A Sailing We Will Go!

We were supposed to go sailing with my dad on his new boat for my birthday with my little family and dad, and what do you know- we got rained out! SO... we went the next day and we had LOVELY weather. Chloe was at Camp Nanipa, Kent was out with some friends, so Blake and I went together with Poppy and had a wonderful time. Blake LOVED the boat- he LOVED the 2 on 1 attention for him- he LOVED the entire experience, which meant that Poppy and I did too. The weather was perfect, we had great wind and wonderful sun. We saw a grouping of 6-8 harbor seals, just off the island- in fact Blake saw them first, and we thought he was nuts... but nope, they were all bobbing with their heads out of the water and lined up in a circle... couldn't get a picture though- as soon as I reached for the camera they were gone!

Blake thought he was a "coole dude" when he had his sunglasses on, with this "running" shoes (truly a summer sandal), and his life jacket. Thank goodness he fell for the "cool"ness, as I really wanted him to keep the life jacket on the entire time. Poppy's boat lacks in side rails, so its a little iffy for a 3-year old, first-timer sailer! But he was perfect! A little bit much on the in, and out, in and out, in and out of the cabin, but not for fear, just for fun.

To the zoo we go!

On our way to the Dromgoole's house, I was adventagous and took the kids to the zoo by myself ... my kids LOVE the zoo! We fed the giraffe- and I think taht was the moment that Blake fell in love with them all over again (he's always had a fond affection for animals, but the giraffe was the one for the day). Check out the tongue on this one- oh and all these photos are NOT zoomed- we're seriously on a platform right at head level- right there! The kids each got 2 stickets of leaves to feed to the giraffe. If you ask Chloe, she'll tell you she got slobbered on.

We saw the new flamingo exhibit too... not too exciting- but its something new for them.

Somewhere in there the kids had to "monkey around" and play.... so here are a few cute ones. Nothing like a little brother-after lunch-in the park- tackle!

There is this area called the Zoomazium at the Woodland Park Zoo and I actually caught my 2 kiddos together (usually they split up and conquer separate play areas). Plus Blake was playing a royal game of "you can't catch me mommy" and his face was priceless.

Did I mention that each of the kids got to purchase something from the gift store? I said something under about $10 each. Now, this is a HUGE treat, as I NEVER let them buy anything there... I just don't want to be bothered with more crap and more toys that they love for a day and throw in the toy room for a lifetime of sitting in a basket never to be played with again. Anyhow, Chloe found a steal- she's quite the money girl these days- she picked out a $4 snow globe (to add to her collection of snow globes) and also a stuffed animal- to bring her total to $10. Tricky, tricky.... I am pretty sure I said one item, but I did stress "under $10". Can't blame her. Blake picked out this bigger than life giraffe- saw it first off, toted it around teh store, and finally decided to take it wiht him- however it was more than $10, so he decided to trade in his beloved ticket stash at home for the extra cash. Wow! Big move for a 3 year-old. But when we got home, he gave me his tickets without being reminded- he is a smarter cookie then he lets on sometimes. Anyhow, the giraffe then travelled with us on our trip to Lizzy and Rob's house, wine tasting in Walla Walla, and back home again. He truly fell in love with this giraffe. The picture below is of him at L'Ecole Winery in Walla Walla, out on the old play structure- swinging and I must say REALLY TIRED!

When we were with the Dromgoole's we had a blast- here are just a few pics I took when we were there! Chloe with Liam- Chloe in a tree at Basel Cellars winery where we had lunch- Chloe reading her book (she has become quite the studious reader this summer) while sitting on a crate at thebase of a wine basin at Rulo Winery-Lizzy and Rob with Liam when we were leaving.

Kent went kayaking

So for a bit of pledgarism- I stole Darrent's words from his site and inserted a few... Kent and Darren Bennett (an old college buddy of his) headed out for a day kayak trip from Dash Point State Park (near Federal Way) across the sound to Maury Island, near Vashon Island.... The whole trip around Maury Island was about 18 miles including the portage into Quatermaster Harbor. The only mistake they made was launching and doing the portage during low tide... The portage was pretty hellish with a low tide. They stopped for lunch and a beer at Dockton Park on Maury... They got to enjoy some fiddle music and the Sawbones company picnic while we had lunch. All in all it was a great trip and a great way for them both to spend a Saturday and get a hellish sunburn!

Check out the map of their route- I never knew that Vashon was really made up of 2 islands... learn something new every day!