Posts in Category: events
Mt. Zion end of summer adventure
Having fun with walkie talkies!
Love this view of the valley, and my hikers!
We really had ourselves some fun – wait ’til you see…
A handlebar mosstache! Some of my friends reading this know all too well my penchant for the mosstache 🙂
Ben does one, too! He has to work really hard to get that upper lip to close in on the nose. Sam, on the other hand, is a real pro!
Snack time at the summit! Always fun. They packed their own snacks – even more fun for them!
Daddy is crack-a-lackin’!
We went on a hike today at the Kitsap Heritage Park. Found a lot of neat rocks and had a great time relaxing with the family. I think Daddy had to work all last weekend, plus it was The Hobbit production, so it was especially nice to just CHILL! Daddy really enjoyed cracking rocks open with the geological hammer 🙂
What’s been goin’ on around here?
Algorithms for cube patterns.
So what in the world has been going on around here? 6 weeks of pictures just posted tonight!!! Lots of fun with Gramma and Richard undertaking amazing home projects from drip irrigation systems, automatic waterers and lighting which has made the longer nights bearable at last. Ben has learned to read, and is enjoying spelling and writing, and drawing. Both boys love shooting hoops, ALL the time! They have friends over to whittle and dig in the “test pit” (Sam’s big dig by the maple tree) then put safety glasses on for rock cracking and mineral identification. We’ve been mountain biking and road tripping, including a trip out to Spokane to see cousins and the Grand Coulee Dam on the way back. All the pictures are posted in the album. Click any of these to get there. See both July and Aug if you have a minute to browse. Thanks for stopping by! We miss our family and friends, but hope these pictures keep us close. Love to all, the Krugs
Learning to read and write!
Stand-up paddle break with Ben.
The prospector
Sam checking his rocks for minerals and gems. He uses a chisel to score them then cracks them open with a sledge hammer.
The workshop in the car port, with chickens keeping us company 🙂
He’s very careful to get safety glasses on every time. We can’t find the sledge hammer, so he’s using a hammer today.
Saying “Ooooooh! Yeah!”
After our first jog together! So much fun!
Big day in Bainbridge
Finished Fellowship of the Ring! Sam is out with Gramma and Richard on one of their nearly daily runs to ACE and Home Depot (!). He’s on the phone with mommy to share the great news! Now he is on to The Two Towers and I get to follow along with Fellowship of the Ring. These kids (and their dad) are getting me to finally read some good stuff. Still working on a backyard forest theater production of The Hobbit with neighborhood co-producers (kids). Very challenging, but fun!
Ben drinking blackberry smoothie and giving us a “look” that he likes. He has just finished a goal, too – learning first grade sight words. He has nearly 100 of them down! Getting very good at sounding out words and using phonics. Sharp little guy who needs to be cajoled into working sometimes…
A few July happenings!
Little Big Man has been eyeing this wheelbarrow for a long time. Richard very kindly stopped by Bay Hay – an extra stop – to get it for him. Ben has been a big help with it since – shoveling gravel for us.
Most important happening since I got back from camping is Gramma and Richard arrived! They’ve been here a week and it’s been so much fun, just like old times. Plan the work parties, enjoy breakfast and dinner together, and hang out. We’re working on a list of to-do items – this year we’re more organized. We have a list on the white board and we check items off. Sometimes we add to the list. Often we add to the list. We’re all trying to DO work and not SPEND lots of $$!
Here are some pictures of the last few days, including a July 4 party. Thanks to mom and Richard for scurrying around to add some red white and blue color!
Mom and Richard got us this awesome umbrella so we can all eat outside together! It’s really nice to enjoy the beautiful summer weather.
Sam finally got his 9×9 yesterday. He solved it then asked if he could take it apart and put it together again. We reluctantly agreed but we know how much he loves to demo and rebuild. Took a couple hours – about as long to solve it – and he got it back together again. A LOT of pieces!
Gordon inspecting the work and waiting impatiently! Click on these to see faces better 🙂
Installing an automatic waterer!
July 4 party with friends – kicked off by Sam playing the national anthem on his electric guitar.
I might possibly have gotten my stroller out, put air in the tires and gone on a few “hay rides” around on the trails! You would NOT believe how much squealing and fun this caused all around. Even a parent got in!
Sam “unboxing” his new 9×9! He was so excited to get it, straight from China.
Camping in the San Juan Islands
The boys and I went camping on Orcas Island, then took a bonus night over on Lopez Island, to scout out some nice times for Daddy when he can join us. We had SUCH a great time! Here is the view from Mount Constitution, looking south through the San Juan Islands. Click on any picture to see the whole story.
Checking out a stream late in the day. Finding lots of caterpillars basking in the sun.
At Lopez Island now. We scouted out this campground (Odlin) then over to Spencer Spit to see if it was more to our liking. We settled on this one and nabbed the last beachfront campsite. We ran into some nice mountain bikers who were biking the islands and some other nice campers.
The boys say I am a much better cook over a fire than I am at home 🙂 I made an eagle pancake and a snake pancake for each boy. Sam’s snake even had two little air bubbles emerge first for his nose! Unbelievable!
A little chess before bed 🙂
A little afternoon tussle!
Cooking breakfast in the rain on our last day. It was still really nice – can’t argue with a campfire on the beach even if it’s raining 🙂
End of school water war
Sam looks really happy to come after me! We had so much fun with the water balloon war…and you’ll never believe what else we used to launch balloons!
Funny Ben stories
There are just so many of them, but this one shared over dinner the other night really made me laugh! This is an excerpt from an email to Mom so I don’t have to retype 🙂
I heard a very funny story from Sam the other day – apparently another boy and Ben went to the bathroom one morning while I was in with the small group kids doing math. Both boys are always interested in a “field trip” any chance they can get 🙂 Anyway, apparently they were “factoring” in the bathroom with paper towels so loudly that a teacher had to come in and tell them to quiet down! I am partly sorry, and partly very amused that they took the lesson to the bathroom with them. I literally laughed out loud at dinner when Sam told us the story in his low-key way. It took a lot of prompting to figure out what in the world he was talking about!
Ben has been really sick the last week – sinus infection on top of a week of sickness already. Poor guy was exceptionally stuffy with a fever >101 for three days. Such difficulty breathing at night, hard to understand his speech, and lots of sinus washes with saline spray (which I tried to explain was like boogie boarding in Hawai’i – lots of salt water up the nose!). He is doing much better now and I am so grateful. Mommy has had a bit of a stressful week with end-of-school commitments and a sick boy. I am thankful for all the opportunities to contribute to learning at the school and get to know the kids, though. Always glad that I am there and able to help. In any case, last night was the first day without a fever so we had a “Ben is Back” dance party in our living room – me and Ben – while Dave and Sam were out at guitar lesson. I cranked up some Credence and we danced with stuffed snakes on the “workbench” coffee table in the living room. I took movies for Dave as Sam eventually joined in when he got home. It was SO funny, but there were so many near-misses with snakes flying around like lassos that it was a bit nerve-wracking! I feared we would REALLY get in trouble this time! Kids were jumping from workbench to couch and back, and they’re both big now so collisions are much more interesting than they once were! All ended well and I didn’t get in too much trouble. I’ll post the video later…they are rather long!
A peaceful Sunday
The past few weeks have been a bit of a whirlwind, but today we enjoyed being together in the beautiful weather. Everyone unplugged. Boys under the weather, Ben worse than Sam, but they are troopers and I’m hoping Benji bounces back soon because they’ve both been sick since our trip to Santa Barbara last weekend (they caught a cold just before we left 9 days ago). This morning he awoke to “Bubble Coughs” – ick! We’re not sure if the coughing starting first, or the bubbles started coming up. He was fine the rest of the day. I think he gagged on the thick mucus. TMI – sorry. Poor little guy. Low grade fever made him a bit floppy. Ben has lots of interesting names for things. He calls the cap gun tape “steam tape” because it makes smoke when it goes off. So clever! We were not at all sure what he was talking about at first, but of course – it makes sense now!
Yesterday I took Sam to a friend’s birthday party – an Army theme at a cabin in the woods that you can rent. In the middle of a sharks and minnows game (I was a shark!) the family with the neighboring birthday party asked how long our party was going on. Turns out they had the cabin all tricked out with a Harry Potter theme and didn’t want the rogue Army boys intruding on the festivities. Understandable. We got that worked out and kept the boys in the woods. Turns out they weren’t the problem. The birthday boy’s mom found some brooms in our little adjoining birthday area and showed them to me. You know what I immediately thought would be fun, don’t you. I double-dog-dared her to ride around the cabin on the brooms like in Quidditch – she seemed agreeable enough despite laughing like crazy. So off I went. It all went well at first, then I thought about how I was riding my broom and realized I didn’t know what “gait” to choose – in Quidditch they are flying through the air. But I was tethered to the ground. Should I trot? Or canter? I did both. Got some funny looks from adults, but the kids got it. I never looked back, though, so I didn’t know my buddy had bailed on me! I got back to our spot and she was there, hiding out and laughing! She lost her nerve when the dad with the other birthday came out of the cabin! Dang it! I was the only goof riding around on a broom! It was so funny though – I loved it. I kept the broom and continued riding around the woods on it. Clearly I don’t get out enough!
Last night we enjoyed a bbq and bonfire at the beach with friends from church. Views of Seattle, the Cascades lying behind, the ocean and an eagle flying within 20 feet of us – we take so much beauty for granted. The boys have had some very fun and action-packed days. Today was a nice respite before the last full week of school starts.
Here are some pictures from today.
Sunday afternoon cubing and snake talking. I taught Ben about symmetry – one snake is more symmetrical than the other. The python (in Sam’s lap) appears to be smiling on one side of his face but not the other. Dave is testing how to send pictures to my mom with his iPad.
Good irregular crumb structure and crust. Yay!
Dave brought this great spread out for the family. That is bread I made yesterday. Got my starter resuscitated after taking a winter off – I was just too busy to be inspired creatively. It’s fun to have it back from the brink of disgusting-ness. It had a layer of mold on it but I knew I could get it going again. Sure enough – two weeks later it’s revived and strong again!
My friend Brie – we are trying to figure out how to use these tie things to tie off 250 water balloons. We also tested the launcher for the end of school party 🙂 Tonight a massive trebuchet showed up at my doorstep courtesy of a wonderful friend who shall remain nameless 🙂 Otherwise he might be swamped for requests…ha!
Weeded the whole path and mulch area, and under the blue spruces to the right of the shed. I also moved and restacked wood.
This is “Nana’s” dahlia – it’s a huge purple one that has large blooms shaped like a crepe paper ball, or something. It’s really cool. Looks like the bulb survived winter and is coming back! I was beginning to wonder because it was delayed far behind all the other plants which rebounded sooner.
The lilac is blooming! We planted this with Nana and PopPop last summer. So fun to see some buds!
Doug’s 40th in Santa Barbara
I love you, honey! I was worried about leaving our kids with a sitter I’d never met until I found out she was from Kyrgyzstan, then we hit it off famously. I showed her my measly Russian and she could understand me 🙂 I didn’t want to leave. I asked her all kinds of things, and found out that Kyrgyz boys do know how to do armpit farts, but they stop earlier than my boys seem to. No surprise there!
Doug about to blow out his candles! HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the best brother in the world!
Ben’s 5th Birthday!
Little Big Man has arrived at FIVE! I can’t believe it. He is such a man, not snuggly anymore unless you are giving him scratchies or reading to him. He can be very affectionate, but it’s a stealth tactic. Most of the time he is just such a little man, keeping up with big brother and even bigger daddy.
Enjoy these pictures of Ben’s birthday party. He had his neighbor friends over and a few days later created wonderful thank you cards for them, with a picture of the present he received and good lettering. He’s such a nice boy – such a big heart under all that bluster. He’s forgiving, sensitive and strong. No mom could wish for a better boy. I love you, Ben!
Opening a very special birthday card and present.
First Communion!
Getting ready to line up for First Communion.
Those boys were so handsome and fun to dress. Small fortune in nice clothes!
Going into church!
Afterwards – Sam is in back left. 14 boys and 3 girls in his PREP class. The rest of the children pictured here are from St. Cecilia Catholic School, the parish school.
Happy Children’s Day!
Out for a morning mountain bike ride (boys on bikes, mommy racing alongside to help Ben brake!). Could see mountains over the distant tree line. So pretty. Picture doesn’t do it justice. Boys going very fast – got few pictures.
There are new pictures in the album! Click the last photo in this list to get there (this will put you in April – there are also some in May). Sorry i have been so bad! It has been pretty wild here helping with dissertations, final reports, and doing analysis for the school district, on top of First Communion preparations, volunteering at school Mondays and Wednesdays and theoretically planting things in the garden (more like finally stick the sprouted beans in the dirt and hope for the best!). The potatoes look like they are surviving my rough planting…
Afterwards – on our way to cheer a friend at his lacrosse game, then to get frozen yogurt, then to cheer another friend on at his baseball game. (Really we were spying to see what all the hubub is about and which sport – if any – we might want to do.)
Such a fun time with these guys – great weather and trails, nice smells in the woods, birdies chirping. It is Children’s Day tomorrow because without them there would be no Mother’s Day for me.
Love you Benji! He always likes to ham for the cam. Sam not so much!
Funny faces x 3!
This is in the park at school – just a quick walk from the house. We went over after dinner (which we had out on the porch amidst rooster drama – it is a busy time for roosters what with making sure there are lots of opportunities for baby chicks to emerge). Anyway – Ben and Sam were talking to each other on this thing – it was so funny. We had a great time throwing a baseball up a slide (harder than it sounds) and carrying Ben around in a huge plastic “boat.”
Ben was going so crazy on this microphone thing – like nearly spitting and drooling with the exuberant discussion! Mom would have been laughing so hard with me!
First college visit
At the Burke Museum on UW campus. Showing Sam’s collection to a docent at the museum who studied geology. Comparing notes on his identification – seems he got them right with one in question!
In the Burke Museum. Sam really liked the gemstones!
Looking at a huge dictionary – more than 2,600 pages!
Inside the big library. I wonder if Sam will be here in 10 years? Too crazy to think about!
Leaving the big library to go see the fountain. Library looks like a church. Built in 1924. Can you believe GrownUp Eagle behaved himself?
Out to Burke Museum on UW campus, followed by a walk around the campus. The cherry blossoms are in bloom!