Tag: photographs

“Gotta move different when you want different.” – unknown

Miss O and Mr. D participated in their school move-a-thon this past week.

Of course, move-a-thons are just what I call normal days in our house.

Except Cooper and the cat don’t always participate.

The sign of the week – and my young creators.

“Sometimes I think that ideas float through the atmosphere like huge squishy pumpkins, waiting for heads to drop on.” Neil Gaiman

Mr. D recently saw some Halloween decorations put up at a friend’s house and said, “Yay, Halloween!! I’ve been waiting for it for years!” So for anyone who has been waiting YEARS for Halloween, this week’s photos are for you!

Waiting and pumpkin carving

Our Halloween decorations

Trying out the alien carrying a boy Halloween costume and a rainbow. Or it that the afterburn of the alien ship? 🙂

Or local grocery store soda display. And in a lovely bit of synchronicity this week, one of my favorite quotes is sign of the week and was also mentioned in a post on Writing from the Heart with Brian, Trying My Best.

(featured photo is mine – doesn’t that cloud look like a rocket?)

“Just living isn’t enough,” said the butterfly. One must also have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower. ” – Hans Christian Anderson

This week was a rollercoaster because both of my kids got sick. Nothing serious thankfully, just back to school crud.

But we still managed to squeeze in some time magnet fishing – something my kids had seen on YouTube. We made our own set-up by tying a magnet to a rope but the magnet wasn’t strong enough (or our lake doesn’t have enough metal stuff in it) to pull anything back up.

But we did enjoy biking there and back. Michelle Oram (Boomer Eco Crusader) recently posted a great post, The Benefits of Walkable Neighborhoods that included a link to a Realtor.ca site that will give your neighborhood a walking/transit/biking score. Seattle has a good scores for walking and biking: 87 on walking, 96 on biking.

While we were down at our little local lake on day 2 of our magnet fishing adventures, it became clear that someone was filming a dating show. First a shirtless guy paddled a girl (seen as a spec in the distance in the first photo) on his paddleboard to a nearby dock. And it wasn’t really a shirtless kinda day.

Then the two cameras and sound setup that we were wondering about started to make more sense when they clearly zeroed in on the couple. As my sister said, “Dating is hard enough. Who’d want to do it while being filmed?”

We trimmed some trees. Cooper helped. 🙂

The sign of the week. Maybe Mr. D is demonstrating the result of walking into a closet?

“The morning steals upon the night, Melting the darkness.” – William Shakespeare

I once told my neighbor that my kids were doing Aikido camp. She thought I said, “IKEA” camp and was surprised there was such a thing to learn to put together flat pack furniture. We had a good laugh.

But this past weekend, I held my own IKEA camp for them at home. Seems important to learn when young – for me and for them! 🙂

We were lucky to have a boating to dinner adventure on Lake Union to celebrate my sister-in-law. Miss O was a diligent boat driver!

The weather was absolutely perfect this week so I squeezed in some time for paddleboarding on the little lake near our house.

The sign of the week seems perfectly paired with this picture of the early morning moon over my neighbor’s house.

(featured photo is sunset over Lake Union at around 7pm — the time of day this time of year when the crows have been flying home to their roost).

“Stop staring at mountains. Climb them instead, yes, it’s a harder process but it will lead you to a better view.” – unknown

Last weekend we visited some friends in Leavenworth, Washington where we had a great time riding skateboards and horses.

And I was able to take them rock climbing at the place where I learned to rock climb.

Cooper stayed at doggie daycare while we were gone. He was so tired when he came home he didn’t even open his eyes when we said, “Cheese!”

The sign of the week seems perfect for our rock climbing adventure. Miss O look says she might skip the stairs altogether if she can climb to the top.

“When you see someone putting on his Big Boots, you can be pretty sure that an Adventure is going to happen.” – A.A. Milne

We visited our local zoo this past weekend. Here’s Fritz the jaguar and the tallest giraffe is named Dave. Who’s in charge of naming? 🙂

Some look alike poses. I think Miss O has more style but the dinosaur has more teeth.

Mr. D has been interesting in learning how to cook. Here he is making tea and pancakes. Two very useful skills in my book.

The sign of the week has one of my favorite quotes (from Henry Ford, I believe). And the second photo is of Cooper watching a robotic dog. Like all of us when it comes to AI, he’s wondering if the same greeting rituals apply.

(all photos are mine)

“Be an opener of doors.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

We did some backyard camping this week. It was hot (for Seattle) and like most homes in the city, we don’t have AC. So nature’s AC when it cooled down at night felt great!

Cooper the dog felt like he was on the wrong side of the door. The cat didn’t care.

We went to an open house night at the kids’ school. Fifth grade Miss O can now reach the monkey bars while standing flat footed. First grade Mr. D can jump onto the bars without any assistance. Amazing to see how much they’ve grown.

But they still like to wait out from to wave to the garbage man. I imagine from the garbage collector’s point of view, they experience the progress from excited kids to indifferent adults as bittersweet.

The kids had rock climbing camp and also their first introduction to tennis.

It was hot on the tennis court. As the sign of the week says, I think we could have made omelettes. But mostly we were just sweaty.

“The years teach much which the days never knew.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Our cat has walked with Cooper and me so often that I forget how funny it is until someone makes a comment. She runs when she’s behind and then lounges if she gets ahead. This week we ran into two friends walking three dogs and she just sat there about 10 feet away looking bored. She takes catitude to a whole other level!

My two favorite water pictures of the week. In the first, googles catching some summer rain. And the second is a dog water bowl suspended from fire hydrant at our local fire station.

Miss O turned 10 years old! Makes me a little (a lot) teary thinking about how much she’s grown in 10 years, how much work it has been, and also how much fun we’ve had!

The sign of the week is by six-year-old Mr. D who elected himself in charge of safety at Miss O’s birthday party. Hope you all have a great weekend – and Be Safe!

(featured photo is mine – downtown Seattle from Lake Union)

“If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else.” – Booker T. Washington

We are back from vacation! My kids let me pick them up for a picture on the Whidbey Island ferry. It mirrors a picture we did three and a half years ago — but I think this might be the last year I can pick them both up at once.

Then we were happy to be back home to see Cooper!

And Simone, the cat — and be in a neighborhood where interesting characters that watch us out their windows.

The kids did a sailing camp this week which was good for beating the heat — including taking dips in Puget Sound and running through sprinklers at home.

Sign of the week — and Cooper being his most intense!

(featured photo is mine of Shilshole marina on the Puget Sound)

“Relations are like electric currents. Wrong connections will give you shocks throughout your life. But the right ones light up your life.” – unknown

This week we were lucky to have one more week of vacation staying on the beach on Whidbey Island. The feeling that I have after these two weeks is of greater connection – in my little family, to nature, and to the flow between rest and productivity. I’m so grateful we were able to spend this time together.

Four of my favorite beach pictures from the week.

Horses and Shakespeare. We went to see a performance of Much Ado About Nothing and it was great! And Miss O and Mr. D were able to spend some time grooming and riding horses – and loved it. I’d call Miss O’s reaction to the horses – Much Ado About Something!

Taking photos. Behind me is the Deception Pass bridge.

Sign of the week and family picture of the year!

(All photos are mine. The featured photo is the full moon over the bay).