Lake Easton

The lake was so clear and serene.......
The Iron Horse trail bridge - runs parallel to I-90 bridges. We paddled under all of them to the Yakima River!

Julius Prosper Westwood, age 5. Cutest kid! This was his third camping trip.

Arlie wading in her jammies!

Hayley eating a s'more.......must be scary!

A log at the edge of the lake......

Arlie and Charlie kicking back!

Arlie and Harrison hanging out by the fire.....

Hannah spent the whole day watching movies on the laptop and playing her Nintendo DSi! Nothing like getting back to nature!

While Hayley exerted as little energy as possible by sleeping the entire day away on Saturday!

Hannah did enjoy the sun, though!

And Hayley also got some Vitamin D....

Georgie loved swimming!!!!

Arlie paddled the canoe all by herself!

Harrison, Amy and Julius having a noodle water fight!

Harrison and Arlie paddling around the lake.......

Hayley and Julius playing in the lake........

Iron Horse Trail railroad bridge........

The beach at Lake Easton

Jeff paddling around the lake......

We spent this past weekend camping at Lake Easton. It was a nice state park, although close to I-90 so there was traffic noise. But our site was nice. At the last minute, our friends Amy and Julius came with us so it was a fun weekend for them as well. Julius is 5 and about the funniest, cutest little kid you ever saw! He always says "excuse me" before he talks to you and says the funniest things. For example, we hit a huge traffic jam going there. The cars were barely moving. Julius said "excuse me, Jeff, the sign says 60 miles per hour!" He was such a cutie pie and it was fun to camp with a little one again.

Hayley and Hannah, in true teenage fashion, spent a lot of their time inside the camper, watching movies on the laptop, sleeping, texting, and just hanging out. But they did make it down to the lake for a while at least. Harrison and Arlie did a lot of swimming and canoeing - they are getting good at their canoeing skills. Arlie went out by herself and was totally comfortable. We also took the bikes, so those two biked all over the campground. Harrison entertained himself by taking this toy "Dr. Fart" into the bathroom with him and pushing the buttons to make fart sounds. Adding his own grunts and sighs, he listened for any reaction in the stalls next to him! We cracked up at his prank. Jeff took us on a wild goose chase of a geocache. We found the first one, and then tried for the second one, but as we were strolling down a forest service road, we flushed a grouse which scared the crap out of everyone! Then, we drove down that same road, in my van (a far cry from a 4 wheel drive!) and the road narrowed and narrowed until Jeff looked as though he was going to drive us off a cliff! I wish I had taken a picture - the road just ended at the top of a cliff and on three sides there was nothing but sheer rock walls. Nice. Needless to say we decided he was a little TOO into this geocache and called it a day. But, no, Jeff was not to be deterred. He immediately got Harrison and Arlie into the canoe and paddled to an island on the lake to find another geocache at the top of a 400 foot "mountain". That guy is insane!

Sunday Jeff took me on a nice long canoe ride under the bridges of I-90 to where the Yakima river feeds into Lake Easton. He paddled against the current and was exhausted by the end of the weekend after many trips around the lake and river. I got some nice photos and it was very peaceful - hardly anyone on the lake. You could see the bottom everywhere, it was so clear. We saw some big fish and trolled for them but no luck. All in all, it was a nice weekend trip and fun to just hang around the fire and chat with Amy and Julius and the kids. Bonus - the weather was beautiful, 85 degrees and sunny all weekend! A nice "end" to summer.

Driving While Stupid

Today after yoga I was having coffee with my friends Carla and Janet, and we got to talking about stupid things we've done in the car. Janet had us cracking up when she told us of the night she drove straight into the garage with her daughter's bike on the bike rack! The bike just bounced right off the rack and landed in the driveway with nary a scratch. I told of the time I drove into the parking garage at Evergreen Hospital........WITH the car top carrier on! I heard a scrape, a crunch and then "Oh Shit!" Thankfully the nice lady behind me (and the three cars behind her) backed up so I could scoot out, and hurry off to find more appropriate parking while trying to hide my head in embarrassment. The damage? Just a dent that popped right back out when Jeff pushed on it. Another time, when I was married to Doug, we drove right into the garage with the Christmas tree on top of the car! As soon as we parked we looked at each other and said "Oh Shit!" (common phrase of the chronically stupid) and then brainstormed a way to fix it (his idea? Drive back out - Noooooo!! Duh, the tree would have been stripped bare!). The solution? Roll the tree off the side - and quick before any neighbors see how stupid we were! One day I had Hannah (and all the other kids) at Children's hospital for an appointment. We left after dark and were driving in the parking garage, trying to find a way out of the damn thing! I drove around and around and finally came to a section that was REALLY dark - I could hardly see! I said (all indignant-like) "they should really get some lights in here, this is ridiculous how dark it is, I can't even see!" There was a brief silence followed by Hannah saying "DUH, Mom! We are OUTSIDE!" We had some good laughs..........so what's YOUR stupid driving story?

Two Little Girls...........

Good news: Tonaiya, our friend who is recovering from encephalitis, is doing well. She is learning to walk, talk, eat and function again. She was moved to the rehab floor of Seattle Children's and is improving each day. They are hopeful she might be out of the hospital by the end of the month. If you want to read the story, her webpage is: www.caringbridge.com/visit/tonaiyagray.

Sad news: A high school friend of mine I reconnected with through Facebook sent me a message a couple of weeks back asking for more information about Tonaiya because one of her family members was going through something similar. A healthy little girl, Robyn became ill the week of Aug. 3 and ended up suffering a month of seizures from what they think was viral encephalitis. Unfortunately, they were unable to stop the seizures with medications and she was in a drug induced coma for days. An MRI showed her brain has been damaged beyond life compatibility and now her parents must remove support. Such a tragedy! Two very similar stories, with two very different outcomes. You can read about Robyn's story here: www.carepages.com/carepages/robynupdate.

Which makes one ask - why? Why would this horrible thing happen to two healthy, strong, beautiful little girls? Why can't they figure out what caused this? Why can one of them recover while the other is going to die?

As a parent, I've worried about my kids being safe, healthy and sound. I've worried about all the common childhood illnesses. I've worried about them being in a car accident. I've worried about them contracting swine flu from school. But never did I think to worry that some mysterious illness would crop up without warning and forever change their lives. It's so scary to think that something like this can happen to healthy kids. I just hope and pray for Tonaiya's complete recovery and my heart pains for Robyn's family. I don't know them at all, but reading her page, you can see how scary this has been for them, and how painful it is going to be for them to put their daughter to rest.

Another Hannah video!

River Meadows - video Hannah made!

Jeff's 1st 1/2!

Jeff, Amy, Theresa
Jeff at the finish!

Still enough energy to wave!

Jeff completed his first 1/2 marathon today, coming in at 2 hrs. 46 min. He was hoping to come in under three hours and he did it! Afterward I asked him if he was going to do another one and he said "why would I?" Guess he checked that off his bucket list! Later, as he was drifting off for a nap, he said "I can't imagine being at the finish line and knowing you had to go 13 more miles for a full marathon!" Apparently 13.1 was enough for him! Which is beyond me. I can't even run more than a mile. Running a half marathon is unbelievable to me, but hey, whatever kicks up your heels! Anyway, congrats to Jeff! Once again, he amazes me with his athletic abilities!

First Day of School!

Our neighborhood bus stop - it's grown a LOT in the past nine years......
Harrison - 5th grade

Arlie - 6th grade

Hannah - 9th grade

Hayley - 11th grade

River Meadows Park Camping in the Yurts!

Hannah, Arlie, Carla and Harrison in the Stillaguamish river.....
Jeff tried out his fly-fishing skills.......like "A River Runs Through It"

The beautiful Stillaguamish!

Arlie in the river!

Arlie give Harrison a helping hand!

Splash!!!

The deer just walked through the campground........

So pretty.......

Blacktail deer......

And a fawn! So sweet!

The fawn ran into the sunset.......

Beautiful deer.......

Hannah!

These were kaledeiscopes made by a local artist...

The yurts were built in an old orchard.....and there were plum trees!

......and we picked LOTS of plums!

Our messy yurt!

Jeff and I........

Mmmmm......marshmallows!!!

Cute, cuddling kids.......

Harrison takes the plunge off the Big Rock!

Arlie jumps off the Big Rock.....

Jeff doing his Tarzan impression.....

Aauuuggghhh!!!!!

Arlie makes a splash!

Harrison tries the rope swing!

Two cute girls......

We spent a weekend at River Meadows Park in Arlington in their new yurt village. Our yurt was a 20 foot one, and had two bunk beds and a futon. Tons of room! We went with our neighbors, Amy, Jason and Abbie and Carla and Mike. The yurts were really nice and each had their own bathroom (located centrally in a separate building). The deer walked through the campground freely and made it easy to get photos. The biggest draw, though, was the river! The Stillaguamish river is so beautiful and this time of year was so low the kids could walk around in it with no worries of current. The first day we walked through the river to a raised area that was dry and that was our "camp" for the afternoon. The kids fished and swam in the river and Jeff tried out his fly-fishing after a number of years. Didn't catch anything but it was fun to fish in the river for a change. The second day we found a different part of the river with a huge rock the kids could climb up on and jump off. Later, they found a rope swing, which turned out to be a highlight of the trip! We picked plums and blackberries and enjoyed group dinners and breakfasts. It was a great time and we'll definitely be back!

Because I have to........

Monica was very let down that I didn't blog for several days, and I STILL have not posted photos of our latest camping trip, so I promised to write SOMETHING every day. So, here's my something.

Last night a bag of groceries got left out and it was all perishable. So, that was money down the drain. I hate it when that kind of stuff happens. Plus, Georgette ate half a brick of pepperjack cheese. (I'm glad I don't scoop the poop!).

It's supposed to rain all weekend. That sucks. Jeff is hell bent on going to the beach to fish off the dock and toss the crab net a few times. So, I guess we'll be doing that despite the rain. Just hope we catch something this time. Tomorrow is supposed to be the most rainy, so we are planning to stay home. I envision curling up and making a huge dent in "East of Eden" but I also have mountains of laundry to fold and hang. Mountains. I am not kidding. Last night I slept with it all at the foot of my bed.

My ex has successfully reduced his child support by $700 a month. That's all I can say about that because my kids read this blog. But you can come to your own conclusions. And feel free to add any descriptive words.

I am insanely tired. Getting up early this week after a long summer of NOT getting up before 7 a.m. has wreaked havoc on me. Bleh.

I just spilled a whole cup of water all over my backpack and the floor. And I think the dog just peed on the floor. There's a lot of fluid on my floors.

I'm going to bed.........