2012-11 NOV

Thanksgiving trip to CA 103 images · 4 videos

1 This is a picture from a friend of mine - we were on a hike several months ago but just got the picture. So cute, my little Benji friend!	2 Ben is building fantastic domino towers now, too! Sam is a good teacher, and actually Ben is a very good observer. Sam doesn't do a lot of teaching. A rare consultation :)	3 Getting ready for the set-off...	4 A NECCO! Doug used to really love these.
5 Rainbow right after PREP class at church. So pretty!	6 Soup and bread with mommy out on a lunch date. Such good times with Mr. Ben. We had been on a jog and playground romp before running errands and having lunch. We don't get to do this every day, so it is special.	7 A really tall tower in the works!	8 Getting taller! I'm on the phone with Nana as he is building, so she's getting the play-by-play :)
9 Wow. Still going!	10	11	12 It's still going up!
13 Counting...I think he used a stool for the last ones.	14 Yup there it is!	15 Setting the last one on!	16 Trying to clear the table for dinner is interesting these days!
17 They love these reading lights.	18 One of the books recommended by the lady in charge of our PREP class.	19 Sam playing his guitar for Veteran's Day assembly. There were singers and speakers, too. The kids did a fabulous job honoring veterans.	20 Out looking for salmon! The boys and I are on a walk in the woods - this is Chico Creek.
21 We can see them swimming upstream, and some dead ones on the banks who have already spawned.	22 This is the Mountaineers forest theater. Isn't it cool?	23	24 Bark covering plywood for the wings of the outdoor stage.
25 Some sun peeking out!	26 Now we're meeting up with a guided walk organized by some conservancy groups. They had a neat display of salmon eggs in arrested development.	27	28 These are tiny fry.
29	30 There's the dead ones after spawning. Their nutrients feed the wildlife and trees/plants in this ecosystem as they decompose.	31	32 Video of salmon swimming upstream, then flopping back downstream to try again. They find the exact place where they hatched - within meters we were told.
33 This is an 800 year old Douglas Fir. Really impressive!	34 A friend I met (made) on the trail. I sent this picture to her.	35 This is a really tall tree!	36 This is what an elk bugle sounds like. This is how males call to each other during rutting season. I think I will get one of these and if the boys are naughty, I will just tell them - "OK, That's 1 bugle!" or "2 bugles!" at really inopportune times. This will work into teenage years. I can be hiding out and totally mess up a first kiss. That elk bugle folds up tiny for my purse, too. Just in case.
37 Here is Sam giving it a try :)	38 Yogurt after our long day out romping!	39 Then to Fish Park in Poulsbo to see even more salmon...we just couldn't let it go :) We started horsing around a lot (Daddy was at work so we were killing time thinking maybe we'd get to see him for dinner). We spent a surprising 20 min at this one stump, doing all kinds of silly things.	40 Yes...trying to get a decent picture! Ha!
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45	46 Are you liking these? :)	47 Lots of laughing and loudness...	48 Ooooh! It's a potty! Of course. What else could it be?
49 All three up there now!	50	51	52 Mommy in on the act - I kept messing up Sam's picture of me - it was so funny - he couldn't believe I was making stupid faces for a picture.
53 Aw - MOM! You did it again!	54 C'mon, Mom - a good one.	55 Look at my HAIR! ha ha ha! Flock of Seagulls anyone?	56 I was jumping off the stump now. They showed me where to land. Such a nice boy, that Sam. Making sure mom knows where to aim.
57 Eagle jumping, too.	58 Sure enough, we did meet up with Daddy! Tomato soup at Campana's in Poulsbo. A family favorite place. This is a sling shot Sam built. I was thinking it'd be funny to shoot food at another table :)	59 The chicken infirmary, complete with camouflage pine bough to allow the injured chicken to feel safe while eating (other chickens outside try to poke head in and barge in for food). Also you can see a saucer "fort" to keep rain off her and separate food and water.	60 The rest of the biggies, complaining about special treatment.
61 I put both Barred Rocks in there for company - and to help encourage the hurt one to be social so it is not a shock when she reintegrates.	62 One of the irons in my fire. Determined to fix my own smarthphone digitizer (face plate) which I have a habit of cracking. I got it all torn apart only to find I really need a heat gun to get the adhesive off the mounting so I can get the face plate off. This motherboard came out - little ribbon cables and all.	63 I put it all back together and it WORKED! This could be a viable business if I only had the heat gun. Because I had to travel to CA in short order, I got a $45 GoPhone from RiteAid and put a pause on this project. I will be back!	64 Little hurt girl with Dr. Lisa Barfield - a really nice vet. She is feeling where the leg is broken.
65 The next day we're out helping on Morales Farm (a public farm used by the schools for teaching - the food goes into the cafeteria). We're finding the rest of the potatoes, pulling the corn and spreading mulch.	66	67 Steamy compost!	68 There are farming interns who run the place and live in the house to the back. It's a pretty cool arrangement.
69 Ben loved "helping" from up here!	70 The potatoes we found!	71 Walking home through another adjacent farm - Day Road/Suyematsu Farms. Look at Ben's rear!	72 They use license plates to number the rows in the vineyard.
73 See the numbers on the poles?	74 What's left of the pumpkin patch.	75 Who has been here!? Geese!	76 I love the colors here, even in the dull grey. The sun kept popping out - so pretty when it does.
77 I take pictures of the wine descriptions so I can show Dave later, or message him with them. Like to give him something "fun" to look at now and then. These are the $10 or so bottles. I get one red and one white each week. I LOVE wildflowers so this one really got me!	78 Ben doing dominoes in the dermatologist's office while I'm having Moh's surgery to get rid of a basal cell. Just another fun project to chase down and manage...I switched docs to move the surgery up sooner. Got it all in one swipe, so I am fortunate that is done for now. Go back for total check soon - 5 years in Hawaii. I knew that would have repercussions!	79 Gordon's first crows! With Merlin as a coach :)	80
81 Another stretch math session :)	82	83 Me and Gordon - who is always in a hurry! Little cell phone camera can't keep up :)	84 There he is! Getting so big and handsome!
85 Little Barred Rock hen who broke her leg. She is doing well and hardly limping now!	86 Thanksgiving :) Dominoes and snacks. Boys couldn't be happier. This is our first Thanksgiving at home, all by ourselves, with no crazy Alli-plan in the works to fry birds on the beach.	87 Dave taking calls while cooking. This might have been a social call to family, actually.	88 Fresh bird from a local farm! Not fat, nor plumped up with water, which meant cooking time was half what we expected.
89	90 Hey, where's mine?! (Yes, I sneaked out with bites for them before bed! I fed them on their roosts then they all came down to see what might be going on!)