in the coop run and played with the babies while we moved compost around. This is Gordon who was hatched in our incubator on Ben's birthday. Check back in May for his "baby" pictures 🙂 Like his hair style? He and Sam look very similar in the mornings! We love this bird.

Here is a shot of his whole body so you can see how big he is getting. We still have more roosters than we want...so not sure what we are doing, but Gordon is staying for sure!

 

And here are the finished bins! Those chickens are rotating it for me...ha ha ha!

Ladies who launch

It's not a typo! We had a FABULOUS time - Ben plus 4 ladies went out on boats up on Port Madison. We saw herons, seals, and lots of other boats moored. The sun sparkled, the wind was light, and we just had a blast. Ben got to try the canoe, the dinghy and the SUP. We have at least three more bays planned for the next couple weeks, trying to stretch summer out!

A Labor Day weekend tradition + Sam’s journal – final summer entry

(original spelling retained)

8-31-12

I just got a V Cube 7 And solved it 2 days ago. I’v ben reeding about Mdme Curie who discoverd Radiun and won two Nobel prizes! We mailed a pacig (package) to Kazakhstan beacuse the pirsin that mom works with is having a baby.

VIDEO ALBUM: Sam’s summer 2012
Dave says I still missed some key things…like hiking up Mt. Walker, and mountain biking!

The blackberry bears out hunting for the season's first pick! We created some tunnels and trails to get to the good clusters on our property.

 

After hunting a few dead-end road-ends for water access we finally found what we were looking for, after dropping Daddy off for some quiet time at home. This dog came over and started digging furiously, just like the boys! She was so funny. Then we played fetch with her as the tide came in.

Followed by lots of jumping into the water at slack tide! Sam practiced some twist-jumps, managing what I think was a 450! Ben got into the act, and so did Mommy - wet up to her waist!

So sweet to see them basking in the sunlight on this beautiful day, with memories of Hawaii lapping at my feet.