“In school, you are taught a lesson and then given a test. In life, you are given a test, that teaches you the lesson.” – Tom Bodett
End of summer activities – playing with the water slide one last time before putting it away and crabbing on the Seattle waterfront. Mr. D saw other people catching crabs a couple of days before so he was determined he’d finally catch SOMETHING. We did have a crab when we started pulling up the pot but it wiggled itself free before we could get it all the way. Dang!
The school district and teacher’s union didn’t come to an agreement until 11pm on Tuesday, the night before school was to start. But they did it. So it was back to school on Wednesday. Everyone had to pose for pictures. Cooper is in the featured photo. Here’s Simone.
Mr. D (2nd grade) and Miss O (6th grade – middle school!)
Rusty the crested gecko posed too 🙂 and the sign of the week.
“Never tell me that the sky’s the limit when they are footprints on the moon.” – unknown
The exercise of looking through my photos of the week is always so fun because invariably I have forgotten some of the delightful things we’ve done: swimming, roller skating, rock climbing camp, fishing, and cute moments with the pets. But this week in review was especially rewarding because when I went to download our lunar eclipse photos, I also grabbed the Whidbey wildlife photos from earlier in the month.
We had so much fun watching the lunar eclipse. It looked a little like a Christmas ornament with a bright top. Or like these rocks on the wall at the beach.
“Girl, glow up! Consistently catch people’s eye with your natural sparkle.” – Germany Kent
Our last AirBnB renters left and we returned home. It’s nice to be home walking in the neighborhood again. Simone the cat agrees!
We might not be at the beach anymore but Mr. D is still fascinated with fishing. Luckily his sister is willing to go with him.
We’ve had a great week finding water and wildlife wherever we can.
And celebrating the amazing, fantastic, delightful and lovely Miss O who turned 11 years old this week. My girl is glowing up! She loves the sign of the week so this one is posted in her honor!
“The child’s awe-filled relationship to the natural world is a laboratory for deep learning about the systems of life, essential to our survival.” – Dacher Keltner
We are loving our time exploring the natural world on Whidbey Island!
Seven-year-old Mr. D is pretty good at handling his own paddleboard.
Almost 11-year-old Miss O shows how strong she is by paddling her 87-year-old grandmother around the bay.
There are two wild guys in the water — only one is likely to catch a fish. Second picture is the Deception Pass bridge.
Trinity Lutheran Church sure knows how to match the spirit of the season!
“When you come to the edge of all that you know, you must believe one of two things: There will be ground to stand. Or you will grow wings to fly.” – O.R. Melling
We went on a two-night camping trip with six moms (including me) and 12 kids at a state park pretty near Seattle aptly named Scenic Beach. My friend, Eric, dubbed it Mummer Camp. Perfect for all those camp activities like starting fires and creating keychains.
There was a lot of wildlife at Mummer Camp. Some of it was native.
Cooper the dog was happy when we were home and all together again. So was I – somehow the grounded got harder to sleep on in the seven years since I last camped!
Here comes the sun La Croix display and the sign of the week!
“Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art…It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival.” – C.S. Lewis
Our travels this week took us to the Netherlands, France and southern England. We have three different sets of friends that we wanted to reconnect with and see where they’re living. So while we were able to do some touristy things, what we loved the most was spending time with our friends.
Holland: We landed amidst a heat wave. Fortunately our friends living in Holland had a lovely backyard and Mr. D could bat balls and also get sprayed off by the hose. We visited a beach on the North Sea which had the finest sand. But we didn’t stay long because a spectacular lightning storm rolled in. We got a taste of the Dutch bikes, canals and a carnival in Leiden.
France: The heat continued but it wasn’t as severe. We were able to go up the Eiffel Tower, go on a boat ride on the Seine, visit the Luxembourg gardens, and see Versailles.
England: Our travel luck ran out when we missed the train from Paris to London. And then missed our subsequent connections and trains. Fortunately we left our Paris friends’ home with four baguettes which saw us through a long day. And then seeing our dear friends in England helped make it all worth it. We visited Dartmouth where Agatha Christie wrote many of her novels and the Mayflower set sail, played at the Blackpool Sands beach, canoed with our friends down a river to eat food cooked over a fire, and enjoyed market-fresh food in their beautiful yard.
The sign of the week comes from St. Pancras train station in London, “I want my time with you!” So here’s to friends – that make all the travel worth it! We’re looking forward to being home soon to see our Seattle friends – and being back online to reconnect with all of you!
Surprised By Joy 