Ski to Sea 2010 - The Road Bike Leg

Sean competed in Ski to Sea today. After the first leg of the relay course, things weren't looking so good...his cross-country skiing teammate was, reportedly, the last participant to finish that leg. But, by the time the rest of his teammates were finished, they finished at about the 50th percentile overall. Sean's own unofficial results for his portion were 1 hour, 39 minutes (a 38 mile course) and he passed 65 other cyclists. He was happy.

Here he is coming in the final turn--Owen, Guyan, Nathan and I were there to cheer him on. And that annoying little dot on my camera. Shows up unnanounced and randomly. Grrr...

And just about to cross the finish line...

And finally, Sean, giving us a short synopsis. He said he's so fidgety in this video, but I say it was the endorphins. Only three more legs to complete--cross-country skiing (hopefully he can do better than...), mountain biking, and the final leg, kayaking.

Crabs at Home, Crabs at Low Tide

This past Sunday, Sean was feeling particularly stir-crazy and wanted to get out of the house. Me? I was content to tinker around the house and garden, but knew that would drive him crazy on this particularly gorgeous day in the Pacific Northwest. So Sean and I figured we'd go on a walk/hike with the boys to Raptor Ridge.

The boys? They'd have none of it. Our nine-year-old "teenager" made it pretty clear to us that a day out in the sunshine with family would be torture. Especially a day hiking. Why walk and get exercise when you can play Wii all day in your pajamas and never leave the couch? Why, Guyan? Because your mother says no way.

Then the wonders of facebook. A good friend of ours and a certified nature lover that the boys (especially Guyan) worship posted on facebook that there was a low tide just after lunch. Perfect. The boys like the beach (with or without low tide), and they were now game for a family outing. We left the crabbiness at home, and went to look for crabs at the beach.

I think Sean was amazed at how strongly the kelp adheres to the rocks. Whatever he was doing, he was happy.

This snail colony was cool. No Lewis Moon Snails, or whatever those gigantic one-foot snails are called, but small snails en masse were cool.

And then--crabs! See that camoflauged thing with seaweed on it? Pretty neat looking crab. Have no idea what kind exactly, but thankfully we are not anal-retentive tidepool detectives.

Sean picked one up out of the water so the boys could see it up close. The boys and I were in no way shape or form going to hold it though. You can just forget about that.

The boys didn't do much tidepool discovering, but they drew pictures in the sand, threw sand, and got dirty. They were perfectly happy...

...until we came home, and the crabby "teenager" came back. But that's a post for a totally different type of blog.

Let Them Eat Cake...or not

The boys and I went with Aunt Cindy, Lindsey, and Grandma Black on a field trip down to Everett today. There was a cake decorating show and competition down there. Not some Wilton Cake Decorating for Amateurs, but a hard-core competition for professionals. The cakes were separated into different groups from Beginners to Masters, but I must say, the Beginners were amazing...and the Masters...incredible.

This was one of Guyan's favorites, and the one I voted for. It wasn't the *best* cake there, but for I thought it stood out the best within its division. The fungus "growing" off the tree trunk was very realistic. The picture doesn't do the cake justice, but Guyan's cute.

This was Owen's original vote until he changed it to the Space Needle, since there were aliens on it, and he "really likes aliens." Apparently a breeching whale that appears to be defying gravity just can't compete with fondant aliens.

Lindsey with a selection of cakes.

This cake in the front right was Guyan's vote. It was a dragon busting out of a bamboo cage. Pretty cool. And the woman was a judge, with a TLC (the television network) logo on her sleeve. Didn't see any cameras, but maybe the cake boss was nearby...

These cakes were cool. The one in the back was a mini cake competition (cute!) and the front one was a cheese board that looked a heck of a lot more like cheese than cake.

This was one of the incredible cakes from a Master. The "strings" of frosting were less than a millimeter wide, and perfectly parallel. How could someone form those by hand?!?! They must be taking high dose beta blockers.

This one was a Master Cake too. Balanced tea cups and beautiful details on the frosting. Super cool day, and I'm really glad the boys got a kick out of it. People can show their creativity in all sorts of ways.

I'd have only one suggestion for future shows... There were no refreshments! No CAKE TO EAT! It made it easier for three women trying to count Weight Watchers Points, but seriously...it'd be a good way to earn some money for the Washington State Sugar Artists. And we'd get to eat cake.

The End of an Era

Owen's Kindergarten class went on a field trip to the fire station today. I think it will probably be his last one, and that means probably mine too. With two boys, MOMS Club, preschool, kindergarten, and Cub Scouts, I think I've been there for about eight field trips.

Today Owen got to play around with the hose nozzles...no hoses attached. I don't remember that from previous field trips. I also don't remember getting a tour of the firefighters' dorms. They must be adding on to the tour.

Of course, the kids learned all about what to do if there's a fire at your house, or if your clothes catch on fire, and all that. But one "burning" question we forgot to get answered today....

...what do you do if your marshmallow catches on fire?

Creepy Crawlies Tour

The boys have participated in classes and day camps at Tennant Lake for the past few years. Basically, Tennant Lake offered relatively low-cost "get your hands dirty" science classes that focused on ecosystems and nature. Guyan is in his element in that setting, and Owen seems to be following suit.

Unfortunately, the funds were cut for programs at Tennant Lake, and our favorite naturalist, Holly, no longer works there. I was beginning to wonder how we could fill the gap...we do family field trips and hikes, but having an environmental scientist to guide the explorations is SO MUCH MORE FUN!!!

So I've kept in contact with Holly through Facebook and email...thankfully! She posted something a couple weeks ago about a short hike/program that the Whatcom Land Trust was coordinating. It was a Creepy Crawlies Tour specifically for kids. Awesome!

We went today, and even though it was wet and cold, we had a blast. The boys loved it, we learned some new things (there are leeches in local ponds...yech!), and we're hoping that we can find more ways to fill the Tennant Lake gap during the summer.

(above--that's a leech)

(please, sir, won't you allocate funds for Nature Day Camp?)

Tulip time

Last weekend, the family humored me and piled into the car for a half-day road trip to the tulip fields. The blooms were spectacular, and the weather was perfect for it.


Owen in particular was a trooper. He knows that some of my favorite field trip photos come from a tulip outing he and I went on with some friends several years ago. Anytime I asked him to jump out of the car and smile for me, he was willing.

Sean even took a break from playing chaffeur and had his picture taken with me. He was so overcome with the beauty of the day, he had to close his eyes, apparently.

Guyan? He wasn't into it so much. Can't win them all, I guess.

I must thank him though--after taking this "awfully boring picture," he did sit very quietly in the car reading his books for the next hour or two. No complaining! Works for me.

Guyan's Geyser

For Guyan's birthday, we had a small birthday party with Owen, and their/my cousins Lindsey and Nathan. We did the Harry Potter theme, with two classes...Herbology and Potions.

In Herbology, we transplanted Mandrakes (Venus Flytraps). Thank goodness they were mute (although the children, later in the sleepover, definitely were not).

In Potions, the students were given Levitation Pills (Mentos) that they needed to charm, and then use to levitate their pre-made potions. Hermione (Lindsey) tried first with her Sanguination Serum. Pretty impressive (and the photo timing wasn't so bad, either). You would expect nothing less from Hermione.




Next came Owen (Neville) with his Elixir de Fuego. Knowing that the photo timing would probably not be quite so good the next time, we switched to video. Good thing. Neville's performance was...what you'd expect from Neville.



Next up, Ron (Nathan), with his Essence of Illumination. Apparently his Levitation Pills were not charmed correctly.



And finally, Harry Potter (Guyan), with the Dark Arts Deflector Serum (of course). Hermione had lots of advice for him.



Apparently he's been studying the Half Blood Prince's textbook again.