Category: Photo of the week

Photos of the Week: May 6

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“Be like a flower, survive the rain but use it to grow.” – anonymous

The temperature in the air reached a glorious 75 degrees, but the water was still only 50 degrees. Miss O and Mr D didn’t mind in their wet suits which was good because it was Mr D’s inaugural experience on the paddleboard. I think he thought he was doing quite the job paddling and didn’t realize that his sister was providing both the power and direction by slipping off and kicking.

Two days of warm weather inspired great plans for a lemonade stand. Unfortunately, spring sprinkled on our outside commerce zone but Miss O and Mr D solved it by handing out umbrellas for the customers to hold.

The views from the Capital Hill Stairs.

Spring flora and fauna in the neighborhood.

Playing with our food – or a heart and a smile. It all depends on the way you look at it, right?

Photos of the Week: April 29

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“Gather the crumbs of happiness and they will make you a loaf of contentment.” – anonymous

This yard in our neighborhood gets more and more impressive every year and I’m only capturing a portion of the bulbs they’ve planted!

Worms, wetness, and wheels

Learning to whistle

Exactly how I like to party these days!

Heart of the week….Hope you all enjoy the weekend!

Photos of the Week: April 22

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“Whatever befalls the Earth, befalls the sons and daughters of the Earth. This we know. The Earth does not belong to people; people belong to the Earth. This we know. All things are connected like the blood which unites one family. All things are connected.” – Chief Seattle

In honor of Earth Day and inspired in part by Michelle at BoomerEcoCrusader, I’m changing up the photos of the week to be some of the things I’ve been lucky enough to see on planet Earth.

Mt Elbrus (part of the Caucus Mountain Range) in Russia

The Mexican Volcanoes

The Himalaya including Tengboche Monastery, the Khumbu Icefall and Mt. Everest left to right in the bottom row.

And my home territory – the mountains of the Pacific Northwest

And the waters of the Pacific Northwest.

Happy Earth Day, Everyone!

Photos of the Week: April 15

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“Please excuse the mess, the children are making memories.” – unknown

This is an experiment that is an offshoot of Vicki’s post about Fresh Peeps and Pink Parasols last week. My kids love putting marshmallows in the microwave so why not a peep? Deb and Vicki, I hope you enjoy the results of this experiment and if you’re going to do it at home, 15 seconds should be good. More than that and you might need to refer to the quote above…

Speaking of bunnies and chicks, we were out visiting our neighborhood animal celebrities. Daisy and Hopper, the bunnies and the ducks, PJ & the New Guy – which isn’t really the duck’s name but seemed like an apt substitute.

More celebrities and sunshine

Puddles and bubbles

I think this “Question of the Day” bodes well for the WordPress community!

Photos of the Week: April 8

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“I always look up at the moon and see it as the single most romantic place within the cosmos.” – Tom Hanks

I took my kids on an overnight to Bellingham. It was overly ambitious on my part because it was a lot of work for less than 24 hours – but the kids loved the pool – and the luggage cart — and the fold out bed. And did I mention the pool?

While my foot is recovering from the pool rash I earned doing a cannonball, Mr. D seems to have sustained a far more serious wound….April Fools!

Anyone remember my follow-up piece about the window after our next door neighbors moved and Miss O’s best friend was no longer on the other side of the fence? When I wrote about re-opening the window 6 months after that move and seeing a puppy on the other side, several people suggested that I should share the piece with the new neighbors. Guess what? I did – and now we have a new best friend that comes to visit from the other side of the fence.

There’s been an impressively quick turnaround on our neighborhood artwork after St. Patrick’s Day. Here’s the soda display.

As I mentioned after we ran into Macklemore, I’m not all that well versed in my rap culture. But this sign still made me chuckle. Except it wasn’t til several hours later that I got the “2 pac” part of the joke.

And the neighborhood skeleton is also looking hip – hippity hop, that is….

Photos of the Week: April 1

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“Children learn more from what you are than what you teach.’ – W.E.B. Dubois

We didn’t do much this week. It was all gray skies and screen time so we just gutted out the last week of March and didn’t have any fun.

APRIL FOOLS!!

Because we did manage to have quite a bit of fun this week. Including, Mr. D working out his tetherball technique with Nana.

A 2nd grade class field trip to the Seattle Center.

Practicing assembly skills so that one day they can put together their own IKEA furniture.

The kids taught me never to cede high ground in a squishmallow fight.

A blossom heart creation.

And our favorite gas station being a little cheeky.

Photos of the Week: March 25

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“Like wildflowers, you must allow yourself to grow in all the places people never thought you would. ” – unknown

Is it hard to find a three-leaf clover in a pile of soda? Not after you’ve seen the Halloween, Christmas and Valentine’s Day offerings.

SPRING TRAINING: includes a water balloon fight but with warm water balloons and hot chocolate after.

Dr Stein said of last week’s photos that I should wrap Miss O in bubble wrap. The closest I could get was to wrap them up in bubbles. Of course, sometimes I also want to keep them in bubbles but I’ll settle for trying to make this time when these little things delight them last as long as possible.

Heart of the week (toothpaste in the sink) and sign of the week.

Photos of the Week: March 18

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“Spring: a lovely reminder of how beautiful change can truly be.” – unknown

I know spring has sprung because I’m eating Easter chocolates – even if they are from last year.

This week as I froze my feet taking pre-dawn pictures, I wondered why I take this same picture, more or less, over and over again. I realized that the answer was that it’s because it gives me a beautiful start to my day in which I have a better sense of perspective – that the world is so big and my worries are small. As Lao Tzu says “If you correct your mind, the rest of your life will fall into place.” He just left out that’s it’s an ongoing practice.

So I took the kids up to see the sunrise and they were moderately interested but more impressed by leaving handprints in the frost. 🙂

Activities of the week: nothing but net and shooting stars.

Around the neighborhood!

Photos of the week: March 11

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“Always be on the lookout for the presence of wonder.” – Jana Stanfield

Indoor bouncy house – inflatable zone on a Sunday morning.

Walking out of the bouncy house place with my kids, I was looking down to avoid puddles in the parking lot and then glanced up to find that we were five feet from Macklemore. He appeared to be taking his daughters to a birthday party at the same place.

At this point I need to say that I’m not so hip as to normally be able to recognize Macklemore, even though he’s a world famous rapper. But he’s a Seattle boy, through and through, and I’d just seen him do an interview. And in the parking lot moment, he was dressed better than any other parent taking their kid to a bouncy house place and most Seattlites in general. So he was noticeable.

When we got ready to go out that evening, I found my kids stepping up their attire. Mr D came up with this outfit out of his hand me downs without any help, except that Miss O added the necklace. I’m calling it the “Macklemore effect.”

I managed to get my kids up to the deck to see the full moon this week. When we were there, Mr D saw the darling, young neighbor in the yard with her puppy and yelled “hi.” She texted me later “I’m taking notes for when I have kids to take them to the roof to look at the moon.” I wished her good luck with that because strangely, it’s so much harder than it sounds to do.

Signs of the week.

Photos of the Week: March 4

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“You are doing better than you think you are.” – Jeffrey R. Holland

Sometimes I get to the end of the week and think that it’s been so busy that I’m not going to have any photos to post. Then I look through the camera roll and am amazed at all we’ve done, even on the weeks we’ve been tired and barely keeping it together. Huh, doing better than I think we are, just like the quote says.

We visited an old-fashioned arcade so the kids can understand any pinball references in culture and media.

Sometimes I have the distinct feeling that the house has a ghost in it. So weird when it’s singing “Baby Shark”

It “warms” my heart that we are getting out to play outside more and more. Even when the players are trash-talking the photographer. We still need hot chocolate afterwards though. Guests might want to turn down the offer of marshmallows when they see how it’s prepared…

I love that Seattle has dog drinking fountains.

“Look, Mom, I can fly.”

Heart of the week…