The week started out on a bad note with E.T. the Point Defiance Zoo walrus passing away this week at the age of 33. Our kids grew up with E. T. and I'm glad Reagan had a chance to meet this big piece of her heritage. I have a picture of E.T. and Reagan, but although I spent more time than I should have, I could not find that photo. Swim with the fishies, E.T.
Check out E.T.'s obituary at http://www.pdza.org/ET
On a better note, I found this cartoonish bird hanging off our bird feeder one morning. It's very Woody Woodpecker-esque and very large. Since this picture was taken, there has been a pair of them coming around for food and water. Especially water.
Tuesday I went over to Kingston to settle in to watch Reagan on Wednesday. Carissa unexpectedly had to work and gave me first crack at spending the day with her. It worked out well since I got to be with her and no extra daycare charges were incurred. A win-win for all of us. It also had the bonus feature of keeping me so busy I could not spend any time watching Amazon's anniversary sale for deals. In that manner, I saved money too. Here's Reagan taking a morning selfie.
Once of our activities was filling the new turtlebox with sand. By having Reagan load the sand in the box herself. Since she was so preoccupied, I was able to abdicate a half hour or so of responsible grandparenting.
Each grain was dragged out of the bag by hand.
Exploration was underway and, apparently, so were new sandbox rules. I had forgotten about that part.
1. Sand stays in the box.
2. Food stays out of the box.
3. Sand does not become airborne.
For my part, revisiting my emergency procedure if she gets sand in her eye was in order.
I was lounging around her turtlebox and put my feet on the edge. Reagan scooted through the sand and put her feet up on the edge of the box just like Grama. Maybe we need to get her namesake's tattoo on her foot hers matches mine?
"E" joins Reagan after her busy morning and they both head upstairs for a morning nap.
While I'm busy remembering why old people don't have kids, Bob is back on the home front dressing like broccoli. Yes, I did say broccoli.That's him in the back row. He makes me so proud!
My husband the broccoli. The moral of the story is when someone from the wellness committee walks by your office with an empty broccoli costume, look busy. Look VERY busy!
My friend, Mary Lou, is the most productive quilter I've ever met. Sometimes quilts take years to make, but Mary Lou turns them out like a machine. She pieces quilts during the year, and when she visits her sister in Denver, she quilts these tops to filler and backing with her sister's long-arm quilting machine.
This one is called a "Gypsy wife" quilt. You can see one of her new quilts on deck behind her on one of her quilting layout walls.
Mary Lou is a substitute teacher and I remember her bringing her little (quilted) bag of pieces to school and she sewed them together once the kids got to work. Mary Lou can knit, crochet, or stitch projects while walking through the classroom keeping the kids on task. That's waaay better than most subs do without a project.
Mt Rainier up by Mary Lou's house. It appears huge from the Bonney Lake area.
The last phase of the new Auburn High School project. This is one of the last parts of the old school to come down. This are will be replaced by parking.
My lilies timed their bloom beautifully! Carissa is allergic to lillies and I was so afraid these would bloom while Carissa was here and I'd have to cut them down. I love the fragrant smell of them wafting into the house on summer evenings.
This weekend Bob took me for a surprise weekend. The surprise is that there were no cars. No car shows, no car events, no car museum. Only the one that got us to Leavenworth. The hotel we stayed in, Pension Anna, was beautiful, actually it was more like a B & B. The owners, Michele and Gary Thebault, were very friendly as they visited with each guest while wearing traditional Bavarian lederhosen and landhausmode (or dirndl).
We had the cutest Bavarian decorated room with a view of Commercial Street. It would be a bit much to live with, but was very fun to visit. Michele told me decorating is traditionally done with the furniture, not accessories. I loved the European style bedding. No sheet or blankets to struggle over since we were each in control of our own covers!
I went into the bathroom only to see that someone had stolen the seat and tank to our toilet. Further investigation showed that we were to be the proud users of the Saniflo Compact 48 one-piece toilet with macerating base. I guess it was too expensive to retro-fit the plumbing in the motel rooms, so these toilets were installed. This allows standard sink drains to be used. Once the button is pushed, water fills the bowl for about 20 seconds, then the toilet makes jet engine noises for a while
Speaking of bowls, Leavenworth sits in a bowl of mountains and no matter where you look, there is an alpine feel.
Although it was really hot,
there flowers everywhere and they were full and beautiful.
Mr. Dependibility can be counted on to strike the same pose whether he's with lighthouses, people, or goats.
Town was as cute as ever. We wandered in and out of little shops alternately cooling and warming as needed. We both noticed there were a lot of wine-tasting shops in town these days.
The hosts at our hotel were wonderful and provided their guests with a traditional Bavarian breakfast of sliced meats from the local butcher shop, authentic imported thin-sliced Bavarian breads, sliced cheese from the local cheese shop and a few American things for the non-adventurous types. We were served hot boiled eggs in these cute little crocheted chicken cozies.
On our way home, stopped at a fruit stand and bought some fresh fruit. While there, I found this donation box in the restroom. I've never seen one like this before. Check out the Master Lock on this little, lightweight, mobile, easily pocketed, easily broken plastic box. Bob said there was not a donation box in the men's room.
We went to Cashmere to see what was going on. As expected, the Applets and Cotlets store was all that was going on. Although there was no production due to the weekend, we donned our hats and took the factory tour. Sadly, we did not buy any candy.
A quick detour to Roslyn for the Sunday Market screamed for this popular picture. Although it's been 25 years since the old TV show "Northern Exposure" put Rosalyn on the map, there are still sights around town that indicate this history. That being said, how long are they going to keep that up?
And we are home...
...with our new air conditioner.
Carissa was busy in the kitchen and didn't have time to take Reagan up to bed for her nap when first requested to do so. Just like her mommy and grandpa, Reagan just stopped mid-whatever and fell asleep with her blanket. Three generations of crash-nappers.
Speaking of crashing, Reagan is now driving. If you are at Lowe's please give the right-of-way to the lady in the blue car-cart.
Sadly Chris and Carissa think all kids eat green stuff as heartily as Reagan does.
"What're you looking at? Stop staring and start playing with me!"
I guess the Willamette Valley isn't the only "hot spot" for weather! Mary Lou's quilts are absolutely gorgeous. I wish I had a tenth of her talent. And as always Reagan is the third cutest grandkid on the planet!
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