Photos of the Week: February 10

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul alike.” – John Muir

We went on a road trip to Leavenworth, WA. I felt the truth of the John Muir quote above as soon as we crossed into the mountains. “…places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul alike.” – John Muir

Speaking of play, rollercoasters aren’t my thing so thankfully my dear friend was up for the rides!

And everyone was in for the snow and slides!

Maybe Cooper missed us…but kept busy finding some enticing distractions.

Snow tracks and signs.

Photos of the Week: February 3

“The only source of knowledge is experience.” – Albert Einstein

One morning this week, we decided to be a little late to school and work so that we could spent quality time together at Starbucks. Seattlites at Starbucks – seem too cliche? Regardless, we made good use of our time as Miss O’s sign conveys!

Cooper spent some time learning to blend in. He’s behind that gaggle of kids outside the school (no wonder he loves going to school pick up for all the attention he gets). And in the next photo, he was hanging out with some older retrievers. I’m not even entirely certain which one he is.

Mr. D on a mission: spraying, building, and doing push-ups

License plate art at the licensing office. Isn’t that the coolest map? And the sign of the week.

Photos of the Week: January 27th

Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

As often happens, I opened my phone thinking we didn’t do much this week and then found…pictures of the “make your own pizza” sleepover,

Decorative puddles after the ice melted,

And quality time spent in the garage as Miss O learned to hoverboard while

Coop ate the cones.

And funny signs under blue skies. A pretty good week!

Photos of the Week: January 20

Beautiful, powerful, dangerous, cold
Ice has a magic can’t be controlled
Stronger than one, stronger than ten
Stronger than a hundred men, ha
” – Frozen Heart from Frozen

How do you know it’s cold in Western Washington? Mt. Rainier wears a hat. Ba-dum-dum.

But I can’t take credit for the joke because I heard it on the news. The weather seems to be the story of the week for most of the country. Maybe everyone except Arizona?

We didn’t get snow but we roamed around the neighborhood til we found some frozen ground water. Then the kids sang songs from Frozen and pretended they were ice workers.

Tug of war is just a mechanical engineering problem isn’t it? The weight differential multiplied by the friction coefficient or something like that?

Slime, hugs and motorcycles. All good separately – but never good combined in any way other than a gallery of pictures.

A stick for Cooper to chew on. And a sign for humans to chew on.

Photos of the Week: January 13

“Waiting insistently in front of a tightly closed door is unfair to all of the open doors! Give a chance to the open doors!” – Mehmet Murat ildan

There was a lot of excitement in our house for the UW vs Michigan game last week. It didn’t quite turn out as we hoped but it wasn’t for lack of cheering.

Shredding and cooking. Two distinctly different activities but done in our house with the same amount of enthusiasm.

A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of.” – Ogden Nash

Word!

Photos of the Week: January 6th

The only thing an old man can tell a young man is that it goes fast, real fast, and if you’re not careful it’s too late. Of course, the young man will never understand this truth.” – Norm MacDonald

Cooper! 20 weeks ago the stuffed polar bear was 1/3 bigger than Cooper. 16 weeks ago, Cooper drew even. And now, Cooper is at least 1/3 bigger than the bear. No wonder every time I take him to the vet she looks at him, smiles and says, “He’s going to be big.

And to make sure he stays on track, Cooper is willing to sleep right outside the closet where his food is kept. As close as possible…

Rock climbing and hiking, including find a bus in the woods – but not one that could carry us out of there.

Delivering some neighborhood cheer.

For anyone who giggled at my story about the Christmas present laughter

The heart and the sign of the week. May you all have a whole (not fractional) great week ahead!

Photo Year in Review: My Top Twenty

Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.” – Robert Brault

This post started out as my ten favorites but I found I couldn’t pare it down that low. Even then I’ve cheated because with the featured pic, it’s 21… 🙂

These pictures are chronological. In the beginning of the year, I commented that we never made it full-circle on our favorite hiking trail. By September, we did it – without me carrying anyone!

While I can still pick up my kids together, the days are numbered.

A license plate, a horseshoe and a boot. It’s like the set-up for a great joke- or the most creative birdhouse ever!

Worms (not the first or the last time)

And wishes.

Sliding

Paddling

And blogging friends (the amazing Libby Saylor in NYC)!

Wagons with fake dogs

And the introduction of our puppy, Cooper!

Grandmas and binoculars – because they both add perspective

Training…and patience

My favorite sign of the year. (Which also helps with training and patience)

From youngest to oldest…

And the day the dog ate Miss O’s homework.

Coincidentally finding a Spider-man on the dock when wearing a Spider-man sweatshirt.

The moment the cat decided to be friends.

Getting ice cream.

And Vicki’s great suggestion that I should solicit caption ideas…

(All pictures are my own).