What I learned August

Life is Fleeting. 

It is surprising how hard it is to find pictures of the Mom's in our playgroup
These are just a few of the Mom's
Believe this at the Zoo

I learned a mom from a playgroup I belong to with my first born (now 17) passed away.  I am heartbroken for her family. She was too young. She was too alive. I can honestly say she lived the length and breathe of her life. This Mom had a huge vibrant personality and she will be missed by so many.

Old Town Seattle
Most of Playgroup minus some of the girls

I had lost touch with many of those Moms in playgroup including this mom that passed away. These were the first Mommy friends I had.  We were all first time Mom's.  I learned so much from all these ladies. I didn't realize until the news of my friends death reached me how rare of gift that playgroup was and all the mom's were. I learned my first lessons of mothering from these mom's.  Their fingerprints are all over my mothering. We spent many hours in each other's houses, the zoo, the parks. There is something so bonding when you are going through the same stage of life. We all had very different styles of mothering and child raising yet we were pretty supportive of each other's choices. That is unique and rare. I feel privileged to know these Mom's.

One of my Favorite Playgroup Photos
My son is in the tan hat

*** I am linkng up with Chatting at the Sky

Back to School Linky!!!

Science Just Discovered Piano Lessons Good For Kids

10 Commandments of School Drop Off

Big Plans for Summer: Deferred

12 Things I'd Like Teachers to Know About Autism

Square Root of Kids' Math Anxiety: Their Parent's Help

Here's the Secret Phrase to Turn Your Kid Into an Amazing Student - I think this is a good reminder to parents and how we praise kids. 

Cougar Calves and Moving into a Dorm

WSU COUGAR
geocache here, BONUS!

I got the opportunity to go with Mrs. Epi and the Princess of Quite A Lot when they moved Bird Girl into WSU not last weekend but the one before.  I had never been to Pullman WA and I couldn't resist a drive and a move.

Honors Dorm and College

Princess of Quite A Lot waiting around
outside of dorm

Bird Girl formally know as Ms. Smarty Pants moved into the Honors Dorm.  These rooms are in suites. Bird Girls suite had 3 rooms, bathroom, and small kitchen/lounge.  So there are a total of 6 girls in their suite.  We were lucky to be there on moving day so the Resident Advisors and Custodians helped to provided some muscle to move stuff. I also have to say as this was a smaller dorm it looked like move in wasn't quite as chaotic.



Bird Girl's side of  the room
mandatory owl pic

First I want to say this College is on a hill.  Also this is a very large campus. I think it is basically up hill to EVERYTHING.  Of course, Mrs. Epi thought this was a challenge as we explored.  We definitely got our 10,000 steps. I definitely toned the calves.  They might not be cougar calves but were well on their way.

We did drive to see the bears though.  They had a bunch of cubs that were literally climbing the walls of the enclosure.

bear trying to beat the heat



What I Read August

Ah summer is coming to a end.  I am late to this reading party. I linking up to Modern Mrs. Darcy's What Have You Been Reading. Check out what everyone else is reading.

My reading has lately been an eclectic mess

The Queen's Governess by Karen Harper - I have been interested in the Tudor so this ties into that interest.  I thought the slant the story took exploring the governess angle was interesting. I think this is a worth while read if you are interested in this time period.

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon - I re-read this.  I got in on the deal for all 6 books in the series on Kindle.  I have enjoyed reading it again.  I forgot that the start is a bit on the slow side.  After that the story is a hard one to put down.  It is a bit more racy than some readers would like but I enjoyed it.

T-shirts with a Message - #3

 

I have a habit of searching goodwill and value village for funny t-shirts.  I call these t-shirts with a message.  They are usually not the most appropriate messages but funny none the less. Here is the latest batch.

Sweat is Fat Crying

I

If you're happy and you know it, clap your...
....never mind

Going Deep Linky

 

These articles spoke to me but are on the more deeper side. So if your Sunday needs some encouragement read these.

Only What Matters, Indeed - Hollywood Housewife

What to Do When You Don't Have the Answer - In Courage  Emily Freeman

Why Family Dinner? Reasons that Might Surprise You

What Do You Want From Me? - Modern Mrs Darcy

Luxembourg, a Hedge Maze, Leonardo De Venci, and Glacial Rock

You know you have had a interesting weekend when it included Luxembourg, a hedge maze, Leonardo De Venci, and Glacial Rock

Saturday we had the pleasure of meeting some geocachers visiting from Luxembourg.  I am pretty sure that it is the first time the Luxembourg flag has been spotted in Sedro Wolley. They had an event in Sedro Wolley which at first seems a highly unlikely spot but it turns out they have friends here.  It is always a lot of fun to meet up with other geocachers and swap some caching stories.

Afterwards we took our kids to The Berry Barn. They have a hedge maze.  We had a good time exploring that.

 

 

Maze Overview

Cody in the Maze
The Trees that make the maze are tall

Charlie on the Slide
We all tried it out. 

On Sunday, some of us continued our adventures with a really short trip into Canada to get our badges for geocaching road trip 15'. Just over the border, we completed a difficulty 5 cache - Leonardo's Log: The Renaissance "Selfie" Stop and the earth cache Aldergrove Park Glacial Erratic.

Our drawings in the cache - Leonardo's Log: The Renaissance "Selfie" Stop

Chuck holding the GPS in front of Giant Rock- Glacial Erratic

Rock Hugging is the Best- Glacial Erratic. Just for your info he hugged it
22 times.

love it when

Photo by Giant Man Child

 I love it when our errands involve a ferry ride. Last week that happened.  We rode the Kingston/Edmonton Ferry.  It was a glorious day for a ferry ride. We couldn't asked for a better day to ride the ferry.

 

Above deck on the Ferry Spokane

Giant Man Child and Me
photo by Charlie

 

 

We passed another ferry

 

Charlie

Almost Back School Linky

Art by the Polyester Princess - aka my sister

First Day of School: Why August is the New September

The Adventure : 10 Tiny Treks - Washington State Parks

Target Cartwheel: 10 Insider Secrets

22 Books You Should Read Now, Based on Your Childhood Favorites

Diary of a Mediocre Homemaker - Ice Cream Bread

This is so mediocre homemaker.  I didn't even make the bread my husband did.  My husband aka the Giant Man Child is always up for a challenge. I saw this ice cream bread on pinterest  at  Housing a Forest and have been wanting to make it all summer long.  My youngest had accidently put ice cream in the refrigerator instead of the freezer.  So we used re - frozen  Marion Berry Ice Cream (Store Brand) in the recipe.

My husband was unimpressed with the final result.  It was ok for me.  It wasn't as sweet as I thought it should be and the rise was rather impressive. I have no idea if a better quality ice cream would produce better results or not. For the limited amount of ingredients and the experimental value it is worth a shot if you have some melted ice cream.

17

 

Happy

17th

Birthday !!!!