A Trip Around the State

We covered all 4 corners of our state today and we learned a few new and interesting facts, all under 2 hours. Did you know that there are pieces of the Mayflower and the Beaver (a Canadian ship), encased in the Peace Arch? We lost ourselves in a unique 12 acre maze that is a giant map of our state. It contains over 250 actual roads and 400 places and towns marked by signs (with interesting historical facts about each). There are 4-1/2 actual miles of highways and country roads within the maze. Each group received a map with highlighted places to be found and a little fact questionnaire to prove you really found the place. Nolan was our map reader and guide, Ethan read the road signs; although it was hard for me not to give opinions, they took us to all our destinations without too many turn arounds.

Once in a while Nolan had to stop and look at his shadow, which points north at this time of the year at noon, and he found his way again. It was a lot of fun and 2 hours was far from enough to cover it all and read all the facts. I would recommend the trip down to Snohomish county to visit this maze, it's a fun and educational activity.

We ended our trip at the mouth of the Columbia River, where nearly 2000 vessels have been lost over the last 300 years.

Can you tell how happy my boys were to pose for mom? Nice smiles!!

Oh yeah! I can't forget to mention the duck race, it was hilarious!!! To bad they crossed the finished line by the time I got my camera out.

My Little Mountain Goat

Nolan is a natural born hiker; he left us all in the dust! Besides his determination though, what I love to see is his enjoyment of being outdoors. There was not a moment's hesitation when I asked him if he wanted to join me for a hike.

This was Levi's first hike in the Mt Baker area. Nolan enjoyed having a little buddy. He called Levi "the little bear bell on our shoes"; Nolan was certain that with all of Levi's cooing and babbling (and a little bit of crying), the bears would stay away. Kudos to Ryan for hauling him all the way to the peak.

For the last push we all had to slow our pace, except for Nolan, who seemed to run up to the top.

"I made it"

We all made it in time to enjoy the beautiful views and to see the clouds roll in.

Soccerless Saturdays

We woke up this Saturday with no definite plans. Shawn and I went out for a little run, came home and fixed a tasty breakfast of hash brown, eggs and toast. It was a beautiful day and it was calling us out. I had hoped to go on a hike with my cousin Jessie and her little son the day before ,but the weather was too wet for the little one. I have learned that out here we basically make our plans according to the weather. So today was a hiking day. Both Jessie and I had things to do around the house, but that could wait for a rainy day. Shawn and Christian went mountain biking with friends and Ethan did his favorite thing, playing with his friend Noah. We sure aren't missing having our Saturday schedule being dictated by soccer.

Let's Get Out

Fall is such a beautiful time of year and one just can't sit inside and let it pass. So out we went to enjoy the beauty and get some fresh air. We were joined by our friends, the Masons, and caravaned down the North Cascades Scenic Highway 20, one of the nation's most spectacular mountain drives. Since we had no destination, our drive was the destination. We stopped at different spots like Diablo Dam, North Cascades National Park Visitor Center and turned around at the Ross and Diablo Lake overlooks, but not before we hiked up Thunder Knob. The boys enjoyed the trek up and found lots of things to explore, including snakes and mushrooms. I just can't think of a better way to spend an afternoon.>

Game night

On our last game night we had to overcome a few hurdles before the fun began. Christian wanted to play Pictionary after we had told him how much Shawn and I had played in our earlier years and that it had been a good way for me to learn English. Nolan did not want anything to do with it, it's kind of hard for a 8yo to draw a Rabi! Ethan was cool with anything as long as the rules were adjusted to fit a 6yo. We finally settled with cadoo, Christian could do his drawing and Nolan didn't have to draw a Rabi. Today we are playing monopoly, most likely speed monopoly, so we can go to bed before midnight.

Ethan's drawing of a frisbee.

What is your favorite family game? Let me know, we love games and could use some new ideas.

All About Whales

We have been having fun reading and learning "Exploring Creation with Zoology: Swimming Creatures of the Fifth Day". I had a strong feeling this would be a big hit with Nolan, since he loves anything to do with marine life. Sure enough, if it was up to him we would do science all day, every day. Nolan and Ethan both, just absorbed all the information as we went trough the whale chapter. With the forecast calling for beautiful day the next day, I thought we should end this chapter in style, with a nice field trip. A trip to the beach just wouldn't do it, I needed to find something more of a "whale scale". Whale watching would have been great, but I could not quite pull that one off. So the next best thing was the Whale Museum in Friday Harbor. Who could pass a school day with a nice ferry ride to the San Juan's on a beautiful September. I called Ann up and she was happy to size the moment and joined me on this trip. Who needs advanced planning! We had a fun and very educational day. The boys were amazed to be able to see and touch the things we have been studying. I tried to explained the sizes of the whales by comparing it to objects they know, but nothing can quite make the same impression as when you are standing beside a baleen of a Bow whale and it's at least twice your height. And that is just a piece of their mouth!!!

I'm obviously not posting this picture to show off my photography talent, but you had to see the size of this baleen.