Category: Photo of the week

“Keep your feet on the ground and your thoughts at lofty heights.” – Peace Pilgrim

There are few things sadder at a kid’s birthday party than having your face paint smear. But there’s nothing better than someone who will sit in line with you to get it touched up.

We went to see a concert and Hamilton this week. Hamilton was a-amazing!! When Mr. D emptied his pockets at the concert, I got to see what he thinks is important enough to bring to a show.

Making popcorn. And I’m not sure about the clouds – but maybe a kernel is escaping through the hole in the sky?

We had lovely spring-like weather. So we spent some time practicing baseball. Shagging balls isn’t as easy as it used to be — for me, at least!

Miss O had two more teeth extracted — this time on the other side. Cooper is channeling his best empathy.

Cooper wants everyone to stay safe. Especially if you are skydiving! I think I’ll do as the quote for this post suggests and keep my feet on the ground.

“The scariest moment is always just before you start. After that, things can only get better.” – Stephen King

In honor of Valentine’s Day, here are some of the pairs in our neighborhood.

We went to the local pub to watch the second half of the Super Bowl. Shirley Temples (for them), wine (for me), Foos ball, and french fries – it was a win all the way around!

We were all hyped up on sports. So we came home and turned on The Mighty Ducks (Disney hockey movie from 1992). It inspired all sorts of play this week.

Miss O had to have two teeth extracted. I was struck at how similar the picture looked from when Cooper tried to steal the carrot off a snowman earlier in the week. Family resemblance, I guess! 😉

We played at a really cool playground in Seattle Center

To get to the slides and walkways, you had to climb cargo nets. There was one that went straight up like a ladder but five-year-old Mr. D didn’t want to go that way. So he tried the cargo nets but it required some big steps. I climbed up alongside him and helped only on the last step.

The next time, he did it all by himself (see his feet disappearing in the first picture of the set). The amount of well-earned pride he felt was delightful and infectious.

Cooper at school with the kids channeled that same sense of smugness. As does the sign of the week!

“The Eskimos had fifty-two names for snow because it was important to them: there ought to be as many for love.” – Margaret Atwood

Views from the ferry ride to Bainbridge Island with my brother.

Hitting and hiking on our weekend trip to a cabin on the Washington peninsula.

We tried to do our share of work while we were there.

Then we came home and had a week with snow in Seattle. Even the pets thought it was pretty cool. Well, the cat doesn’t think anything is that awesome (because she’s a cat), but she did at least go out in the snow.

The ducks down by the lake seemed less impressed with the snow. There was a lot of quacking which I interpreted as “What the duck??” 🙂 Mr. D also found that wet snow is heavy to shovel.

Snow angels…

We get very little snow — so we were determined to do as much with it as we could.

The sign of the week — and a gelato lid that made us smile!

“Everything we say at funerals should be said at birthday parties instead. We leave so much love unspoken.” – unknown

Mr D saw this coating of frost on our railing and said, “It snowed!” Wow, is he going to be surprised when it really does snow here!

Our beautiful, clear skies have led to chilly weather. Chilly for the PNW at least.

Kids at play. I am still marveling at that 12 foot hedge our friends have in their yard. The kids can climb into it and pop out the top.

This week our family made a point of going to eat at this long-time, family-owned restaurant near the University of Washington because it’s going to be torn down to build a big apartment complex. We have generations of memories here because it was my grandmother’s favorite place to eat.

Speaking of food, we went to my brother’s for dinner the other night. He made fresh pasta and my sister-in-law made a chicken-broccoli sauce. When my brother went to serve the sauce to five-year-old Mr. D, he said, “It looks like prison food.” He may never live that one down.

All I can say is that it was delicious. I don’t think they serve that in prisons — but I don’t know because I haven’t been to prison either.

But it makes the picking up garbage project that Mr. D and nine-year-old Miss O did for MLK day even funnier. It was community service but not in a “time served” kind of way.

My devices share a photo gallery with Miss O so sometimes I open my photos and find sweet surprises like this image she created. So here’s some love to go along with the sign of the week.

“If what you believe in does not impact how you behave then what you believe in is not important.” – Shaykh Yassir Fazaga

Cooper appreciates all the kind thoughts afger dog park incident, especially those who suggested chicken (thanks, Todd). Please rest assured that he’s gotten plenty of treats (like a pup cup from Starbucks) and rest. Also shown, our less photograph family members- the cat and the gecko (asleep under the plastic axolotl).

The moon on foggy mornings.

My kids thought I looked funny on our spa night. They might have a point but not everyone can look as cool as Miss O.

The night after our spa night, Mr. D looked at me so seriously and said he was going to draw my portrait (first picture). Not sure whether the spa night pic or portrait is more flattering. 🙂 Personally, I think Mr. D’s “I licked a lemon” pic takes the cake!

The weather has been cold here (low 40’s) but not cold enough to preclude being out on wheels.

Miss O and Mr. D wanted to walk to the neighborhood grocery store on their own. I found this pic on my phone when they returned. I love the peek into what they were noticing along the way. Also, Miss O said she heard the longest dog howl ever and saw a crow pecking at a wire. Fascinating these leaps of growth and independence.

The sign of the week is a tune we are going to keep on playing. Thankful to people who have shown us how like Martin Luther King, Jr..

“Don’t make money your goal. Instead, pursue the things you love doing, and then do them so well that people can’t take their eyes off you.” – Maya Angelou

The featured photo is the NY Eve morning sunrise on Whidbey Island where we spent the week after Christmas.

I selected two pictures from a whole sequence — and I don’t think Cooper was running from the heron. But looking at the photos, it just cracks me up!

Sticks and stones may break my bones — but they are SUPER fun at the beach!

The beach at winter – where kids and imaginations run wild.

Indoor vacation fun

We went to visit the Ballydidean Farm Sanctuary on Whidbey Island one afternoon. We met old cows, blind ducks, abandoned goats, and neglected pigs. What was incredible about the visit was the story of the couple that started it.

The couple wanted to have kids – but couldn’t on their own. They started down the road of adopting a child and didn’t know how long it would take. So they decided to pursue their other dreams — namely starting an animal sanctuary. Within a month of closing on the property for the sanctuary, they’d been matched with a baby and accepted two animals. Now they have a six-year-old child, over 100 animals and a non-profit in full swing.

We got a tour from the incredible woman who, along with her husband, founded the sanctuary. She smiled and told us, “We just said ‘yes’ to almost everything.” And wow, what a difference it makes.

It strikes me that we often can’t see the mark we make until we look backwards. So I love the guidance of the sign of the week.

(all photos are mine. I got the Maya Angelou quote from Real Life of a MSW)

”Some people feel the rain. Others just get wet.” – Roger Miller

Featured photo is one I took of a heron standing one-legged in a steady rain. Anything looking that peaceful seemed worth stopping the car to take a picture of.

Playing ball. Miss O had a busy choir performance schedule so Mr. D and I spent a good amount of time mixing up our sports metaphors (like the football jersey, baseball mitt, and tennis ball in the second photo)

Ice skating and meeting Buoy, the Kraken mascot.

Using leverage in all sorts of ways!

Spending some time with Santa (and my brother and his wife). I think Mr. D wore his Santa hat all week in preparation.

One of Mr. D’s holiday creations on top of a beautiful hand-crafted hot chocolate mug he received as a gift. A lot of heart in those gifts. 🙂

Happy Holidays, Everyone! Here’s to a great 2025! I’ll see you in the new year!

You can find me on Instagram @wynneleon .

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“The job of the artist is to always deepen the mystery.” – Sir Francis Bacon

Isn’t it amazing how kids can tilt and bend?

Kids and pottery. What could go wrong? Actually, everything went great.

Doing pottery reminds me of a story I heard about living life according to the ancient tradition of pottery. First you have to envision how you want it to be. And then you paint layers with colors that do not match what they’ll be in the end. Finally, only after the intense heat of the oven does the finish product appear.

Cooper getting photo ready — and then doing his best duck impression.

Cooper with attitude. And Cooper with the mark of a Playfinder. Now he thinks he’s a demi-dog. That’s a Moana 2 joke for anyone that’s not hanging with the Disney crowd… 🙂

Photos of kids with cameras — it’s a little meta, isn’t it?

The signs of the week. The first was made by Mr. D because he put a wet floor sign on his Christmas list. I told him we could make one. [note to self: teach kids to dry floor instead of just putting a sign up.]