Micheals save the day!!

Who needs to spend a fortune on tourist junk anyhow? We relaxed by Grandma's pool. We also took the kids to Micheal's and bought them $1 crafts. Here we made a boat like the one we saw yesterday. It took up a good part of our afternoon, and this photo was requested by my son. He specifically asked us to capture this moment on film....

Tommorow we go home....we'll be sad to leave but we miss Papa a TON!!

Pirate ships

We went to see the Hawaiin Chieftan and the Lady Washington while we were in Seattle. They come by our town every year and each time we miss it. So what fun to check them out while on vacation!!Did you realize that you kid could get a summer job sailing these from port to port between California and Canada? What fun!! Unfortunatly they were docked right next to the sea planes. The kids spent most of their time on the boat watching the sea planes take off and land over and over again. Oh well (sigh)...it was free and again, something that we never have gotten to see!

Then we rode the streetcar in a loop - and watched all the construction in Seattle. If you want to see cranes and cement mixers this is the place. After that we hopped over to the Monorail ... which takes you from the Space Needle to downtown Seattle. Hard to avoid all the tourist stuff there! It looked like any city in USA. The next day at the same time the monorail broke down and the tourists were stuck for two hours while the city tried to figure out how to rescue them!

Space Station

Did any of you on the west coast catch the space station fly over the other night? Here's the link so that you won't miss it next time. http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/tracking/
or
http://heavens-above.com/
have fun!!
It looked like a bright star flying fast overhead. We saw pictures online of the astronauts working on the station the day before..looks like we have found our next homeschooling lesson!
It was really great to stay up late with just my 6 year old and watch something you don't see every day. 6 is such a great age for learning. It was beautiful to share that opportunity with her and be able to answer her questions without competing against screams of other siblings.

Fall approaches

AS August arrives it is already starting to smell like fall here. The nights seem cooler. Didn't summer just arrive? My daughter has a nasty cold. I made her Rosemary Gladstar's Elderberry Syrup. I think it works the best.

1/2 cup dried or 1 cup fresh elderberries

Simmer in 3 cups water for 45 min

Strain and press

Add 1/2 cup honey.

Store in Fridge

Seems to last 1-2 months

Reggae Rocked!!

We had so much fun last weekend! I haven't laughed that hard in ages!! My kids had a blast, and the music was better than I ever expected. We ate great food from all the non-prophets. It was easy to see how hard everyone worked together to create such a perfect festival.  It wasn't too hot like some years either. 

Next year you should not miss it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I even got to spend a few minutes with my hubby sans les enfants!! We caught a few of Julian Marley's set up front. 

Also Gentleman is my new favorite performer! He really gave it his all. 

Here are a few pictures of the excitement:

Pictures of our fun!!

Blue eyes doing what she does.

The little fairies kept themselves busy surfing in the wagon!

Snow cone bought with her own hard earned money.

Kidlandia provided a cool place to hang out and play games.