Foray to Visit Family and Frolick

Beacon Hill park in Victoria

We made our annual Spring trip to Victoria this past weekend. The weather wasn't too bad. You never know what to expect in Spring. Sometimes it can be terribly windy and/or rainy and a few times we have had sunshine and warmth.

On Friday we took the early morning ferry from Anacortes to Sidney, B.C. A ferry employee told us  about the intriguing history of Spieden Island (in the San Juan Islands). It is a private island and we often spot wildlife on its steep slopes on our journey. In the 1970s it was used for big game hunting. Exotic animals were flown in and the wealthy could come and hunt them. Later it became a conservationist centre. It remains a private island.

We worked on a jigsaw puzzle during the last part of the trip. That's one thing I appreciate about the Anacortes ferry is all the puzzles that are spread out on tables.

When we arrived in Sidney we had lunch at the The Five and Dime diner.

On Friday night we took my parents out for "Christian chicken" at Swiss Chalet. After dropping my parents off at their apartment we went to Cattle Point — a park along the shore with rocky bluffs. Cattle Point is an Urban Star Park. That means that it is darker than typical urban areas and you can better see the stars.

Near Cattle Point is a WWII memorial to the 97 Oak Bay residents who died. I think it is a beautiful memorial.

The inscription says "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friend."

We stayed at the Oak Bay Hotel which has become a favourite of my husband. You can see photos of it from our stay there in 2016. These beautiful flowers were in the lobby.

On Saturday my mom wanted to drive to the Esquimalt Causeway and go to Metchosin for lunch. My parents aren't able to get out on drives very often. It was my pleasure to take them out. Here is C by the sea — along the Esquimalt Causeway.

We had lunch at My Chosen Cafe which has a small petting zoo behind it. We had the waitress take our photo but it didn't turn out too well. I don't think my oldest son was ready for the photo to be taken so I cropped him out.

In the afternoon C and I went shopping in Oak Bay village. We visited a small bookstore. C sat in a chair and perused a comic book while I looked around. The manager offered him a tissue for his sniffles. C thought that was very Canadian.

Later in the afternoon we went to Beacon Hill park. J and A weren't feeling energetic. C and I walked all around. I wanted to find the Moss Lady.

I had forgotten how beautiful Beacon Hill park is.

I would love to be back there in a month or so with more sun and more flowers.

On Saturday night we had dinner in the dining room of my parents' building. That evening we went in the hot tub again. We had very interesting chats with the other hotel guests.

On Sunday morning we checked out of our hotel. J took this glam photo of me in front of the hotel.

We went to my parents' church.

We were blessed by the solid preaching of Barton Priebe and good music.

We returned by the Tsawwassen ferry. We just missed the 1 pm ferry but caught the 2 pm ferry. J saw a seal come up out of the water near to the boat.

Our border crossing went fine. Back in Washington we had dinner in Mount Vernon (after some closed restaurants and frustration) and returned home.

It was a short trip but enjoyable. I think we'll stay longer next time we go up to Victoria.


Pin It

Sunshine, snow, and mountains

The boys had breaks from school this week. A had the entire week off while C had three days off.

We returned to Suncadia where we spent two nights last year in February and again this year.

We love the view from the "Great Room" aka the lobby of the Lodge.

On Monday morning we headed for the indoor pool. The boys like the water slides. I stick with the hot tub and the steam room. For lunch we took a short drive to Cle Elum and saved money getting lunch at Safeway and Burger King.

The afternoon was spent on A's favourite spot - the coal hill.

A climbed to the top twice. They tried throwing the aerobie (like a frisbee but has a hole in the middle)  from the top. Later they did some sledding.

I spent the time reading by the fireside.

We had supper at Swiftwater Cellars.

Both evenings, we watched the Winter Olympics on TV.

On Tuesday morning I had hoped to go cross country skiing (like A and I did last year) BUT the snow was pretty icy. We braved the cold (28 degrees) and went for a long walk instead. The boys haven't seen frozen ponds before so we had them experience a little bit of standing on some ice.

We checked out of our room and had lunch in Roslyn at the Red Bird Cafe. J had a Mardi Gras themed plate that included Muffalata.

We returned home in time for A to go to soccer conditioning at school.



Pin It

Advancement

C moved up a rank in Boy Scouts earlier this week. He became a Tenderfoot. He was at the rank of Scout before.

Here is a list of the ranks:

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

C had to go before a Board of Review before he was awarded this rank. He had to answer various questions (after he completed the requirements). He was so proud and happy after he completed this.

I like the tradition C's troop has. At the Court of Honour - the boy scout pins his new pin on his mom, then hugs and kisses her and then shakes his dad's hand.

I don't have a good photo. My older son took photos but he needs more practice.


Pin It

Snow Hike on New Years Day

We went up to Snoqualmie Summit today. We planned on hiking to Franklin Falls (which was supposed to be gorgeous with a frozen waterfall) but that didn't turn out. The usual road was closed so we had to walk two miles just to reach the trailhead. We made it very close to the trailhead but at that point we were tired and hungry. 

It was pretty cold - about 28 degrees and windy. The views were fantastic.

We enjoyed our time in the snow and decided it was a good first try at snow hiking. 

We had a late lunch of quiche, sandwiches, spanakopita, and cinnamon rolls at Georgia's Bakery in North Bend.

Pin It

Books Read in 2017

It is time for a review of the books I read this past year. I'm participating in Sheri's Saturday Review of Books - A Best of Best link party.

I read 39 books in 2017. This is down from my 2016 total of 52. I'm disappointed in the total. I think I now have a shorter attention span. I blame technology. Actually one of the books I read but didn't finish (ha ha!) this past year was 12 Ways Your Phone is Changing You by Tony Reinke.

I read 8 non fiction and 31 fiction. I also read a bunch of non fiction books that I didn't finish.

My favourite fiction books were:

1. Summer Moonshine by P.G. Woodhouse.

I read two other non-Jeeves books by Woodhouse this past year but this one was the best. Summer Moonshine describes a world I'd like to live in for a while.

2. The Circle by Dave Eggers

Dystopian fiction. The main character Mae goes to work at a company called The Circle that resembles Amazon or Google and it takes over her life. The question this book deals with is how much privacy do we maintain with todays' social media? Don't let any of your Luddite friend read this!


3. Bel Canto by Ann Patchett.

Here is the summary from the back of the book:
Somewhere in South America, at the home of the country's vice president, a lavish birthday party is being held in honor of the powerful businessman Mr. Hosokawa. Roxane Coss, opera's most revered soprano, has mesmerized the international guests with her singing. It is a perfect evening—until a band of gun-wielding terrorists takes the entire party hostage. But what begins as a panicked, life-threatening scenario slowly evolves into something quite different, a moment of great beauty, as terrorists and hostages forge unexpected bonds, and people from different continents become compatriots. Friendship, compassion, and the chance for great love lead the characters to forget the real danger that has been set in motion . . . and cannot be stopped.


My favourite non fiction books were:

1. Anybody Can Do Anything (a memoir) by Betty Macdonald. I read two other Betty Macdonald memoirs this past year but this one was the funniest and most upbeat. The others (The Egg and I and The Plague and I) had more sadness in them.

2. Uninvited by Lysa TerKeurst. This book was a favourite not so much for the content (which was good) but because I was part of a group discussing it over the summer months. I'd like to do that again.

A fascinating non-fiction book that I enjoyed this past year was

3. Aimee Semple McPherson and the Resurrection of Christian America.

I wasn't familiar with Aimee Semple McPherson until earlier this year. What a fascinating character. She was an evangelist and media celebrity in the 1920s and 30s in California. She was the founder of the Foursquare Church. She claimed to be kidnapped at one point in her life. I recommend learning more about her life.

The WORST book that I read this year was Into the Water.

The author also wrote Girl on the Train which was MUCH better. There were no characters to cheer for or care about in Into the Water and I believe the author really doesn't like men very much since so many were abusers in this book.

I didn't read any classics this past year. That is a shame. Some possible choices for 2018 are:
- Crime and Punishment
- East of Eden
- Hunchback of Notre Dame



Pin It

December and Christmas wrap up

our Christmas card photo

We were searching for a car for the first week or so of December. Not much fun. I did get to drive a Dodge Charger rental for a while. I'm happy with our purchase. Here's me in the Mazda:

I caught a cold after distrubuting flyers for C's Boy Scout troop fundraiser.  I'm feeling better now but I missed a few days of preparation. We had a real tree again this year. I'm hoping for a fake one next year. I had to do so much pruning to make it look right. My hands cramped up from it. I actually lost sleep due to pain in my hands. I also got tired of watering it every day.

Throughout the days leading up to Christmas we read from this book almost every night at suppertime.

We went to various Christmas light displays. Evergreen Church, the Hawks House, and Woodinville Wonderland. Hawks house was really cool.

They invite you inside where they have life size tunnels and a huge train set.

I bought pre-assembled gingerbread houses from Costco for the boys to decorate. They teamed up with their friends on the street and had a "competition."  Everything with boys needs to have a competition element! They did a great job decorating and they cleaned up afterward.

On Christmas Eve in the morning, our family did the advent reading at our church. I read the Old Testament passage and A read the New Testament one. I was able to get a video of us reading to send to our parents.

The amazing thing on Christmas Eve was the snow that started falling (and staying around) in the afternoon.  The boys were really hoping for snow so they received an extra special gift.

I didn't do much crafting this year but I finished this wreath on Christmas Eve

For our Christmas meal we had prime rib. J and the boys remembered it from last year and requested it again. I had hopes of company coming for dinner but that didn't work out. Here's my place setting with some old Christmas photos in the background.

We had Yorkshire pudding, roasted fingerling potatoes, carrot souffle, and upside down black forest cake for dessert.

My hubby bought himself a basic affordable drone. He and the boys are having fun trying it out. I received a new laptop along with a personalized skin for it (a sticker for the laptop.) Here's a photo of it.

J surprised me with it. He knew it was a favourite photo of mine, taken on our summer vacation.
A got lots of sport related gifts like a new football, a new soccer ball, a Seahawks toque. C got super hero things like a Captain America shield, a book about Captain America and a pop head.

I asked for a gingerbread scented candle and J and A went out to look for one. They couldn't find one so A improvised. I love it!

The boys spent a lot of time outside on Christmas day, playing in the snow.

J and I finished this puzzle :

We watched the Queen's message on TV which is another of our traditions.

Pin It

Cross Country Memories

A ran for the cross country team this fall. This was a first for him in so many ways. It was the first time he played on a school team and the first time he has run cross country. It was also the first time that A has been on on a coed team.

It started in the summer with him participating in weekly ultimate frisbee games. This was a chance to meet the coach and some of the players. The next event was GO camp in August. It was like a retreat. He was paired up with another team member and they got to know one another. A was teamed up with the best runner on the team whose name is Grant.

The group photo above was taken at a meet in Sultan that A attended but didn't run in because he hadn't attended enough practices to run.

A's first meet was on September 13th at McCollum Park (hosted by Arch Bishop Murphy High School). It was a very small meet which was a good way to get his feet wet. I am proud to say that I was at every one of the five meets that he raced in.

The meet that was the farthest away was in Port Angeles and A didn't attend that one. The largest meet was the Nike Invitational held at a golf course in Marysville. There were 269 runners in A's race.

Some teachers from the school came to this meet with signs to encourage the team.

Here is A running in the rain:

The team had practices every weekday after school from 4 until 6 pm. When I would pick him up, I'd wait to see the big yellow school bus (with the school name on the side) pull into the parking lot and then I'd know he was back.  Most of the practices were held at a nearby state park.

One fun memory is the pin awards. At the team dinners the team leadership (a small group of  seniors) handed out wooden clothespins with something written on them. They were usually funny. One pin that A received was for being a jester and another was for his one-handed catches.

The team dinners were potluck and were a good chance to meet other parents. A's coach was very dedicated and a fun guy to be around. He is super positive and encouraging.

One fun thing about cross country meets was running into A's former classmates from NCA who now go to other high schools and also run cross country.

Here is A at the South Whidbey Island meet on October 5th.

nearing the finish line:

A's fastest time in the 5,000 metres was 21.22 at his last meet of the season which was held in Carnation, in the rain. This was October 19th. He started the season with a time of 24.55.

The school's team sent one young man to the state championship which was held in Pasco in early November.

I hope that A runs cross country again next year. He made many friends in his grade and challenged himself to persevere.


Pin It

Thankgiving 2017

This year was a first for me. I hosted American Thanksgiving. We have lived in the US for almost 18 years now. We've spent Thankgiving in Victoria, at other peoples' houses here in Seattle, and we've spent it alone but this year we had guests over for the first time.

Our guests were friends from our church - the Chases.

We had a 20 pound turkey which I brined the day before, gravy, mashed potatoes (which I made the day before), cranberry sauce, and two different green bean side dishes. I made one green bean dish and E made the other. We had pumpkin pie from Costco and E brought apple dumplings which she made with her son's help. I used lots of recipes from the Pioneer Woman. Here's the turkey. It had great flavour.

Here is my table before the food was ready. We put another leaf into the table. I needed to buy some new plates since I don't have a complete set of china to serve 8 people.

My hubby helped me a lot with cleaning and cooking. Here he is peeling oranges (with A's help) to make the brine.

It was a lot of work getting the house guest ready. One example is I took out all the books out of the bookcase in order to dust. It is really nice having the clutter gone.


Pin It