What's Blooming in the Garden?

bearded iris

We had a bit of a drought earlier in May but that ended and we had a few days of rain. My garden responded positively and now I have some great blooms. The roses are starting to bloom. This one has the most blooms so far.

Olivia Rose

The climbing rose has started to bloom.

These snapdragons make me smile. They are supposedly annuals but they have been coming back for the last 2 years.

Delphinium are one of my very favourite flowers but I've had some trouble growing them the last few years. I'm thankful that this one is still alive.

The next two are clematis.

I'll post again in a few weeks with more blooms.






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Discovery Park Hike

We had beautiful weather today (Memorial Day). I wanted to go to Discovery Park in Seattle since it is a very large park and it is somewhere the boys have never been.

We started at the North Parking lot. We walked through various meadows with wild flowers.

We descended down toward the water on a shady path. Eventually we reached the lighthouse.

The view from this area is fantastic. We could see a container ship and lots of sailboats.

We stayed there for a while and then found a different, less steep path for our return.

I spotted lots of wild roses on the way back.

This is back at the parking lot.

I was thankful that we could go on a hike on Memorial Day and not deal with long weekend traffic.







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Movin' on Up

C moved up a rank in Boy Scouts earlier this year. He was supposed to be recognized at the Court of Honour in January but my father in law died unexpectedly in January and J and I traveled to his funeral in Ottawa. I asked if C could be recognized at the Court of Honour last week.

He got the rank of Second Class. In C's troop, the tradition is that the boy scout pins his new pin on his mom, then hugs and kisses her and then shakes his dad's hand.

These are the Boy Scout ranks:

1. Scout
2. Tenderfoot
3. Second Class
4. First Class
5. Star
6. Life
7. Eagle

C has almost completed the requirements for First Class so I expect that he will get that rank at the next Court of Honour in the fall.

At the Courts of Honour, the boys plan the food. This last time the theme was Mexican. There is always a slide show of photos from recent activities. Merit badges are also awarded. One of the badges another scout received was Fingerprinting but the boy announcing it accidentally said "Finger Painting." We had a good laugh at that!

My older son A asked to come along so that was great. He took the photos.


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Last Band Concert

The school's Spring Band Concert was last week. The "lasts" have begun. Last Mother's Day chapel, last band concert, etc. C has played the trombone since 5th grade. I've enjoyed all the concerts.

C has loved his band teacher - Mr. Herzer (pictured above).

Their most challenging song that the advanced band did was from Pirates of the Caribbean. They received a standing ovation.

What is cool is that some of the boys have formed their own band and they get together outside of school to practice. One of the boys writes and arranges music. They have saxophones, a trombone, a trumpet, etc. C has been teaching himself to play the drums. We got a drum set for free and have added a few things to it.

I really hope this band continues to play together after graduation. The boys are all going to different schools so it will be a challenge to keep them together.Pin It

National Honor Society

A being inducted. The girls behind him are officers of his NHS chapter.

My son A was inducted into the National Honor Society on Tuesday night. There was a ceremony at his school.

What is the National Honor Society? It is a student organization for high school students (grade 10 and up). Selection is based on four criteria: scholarship, leadership, service, and character.
Students have to maintain a GPA of 3.5 or higher. There is a community service aspect. Our son joined some other students back in November for King 5 TV's food drive which was super early one Saturday morning. They were on TV briefly.

At the ceremony, the officers of the NHS chapter each spoke on the four pillars and how they are represented in the Bible.

A was one of only two sophomore boys who were inducted. Wow! The girls behind him are officers of the NHS chapter at his school. All of them are seniors (as it should be) but all of the officers are girls! There were seven sophomore girls inducted but only two sophomore boys. Do you know about the boy crisis?

Well, back on topic, I'm super proud of A getting this. We didn't push him into this. He heard about it and pursued it on his own.


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