Spring Break!

This year for Spring Break we're spending a few days at one of our favorite places:  Lake Sutherland.  The kids are with us for the first two days, then Nate will drive them back home (actually to friend's houses for sleep-overs since that's the only time we let them) and Brad and I will stay for two more days to celebrate our anniversary (18 years!) 

It was supposed to be a wet week; according to the weather blog I read, an atmospheric river of moisture was coming from a more westerly direction than normal, thus causing the rain shadow that usually protects this area to shift more towards central Puget Sound (ironically, where we live!) but so far the weather has been good.  I think it's because I didn't bring my kayak.  If I would have, it would be pouring rain for sure! 

We went on a great hike this afternoon along Lake Mills. The lake was formed by the Glines Canyon Dam, which is scheduled to be removed later this year.  I thought it would be interesting to see the dam and the lake now, and then come back during  and after the removal to see the differences.  I was disappointed we weren't able to walk out on the dam like you can at the Ross Lake Dam, and there wasn't a good spot to take a picture of the whole thing, but you can click on the link above and see a great shot of it. 

The West Lake Mills trail is about two miles long and runs along the west side of Lake Mills (hence the name West Lake Mills trail). It was a great hike, just challenging enough to feel like a real hike, but not too hard for any of us.  We've gotten to the happy stage in life where we can all hike four miles without complaining.  The views of the lake were fabulous.  The trail ends at Boulder Creek, which at this time of the year is more like a raging river.  We trail-blazed down to the creek and sat on some warm rocks in the sun to eat our lunch and relax before heading back. 

Before we got to Lake Mills, we stopped at Madsion Falls, a short jaunt from Olympic Hot Springs Road.

Lake Mills, which is formed by the Glines Canyon Dam.  In a few years, this lake will be non-existent...hard to imagine!

The falls at Glines Canyon Dam

The Glines Canyon Dam, not a very good picture, but there wasn't anywhere to get a good shot.

A nice view of the lake.  We could see the lake most of the time from the trail.

Crossing a stream...there were several that ran across the trail, and some that even ran through the trail.

Boulder Creek

Lunch break!

View of the south end of the lake, near Boulder Creek

A lakeside view of the dam

Granny's Cafe was the perfect spot to stop for some delicious ice cream cones on the way back to the lakehouse.  The rest of the afternoon we've spent hanging out at the house, playing games, watching TV, reading, blogging; a nice blend of activity and relaxing which keeps everyone happy.

Fun with Jane

Jane is staying with us for two days while Ashley is helping out her mom in the hospital.  The morning went really well...she got here at 9:00, fell asleep at 10:30, and slept until 2:00!  After she woke up and had lunch, we went to the park.  It's been a long time since I've had a two-year-old to play with at the park!  She's got a lot of energy and loves Jillian and Ben! (Not Matzo so much, though.) 

Everything went well through the day, until bedtime.  She cried for a while and I tried to comfort her and rock her to sleep, but she kept pointing and saying something that I couldn't figure out.  Finally I walked around with her and she pointed to her jacket and wanted it on.  Then she started looking for her boots and started pointing at the door.  I figured out she was saying, "Get me out of here, all ready!"  We laid down in bed together and she eventually fell asleep.  Around 1:00, Jillian brought her in, crying, and I laid her back down in her bed and sat by her for a while until she fell asleep.  At 2:00, I heard her crying again. I went to check on her, but she wasn't in her bed--she was downstairs standing in the kitchen.  Probably trying to make her escape again!  She fell back asleep after about 1/2 an hour and slept until 8:15, and probably would have slept longer if Matzo hadn't gone into the room and woken her up. 

Tif and Mariko came over to play with us today.  It was adorable to see the little girls interact.  We played blocks for a while, then went outside to jump on the trampoline, swing, and explore.  After Tif left, Jane fell asleep...kind of a late nap, though...it's 3:00.  Hopefully she won't sleep for 3 1/2 hours or she'll be up all night!  Her grandma is picking her up tonight, so I won't have to deal with a night owl, but I would feel bad for her grandparents! 

I must admit, a teeny, tiny part of me misses having a 2 year old.  The going to the park, having play groups, smiling, laughing, cuddling, part--not the awake at 2:00 AM, crying, tantrums, changing poopy diapers part!

Pinewood Derby

Ben's first Pinewood Derby was this past Saturday.  He was pretty excited about the race, but he said to me before we left, "I told myself I'm not going to win so I won't be disappointed."  Yeah, we teach our kids to aim high!

Ben's car is the farthest on the left.  There was some pretty intense competition! 

Each car got to be in eight races.  They had some mathetmatical formula so each car would race every other car in each lane, going frontwards and backwards.  Or something like that.  Here's Ben putting his car on the starting line.

And they're off!  Can you tell which car is going to win?  It was really interesting to see how some of the cars got great starts, and others were faster on the straight-away.

Ben's car won first place, in one of the eight races.  He was a solid third in most of them. 

Eagerly waiting to see the result of the race!

Ben received a certificate for "Best Design." He didn't win, but he had a great time and he wasn't disappointed!  All of the boys were good sports.  I noticed only a few tears, and that was from a brotherly rivalry. 

Solo

I went on my first solo kayak outing yesterday.  The weather was perfect:  sunny, cloudless skies, with light wind, the first gorgeous day we've had since Spring officially started.  I couldn't pass it up!

I put in at Manzanita because I had to see the mountains.  The Olympics are covered with snow.  They looked so regal--their crisp white outlined by brilliant blue sky.  When I grabbed my camera to take a picture of the incredible view, I realized the battery was at home sitting in its charger!  I took a few with my phone, but I don't have a cord to download them to my computer, so no pictures for this post, which is a bummer because it was beautiful and I saw some very cool things (sorry, Gretchen, I just couldn't keep my eyes closed!)

As I paddled north towards Agate Pass bridge, I saw about a dozen fishing boats.  I'm not sure what kind of fish they were trying to catch, but I could see nets spread out behind a few of them.  A big flock of seagulls squawked and dove at something a little farther north, so I paddled over to see what they were up to.  As I got closer, I noticed swarms of little fish swimming under my boat.  And then a large sea lion surfaced about 40 feet from my boat!  He came up for air, looked around, then dove back down.  I tried to follow where I thought he would come up again and sure enough, about 30 seconds later he surfaced again.  The fish were swirling all around me and the sea lion was having quite a feast.  He had the number 845 either shaved or painted onto his back. (If anyone knows what that means, let me know!)   He put on quite a show, coming up and barking, diving and surfacing.  I watched him for about 20 minutes, trying to get closer to him. But then I got a little worried that he would get too close and tip me out of my boat, so I eased off a little, then decided I'd better head back.

I stayed closer to shore on the way back.  The tide was almost fully out and I could see all kinds of sea stars and other creatures through the clear, calm, shallow water. 

(Skip the next paragraph and move on to the following if you want to keep these lovely images in your head.  Continue on if bodily functions don't bother you!)

I got about 1/2 an hour from my destination when I started getting that uncomfortable "I have to pee" feeling, which quickly turned into the painful "I have to pee NOW" feeling.  I was not going to make it the 30 mintues back to my car, and then I'd still have to load the boat and drive home.  I felt like I was going to explode.  I tried to think what I could to to relieve this problem:  should I ask someone on shore if I could use their bathroom?  No one was in sight except for the rich folks' gardeners.  Should I try to use my water proof box?  I wasn't sure how to manage it without tipping my boat.  I scanned the shore, looking for a secluded spot, but it was all open with houses along the shore, and besides, the dozen fishing boats were still right there and I knew they'd be able to see me.  After about five minutes of pure panic and rapid paddling, I finally saw a huge rock backed by a high cliff and decided that was my best option.  I beached the boat and ran behind the rock. Sweet relief!

(OK, you can continue reading now.)

I was able to fully enjoy the rest of the paddle.  When I made it back to my starting point, I just couldn't get myself out of the water. I dawdled around for a while, enjoying the sun and the view, floating peacfully on the glassy water.  I'm so glad I seized the moment and didn't let the housework or any of the "I shoulds" stop me.

Our Lady of the Rock, 2011

Our annual trip to Shaw Island to serve the Mothers at Our Lady of the Rock Monastery has become one of my most favorite traditions.  There is something magical about that place.  It feeds my soul...I know that sounds a bit corny, but it really does.  I feel a special peace being on their farm, miles away from "city life," with no cell phone reception, surrounded by nature's beauty, working together with my family and friends, serving these wonderful women.  It didn't hurt that the last official day of winter felt like spring is finally here!  The sun warmed our bodies while our service warmed our hearts. 

We (all of us but Kylie, who sadly had a band competition and wasn't able to join us) took the 6:20 ferry from Kingston to Edmonds, then drove 90 minutes to Anacortes where we caught the 9:25 ferry to Shaw Island.  It's a long trip up there, but for me, it adds to the experience.  Riding the ferry through the San Juans made me desperately want to go kayak camping there some day soon! 

Riding the 6:20 ferry

Waiting for the ferry in Anacortes.  The San Juan ferry is in the background.

Once again, we were met by the Mothers at the ferry terminal on Shaw Island. This was our fourth year making this trip, and we've started to form attachments to these dedicated women.  Mother Mary Grace recognized me right away and remarked that she has really enjoyed seeing my kids growing up over the years.  We rode in the llama van together and chatted about what we've been up to over the past year.  I was sad to hear that Mother Hildegard has been in poor health and was not going to be able to work with us. 

Piling in one of the trucks.  Everyone wanted to ride in the back of a pickup!  I love how Matt Thorn and Darrell Lahtinen are acting as the tailgate...I hope they didn't hit too many pot holes!

When we reached the monastery, everyone gathered around to hear what needed to be done.  I like to have a different job every year, so I didn't work with Mother Mary Grace like I have the past two years.  Brad, Nate, Ben, and I chose to work with Mother Therese, who needed people to fill a hole with rocks, fix the split rail fence in the sheep pasture, and start a burn pile.  Jillian worked in the herb garden at first, then joined us later making a slaughter station for the pigs.

Mother Therese and Mother Mary Grace giving out assignments.  Mother Mary Grace doesn't like having her picture taken.  She would turn away every time she saw the camera.

Brad talking with Father Jean-Pierre, from Congo.  Brad knows one sentence in Lingala that he learned from the Congolese he taught on his mission in Switzerland and France.  It translates to "The Book of Mormon is a true book."  Father Jean-Pierre laughed and nodded enthusiastically when Brad told him.  Father Jean-Pierre is new to the Monastery this year. 

I really enjoyed working with Brad.  It was just the two of us for a while, mucking through the sheep pasture (and I mean mucking!  With all the rain we've had, there were areas where I almost got my shoes sucked off my feet by the sticky, oozing mud.)  Where ever a section of the fence had been damaged or fallen down, we would reposition the rails or add another to make it higher, or use a wind-fall branch to support it.  It was very harmonious work.  Feeling the warm sun and looking at such a beautiful view made it even better.  I wish I would have taken a picture of the view; the beach peeks out at the bottom of a long, grassy hill, over looked by the Mother's modest cemetery. 

The sheep were very curious, but cautious.  They wanted to know who was invading their pasture, but didn't want to get close enough to find out.  If Mother Hildegard had been there, she would have been able to convince them to come see us.  I tried, but they didn't want anything to do with me.

Ben and his friends loved their job of collecting big rocks and throwing them into a hole!  Mother Therese was worried about the sheep or llamas stepping into the hole and being injured, but she doesn't have to worry any more!  It was the perfect job for eight year old boys, and one four year old girl. 

Collecting the rocks...

and throwing them down the hole. 

It was about five feet deep, with water in the bottom, so the rocks made a terrific splash!

No llamas or sheep are going to get hurt in this hole!

When they were done filling the hole, they collected debris for the burn pile.

Nate seemed to be having fun tending the burn pile as well.  He worked with Erin Blackford and was actually nice to her!  Major progress!

After our first jobs were finished, Mother Therese asked if we would be able to help her construct a slaughter station for the pigs. This is a real farm! Jillian loves pigs, but she knows where bacon comes from, so she's OK with eating them, too. Brad figured out a good way to keep the pigs separated from each other when "their time comes" and Ben eagerly helped with the hammering.

Pigs are very curious. Fortunately, they couldn't figure out what Brad was doing!

But they really wanted to see what he tastes like!

We didn't spend as much time with the llamas this year, but Ben did get to feed this one.

 Ferdo the bull was born blind.  Jillian took a liking to him...

and he seemed to like her too.  Her smell, anyway!

Ben found this frog in the grass near the burn pile and saved his little froggie legs from being roasted!

After all the work was done, the kids played in the barn, jumping from the hay loft into the hay.  Jillian said the landing wasn't quite as soft as she expected.

 Then Ben and his friends wanted to take their turns, and smart mom that I am, I suggested they jump together so I could take a picture.  NOT a good idea!  Ben ended up on the bottom of the heap and came up crying with his wrist dangling.  I thought for sure it was broken, but fortunately it was just bruised and he was back to playing after a few tears. 

After all the work and play, we ate a delicious lunch of soups, salads, and desserts that several people brought.  We enjoyed visiting and soaking in more sun, then piled into the pickup trucks and headed back to the ferry.  The Mothers quietly disappear while we are eating, but come out to thank us and wave good-bye when it's time to leave.  They are so appreciative of the help we give them; they say we're one of their hardest working groups.  I feel incredibly grateful I have the opportunity to serve them.  It's just as much, or even more, of a gift to me and my family as anything we do for them.  I'm all ready looking forward to next year!

Relaxing and discussing the day's events on the ferry going home.