Oyster Bay

Mom and Dad live on a little finger-let of the sound called Oyster Bay. Their condo complex has a pier and a little bit of rocky shore. My desert dwelling kids just love all the critters on the shore and sticking to the edges of the pier.

Helena kept flipping over barnacle encrusted rocks so she could try to capture the scurrying bitty crabs with her camera. Don't ask her to hold one, though!

I have to admit, we all enjoyed flipping over rocks!

Helena found a slightly bigger crab that was willing to stand his ground rather than run. She thought he was 'uber' cute and re-enacted his claws up defensive stance. Of course, I failed to capture the moment on camera and it took several trys to finally get it. By then, Will was in on the re-enactment, too.

Saturday Afternoon Sailing

When we returned from Seattle, we headed over to Brownsville Marina, where Dad has his sailboat moored. I was pleased to watch Will step forward and confidently help his Grandpa get the boat ready to set sail. I know he is anxious to have more lessons with Grandpa. Unfortunately, there was next to no wind that afternoon and after only sailing about a 1/2 mile from the marina, Dad ended up furling the sails and motoring back to dock.

It was a great way to spend a beautiful, sunny Pacific Northwest afternoon, though!

Returning to Bremerton - Saturday Afternoon

Another fun ferry ride! 'Nough said.

Ivar's seagulls

Waterfront - part 3 - IVARS!

Another landmark in Seattle is the Ivar's Restaurant on the pier next to the ferry terminals. We eat there every time we visit. There are two reasons to eat there; the fish and chips are the best you will ever eat, and feeding the seagulls.

Seagulls know and love Ivar's customers. They have grown to be aerial acrobats and will eat right from your hands! The next post will be just photos of the kids feeding the gulls.

Waterfront - Part 2

We stopped at an arcade on a pier. It is called Miner's Landing. Dad said they had the fast carousel he had ever seen, so of course, the kids had to try it out! He was right! It was a really fast carousel!

Seattle Waterfront - Part 1

After the market, we walked back down to the waterfront to soak in some sun and Seattle ambiance. Helena is thrilled to be surrounded by Urban-ness.

At one point, I turned around and found Will with an ice-cream cone in his hand! When it became apparent he wouldn't be able to finish it on his own, I got to have a taste of it. WOW! That was truly good ice-cream!

Here is a shot of the Space Needle as seen from the waterfront. We are planning on heading there Tuesday.

Mom on the pier. The walking around really was a bit too much for her. It is Monday and she is still wiped out from it!

Pike's Place Market

You simply cannot take a trip to the Seattle area and not visit this historic market!

Pike's place market is a farmer's market in the center of the downtown district and only a short walk (all uphill, of course) from the ferry terminal. Farmers, fishermen, and artists from all over Washington state have stalls where they display and sell their wares. Some of it is just tourist junk, some of it is amazing! Many locals buy their produce here, too.

I bought many of my local favorites while at the market this time. My favorite flavor of honey (fireweed), three flavors of pepper jelly, and herbed cheese curds (I'll have to go back and buy more... we've already eaten them). I also bought some art prints from a local artist and a scarf and purse from an exotic import.

Helena was on cloud nine all day. She LOVES Seattle! She is an urban girl all the way. The highlight of this trip to Pike's Place, for her, was a visit to the original Starbucks. Her friend, Daniel, will be green with envy when he sees this photo! Behind her is a group of street musicians playing to a large crowd.

Going to Seattle - Saturday morning

Saturday morning we all walked onto the Bremerton/Seattle ferry to spend a bit of time at Pike's Place Market. We brought our breakfast onto the boat to save a bit of time and try to beat the tourists to the market. That was a FAIL! We discovered when we got into the harbor that there were THREE cruise ships in port! The market was PACKED. Packed beyond anything I've ever seen!

Riding the ferry is always a super fun way to travel! It is really just a great big giant water-bus. It is also quite expensive to take a car over, so it is helpful to walk on whenever possible.

Washington Trip - Day One

ONTARIO. OR

The kids and I set out this morning on the long drive to Washington State.

Usually, in the past anyways, I have done the entire distance in one agonizing, tortuous drive. I decided NOT to do that this time. Especially since I am the only driver on this journey. So, I reserved a hotel room in Ontario, Oregon. It is not quite the 1/2 way mark. Today we drove for 6 1/2 hours. Tomorrow I expect somewhere around 8 hours of driving.

We were pleased with the hotel! The room is large and the beds comfortable. The bathtub is deep... so rare in a hotel! We are right across the hall from the pool. The workout room is nice, too. Oh. And there will be a good breakfast tomorrow if the dining room is anything to judge by! I am very happy!

We were in the pool within 15 minutes of check in! Or, rather, the hot tub!

Memorial Day

Bill's niece, Kristy, and her husband, Josh, invited us over for a Memorial Day b-b-q at their house. Kristy is my hairstylist, Josh mountain bikes with Bill and keeps tempting him to get into R/C airplanes.

In this first photo, Bill has the controller for one of Josh's R/C airplane was 'the guys all watch the plane flying high. Notice the beautiful view from Josh and Kristy's back yard?

They have a sandbox in their back yard. What started out as an attempt to keep their youngest (Denver) in the back yard, turned into a big kids romp in the sand. First, Helena (with Kristy's help) buried her own legs, then Will followed suit. I just really enjoyed running my toes through the sand!

It was a really fun time and I just have to say, thanks again, Kristy and Josh!

Lacrosse 2010

Will played on the American Fork Cavemen 7-8th grade "A" team. There were enough boys at tryouts to create two teams, an "A" team and a "B" team. That roughly translates to a "varsity" and "jr. varsity" team.

At first, I was really excited for Will to be on the "varsity" team. As time went on, though, it became obvious that although these boys were the best AF had to offer, they were on the lower end of abilities when compared with most of the teams they played against. You see, this year AF, Lone Peak, PG, and Lehi abandoned the Utah Valley lacrosse league and joined with the Salt Lake organization. Those teams have been around longer and were really good!

Don't get me wrong, I am THRILLED with the switch to the Salt Lake league. AND I saw tons of improvement in our boys when compared to last year. Much more passing and action, a lot less "soccer with sticks". But the team season statistics were on the low end. They won only 3 games. HOWEVER, Will played goalie for one of those three! He was on such a high after that game!

The picture above is from an exciting moment for Will. As a defender, Will managed to get hold of the ball and was running it down the field to try to score a goal. Defenders are allowed to cross over to attack if given a chance... as long as one of the attack men stays behind in his place. Unfortunately, as you can see by the photo, one of the opposing team's attack men managed to knock the ball from Will's pole. You can see the ball in the top left corner of the photo.