Snowed In

Finally - SNOW!!

Just when we were giving up hope of being snowed in, our dreams came true.  And in a few days, just when we're sick of being stuck at home (even church was cancelled) and ready for kids to go back to school after 2 1/2 snow days so far, the rain will be back and we'll have one big slurpee all over the place.  Can't wait.

Since we, in the northwest, are long on rain and bodies of water, and short on snow - we've made some excellent discoveries:

1 - Waders work better than snow pants and boots.  They are truly waterproof, and snow can't go down their boots.  Plus, we have a steady supply of them!

Kayaks make great sleds.

There is actually one instance where a sloped yard comes in very handy, and this is it.

The goats have missed us.  Rocket is giving Grant a little nuzzle.  Next he'll probably chew off his zipper and eat his gloves.  They can't help themselves.

And little Jackie and Blackie got to go outside and pretend they were REAL rabbits - not just designer bunnies that live all pampered in the house.

Hoppy Christmas!

Shhhhh.... After the kids go to bed, I get Brynnie's Christmas presents out and play with them.

They are hidden away in the the locked guest room with all the other gifts.  Little Lionhead bunnies - almost 7 weeks old.  The only thing Bryn asked for this Christmas was a fuzzy little baby bunny.  Check that one off the list!  Twice! And Merry, early Christmas to me.

And don't get her started about spiders

Bryn came running up to me breathlessly:
"Dad! I need to tell you something!"

Me, thinking: Sounds important. Is the cat on fire? Did the groundhog see its shadow? Did the hamsters escape again?

She continued: "Bugs are trickier because they can stand on the ceiling."

Ah yes, those tricky bugs.

Principia Gastropoda

Cole had his own entry in our story writing exercise. He opted for the more traditional paper-based writing material but kept with the mollusc-based theme.

Here is the transcription:

Once there was a slug. His name was "Slimee" and he was going to school but he found some sand and he started to play with it but he was late for school. The end.

Pulitzer Aspirations

Grant has produced another literary tour de force and he's experimenting with different, more durable, writing media. He brings a whole new meaning to "board book".

Here's a transcription:

Once there was a slug named "Dooglee". He was going home but he was getting poked.
And that was because he ate a porcupine but he did not know it was a porcupine so he spit out the porcupine. The end.

The Grantwick Papers

Stake conference today. Sue was in the choir so I was a lone dad wrangling three bored offspring. In an attempt to distract them I suggested that Grant and Cole write a story. This is what Grant produced:

Here is a line by line translation:

Once there was a
slug that was very
naughty because he was
walking (picture of the slug, including feet) and
he found a cactus.
He did not want to go
near it but his sisters lived
in the cactus so he was climbing
up the cactus but the cactus
was poking him too much.
So he decided to go down his secret
door but it was locked so he dug a hole
inside the cactus but his sisters
were so mad that they kicked him
out.
The end.

Naturally this required a second chapter which he wrote after we got home.

So he had to find a new
home.

Nice resolution. Can anyone say "Pulitzer"?

A Teacher At Last

I finally got a good music stand.  As soon as Grant saw it, he said, "now I can teach Brynnie violin lessons!"  I had no idea that a missing stand was all that was getting in the way of  Grant's teaching career!  That afternoon, Bryn fell asleep and Grant was crushed that the lesson would have to be delayed.  But early the next morning, he was ready for her! (He had some old visuals from earlier lessons, a pencil, and some stickers as rewards.)

Loving all the attention, Bryn jumped on board (thankfully!)  The first exercise was he would tell her which string note to play (E, A, D, or G) and if she got it right, an animal would advance to the picnic.  She was focused.  So was he.  Seriously.....it's true.  (We had to delay Bryn's real violin lessons because she was incapable of concentrating for more than 3 seconds continuously.)

Here's how it went down:

 The animals all got to the picnic, and it was a party for sure.  (He came up with this all on his own.)

 Then time for note reading, or - I mean writing.  Grant drew the first note (G, as you can see if you enlarge the picture, you'll see two ledger lines.)  Bryn had to draw at least 6-7 more of them, and he did D, A, and E after that, all of which she copied several times.

I'm still trying to process this, and figure out how to put this model in place with everything we do.  It was instructive, to say the least.

Paddling Puget Sound

Around Aug. 11, Brian (Evan's brother) and two of his kids - Shauntel and Sheridan all drove up from Gilbert, AZ to enjoy some cool northwest weather.

We headed up to Hood Canal (where my mom grew up, part of Puget Sound, WA) and caught hundreds of little crabbies,

and hundreds more...

and there were all different kinds, and we just couldn't get enough of those little guys.

And, we finally figured out a way to keep Bryn contained in the tent.  She never kicked us once, so we may have to bring this kayak on all our trips, whether there's water or not.

The kids LOVED their older cousins - Sheridan and Shauntel.  They are SO cool, we all agree, and wish they lived a lot closer.

The kids kayaked all over, and the water was crystal clear.  We could look down 10 feet and see star fish and stuff.  Very cool, and actually not that cool to swim in.  It was almost warm - for the northwest.

Evan's sister, Laura (with new baby Avery - thanks for havin' another cute baby, Laura!) and Evan's brother, Brian.

Grant and Cole with cousins...

And Bryn wading around.

Making smores

Bryn and me cruisin' around.

Grant got into the kayaking more than anyone - it was his kind of sport!

Cole and Shauntel.

Thanks for a great trip, family!  It only took me 6 weeks to get this posted! Seriously, that's really good for me, these days.

Someday My Prince Will Come

Until then I can just play with frogs.

Hawaiian Odyssey Part IX - Going to a Hukilau

Monday dawned gray and rainy so we headed back north to Laie. First we stopped at Laie point to look at the crashing waves. They were impressive.

And sometimes they catch you off guard.

But braving the waves did yield some results.

Did I mention that the waves could surprise you?

Since we were wet, we headed over to Hukilau beach.

I still have the song stuck in my head. Now it can be stuck in yours.

The kids got right to work on building and defending their "kingdom" from the encroaching sea.

The waves were a little more manageable and Sue got her boogie going.

Once we got back to John and Laura's place we hit the pool.

And since it was a cool day we hit the hot tub as well. Grant declares the "hot pool" to be his favorite activity from our entire trip.

Later, the rain picked up, accompanied by lightning, thunder, hail, waterspouts, cats, dogs, signs, portents, and flying monkeys. (I didn't actually see waterspouts but they were reported. I can neither confirm nor deny the presence of flying monkeys, but it wouldn't surprise me.)