Laundry Lady

It's October Already?

What happened to September?  I guess I've been too busy to notice that autumn has arrived.  Of course, here in the Pacific Northwest, we have several more weeks before we will see the noticeable changes of this season.  

Here's a picture I took two nights ago during A's soccer game. The sun was getting ready to set and the rain clouds were starting to move in.  

First, it didn't start raining until we got home.

And second, she kicked the ball...

the goalie fumbled around trying to stop it...

and it went to the back of the net.  SHE SCORED!!!!!

I love this girl!

Teenagers Are Useful (Sometimes)

My daughter has had her driver's license for about a month now.  I'll be the first to admit that I wasn't ready for her to reach that milestone.  I will never stop worrying about her getting T-boned by a log truck. It just makes me so nervous.  And honestly, it just makes me feel SO old!  But you've got to let them grow up sometime.

She's doing a great job so far.  She's been driving herself to and from soccer practices.  I know I will LOVE this when she'll start 5:30am Monday morning practices and when she comes home from late away games!  She'll probably pick her youngest brother up from school, too.  Very convenient!

The best thing about having a teenager so far:  Having someone who can drive to the store when you're in the middle of making zucchini bread and discover that you're out of eggs.  Also: to drive to the store AGAIN when you discover that you're out of baking soda!  True story.

I love this girl!

Bike to Battle Cancer

Yesterday, the birthday boy and his son went on a LONG bike ride.  It was a 35 mile ride through beautiful Bellingham and Whatcom County.  It was a bike ride to raise money for the American Cancer Society.  

 

Several weeks ago, B was looking for organized bike rides for he and E to participate in when he stumbled upon the American Cancer Society's Bike to Battle Cancer ride.  He went ahead and signed up but wasn't too sure if he'd be able to raise enough money.  He proceeded to email some friends and before he knew it, his goal was exceeded!  Thanks to his friends, he raised the most money for this event.  $595.02!

Here they are accepting their 1st place prize.  Do you think they could turn and face me for a picture?

I don't know anyone who hasn't been touched by cancer in some way, whether it's a friend, a family member, or one's self.  B lost his dad to stomach cancer in 2003 while he was fighting in Iraq.  My grandfather died from a rare form of cancer back in 1996.  Just last year, a dear friend of mine was diagnosed with a quick spreading form of breast cancer.  She is in remission but we will never stop worrying about the possibility of it returning to her body.  Cancer is just plain ugly.  

The boys are getting the GPS all set.  E was in charge of navigating.

And they're off.  If B seems a little less than enthusiastic, it's because he thought the route would be relatively flat.  However, as we pulled into town, we couldn't help but notice that it was anything but flat.

If that wasn't enough, E's seat wasn't set properly so he wasn't much help in the pedaling department. When he pedaled uphill, the bike would sorta rock side to side or fishtail.

There were a few heavily traveled roads along the route, especially towards the end of the route.

This was one of the most beautiful locations during the race.  It was downhill and the forest was beautiful.

Unfortunately, it was not a great spot for cars to pass!  They caused quite a back-up.

This is about the halfway point and they still hadn't lost their spirit.

E drank some Gatorade at the hydration station.  He might've had some cookies too.

And off they go again!

At this point, E is STARVING!  Luckily, his partner had some snacks stowed away in the Jeep.

And they finished!  They completed the entire route, hills and all, and never even considered quitting. Or walking.

I am so proud of them.  It was hard work hauling this little guy all that way.  But when you get a look at these freckles, it is SO worth it!

Now for a well-deserved soak in the hot tub!

Happy Birthday B!  Doesn't he look great at 43?

Seattle Waterfront

Back in June, I went on the 8th Grade Cruise with J.  And yes, he was absolutely thrilled that I went and even more thrilled that I brought my camera!  

Poor guy, he doesn't get much of a choice when it comes to field trips.  He's diabetic.  So if I don't go, the school nurse has to go and then the remaining school nurses are stretched out to cover the other nurse.  If I go, it's easier on everyone and I don't have to worry. 

I thought the trip was really nice.  The weather was gorgeous and we got to cruise all around Elliott Bay.

 But J spent most of his time on the lowest deck with his friends listening to music on their iPods.  

These guys really know how to have some fun!  Or not.

After a half hour or so of following him and his friends around and watching them listen to iPods, I decided my time would be better spent hanging out of a window taking pictures of the Seattle waterfront.  I was not disappointed!

Here's the Space Needle with the old Seattle P-I building in the foreground.  It's the one with the globe on top. 

Olympic Sculpture Park.

Pier 70 with the Seattle skyline.

Pier 70 with the Space Needle.

The Edgewater...sigh.  If you ever have the opportunity to stay in Seattle, please stay here.  You won't regret it.

Here is a Washington State ferry with Qwest Field and Safeco Field in the background.  

I wish I could've taken a closer shot of the ferry but our boat was starting to make a turn and I was on the wrong side.

The Seattle Aquarium. 

"Uh Duuuuude, your mom is following us with the camera again."

By the way, J has seen a barber since these pictures were taken.  He actually has eyes and ears under all that hair.

Tour de Kitsap

Ever since B and E participated in the Tour de Pierce bike ride, B has been dying to go on another organized bike ride.  He loves taking E out for training rides and tweaking their bikes so everything is just right.  E looks forward to it too.  He loves spending time with Dad!

This ride required a much needed equipment update for E.  He's grown about two feet since the last ride so he needed a new trail-a-bike.  B also thought E might be a little bit more comfortable if he had some riding shorts.  

E needed to carbo load so he's eating pretzels.  Someone's got to have enough energy to carry these guys through the ride.

They're making their final preparations and making sure they have everything they could possibly need. You know, like water.  And tools.  You never know what could happen out there.  And even though I'm waiting for them at various locations on the route, I could easily be distracted by a sale at my favorite store or an iced coffee.  You just never know.

And they're off!

Barely down the road and we're already lost.

Back on track.  This was a nice shady road.

Oops, they missed their turn again.  Lucky for them, I honked and got them right back on course.  Notice that E is eyeballing the convenience store.  He must be ready for some Gatorade.

I was driving along the designated route looking for a good spot to pull over, when these two guys show up.  Riding in the wrong direction.  Huh?

But they were still chugging along.  B might have had to remind E that he's supposed to pedal too.

Keep going guys!

Finally, the end is in sight!

This calls for a high five!

These two make quite a team.  I think I'm going to have to get some custom race shirts made for them.

Ok, time to get some pretzels for E.  He earned 'em.

I'd love to tell you how long the ride is but every time I ask, the distance gets longer.  But I am so proud of them.

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

The Cleveland Indians are in town (and so are my niece and nephew from Ohio) so we just had go to it.  We also invited my brother's daughter along.  She lives close by but it seems like we never get to spend any time with her!  

We decided to ride the Sounder train to Seattle.  It's just a short walk to the stadiums.  It proved to be a good choice because there was also a Seattle Sounders soccer game next door.  Way too many cars plus not enough parking equals a very frustrated redhead.  

All aboard!

See, we've got happy campers.

P is having a blast.  Or she just got a text.  But I'd like to think that she's just having a really great time.

I wish I brought my headphones too.

We made it to Safeco Field.  Such an awesome ballpark!  WAY better than the old King Dome from back in the day.

Fighting the crowds.  Not really!

And somewhere under this screen are our seats! 

The seats weren't bad.  We just didn't get to see the board.

And because everyone was hungry and wanted to venture out for food, they all smiled very nicely for me. What a good looking group we've got!

Jake managed to carry back a burger, fries, Dippin' Dots AND a drink.  

The girls had chicken fingers and garlic fries before they ran out to get some Dippin' Dots too.

Oh, and some cotton candy for E.

There was a lot to see out on the field.  Like the Mariner's Moose.

Ichiro stretching.

Ichiro batting.

And Ichiro stealing base.

I thought Ken Griffey Jr. came back.  What happened?

Then it was time for the groundkeepers to tidy the place up.

Whoa, what's going on?  They just threw down their rakes.

Oh, it's time for a little Boom Boom Pow.

These guys were hilarious.  Seriously, I think that was the kids' favorite part of the game.  Well, next to the food.

They're SO 3000 and 8!

Can you really call it a game if the benches don't get cleared at least once?  

And thank goodness it happened because the Mariners were losing in a bad way.  

Look who flew in for dinner.  He can't seem to decide if he wants the peanut shells on the bench or if he should swoop down and get some Dippin' Dots.  What he really ought to see if he can get some garlic fries. They're pretty good.

Anyway, we decided to leave after the 8th inning.  We were losing 10-0 and I really didn't want to find out what happens if you miss the train.  

Good news!  On the rain, we found out that the Mariner's managed to pick up 3 more runs.  I hope they do better tomorrow!

This Is My Life...

This is my life:

This and the loads already in the washer and dryer.  And the load and a half of towels in the laundry room hamper.  Sigh.

Not complaining though because this is the result of my beautiful family of five plus my visiting niece and nephew.  Totally worth it.  And they help me fold it and put it away.  It could be worse.

Of course, it would be a lot better if I didn't put off washing clothes in the first place.

Rain Forest

There is a rain forest in North America.  Surprising, I know.  Not so surprising is that it's in Washington state.  It's a temperate rain forest.  This part of the rain forest averages 145 inches a year.  Lucky for us, it didn't rain while we were here today.  It was drizzling at the beach so we figured we might as well go to the rain forest.  It was only a 45 minute drive from where we were staying.

When we reached Lake Quinault we spotted this sign:

Naturally, we HAD to see it.  

Look how excited the kids were.  I think they knew that after we took them to the Ocean Shores Interpretive Center, we couldn't go wrong.  

Here she is.  The largest Sitka Spruce tree in the world. Yes, the largest in the world.

Okay, so it's a big tree.  A really big tree.  I just somehow pictured it being so much bigger than this.  But still, it's a big tree.  Oh, and it's really old too.

The kids were eager to explore the tree and then they took a break.

I'm kind of surprised that P isn't texting her friends back home.  I'm sure she'd want them to know about this.  Hmmmmm, maybe she doesn't have service here in the rain forest.

So the next stop was a short little hike to a place that had a spectacular view of a beautiful creek and waterfall.  Unfortunately, most of the forest along this trail had suffered a lot of damage from the winter storms.  So many of the trees had fallen it looked like a lumber camp.

 

But the waterfall was beautiful and totally worth the hike.

I also got a nice group shot of the kids.

We headed down the road for our last trail of the day.  The Rain Forest Nature Trail.

Here we go!

Everything was so green and lush.  Totally amazing.

This little guy wanted to pose by every single tree.

Here's our family soaking up every little fact they learn about this rain forest.

The creek winding it's way through the trees.

 

The boys really enjoyed the hike.  The girls kept going and didn't really stop and look at much.

Who is this kid?  And where are his parents???

The boys branched off in the wrong direction and had to run to catch up.  

Taking a break.  Or more likely, waiting for everyone to catch up.

A & P made it all the way back to he car and A hiked back to make sure we were coming.  I guess we took too long.

I really enjoyed the fresh air and the natural beauty of the rain forest.  I would love to go back again 

and hike the longer trail.

Ocean Shores & Pacific Beach

During our stay at the beach, we had a few outings.  We went to Ocean Shores, Pacific Beach, and the rain forest at Lake Quinault.  It was nice to get out and explore a little.

Ocean Shores is about a 20 minute drive down the coast.  I'm sure it's the most popular place on the coast to visit.  I have fond memories of flying kites and wading barefoot in the freezing cold water when I was young.  It doesn't seem like much has changed here either.

Bob took us for a drive on the beach.  Just because we could.

It was nice.  People could rent horses to ride on the beach.  A lot of people were flying kites.

We had lunch at the Go Dog Go.

We also took the kids to visit the Ocean Shores Interpretive Center.  They say education is a lifelong process and we weren't about to deprive the kids of that, even on vacation.  Besides, this little place is chock full of fascinating stuff.  We learned about the dangers of the tsunami while were here last time.

Here are the twins.  Think Arnold Scharzeneger and Danny DeVito.  

Just look at these young minds soaking up all of the information this place has to offer.

Cool shells.

If only sand dollars were real currency.  We'd be rich!

This display would make the folks at PETA cringe.  But E doesn't seem to mind.

The skipper and his first mate.

S & J pause their studies long enough to strike a pose for me.  Thanks guys!

P saw so many wonderful and interesting things that she had to stop and text all of her friends back home.  I'm sure they were SO jealous!

And for those of you that have never had the chance to see an eagle's nest, this one is for you:

The next day we stopped in Moclips near Pacific Beach on our way back from the rain forest.  They had a museum and B wasn't about to let me drive past that.  It was sure to be an educational experience.

This sign was on the side of the building, not even visible from the road.  A lot of good that does, right?

This place must be full of all kinds of treasures.

These are the names of many of the communities along that stretch of the coast.  Or at least I think.  

Well, I never really had a chance to check out much of the museum.  This guy at the front counter asked where we were visiting from and when he found out, he had an interesting story to tell me about our small town.  Apparently, some journalist published a book about Northwest towns that had wooden arches.  Then he pulled out a book and showed me a picture of the arch that used to lead into our town.  It has since been damaged in an earthquake and rebuilt.  But anyway, by the time he was done chatting with me, B and the kids had already finished going through the museum and were ready to go.

But here is one more warning sign about tsunami preparedness:

The members of our family like to tease J about his unnatural fear of tsunamis, which of course isn't really funny, so I HAD to take a free tsunami warning refrigerator magnet and a picture of the sign in the window.  

And later at the beach, when the tide was out really, really far, I had to chuckle at A, who became a little worried that there might really be a tsunami.  Luckily, I learned on the news that the beaches were experiencing the lowest tides of the year that week or I might have worried myself.

Oh and by the way, J has overcome his fear of tsunamis.  Thank goodness.

Seabrook

When we were at the beach last month, we rented a cottage in this fabulous little community called Seabrook.  It's only been around for a couple of years and there is still quite a bit of construction going on but it was still very relaxing.  We were totally comfortable sending the kids out to explore on bikes.

There was a lot to explore.  The beach was just a 5 minute walk away.  There was a hiking trail in he woods.  There was a park with a playground and a huge grassy field.

Also, there were two enormous community fire pits.  Perfect for making s'mores.

Is this perfect or what?

Someone loves marshmallows.

I was able to make a nice spaghetti dinner for the kids.

I also steamed crab for dinner-two nights straight.  It was just.that. good.

There was also a hot tub big enough to seat six.  E loved it.  We could barely get him out of there.

This place was NICE!  A big front porch with adirondack chairs.  A huge selection of DVDs.  A comfy living room for everyone to hang out in and plenty of rooms for everyone to spread out in.  This would be perfect for a small family reunion.  I wish I had taken more pictures but I kept myself pretty busy reading Twilight.  

Even though the weather wasn't very nice, we had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed the chance to relax.