All Things Aquatic

The day was clear and crisp as we boarded the train to Seattle. Our goal was to spend the day at the aquarium to see and touch all the things we have been learning about. We were joined by our friends, the Crowleys, who are studying the same material. The kids spent hours observing, admiring and touching God's amazing creation. They were also given an "aquatic hunt", and looked for pinnipeds without an ear flap, for a melon that is not a fruit, for dermal denticles and the list went on. I thought I had made it a challenge and told them they would get 50 cents per answer, to use in the gift shop. Good thing they only had 10 things to look for, otherwise I would have gone broke!

This cute little seal (a pinniped without earl flaps), must have been attracted to the bright colors of our jackets. Our friends told us that as soon as we walked through the door the seals turned their heads and followed us. We were unaware of it and stopped right in front of the little deck, where both seals jumped up, still with their eyes fixed on us. We assumed that their care givers (aka to the seals as "fish is coming"), must wear these same bright colors. We tried the trick again, but the seals were not fooled the second time around. >

Oh the Joy of . . .

. . . Christmas lights! I really enjoy a Christmas tree full of bright clear lights, but it is a chore to wind them all around every branch of the tree. The boys wait (impatiently) while I put the lights strands on, so that they will be able to hang the ornaments. This year Shawn and the boys wanted to surprise me. They would set up the tree and all the lights while I was away. That was the idea anyways. I got home to a tree with with half of the lights working, a big pile of discarded light strands, boys that had long lost interest in the tree and a husband that still seemed calm but obviously very frustrated. We worked with the remaining functioning lights and it looked like we had accomplished the task of distributing the lights evenly all over the tree; as long as we turned the tree to hide a few of the lower branches without lights. As we were turning the tree, all the lights went off. NOW WHAT !! Turns out that the wire came right off the plug due to the tension. Instead of just giving up, which I'm sure he felt like, my dear husband got out his tools and the electrical insulated tape. In no time we were back in business again.

After waiting an extra long time this year, the boys were finally able to hang the ornaments. I have to say though, I heard Shawn mention that next year we are getting one of those trees with ready to go lights. My questions is, what will happen if one those strands burn out?

A Simple Wish

Nolan's only request for a birthday gift was a reading lamp; so he could read early in the morning without waking his brother up. How could you deny such a request? He woke up in morning of his birthday and bumped his head on the lamp that we had place on his bed early in morning. He did not mind the bump and started reading right away.

He also received a more typical 9 year old gift.By 6 am all three boys were up and ready for a Nero gun battle.

As it is a tradition in our house, the birthday person chooses the menu for the whole day and also gets the day off from all his chores. Nolan's birthday cake was a raspberry cream cheese cake, although not your traditional cake, it still had candles. I forgot to get a number 9 candle, so we used our math skills, 3x3= 9 years old.

Happy Birthday my Dear Son!

WE LOVE YOU !

Hitting the Trail Again

November 05

Ever since we hiked the Canyon Creek Forest 3 years ago, we said we would return. At the time the trail was not finished and crossing the "raging" creeks without a bridge was quite traumatic for Ethan. I guess if you were his size, it (the creek), would have looked a little like Niagara Falls. The trail is now completed, but we still did not make it all the way to the top. This time we were racing against the clock. When you start a hike after 1pm in the winter, you don't have that much daylight left. We did make it to the old growth forest, but no one minded turning around, everybody was looking forward to great pizza at the North Fork Beer Shrine. So many people have raved about their pizza, but to us, no pizza was ever worth about a hour wait, specially after you have hiked or skied all day. This time, probably due to "shoulder season", we found empty tables right away. The pizzas are really good, where else would you even attempt to eat a pizza like the "monster", with toppings like jalapeno, anchovies, pineapples and a bunch of other weird combinations? (You do end up paying the next day if you are brave enough to attempt it). We were joined my our friends, the Mchughs, and had a good time hiking, chatting, eating pizza and even had a surprise chocolate cake to celebrate Shawn's birthday.

November 08

Time to Gather . . .

. . . LEAVES

And leaves did we have! The sun was out, the leaves were all down and dry and we also had strong and healthy boys. What a great combination! The task was done quite quickly. Even our friend Ethan, who came over to play with the boys, joined in for the hard work. The one thing I found out, is that gathering leaves by the bundles, will stain your sleeves and not even good old bleach will get those out. Good thing the boys were wearing their war clothes. A few more stains will only add to the character.

I believe that some hard work in the outdoors also adds to the character!

Happy Birthday to my Dear Husband

What a blessing to have you in our lives! I could not have dreamed of a more loving and thoughtful husband. I could not have wished for a better father for my kids. We love you pray that God will bless us with many, many more years to celebrate. Here is to a great man! Happy Birthday!

Treasure Hunt

Today our pirates went out in search of treasure (aka http://www.letterboxing.org/). We had some nice, rainy and relaxing days over the weekend, but today it was time to get out and move again! With Christian being off school and Shawn taking a vacation day, we claimed this day for family fun. We were successful in finding the box, plus some more treasures and curiosities.

We spotted an interesting claw mark on this tree. It gave some of us a chill in the spine and made us be a little more aware of our surroundings. Could it be a cougar? Or a bear? Maybe Sasquatch is alive and well after all.

This is beautiful Beaver Pond, where there was evidence of a lot of beaver activity, but no beaver sightings this time. Can you find the last of our treasures? At least it's a big treasure for the boys. as for me, I happy to keep my distance (behind the camera)!