Beach Mantle

So, I finally have a mantle and I've decorated it with a beach theme.

The mantle just has white primer on it right now. It still needs to be *painted* white. It's been a very long process. Here's is what my fireplace looked like before!

The wall wasn't painted blue, we had old tile, and we didn't have a mantle.

Here's a closer look at the new tile. I'm using an old window as a fireplace screen.

I'll put a coat of paint on the mantle once the boys are back in school and the weather changes.

Here is a close up of the candle holders which I found at Hobby Lobby.

Where did I find everything for my mantle?


- the jumbo mason jar (filled with shells) is from Target
- the clam tin is from Joyworks in Snohomish
- I found the Mary Cassatt print at Goodwill.
- the large beach tag sign is from Glitter and Ivy in Snohomish
- the letter B is a chipboard letter that I covered with buttons. B can stand for Beach or my last name. :)
- the shells in the wood box, under glass are from either Marshalls or TJ Maxx, I can't remember.
- I found the large shells at antique stores and/or flea markets.
- the blue candles are from World Market.

Soon I'll be decorating the mantle for fall but for now, I'm enjoying these last days of summer.

I'm linking up to the following:
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Camping and Hiking at Gold Basin - Father & Sons

This post was written by my hubby. :)

Daddy and the boys went for our second annual summer camping and hiking trip in mid-August. We left on Friday afternoon for our campsite, Gold Basin, 13 miles east of Granite Falls on the Mountain Loop Highway. We had never been here before nor was it recommended; it was selected based on internet research, so there was some trepidation. We only booked a few weeks in advance, so there's always part of me wondering why a decent campsite would have any availability so close to the date.

We ended up in a pile of other traffic heading out for the weekend and the one hour drive turned into two. We got there around 7PM and pitched the tent. The campsite looked nice, with decent facilities. It was actually so large it was hard to find our site. The boys had a great time running around the woods nearby and climbing on top of and inside a massive tree trunk.

The next day we set out for our hike up to Lake Twentytwo. We got a decent start, hitting the trailhead about 8:45AM. There were certainly some cars already there, but not too many.  This time each of us brought a backpack of our own. We brought some bottled water, juice, and some sandwiches for lunch, plus some other snacks. Only C wore decent shoes.

The hike up was about 2.5 miles and an elevation of 1,350 feet. Unlike the Great Hike to Lake Serene last year, this one didn't have a long approach, so we were climbing pretty quickly. None of the way up was terribly steep. The old growth cedars reminded us of the Redwoods from our summer vacation. Two thirds of the way up we got to a section that was not wooded: the upside was that we got to enjoy a great view over the valley. The downside was that it was exposed to the direct sunshine and the boys got pretty warm.

The highlight, naturally, was once we got to the top. The lake was very pretty with the snowy escarpment on the far side, and we stopped to enjoy our sandwiches. Once fed, we circumnavigated the lake on the 1 mile trail. On the far side we had a snowball fight in August! Actually it was more like ice-balls. We actually scaled more than half way up the ice. C kept going up until it got too steep to go any further. After coming down from the "glacier", we climbed around on the boulders and rocks that were accumulated where the snow ended. Standing at the bottom in the heat but getting the very cool breeze coming over the snow, C observed: "it's like a giant air conditioner". The boys had fun trying to climb to the top of the boulders and otherwise scrambling around for about 20 minutes.

Eventually we decided to head down. The boys were pretty hot now and I had them gather up some loose ice and put it inside their hats and put them on their heads. This worked great at keeping them cool for quite a while. As we started down, this was the first point A started to get a little impatient. He wanted to be down at the bottom, mostly because his thin-soled shoes were little protection from the ever-jagged, rocky path. I was in the same boat as him and didn't want to tell them how much my feet hurt as we descended.

Eventually we got to the bottom, close to 1:15PM, and got back in our car, which felt great. As we left we noticed the trailhead was now completely packed, with cars even lining the road in both directions.

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{this moment}

Well, a whole week has gone by without any new blog posts! I hope to write one soon. For now, just a photo to share and remember from this past week.

We were invited to a BBQ at the home of an executive from the company where my husband works. They have an outdoor pool and the boys swam in it a bit. I managed to get one good shot of my oldest. I'm proud of how he has improved in swimming. He's passed my ability, that's for sure.

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{this moment}

Two moments this past week.

Proud potato grower (wearing a chocolate ice cream mustache) digging up the harvest.

A learning to use a power drill to take apart a toy (and put back together) while wearing jammies.Pin It

Berry pickers

I'm so proud of my boys. We went raspberry picking today. It is the end of the season so we had to search to find good berries. My oldest son picked about as many berries as I did. I had to pull him away when lunch time came. He wanted to keep picking!

My youngest picked lots as well and hardly ate any in the field.

I've been taking them berry picking since they were babies and they've been picking berries since they were toddlers.

I noticed some other boys in the raspberry patch today who were about nine years old - maybe a bit older. What were they doing? Playing Angry Birds on an iPhone. Expectations. They can be set high or low.Pin It

An outing to Jetty Island

I've now done another thing on my Puget Sound bucket list - a visit to Jetty Island. We went this past Monday, July 30th.

The tide was low when we arrived and came in gradually. The water was very shallow and actually warm! Here is low tide:

Here is the tide coming in:

It was chilly when we arrived but my kids didn't care - they could run back and forth to the water,

dig in the sand,

look for wild animals in the sand bars,

play with the seaweed,

or just get very very wet!

check out that view!

Even on a cloudy cool day, this is a popular place but not so much that you can't spread out. It did warm up in the afternoon. Three other moms and their kids (in our group) left at 12:45 pm but my friend Andrea and I stayed on the island until 2:45 pm. We were happy that we stayed longer to get the warmth and sunshine. Our typical weather these days is cloudy mornings and sunny afternoons.

The short boat ride (from the port of Everett) was free with donations suggested. It only hold 60 people with an upper deck.

There is a website with more information. I highly recommend visiting Jetty Island. If you have a group of more than 8 you can make reservations, which we did.Pin It

What's happening in my garden?

July is a busy time in the garden.

Foxglove are one of my favourite flowers. One sunny day I saw a hummingbird by this one!

The hydrangeas are doing great, unlike last year when I had hardly any blossoms.

This one's a little scraggly looking but I have a nice bouquet after cutting a few.

I still have roses blooming. One rose I bought last year has been producing bloom after bloom!

I have two lavatera plants at the front of my yard. 
They are a little too tall and spindly so I might move them to a different spot.

I've enjoyed having a cutting garden in July.

My shasta daisies are doing great - the funny thing is that they smell terrible!

The delphinium are winding down. They are so fragile.
If I bring some inside, the petals fall all over the counter.

Lavender are in their prime.

As for the vegetables. Here are some harvested zucchini:

A critter took a few bites out of the one on the left. Argg.

Here are zucchini in the raised bed:

I harvested a few yellow carrots - which taste great, by the way.

I harvested the spinach before taking this photo. It was in that blank spot.
As you can see, the sugar snap peas are going crazy.

This is my son's potato patch. Unfortunately some pest is eating the leaves like crazy.
I'm open to advice if you have any.

This last photo is for my dad. He helped clear out this unusual spot for me.
I realized that it is a very sunny spot. We used to just store our garbage bins here.
Now, there are sweet peas (by the trellis), sunflowers and hollyhocks growing!

Thanks for joining me on this garden tour. :)

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One Thousand Gifts #231 to #241

catching up!

231. a bouquet of pink peonies from my garden (photo taken a few weeks ago)

232. picking strawberries with friends

233. a cool day - perfect for picking strawberries

234. my oldest son helping with grocery shopping and putting things away when we got home

235. a playdate invitation

236. a fun trip to San Francisco and a safe return

237. my garden is thriving

238. I found an old window with panes for $10 at an antiques flea market.

239. we explored a "new to us" park last week that had a boardwalk over wetlands. C captured a slug in a water bottle as a temporary pet. He named him Slimey. :)

240. enjoying our friends' fire pit and roasting giant marshmallows

241. getting my haircutPin It

Trip to San Francisco - Part 3 - stops on the way home

Days 6 and 7.

During the two days of driving back home from San Francisco we stopped at two fun places. The first was the Jelly Belly Factory in Fairfield, CA. It was a little tricky to find since there were no signs on the freeway. We went on the free 40 minute tour. It was educational, fun, plus they gave us free jelly beans at the end. The jelly belly portraits were incredible.

We wore these cute hats for the tour.

The number of flavours is incredible.

I bought a bag of "belly flops" which are candies that don't meet the high standards such as the wrong shape, two stuck together, etc. My boys had fun identifying the flavour and I liked sorting them by colour. J discoverd that his favourite flavour is buttered popcorn.

We stayed in Medford, Oregon, on Saturday night. We ate at Four Daughters Irish Pub. I highly recommend it. They were very welcoming to us and our boys. We sat in comfy leather couches and watched baseball on TV. Both C and I had shepherd's pie. J had bangers and mash.

The next day we stopped at The Enchanted Forest near Salem, Oregon. It is located on a hill so we got some exercise walking around. I also liked the natural setting - better than the typical asphalt of an amusement park. A good place to stop on a long day of driving. It is a step back in time.

My boys enjoyed the tunnels, secret passageways and slides. I would recommend bringing a flashlight since the tunnels aren't well-lit. It was a bit over-priced (I think it was $38 for the four of us) but what a unique place. A bit cheesy but they don't make places like this anymore. 

The crooked house.

Enjoying the big slide.

Taking aim at a cowboy who trash talks you whether or not you are successful in shooting him.


We saw Storybook Lane, the Western Town and the Old Europe Village.

C liked Hickory Dickory Dock.

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Canada Day cake - one day late

I pinned this idea on Pinterest months ago and I remembered to make it! I made the cake yesterday but didn't get a chance to decorate it until today. The idea came from this blog. The cake is a white cake mix and the frosting is Cool Whip.Pin It