Redemption

I have completely redeemed myself after that dismal failure of a dinner tonight.

I made granola. I love granola. But it's even better when it's homemade. My favorite homemade granola recipe belongs to Alton Brown. My brother Dale first introduced me to this back in November when my sister and her clan moved up to Washington from Arizona. I was craving granola tonight so I thought I'd give it a go.

I don't have any maple syrup, dark brown sugar or sliced almonds on hand, so I made a couple substitutions. I did about 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon of light brown sugar, added 1 tablespoon molasses to the wet ingredients, used honey instead of maple syrup, and substituted pecans for almonds. The verdict? Yummy! I think I'll have a bowl of it right now.

You're supposed to add raisins at the end, but I think I'm going to leave it be. The only ones in my family who like raisins are Rose and me.

Dismal Failure

I was attempting a new recipe I found online for Swiss Chard, of which I have a plethora in my garden. Unfortunately nobody will eat it. I like it, somewhat, but it is a very strong flavored green.

Tonight I made Swiss Chard Almond Loaf. It sounded like something I would either love or hate.

Unfortunately, it was disgusting. I melted a slice of swiss cheese over it, stirred it in, and added ketchup. That made it tolerable. I made my kids eat a little of it. As a reward for eating some of it, they got ice cream.

Yeah, it was that bad.

Meet me at the fair

Today was One Buck Wednesday at the county fair, so we took our food bank donations and rode the free shuttle up to the fair. Lacy had never been on a bus before, so she was excited to go. The bus driver gave all the kids lollipops and they absolutely loved the ride. With our donations, anyone over the age of 5 got in for just $1, and kids 5 and under were free. Our whole family got in for just $2!


Mostly, we went to see the animals. I didn't take a lot of pictures at the fair, but Leslie took a ton. I'm sure she'll blog about our adventure today sometime later (if she hasn't already beat me to the punch!).

Dave and Rose went off by themselves for a while while Les and I took the rest of the kids, all 7 of them (and 5 of them were 5 and under!). I think Dave got the better deal! Rose got to hold a baby pygmy goat when she was with Dave. She petted it and loved on it, and when she was getting a bit rough, Dave told her, "Gentle!" She was very good at following directions and petted the goat ever so softly. People around here were impressed that a girl so little could be so gentle! I must say, Rose has been incredibly cute lately. I love age two-- they are absolutely adorable at this age. I think so far this is my absolute favorite age-- they don't have a major attitude that they get around 3/3.5 yet!


Meanwhile, we took the rest of the kids to see the horses. They really enjoyed petting a real live horse and watching a bit of the horse shows. They only got yelled at once by strangers! I'd say that's pretty good with our rowdy bunch!

Eventually, we met up with Dave again, after viewing a few other animals and having the kids beg us for $5 pony rides (are you kidding me?). We started heading for the poultry and rabbit section of the fair. It took a looooong time to get the kids started, and we had a bathroom break in there. The bathrooms were right by the Mom's area, which is a really nice spot that has an indoor room with a rocking chair for nursing, a changing table and a couple toys, and an outdoor area with several benches, a sandbox, and a couple slides. It was well shaded and had great climbing trees to boot.

The Sheriff's station was right by there, so while we were giving everyone a bathroom break, some of the kids got retina scans and an ID card made up for them. All the big kids except Marilyn got one (from Lacy on up). We couldn't do Marilyn because we weren't about to have her retinas scanned without permission from her mom or Kurt (my brother, not Marilyn's dad but close enough). He kind of has a thing with authority figures, so we erred on the side of caution with this one. They turned out really cute, even though they never got a good scan of Lacy's retinas. You have to hold perfectly still for a fair amount of time, which is a challenge for any kid!

Finally, we made it to the poultry and rabbit area. The kids loved seeing all the bunnies, cats, guinea pigs, chickens, turkeys, and other small animals. They even got to pet a couple exotic looking chickens. Rose and Lacy both really liked it, and I liked dreaming about the animals I'm going to have on our commune some day. I really loved the black and white patterned chickens, but then again the red ones were absolutely beautiful and just screamed "FARM!!!" to me. I'm not sure what I'll choose!

We finished up with Dave taking Lacy to the restroom (again), and upon their return he surprised us with a couple elephant ears. Dave said, "It's just not a fair without elephant ears!" So we split the two between all of us and went to the last couple of exhibits.

There was a petting area that the kids went into, with goats and a few other animals. They enjoyed spending a little time with the animals. We also found a stall with a few zonkeys (aka zedonks, a type of zebroid produced from a daddy zebra and a momma donkey) in it. Those were fun to see! Very cute. Next to the zonkeys were the exotic animals, including a bearded dragon (Les and clan keep those as pets), pythons, anacondas, lynxes, bobcats, and other unusual animals.

At that point, we decided we'd had too much, and headed back to catch the return shuttle, and walked back to Leslie's house, at which point we mandated one hour outside play for all children. Dave helped finish up fixing Leslie's broken Suburban (which broke down last Friday-- fortunately this week was already mandated as vehicle free week for them), we ate breakfast for dinner, and Rose fell asleep by 8:30 while we were still at Leslie's. They got done with the car around 9 and we headed back home.

When we arrived home, we had a big package in our mailbox. It was a thank-you letter from Brad Wilcox! And a CD of his! Dave was absolutely on cloud 9. We knew he needed to be working with the youth at the dance festival, and part of the reason was because of his experience being Brother Wilcox's assistant for part of the time. Dave was really inspired by him, and treasures the special moments from this event. Getting this letter and CD was icing on the cake for him.

Our truck was dirty.

We finally washed the truck today. It was dirty. It was growing moss in some parts. Yeah, that's pretty dirty. The girls helped us wash the truck and had some fun, but toward the end we had to put them indoors so we could really get it scrubbed.

Is it bad that I forgot that my front rims were aluminum? I seriously thought they were black for a long time. Now they finally shine again.

The family dinner... two weeks later!

A couple weeks ago and some change we had a family dinner at my sister's house. All the sibs were there. We had a fun time!

One of the best things about Aunt Leslie's house is the uber-unsafe trampoline. So far nobody's broken a bone! Just a sprained ankle!

The big boys like jumping, too.

Rose doesn't like them to jump without her.

Tell us how you really feel, darlin'!

So we took her inside and gave her a cupcake.

Lacy got one, too, but hers was decorated! We celebrated the July birthdays.

Kurt had his 26th birthday this year. Jackie didn't like our rendition of "Happy Birthday," apparently. I think our family needs a recording contract.

As the evening came to a close, we took a couple pictures...

Aren't we a good lookin' bunch?

Divvied up the candy my mom and dad sent us from Germany...


Cleaned up the kids...

*cute tub photo of Lacy, Rose, Regan and Turner removed*

And headed home, way past their bedtime.

Build your vocabulary, feed the hungry!

Check out this website! FreeRice.com is a vocabulary building website. On the screen, it provides a word and four possible definitions. For every correct definition, they will donate 20 grains of rice through the UN World Food Program! So far this morning I've donated 500 grains of rice while building my vocabulary! The words are challenging and this website is addicting. Be warned!

Dance!

Dave is one of the head stage managers at our region's LDS youth dance festival. There are 11 stakes participating in this, including my own stake and my sister's stake. I know some of the youth dancing, including my nephew Hayden, who is in the baketball dance. Dave has been busily helping out with the dance festival since Thursday, and the first performance was last night. While he was there, Dave got to meet Sister Dalton, the general Young Women's President, Kenneth Cope, an LDS musician, and Brad Wilcox, an author and inspirational speaker, as well as BYU professor. Dave was actually Brad's main assistant at the event, so he got to know him pretty well. Brad has a good impression of Dave, and Brad's words have inspired Dave. He has really loved helping out during the event, which I've been told is excellent, despite some glitches.

If you're in Western Washington, make a trip to the Tacoma Dome today for a 2 pm or 7 pm performance. It is well worth it! The event is free and parking is $8. I'm going today and taking Lacy and her best friend. I'm leaving Rose behind-- I just can't fathom trying to wrangle a 2 year old during this! No thank you!

Is vegetarianism contrary to the doctrines of the gospel?

I found myself in the middle of a debate today about vegetarianism, the Word of Wisdom, and the gospel. Many of you know, I was vegetarian for 7 years. Although I loved being vegetarian, married life and vegetarianism doesn't mix, at least in my relationship with an avid hunter and fisherman. I do not eat very much meat still, but I doubt I'll ever go full vegetarian again. I've discovered the joy of bacon. But I digress.

Here are the pertinent verses from the Word of Wisdom: D&C 89

12 Yea, flesh also of beasts and of the fowls of the air, I, the Lord, have ordained for the use of man with thanksgiving; nevertheless they are to be used sparingly;
13 And it is pleasing unto me that they should not be used, only in times of winter, or of cold, or famine.
14 All grain is ordained for the use of man and of beasts, to be the staff of life, not only for man but for the beasts of the field, and the fowls of heaven, and all wild animals that run or creep on the earth;
15 And these hath God made for the use of man only in times of famine and excess of hunger.

In the original text, there was no comma in verse 13, so it read, "And it is pleasing unto me that they should not be used only in times of winter, or of cold, or famine." I'm not sure if the absence of a comma (which changes the meaning of the verse) was an oversight, or if there was another reason why the comma wasn't included. But leaving out the comma contradicts the rest of the section.

Others pointed out other scriptures that point to vegetarianism as being wrong and against the laws of God. These are the verses that backed this poster's claims:

Gen. 9: 3
3 Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.

Lev. 11: 2
2 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, These are the beasts which ye shall eat among all the beasts that are on the earth.

D&C 49: 19
19 For, behold, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and that which cometh of the earth, is ordained for the use of man for food and for raiment, and that he might have in abundance.

1 Tim. 4: 1-4
1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;
3 Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.
4 For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving:

D&C 49: 18
18 And whoso forbiddeth to abstain from meats, that man should not eat the same, is not ordained of God;

I personally didn't get the feel that those verses condemn vegetarianism, but I admit I'm quite biased and would like to think that being a vegetarian and a follower of Christ can go hand in hand. Really only the last two references seemed to be negative toward vegetarians. My take on the meaning is a bit different. In my opinion, the last reference means is that we are not to preach vegetarianism as a doctrine of the gospel (although the wording is confusing and contradictory in modern English). The phrase "that man should not eat the same" makes it clear to me that if we choose to abstain from meat, without admonishing others to do the same, we are still faithful to the laws of God. The person who posted those references conveniently left off the verses following D&C 49:18...

19. For, behold the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and that which cometh of the earth, is ordained for the use of man for food and for raiment, and that he might have in abundance.
20. But behold it is not given that one man should posses that which is above another, wherefore the world lieth in sin.
21. And wo be unto man that sheddeth blood or that wasteth flesh and hath no need.

As a vegetarian, a person can still benefit from animals in many different ways. And in verse 21, it could be taken to mean that if one has plenty of other non-animal food sources to use those first, because otherwise you'd be shedding blood and wasting flesh unnecessarily.

As far as Timothy goes, if you look at the phrase "commanding to abstain from meats," it has the same meaning that I got from D&C 49:18. We shouldn't push vegetarianism on others and we should be thankful for what we are given.

I actually found that people seemed to be quite offended by my vegetarianism, and that most LDS people have a bias against vegetarians. I remember one LDS friend of mine being incensed that I wouldn't try a meal of hers that she made for a school project that contained meat.
I remember others trying to convince me that my interpretation of D&C 89 was all wrong. They had to get out their own scriptures and prove that I was sinning by being a vegetarian. This didn't often happen (it wasn't well known that I was a vegetarian after I graduated from high school, but I was quite vocal about it when I first became vegetarian at age 15) but when it did happen, it was very uncomfortable for me. Perhaps I was interpreting the scriptures all wrong and I was sinning by abstaining from meat. However, they were being cruel and unrighteously judgmental about my personal choice.

In the first couple of years as a vegetarian, however, I was quite open about how wrong the eating of meat was. During that time, I was the one being unrighteously judgmental and I probably deserved any vegetarian bashing that I got.

Taking a trip down memory lane...

Let's take a trip down Memory Lane....Do you remember when?Here are the rules:

1. As a comment on my blog, leave a memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you know me a little or a lot, anything you remember(it can involve the family or even my husband too)!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll be sure to write one about you... either on your blog, in my comment box, or I will email you back!

3. If you can't say something nice, don't say nothin' at all ☺

4. Consider this a Tag: if you've read it, you have to do it!

A Few of Lacy's Favorite Things

In honor of Lacy's 4th birthday, here are some of her favorite things.

Favorite Song: "All American Girl," Carrie Underwood
Favorite Color: Purple
Favorite Toy: Dolls probably, though she loves a lot of her toys.
Favorite Animal: She loves all animals from a distance!
Favorite Book: She has lots of favorites. We really enjoyed reading Little House in the Big Woods together.
Favorite Game: Hide and Seek
Favorite Thing to do with Dad: Fishing
Favorite Thing to do with Mom: Cooking
Favorite Thing to do with Rose: Play dress-ups and family
Favorite Naughty Activity: Teasing her sister
Favorite Messy Activity: Playing with make-up
Favorite Food: Anything sweet.
Favorite Good for you food: Berries of all types
Favorite Class: Gymnastics
Favorite Part of Spiritual Time: reciting articles of faith
Favorite Sister: Rose
Favorite Prissy Thing: Tea parties!
Favorite Person to talk to on the phone: Anyone! Especially people she loves.

Thanks to everyone for coming to our party tonight. We had a really good time with you all! We really appreciate you coming over to help make Lacy's birthday so special!

The truth about balloons and fish

We bought a helium tank and balloons to inflate for Lacy's birthday party. Lacy was going to release one outside, but I told her it wasn't a good idea.

"When the balloon flies into the sky, it will pop and land in the water. Then a fish will eat it and die!"

"Oooooh!"

Lacy accidentally let a balloon out of the house a minute ago. She was visibly upset. "Daddy! Oh no! The balloon's gone! It's going to go eat a fish!"

Blackberries: Mannah from Heaven, Thorn in my Side

We have blackberries in our back yard. Lots and lots of blackberries. If we were to abandon our house, I suspect it would only be a matter of a couple of years before our entire house and yard were covered in vines. It is INSANE. But, we love eating the fruit. So we put up with a small amount for the deliciousness that comes with having a blackberry vine in your backyard.

We are prepping for Lacy's birthday party, and have been trimming back blackberry vines. I was actually not even trimming vines at all, just brining some wood back to the woodshed, and a vine came out and grabbed me. Oh my, it hurt. I really should have been wearing long pants. It was cool enough to do so, but I was wearing capris today. Ouch.


But, we found a ton of ripe berries that we picked. The girls would eat them almost as fast as we could pick them. Rose started picking on her own. In a week or two, we're going to have a ton of them ripe, and the girls will have a heyday outside picking and eating as much as they want.



We actually have five species of berries growing in our yard. Blackberries, blueberries, red huckleberries, strawberries, and our newest discovery, blue raspberries. They look an awful lolt like blackberries, and at first I thought they were just a mutated bunch of blackberries. Dave found some later and said, "Hey, look! We have blue raspberries!" They aren't as shiny as blackberries and the drupelets are smaller than in a blackberry, and the fruit is smaller and more rounded than a blackberry. They are a little tasteless, but are okay tasting. The girls didn't seem to mind, though, and ate them right up!

We also found a couple of interesting bugs today. I've never seen a white spider before, and the second bug is about the biggest but I've ever seen around here.


And a couple of pictures from last night. I walked into the room to check on the girls, and this is how I found them. Lacy usually sleeps in her own bed, but when her dad's gone, she can fall asleep in our bed if she likes.

The Shoes are Possessed!

We have a pair of those Flash Lights shoes. I always said I would never buy those kind of shoes. I didn't actually buy these ones-- they were given to me as hand-me-downs, probably from my sister Leslie. I don't like these shoes for a variety of reasons, the main one being they contain mercury in the little button battery that lights up the shoes. Also I find the lights distracting. But I feel that the battery is encased in the shoe so while it does probably contain mercury, it probably doesn't pose much harm wearing the shoes on occasion. And we only have one pair of size 10's and I'm too poor right now to buy a different pair, so it is what it is.

Well, the other day I noticed one of Lacy's shoes laying on its side flashing. I though it probably had just gotten bumped so I picked it up off of its side thinking it would stop flashing.

Nope.

It's been flashing for three days now with no signs of stopping. It is making me crazy! Last night it was flashing in the living room when I was trying to find something to watch on TV (no luck on the History Channel, darn it). I asked Dave to move the shoe so I couldn't see the flashing. What a punk-- he put it so that the lights were clearly visible in the refection off the glass on our TV stand. I had to cover the shoe up completely because my obsessiveness can't get over something like a shoe continuing to flash like that.

I guess I should get over myself and go shoe shopping. But then I'd have to dispose of toxic waste.

OK, I admit it.

I love watching TV. There. I said it. Please dock some crunchy points off my scorecard. But to make up for it, I generally enjoy watching educational shows on History Channel, Discovery Channel, and the like.

But lately, I'm not too impressed.

The History Channel historically has been my all-time favorite channel. But it seems like the shows that have been popular lately are really not, well, actual history shows. Some of them, I can see the rational for putting them on a network called The History Channel, but most of the new ones? I just don't get it. And the thing that makes me mad is, they're hugely popular and they're the only ones on OnDemand! I can't even watch a history show with OnDemand for the History Channel! That makes no sense!

Let's examine their prime time lineup:

Sunday:
Ice Road Truckers: A show about guys that drive trucks on the ice. All current events. A reality show. NOT HISTORY.
Tougher In Alaska: A show about working in Alaska's hard conditions. While this may be interesting, I think it would be more appropriate on another channel. NOT HISTORY.

Monday: a little better than Sunday.
Modern Marvels: It goes a little into the history of certain technologies, but usually it is just about the current cutting edge technologies and techniques for certain things. I do like this show, and occasionally (as in tonight's episode) they will examine technology from years past. That is actual history. But usually it's not much history at all.
A bunch of shows about Batman and Starwars: OK, they are from comic books and movies from decades past. So I guess it is examining where they came from in years past and technologies from the movies. Yeah, history, I guess, but c'mon, it's FICTION!

Tuesday:
The Universe: Some episodes examine how the universe was formed. But tomorrow night's episode? It's about space colonization. Something that HASN'T EVEN HAPPENED YET. NOT HISTORY (tomorrow)
Ancient Discoveries: Yes, this is actually history. Hallelujah! FINALLY!
Mega Disasters: Examines historical disasters and asks a lot of what-ifs about worst case scenarios. Some history, some speculation.

Wednesday:
Monster Quest: Searching for mythical monsters of yore. I believe they examine their historical roots. This one gets the history stamp of approval, but not my interest.
Ice Road Truckers: AGAIN??? SERIOUSLY? There are so many more interesting shows that are actually about history and you repeat ICE ROAD TRUCKERS?

Thursday:
Modern Marvels:
The Works: A show about facts and the history behind various topics. If it focuses mainly about the history, I think it qualifies, but methinks it probably devotes most of it's energy toward the facts. BO-RING, though technically appropriate for the History Channel, unfortunately.

Friday:
Modern Marvels: They sure love this show at History Channel.
Ice Road Truckers: Can I roll my eyes any higher? Because I. AM. NOT. INTERESTED.
Shockwave: A show that examines major events using actual footage. Yes, it's History.
Battle 360: About WWII. History. But I really dislike watching war stuff. It's not my thing.

Saturday:
ICE ROAD TRUCKERS ALL NIGHT LONG!!! Nooooooooooooo! I guess I'd better rent a movie or something because Dave is working the Dance Festival that night, and I'll be all by my lonesome with the kiddos asleep.

This is this weeks' actual primetime lineup. It is so not interesting to me at all. I used to be glued to the History Channel when I was in college, but in recent years they've been trying to attract a different demographic, to which I do not belong. It used to be, if I couldn't find anything on and all I wanted to do was veg, I could count on trusty good old History Channel for something interesting to watch. I am really bored out of my mind by most of those shows. They are totally pimping out their non-history shows and I am so annoyed by that. Please, History Channel, try to make some History shows! And have Comcast put them on their OnDemand schedule!

Those poor kitties!

Yesterday we went to dinner with some good friends of ours. To our delight, we found that they had a cat who had kittens about three weeks ago. They were darling! The girls absolutely went gaga over them. Rose kept trying to pick them up with their necks and we had to tell her to be gentle, and show her the correct way to pet a kitten. After dinner, we were sitting around in the living room. All of a sudden, Rose comes in the room with a kitten in her hand. She gives it to me. I tell her to stay away from the kittens, but now other children are coming in with kittens, and then Rose comes back again with another kitten!

We had to hide the kittens. Rose was just obsessed with them and the mama cat was stressing out and trying to hide the kittens!

You're Invited!

To better keep track of everyone...

I've created a bloglist on my sidebar. I like it a lot because it updates with when people last posted on their blogs so it's easier to keep up with everyone, and it's nice to get notice when infrequent bloggers finally post to their blog (I'm not going to name any names here, but Kelly you really need to update your blog). I'm still adding people to it. I know there are some that I've forgotten! Please either email me or respond to this post if you blog on blogger and would like to be added to my list. These are blogs of friends and family that I read on a regular basis, and a couple special interest blogs that I enjoy. I hope all of you enjoy these blogs, too.

One of my current obsessions is staying on top of my sister's blog list. I'm so lame. But if you'd like to obsess over the same thing, feel free. I won't mind ;)

Relearning how to use the computer

I'm trying to learn how to use my new photo editing software and make my blog cool looking without using someone else's templates. I know this first attempt is lame, but I just started tweaking it today and it's already past my bedtime, plus Rose puked on me today so I think I'm allowed to be lame. I've got to take some sort of tutorial or something, and maybe a graphic design class or something. I'm feeling really uninspired lately but I'm trying!

Lacy's wearing panties to bed now. It happened practically overnight that she started staying dry. I knew we were there when she woke up crying that she had to go potty on our campout. I told her to go in her pull-up, and she said she couldn't. The next morning she was still dry. So, no more diapers for Lacy, EVER!

Spontaneity's Danger

Dave had so much fun camping the other night, that he and his friend Bill decided that the wives and girls needed to come out there, too. So, they came back home to get us (after waiting hours for the tide to come in because their boat got beached-- it's a boat access only island where we were staying) and we headed out for Hope Island.

View from the beach

The path we took from the beach to get to our camp site
And the path from the other beach to our campsite, which curved around and lead us to the caretaker's cabin


We didn't leave until probably 5, so by the time we even reached the island it was about 6 or so. Fortunately it is very nearby-- We had to unpack, cook dinner, and entertain the kids. I purposefully didn't bring any toys because going camping was its own fun. Plus Lacy had her BFF there with her, and Rose usually just tags along with them anyway, so toys were really a non issue anyway.

For dinner we were supposed to have pork chops, but they weren't thawed, so we had hot dogs and bratwursts instead (which was supposed to be in addition to the chops). Fortunately there were a ton, so we all ate our fill of processed meat-type product. We didn't have any plates, so we used bowls instead. After dinner, we took a little walk. We ended up seeing a deer eat from an apple tree, and talking to the caretaker. We talked for about 20 minutes or so, and Lacy fell asleep in Dave's arms. That surprised me! We went back home and got her ready for bed, had spiritual time, and she was out in about 10 minutes.

This is the path through the orchard that took us to the very important outhouse and the caretaker's cabin.
The buck we saw

A doe we saw on the way back
View from the other beach at sunset


Rose on the other hand was wired. I tried nursing her to sleep lying down, but that didn't work. She was WILD. So we went for a little walk and watched the full moon sparkle on the ocean and sang, "Moon, Moon, Moon." It was magical. Until I spotted someone going onto our very secluded campsite. That made me uneasy. I found out later that some teenaged boys staying at another campsite were playing flashlight tag. Whatever that is.

Eventually, Rose fell asleep and I got to go out with the big kids and chat. Well, Emily and I chatted mostly and the guys chased raccoons. With BB guns. But they only aimed for the rear ends. Or, that's what they told me anyway. At least they weren't using rocks this time. Crazy guys. I think they seriously scared a few, because there was a lot less raccoon activity last night than the night before (according to Dave). I did hear raccoons fighting, which is kind of freaky sounding. It's kind of like listening to cats fight, only a lot louder and with more thrashing around.

Dave spotted a porcupine that night, took pictures (and some even turned out!), and took me out to see it. He also took a couple boys out to see it from the other group earlier, while I was attempting to put Rose down. The boys he took earlier were taking more boys to see it after Dave and I got there. It got scared and started dropping quills, after Dave warned the kids to back away from it. Once they actually listened to Dave, it stopped dropping quills. It was hiding up in an apple tree in the orchard. This is about as good as we could do with a photo of the porcupine.

I had trouble sleeping last night because I had to take some allergy medicine, but evidently I did sleep because Emily claimed I snored. I don't remember sleeping much at all last night, and I woke up very early a few times. Plus the girls got up with the sun, so I was tired this morning. We had a lot of morning cloud cover, and after eating instant oatmeal for breakfast (we even had spoons!), I crawled back under the covers and tried ignoring my kids for a few minutes so I could get warm under the sleeping bag. They didn't ignore me, though, and I was more like a human trampoline than a sleep. Eventually the clouds burned off and I warmed up. We took a nice little hike around the island and enjoyed the beautiful scenery. It was just gorgeous. So secluded and lovely.

We played on the beach looking for critters during low tide. There are so many crabs and oysters just sitting on the beach at low tide. There are also lots of sea stars and jellyfish. It was really fun seeing so much wildlife.

Jellyfish on land...
And in the water...
Blue Herron
Bald Eagle
Catch of the day? Nah, throw it back.
A dead crab. Lacy loved it.

Critter hunting boys... not sure where Dave was during all this, but he was out with the rest of them at some point!


And when we weren't looking for critters, we were looking for rocks, throwing rocks in the water, relaxing, or just having fun.

Yes, Rose's pants are down. I'm not sure why.
Lacy and Wynnie
Rose's favorite activity: throwing rocks in the water.


Lacy climbed the tree while Wynnie posed for me. I swear, every other picture I have of Wynnie she is doing some bizarre pose.


And proof that Esme actually did come on the campout with us:
We BBQed our hot dogs and pork chops on the beach because there are no fires allowed on the campgrounds. Because we could only take boats, we had little room for extra stuff, so we didn't bring the BBQ's legs. We didn't have plates, so we just held them by the bone and ate them. I guess we were "man camping" as Emily called it, except I had an airbed.

All good things have to come to an end, and we packed out around 5 or so and boated back to Arcadia Point.


Lacy fell asleep on the way home, and I struggled to keep Rose awake. They both went to bed fairly early today, thankfully. Tomorrow we have a 10 o'clock playdate, so hopefully they'll be plenty rested for that!

Dave is going geoducking tomorrow to earn a little cash while he's between jobs. I'm sure he's very sad he has to go. We do have some positive news on the job front-- in about two months, a job will probably be opening in OLYMPIA that is full time for 18 months! And we're hoping that soon a company that Dave has a great reputation at will be getting a contract with a state building and Dave will be on that project until this new Olympia job starts. Please keep us in your prayers!

Fun in the sun!

Dave went camping with the scouts last night, so my friend Emily and I decided to have some fun together. She came over and we made plans to go to dinner then go shopping. before we went, the girls had to get some pool time in! The neighbors had their little pool set up in the front yard, and of course it was irresistable to the girls. So they played!



After playing for a while, we went to eat at Izzys, which offers free food for children under age 4 (all four of the kids were under age four! Woo hoo!), then we went shopping.

First we went to Ross, which was across the street. Big mistake. They are unorganized and hard to navigate. Then Lacy announced loudly, "I HAVE TO GO POOP," so I had to find the bathroom. It was a one-holer, mixed gender bathroom, and that was the only one in the store. So we had to wait for the slow person ahead of us to finish up. Then finally it was our turn. They were nearly out of toilet paper and they were out of soap. I told an employee that was working in the fitting area (where the bathroom is located) that the bathroom needed to be restocked, to which she replied,"Oh like the soap? Yeah, we've been out of soap now for like a week!"

"Um, that's really gross."

Another employee told us that they keep ordering it but they always run out so fast and don't get more in soon enough. Well, it seems simple enough to me-- if you keep running out, start ordering more at a time and order again BEFORE YOU RUN OUT. How hard is that? So I will no longer be shopping at this particular Ross.

So we left everything and went to Marshall's instead. Their store was much cleaner, albeit more pricey, but it was totally worth it for the better experience. I got cute new sunglasses and Emily got an awesome bathing suit that she looks great in. The girls had fun trying on hats and shoes, and we were doing great until Lacy and Wynnie decided to pretend some of their scented lotion was sunscreen. Yuck. I had to drive home because Emily gets migraines and that particular lotion had one of her trigger scents in it. We got them home, plopped them in the bath, and got them ready for bed. We were out shopping way too late, but we had fun!