2011-08 AUG

Ft Ward beach walk 20 images	Lake Crescent 156 images · 1 video	Moving in week 89 images · 1 video
KiDiMu and Kitsap Fair 24 images · 1 video	At home in the woods 59 images	Hidden Cove trail 11 images

1 Walking around in Winslow - the downtown area on Bainbridge.	2 Shopping for boots at Bay Hay and Feed - a great garden store, gear shop and coffee stop a mile from our home. Love this place!	3 It was 59 degrees that morning. It felt really cold until I got some all-weather MUCK boots on. Those things rock! I can launch my SUP or go tromping in the woods with them on. I think they'd pair well with a skirt in Seattle?	4 Checking out a park in Port Madison on the north end of Bainbridge. They have all sorts of little pocket parks around. I love the open space. The islanders really place a premium on preserving space and nature.
5 Coffee in hand at all times, of course.	6 Just lots of big trees and ferns. Everywhere.	7 Ben playing uke with Daddy's help doing chords. He really liked that.	8 Ok - so we have to reinforce this is not a stage!
9 My new IKEA table - well, new from Craigslist :) It is very long and just awesome. The perfect table. I found it from Oahu and mailed a check so it would be waiting for us when we arrived, long before our household goods would arrive. This was a good strategy. I had a feeling it would be but had no idea just how sentient that was until we got it and it was the only place any of us could sit down (Mom and Richard are living with us, too, and helping immensely as we move in).	10 The boys' room for stories.	11 Out at Fay Bainbridge State Park for music and sunset fun.	12 Lots of driftwood. Rainier could be seen in the distance.
13	14 Brothers of the Baladi - very interesting Middle Eastern sound. Great band - FREE!	15	16 Playing football and soccer to the right of the stage with a couple other kids.
17 The deck before we had at it.	18 Another before shot...thanks mom!	19 All at the same time we had an electrician (with me), a cabinet lady (with Dave)...	20 washer/dryer delivery...
21 and carpenters building a pergola. This is all going on less than 48 hours after moving in.	22 Park time!	23 Pizza for dinner at the park after a long day working around the house.	24 This is Battle Point Park - such a great playground area with soccer, inline hockey and massive fields, too.
25 Sam has a tree swing at long last, thanks to Richard for rigging it up!	26 The deck is nearly complete! We even have some deck furniture now!	27 We have dreamed of this pergola since we made an offer on the house. Our friend Shelly at Bay Hay helped Mom and I craft the gorgeous planters. The pergola was custom built by a carpenter (David Knight) and his helper John based on a picture I emailed him. They did that and repaired a few deck benches all for less than a kit cost through Home Depot. Amazing. We are so grateful!	28 Planter! Love it!!!!
29 Boys enjoying deck time, too. We all gather out there often, regrouping and plotting the next stage of landscaping or yard work. Dave has 2, 5, 10 and 20 year plans for this place.	30 It's a fun spot to dream.	31 And star-gaze after the kids go to bed.	32 Right where the photog is standing is where Dave's grill will go.
33	34 At dinner in Poulsbo...I HAVE to get up this rock. Doug did it a few years ago so I should be able to, right?	35 Not as easy to get past this point as you might imagine. Especially with Dave laughing at me.	36 But get up I must. ESPECIALLY because Dave is laughing at me and NOT offering to help catch me if I fall.
37 Made it!	38 The skylight in our kitchen. Love all the light that streams in!	39 Looking out to the deck and the morning light.	40 Our newest menehune helper - Wayne!
41 He is cleaning the deck to get it ready for painting and has already repaired a few little sections on the roof.	42 Still can't get over how much I love those planters.	43	44
45	46	47	48 All set for first bbq dinner!
49 With paper plates :)	50 And salmon on a cedar plank!	51 Salad made with lettuce from our garden!	52 Thanks honey!
53 I decided we should do the abandon ship drill on the ferry.	54 They invited us, after all.	55 Boys were not so thrilled.	56 Life jackets are very snug around the necks.
57	58 Mom cleaning the floor! Oh boy do I miss you, Mom!	59 Flowers from John and Christine - so pretty!	60 This is the blue in our kitchen!
61 Dave decorating the credenza. These shelves are always a bear to hang but they remind me of each home we've lived in, so they must go up in a visible place. We'll put some special glasses on them.	62 Like that...	63 Testing out the fireplace before Mom and Richard head home...much discussion of dampers and such ensued. Mom and I were all trying to remember just how we did it 20+ years ago in Boonton!	64 Serving up a yummy breakfast now!
65 I have been trying different running routes early in the morning before Dave goes to work. I can do that now while it's still light out. Not sure I'll run in the dark in the early am in the winter. Can get really dangerous with drivers racing to catch the ferry. But I popped out of one road and found this greeting me! Good Morning, Rainier!	66 Wow!	67 And sunrise over Seattle!	68 Sam took the trash out one day!
69 Out bushwhacking, looking for a very large tree. We THINK we found it.	70 A large Douglas Fir!	71 Cute little banana slug. Wonder if I'll get used to them and stop calling them cute.	72 Boys blazing their way on a little-used trail. Using a stick in front to clear webs.
73 Little bench we found out in the woods.	74 We think we found the BIIIIG tree!	75	76
77 Then to story time at the library. (A bit late, covered in nettles and brush with webs in our hair because we HAD to find this tree. We had heard about it from our arborist friend, but there is no trail to it really. Took three tries. Good lesson in persistence and navigating, landmarks, etc.) Ben made a cat. I realized that he hadn't used scissors yet. Oops. Went home to work on that. Bad mommy! All the little girls were scissoring right away! Or maybe their moms did and I didn't notice it wasn't the kids. The library is fantastic. A whole kids' level where they can actually browse and speak. Sam is in a reading program now so he can earn a ticket to the county fair.	78 Sorry about this one. But I found it while out bushwhacking with Sam on our property (same day as the great Fir tree hunt) and could NOT believe how big this was. Made me wonder if cougar? I contacted some friends, but strangely have not heard back from them. Maybe they think I'm a real freak. Not a good way to start out trying to make friends? Perhaps they think I'm stupid and it's a sasquatch-sized dog, or a huge man?	79 That's a spade. This thing was 5" long and 2" in diam. Guesses?	80 Ben took this of me. I got a lot of nettle stings in my legs. So many times through the brush you'd think I'd take a minute to put pants on, but the zeal of blazing a trail was just too much. Sam and I kept at it several times until we connected "Ferndale" to "Mapledale" (two sections of the property).
81 There's Sam in his trail blazing clothes. And Ben with a watering attachment that he considers a fine microphone. He stays in touch with us from the car port using that. ;0	82 A craft of buttons purchased for $1 from a local artist running a sale. Nice to meet neighbors.	83 Oh boy - fresh blueberry pie! So decadent with Daddy's whipped cream on top!	84
85 A crazy polyhedron made by Sam!	86 Daddy is not so fond of spiders. He wants to ID each and every one, pointing them out to me with gravity. I am not thrilled, but hey I can't freak out, either, or I wouldn't stomp logs or romp in the woods.	87 Who are you?	88 A stop to buy eggs from a farmer friend and we got to feed an egg to her pigs!
89 They devoured it much like Ben and Sam fall upon their dessert! Much snorting!	90 And reaching, grasping, croaking for more! More!	91 Feeding grass to the hens who laid our eggs.	92 Thanks, gals! Soon, the boys will have their own brood. We are studying, pricing, thinking, planning...
93 Sam finished his reading program and earned a ticket to the FAIR!	94 The milk man is here!	95 Checking out all the goods! He also brings cheese, yogurt, cookie dough...	96 At the local park after picking blackberries. Then to the market. They LOVE this tire swing type thing. Love to spin fast, like so fast Ben looks sick but he loves it. Looks like his eyes will pop right out, then he can't walk when he gets off.
97 Found this at a thrift store - you add rubber bands to it to create designs. Sam was happy with this $1.50 selection after disappointment over not getting something much more expensive.	98 Big farm breakfast is Daddy's favorite thing Saturday morning!	99 Rhubarb crisp and blueberry pie cooking!	100 For friends coming over for dinner! This is Jenni - she and Tres and our friend Melodie (sans Matt) came over after a wine tasting. So great to be back in WA and able to spend time with them. Dave made a fantastic cobb salad and grilled salmon.
101 Tres getting educated on monster trucks.	102 Jenni and Melodie!	103 On Ben's first roller coaster at the fair!	104 Bay Hay and Feed on an early morning run.
105 Sunrise over Seattle.	106 Who has been sleeping in my woods? A deer day bed as I later found out...	107 Eating a plum from our tree!	108 Yum!
109 Two plums for two boys!	110 Checking out all the veggies growing.	111 And the drip irrigation system. Very helpful!	112 My first pony, Soda, arriving when I was age 8. Being around horses lately makes me sooooo want one again.
113 Sheer, unbridled (ha ha!) exuberance over finding my chaps after many years of storage!