Meeting Dino Rossi

Last night Gail and I went to see Dino Rossi, who is running for Governor (again) here in Washington State. We voted for him in the 2004 election (…we have to assume that our votes were counted correctly) and after the disappointing election proceedings (or I should say ballot mishandling...how do you find trays of ballots just sitting around?), we bought his book, Lessons in Leadership which gives a unique glimpse into his life. So it was an honor to meet him and his wife Terry last night.

Ashland Lakes Hike

Labor Day this year included a hike to the Ashland Lakes in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest accessible from the Mountain Loop highway. The trip included Gail's family: the Ostlings up the street; Beverly; as well as Ray (who is visiting from Pensacola); and Amy our neighbor who is friends with Kyna. The hike was a good, challenging, 3+ mile hike one way. The littlest hikers, Rilla & Cian, did pretty well. Good thing we had the baby carrier - both needed assistance - though it just added to the challenge for Mom & Dad! The wet summer we had didn't make this the family friendly trail that all the reviews insisted on. Overall it was a good hike and everyone had a good time even if in the picture below Jack doesn't look so happy while lunching at a pristine alpine lake ("Hey, we still have 3 miles to hike out ahead of us!").

Ashland Lakes Hike 9.1.08

GC Camp 2008

This year Caleb and his cousin Kara went to the Church's GC camp at Warm Beach. Here is a (very brief) clip of Caleb playing dodge ball.


GC Camp 2008 (Junior High) - Day Two Recap from Generation Church on Vimeo.

Soccer Camp

Caleb, Emma, and Colin, attended the NW Soccer Academy camp this week. Here is Emma's artwork titled, "Go Team!"

"Go Team" by Emma (9)

Goodbeach July 2008

We spent three days and two nights up at Goodbeach; Gail’s family’s beach front house on Whidbey Island (See April 07 for more Goodbeach blogging). Gail’s Grandparents, Allan and Arlie Ostling, built the house in the early 70’s and Gail has fond memories of Summers spent on the island (don’t ask her about berry picking though).

Some of the things we did included, hiking to the point, and two extended hikes:

1. Hiked from Ebey’s Landing up along Perego’s bluff. It was pretty foggy out and we couldn’t see Port Townsend let alone any shipping traffic when we started out. Had a small lunch at a ‘Whale Bone’ looking fallen tree. Gail was able to find where the trail that they used to take across the island from Goodbeach came out – now it is fairly overgrown.

Continuing the hike we dropped down to the beach and came back that way. The sun had come out by then and was actually getting warm! The kids were excellent hikers and the two littles only needed a relatively small amount of carrying.

On the way back we stopped at Prairie Center and then in town at Kapaw’s ice cream for essentials. They do great ice cream and are definitely worth the stop! Interestingly, the building Kapaw’s is in had once been owned by Luther Weedin, Gail’s Great Uncle (Arlie’s Uncle) who was the Island County Sheriff and later U.S. Immigration Commissioner in Seattle in the Twenties. We slurped our ice cream as we walked the wharf to the red barn to look at real whale bones.

2. The second hike was the next day where we stopped off Highway 20 and hiked in Kettles Park across to Fort Ebey State Park. Kettles is named appropriately due to the many glacial indentations in the area (check out the topo). Without a map and numerous enticing trails scattered through the area we took a round about way finally ending up in the park. Jack trek’d back to fetch the van; needing Gail’s guidance over the talk-a-bout to sort out the marked and unmarked trails. Everyone was worn out and the vote was to return to Goodbeach. There folks swam, laid out on the beach, and even had s’mores after dinner!

Overall it was a jam-packed three days! Here are images for Cian, Rilla, Colin, Emma, Caleb, Gail, & Jack. See more at our Photobucket site.

Perego's Bluff 7.1.08

Whale Watching

Yesterday we went on a whale watching adventure through Island Adventures out of Anacortes. Here is Caleb and Emma's narrative:

"It was Uncle Jack and Aunt Shirl's 65 Anniversary so we went on a whale watching tour. We saw Orcas, Seals, Eagles, and a Tufted Puffin. And I got to watch a slide show." -Caleb (12)

"We started are trip by eating snacks.then Kate (are guide) started pointing out small birds.Soon a lady yelled "whales"and pointed to 3 or 4 orcas sticking their heads out of the water.we watch the orcas for awhile then finally thay moved to the other side.we also saw seals,eagles,and the first tufted puffin of the year.soon we headed home.I lots of fun! hay! its not every day you get to go whale watching and see orcas!" -Emma (9)

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Here are some images from the trip of whales, Cian, Rilla, Colin, Emma, Caleb, & the whole gang. You can see more images at our Photobucket site.

Whale watching 6.10.08

Award Winning Art!

As the older three kids were taking an art class in Duvall at the Northwest Art Center, they entered into the Duvall Days Art Show. Emma actually won first place in her age division and netted an award check for $65 (and mention in the local paper)! Her dog painting, "Puppy Angel" was displayed at the local dog wash business - not surprisingly. More surprising was that her color choices fit in quite nicely. Not to be outdone, both of the boys did well. Here is Colin's runner up Dragon. Here is Emma and her art on display:

Emma & Art 6.6.08