Memorial Weekend!!

We knew it was going to be a fantastic weekend, how could it not be with a Friday night sky like this!












Our camp, slightly dark but Kinkaid river was up as it has been warm, the snow is melting. It was beautiful beyond words there, the sun through the trees, the smell of the woods and the sound of the water.










Tents all set up and cozy.


















Leaves and Light.

























Abs and I Monday morning, the only chilly time we had there, actually rained a bit but NOTHING like camping there last year. These two girls look a little tired?











My sweet family after a lovely breakfast of bacon, biscuits, and sorghum, yumm-0!





Finally packing up and heading home. We used to drive through this little channel but it keeps getting bigger so now the wheelbarrow to haul all the stuff from the truck to the camp spot.

The weekend started out with an early walk in Dungeness at the river, all by myself, listening to music and even ran a bit on my ankle and it felt ok. Then we headed to the Juan de Fuca Festival- our first time there. We all met there to hear our good friends, the Yates' play music. It is so amazing to see your friends doing something they love together, especially music. They even dedicated a song to us- about going to the ocean, it was amazing. Then, all of us headed home and got packed up for a weekend of camping. At one point on Sat. night there were 4 families, all our kids, and my parents around the campsite. How amazing does it feel to have so many people all around you that you love, talking, laughing and genuinely happy sharing the campfire and eating Joe's amazing food. I would have posted pics of all the crew but not sure everyone wants to be splashed on my blog so I'll refrain.

My favs for the weekend.....

Joe's stew, spaghetti, and Anna's biscuits

The evening light in the trees as the sun went down

All the kids lined up in front of the tent making their scary faces for the camera

Seeing all the kids trooping through the woods, walking sticks in hand, playing some sort of

game usually involving wild animals, unicorns and the such.

Hearing Mia pia going to sleep in the sling all cozy on her mama's back

Watching everyone come to the camp via the log

Finally, a picture of us three- Kristy, Anna and I- and their sweet babies.

Tess not sure about our camping spot, where can I wash my feet?

The new trails by the river and maybe a summer swimming hole

Skinny dipping in the river at 1am, then watching the sky get lighter, "What time is it?" and

when exactly does hypothermia set in?

Reading books to the girls in the tent and dying for more sleep!

Looking for stars and "the log" how is your neck Bill?

Packing Bubba through the woods in the back pack- him jibbering away and looking up at the trees. He is only 11 months but I swear he was totally telling me about them.

Owen falling asleep in his momma's lap and Kristy telling me to get out of her heat from the fire. :)

Sitting around the campfire, my stomach hurting from laughing- good ole Kline stories

Monday packing out, just us three all tired but relaxed and so so so happy.

My philosophical question for the weekend:

What if every person had somewhere they could go like Kinkaid/La Push for us, where they could just be in nature, no phones, no TV, not email or computer. Where they had to cook there own food and just be in nature and with themselves. What would the world be like if everyone had a place to go where they could remember how to breathe?

Night Walks

One of my favorite things to do this time of year... going for walks at night.

I see the water the whole way.
I see the silhouette of trees dark against the sky.
I see birds flying and leaves moving in the breeze.
I see the first stars coming out, the sky is so clear.
I don't see any cars.

I smell the trees and damp grass.
I smell the salt water of the bay.
I smell the air and it feels clean.
I don't smell pollution or smog.

I feel the cool wind on my face.
I feel the ground solid below me.
I feel my dogs walking close to me, watching out.

Amidst all this beauty around me, tonight my heart hurts and I don't know why.
Life can be so strange.

Happy Happy!

Happy 68th birthday Dad.

My dad who loves us all to pieces.

My dad who helps us whenever he can.

My dad who laughs, loves to read and talk about the world, politics, the economy and is always willing to listen to my "left wing-ness"

My dad who has always made me feel smart and capable.

My dad who never has a bad thing to say about anyone.

My dad who is as strong as he is gentle.

Thanks for your love, your light, and your example of a life worth living.

We love you so much!

Road Update

Ok, so I've been avoiding this post because I'm still so mad about it but here goes. Mother's day I get up early and run 9 miles, feels harder than last time, maybe because i'm by myself and not distracted by talking but I do it and at the end it feels ok, right? We have a great day, in the afternoon i'm mowing the lawn and IT happens. All my weight is back on my right leg pulling the mower backwards, Joe throws the ball for Jack and next the dog proceeds to plow into me at full speed misjudging where my leg is. So he totally takes me out, I am lying on my a** in the flower bed with a totally sprained ankle. After I get it wrapped up and finish mowing Joe and I are on the tailgate of the truck while Abby is running around and I am just crying and crying. How random and unnecessary. So, I couldn't run the Rhody run at all, last night the first night since that Sun. that i dared even try and do some fast walking. It is still slightly swollen and hurts inside. I went walking last night at 9 o'clock and then did my old high school routine of soaking my ankle in hot water, moving it all around and then ice cold water after that. We'll see how that goes for this week in hopes I can start running again this weekend with only 2 weeks to go to the 1/2 marathon. ughghghgh.

Angel Baby

Baby Sari, Abby and I had a great day yesterday.

She is an angel baby for sure. Her mom was worried the day before because she had only taken 4 oz all day on her first day back to work. Today she drank 14 oz and slept really well.

Her momma is so sad to be back at work, feels it is unfair- the system of insurance, the primary reason for her going back. They can't afford to pay for insurance otherwise and feel scared to not have it. In many ways the world is better now for women than it was but having to leave your baby when she is 7 weeks old with someone else and be at work all day 5 days a week is not better at all, in fact it sucks.

Yeah, Grandma Is Here

Grandma Kali always comes with fun presents, good stories, and lots of hugs. This time, her new puppy Ruby, and she is a sweety girl.

To guess

A game- this was on something we bought, what do you think?

Isn't it cool???

Kids fishing day, a pond stocked full of trout. Abs and Joe trying it out. No fish caught. Mom is secretly glad, the fish were so beautiful swimming around.

Finally Spring

The apple tree, Abby's house and the fire pit. The fire pit has already been used a bit this spring, even in the snow!! We're ready for some warmer nights.

Abby and Joe getting the garden area ready for corn, pumpkins, squash and some beans hopefully. The dogs seem to think that this dirt area is especially for them to dig and hide toys., ugghgh.

Abby had campout day at school so guess what we did when we came home? Horray for camping to start, we are all excited!

The evening sky. Couldn't get much prettier here, we are so lucky.

Short with bangs

This seems to be the course with Abby's hair. It starts to get long, sweet, a little wavy and we spend every morning crying trying to brush it out. So..... "Abby is it time to cut your hair again? Yes please, can Courtney do it?" says Abs. So now she looks like below. It looks like she was crying in the picture, it wasn't about her hair, she loves it- especially her bangs.

Riding Begins!

It is riding time at Abby's school and she is happy!
They all get to ride once a week. She was excited that she was able to ride Ranger the new big horse, although after a couple weeks of riding she sure seemed glad to be back on the little icelandic ponies.

Happy Mothers Day!!

To All The Great Momma's....

You all deserve the best today, breakfast, hikes, sun, love and family.

I look to all of you for support, love, and help as we raise our child.

Sometimes it is overwhelming all the work, the mundane....

but this job is like no other, no better reward than confident, happy children

learning who they are and how to be in this world.

You all are amazing and I thank my lucky stars to have you.

Corn Dogs and Curly Fries

A belly ache right? of course. The yearly carnival is here this weekend and last night we went.
Wasn't sure we were going until I saw Abby's face as she came out of her school class talking about all the kids going to the carnival and could we "please, please go." Joe working long days all week, bless his heart was totally game for heading to the carnival after just getting home. The only bad thing about the night was that Wendy wasn't smart enough to wear warmer clothes and was seriously verging on hypothermic by 9:30pm, Abby still wanting to do more rides and games. Good ole Jetta with heated seats on the way home!
Some great things about the night. Abs went on her first roller coaster! Historically she has been adamantly against roller coasters saying they were way too scary. I don't know if it was because it was small or because her buddy Zoe had already survived riding it twice, she went. Her face at first was like holy sh*t but after her first time around she was smiling so big and raising her arms in the air. I was so proud of her for being so brave. She came off jumping a foot off the ground yelling, again, again, again.... :) The rest of the night was spent in lines waiting for most of the rides, seeing quite a few friends from her school and generally seeing her smiling from ear to ear and super excited for 3 hrs straight. The sunset was gorgeous, Joe and I both talking to each other about our childhood carnival memories and him trying to keep me warm. For all the jokes about carnivals, we had a great night.

Road Update

So now it is crunch time. Tess and I talking about what days to run and how far.
How to heal shin splints and keep this 31 yr. old body not hurting.
12K Rhody Run in 2 weeks, 1/2 marathon in 5 weeks.
I'm feeling ok, shins are better but feeling a little like, "yikes" I hope I can do this!
Last weekend ran a 7 mile loop from the house and realized that i'm basically
going to have to do that twice for the 1/2 and feeling SCARED!

Thank goodness for friends, the phone and sweet quiet listening voice on the other line telling me, "It is going to get better Wen." Thanks my old same, it feels better already.