Walking on Clouds

We were still on firm ground, but we were definitely walking among the clouds. Ann, her son Christian, Nolan and I set off to hike Goat Mountain. It was a great hike, but for the first time on my "hiking career", we were not rewarded with majestic views, instead, we had the clouds right on our faces. Nolan, being the good sport that he is, did not get damped by this and is ready for the next hike. Still, we had a good time, good exercise and the most delicious lunch (even an ordinary sandwich tastes superb after a steady 2hr climb).

This was our view . . .

. . . this is what is behind those clouds, as seen by Shawn last summer.

With no mountains to photoghraph, I enjoyed the beauty in the smaller things, like these colorful flowers.

Fun on the Island

Going to Grandma and Grandpa's place is a must every summer. Playing croquet with grandpa has become a tradition, but we are not talking plain and simple croquet, this one has special rules, or rather, forget all the rules and let's make our own, like trying to hit your opponent's ball as far as possible! I always knew that the boys loved it, but seeing Ethan imitate his grandpa down to very last move and sounds, really sealed it, it is a big hit! Playing rumikub with Grandma is also becoming a tradition, and of course, unlimited scrambled eggs for b-fast and unlimited cookies for desert has always been received with much delight.

Our big find on the beach. It now sits adorning grandpas garden.

There were so many sand dollars we could not count them, let alone hold them.

Dipping fresh rhubarb from the garden in a bowl of sugar, what a great summer treat.

And to top of all of the fun times, the boys got to sleep outside under a full moon. Thanks Grandpa and Grandma for gifting the boys with some great memories.

The Boy and the Log

There once was a log laying on the beach. It turned out that it really was a raft in disguise. It layed helplessly on the rocky beach, where an unusual high tide had left it and never returned for it. It yearned to be back in the water once more, but he had no hope. Until one day in July, under a nice sunny sky, a boy spotted the log. He knew immediately that it's home were the waters of the Georgia Straight. But how could he, barely 11 years old, lift a log so mighty?

His brother helped him for a while, but then gave up to pursue other interests.

His grandma came by, and after taking a look at the log and attempting to lift it's weight, she told him it was to no avail. Better leave it alone, is all she could say.

Not long after that, along came his dad and grandpa, who seeing the boys determination and the log's plight, offered their assistance and wisdom that only grandpas know how to give .

At the end of the day, log and water were again united

and the log and the boy lived happily ever after

Tia Ursula

How nice it was to have my aunt Ursula (from Brazil), come and visit us for a few days while she was touring North America. We had a great time visiting and she experienced many new thing, like:

Sledding down a snowy hill

Setting foot on the Pacific Ocean

And the best news of all is that she is going back home with a diamond ring on her finger. Congratulations to you and David!

Summer is in Full Swing

Oh, how we love summer!! It seemed like it took a little longer this year for our summer to get to our neck of the woods, but now it's here and we are enjoying the nice weather and all that goes along with it, like:

Hiking in our shorts

Throwing rocks by the beach and enjoying the beauty and power of the ocean

Swim team and getting refreshed in our pool

And picnics!! One of my favorites!

Happy Summer to all!

Happy Anniversary

What a blessing to be able to celebrate 16 years of marriage. I love you now and forever !!

GUESS WHERE WE WENT . . .

Hard not to think of Florida when you see a pink flamingo. After much anticipation we finally headed to Florida for some fun in the sun, but most important, to gather with the Dueck family. Quite a feat to get all thirteen of us from 3 corners of the Americas together, so we really celebrated this blessing from God. We all had a fantastic time and now when I look at the pictures I can hardly believe we were there, it went by sooooo fast!! We stayed at a beautiful resort by Lido Beach (Sarasota area), we basically spent spent the entire day on the beach and the evenings playing games by the courtyard. It was a hard life!!

Our days at the beach were spent by:

Collecting shells

Building castles and being buried in the sand should be every child's right of passage

Ethan loved riding the waves with a body board, he mastered it really well thanks to his coach Stefan. At a normal day, the waves in the Gulf of Mexico are pretty mild, but one afternoon we had a storm come in, and the usual peaceful Gulf looked more like the coast of California. When the threat of lighting passed, we hit the waters and had a blast.

Being gooffy with Tio Denis and playing in the sand with our little Joao Mauricio.

We enjoyed playing beach volleyball and "bettche", which you could describe as a recreational cricket. That has always been a favorite game of mine growing up in Brazil, and now, young and old, we all had lots of fun playing it

Of course, we also rested and enjoyed reading books, newspapers or snoozing. That's what a vacation is all about, right?

One evening Oma took all the grandkids out for ice cream . . .

. . . which they all enjoyed to the last lick.

Tio Denis made sure that his nephews are all fans of the best Brazilian soccer team, Atletico Paranaense.

It's a hard life but someone's gotta do it !!!

Here the kids pose for a last picture before we have to leave this piece of Paradise.

What a great time did we have with our dear family. We love you and we miss you already!!

HAVING FUN AT BUSCH GARDENS

Our last two days in Florida were spent at Busch Gardens. All three boys braved rides on some exhilarating roller coasters. I was in my element, since I love roller coasters, the faster and crazier, the better. Christian also wanted to make sure I mentioned that we saw elephants, zebras, rhinoceros, tigers (white ones and orange ones), buffalo, gazelles, monkeys, orangutans and of course, flamingos.

Here goes Ethan (and his brothers and mom) on his first "real" roller coaster.

Cotton candy is a must at an amusement park.

With the heat and humidity of Florida in the summer, there is nothing better that getting soaked.

Now this is the beast of all roller coasters. A 200 foot, 90 degree angle drop. If that wasn't enough, once you get to the edge of the drop, they let you dangle there for a few seconds just to make sure they get your heart pumping a little faster. And you DROP!! What a thrill!! Christian enjoyed so much that we repeated the ride.

After a full day at the park we headed to Steak & Shake for those delicious shakes. We had just finished a ride at the Congo River and were really soaked, not a problem when you are outside in a nice warm Florida evening. We stepped inside and a blast of Artic air hit us. Still, I was not about to give up on my shake since we have missed it here in WA. Shawn and I fought the cold with a nice warm chili on the side and Angela had a hot chocolate to sip in between the shake. The boys were so excited to be having a burger and shake at 11pm that the cold was not a problem.