C R O S S O A K

A Judy Thomas original: un-named pear. Now greeting visitors.

biscuit, or two. 

H putting another one into the back of the net.

[Before anyone asks, he does have a half decent ball, this is the one we use when Ewok is also out on the practice field.]

Not the best game on the field, but the experience of watching in the stadium was as good as ever, complete with new “song” to learn:

“You’re only in the MLS because of us”. Repeat.

Found, in the back of a cupboard where it had fallen behind some junk, one marvelous box of Miles Original Blend Fine tea bags (40!). Absolutely stonking.
Thx brov!

H as Arshavin in the spring sunshine

F as me, only with more hair and less stubble.

E in the yard, as a mad hairy-bear thing.

Squirrels of Cottage Lake, your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to eat the bungee-powered corn.

For a wet day: gloves + waterproof + shorts + England socks and trainers.

This one has a story behind it too.
Printed via Cafe press on Anvilorganic 100% organic cotton; made in Nicaragua.

F had a 100 things for counting at school.
100 stick on eye’s. Perfect.

February, in the Pacific North West, and another day starts like this.

Oar-somme.

February, in the Pacific North West, and the day starts like this.

Oar-somme.

Foreground: H with a smile and a hood.
Background: second growth forest and sunlight.

Running in the woods today

and hiding too

(can you guess who was best?).

Obstacles to train with – I’m told agility is important for dogs and soccer players.

Plus hands to get dirty.

Riding in the garden. F’s riding solo (with a small hand to get going) and was coping great with the grass.
Is it just me, or is he looking a bit big for that bike?

Meanwhile H practiced some off-road skills.
I fear he might soon be pushing for some of the jumps and balancing logs over at Paradise.
(Although only because if that’s the case he’ll be expecting Dad to go first!)

Ewok on the deck enjoying a warm sunny February afternoon.

So which 189th is it?

Old tree roots at Rattlesnake Lake

Family walk in the (February!) sunshine to Rattlesnake Ledge/Edge
(although it appears to have been upgraded to a mountain!)

Great views: Mount Si, the Snoqualmie Valley and the Cedar River Watershed which supplies much of Seattles drinking water.

Finn was in charge of navigation, and kept up a commentary on exactly where we were for most of the 90 minute hike up.

Rattlesnake lake + Ewok + Stick = wet dog for the drive home.

No school today. Yippee. This afternoon we swung by the Seattle Museum of Flight.

What-ho chaps!

We even got to crawl through a Concorde although the boys voted it inferior to Air Force One (although it wasn’t the Air Force One because I don’t think Barak was hiding in the back at the time).

Riding in the woods with H…

…the champion Oreo eater.

Hard work: wet and muddy and H doesn’t have a lot of weight to hang over the back wheel!
Rode home avoiding the rain to find that the skid lid had left a bit of an impression.

Today is Presidents’ Day in the USA, the place where we live, and that’s a St. George’s Cross, the flag of England, the place where we were born.

In hono(u)r of both: a cuppa and cup cakes before bed time.

Whoever and wherever your loved ones are today, a happy valentines to you all.

xxx

A wide me in the morning, for today’s daily shoot.

It wasn’t like this when I used to catch the 86 or 159 bus home from school.

"What do you mean? Do you wish me a good morning, or mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not; or that you feel good on
this morning; or that it is a morning to be good on?"
Gandalf

Today’s Daily Shoot: Pet photos are such a cliche, but they’re also cute. Make an interesting photo of a pet today. (via @rmanalan)

Chef Finn made the cheese sauce for Martin’s visit.
We were lucky there was any left to go with the cauliflower.

Walking the Ewok with coffee in-hand.

Another bath? Another bohemian, but clean, Ewok

Ski Hill car park in Leavenworth. More mud than snow. 

With the forecast unusually wet and warm, the season is almost over. Not so good.

Making the most of the snow and a family lesson at Leavenworth Ski Hill 
(big thank you Jeff!)

H excelled at downhill speed and mono-ski skiing.

Fay was literally dancing down the slopes.

And Finn managed some solo stuff, including the day’s best backwards skiing.

Fantastic job organizing it all – thanks mum!

Ewok got fed up of being a passenger and decided it was his turn to drive.

Dessert: “Visconti’s Nightmare”. So delish, it disappeared in seconds in a whirl of twirling forks.

Some things you just have to do. So we did. A little snow-mobiling thanks to the folk at Mountain Springs Lodge

Finn & Harvey were geared up and ready for anything, except maybe for the speeds that mum managed. Or not.
Harvey claimed that they’d been overtaken by a dead squirrel on a tricycle riding backwards whilst balancing a small sled on his nose.

You can see the squirrel disappearing into the woods just to the left in the picture above.

For the many who have expressed interest in how c r o s s o a k ticks along here’s a peek behind the scenes. As seen in these snaps, Fay & I spend almost every waking hour with a small compact camera stuck to our noses. Easy.

Leavenworth is at its best in the snow. The little fake Bavarian Village has grown on me, so much so that I felt rather sad leaving to drive back over the mountains after this visit.

Das Rad Haus was closed, or open if you call, but it looked like not many had.

Although the town was almost snow free, there was still enough of the white stuff around to have fun. Fay’s snow-art reached new heights with this snow-spikey bod creation…

…Finn decided it was best to just sit back, relax, and watch the world float by…

…while Harvey decide Snow Wars was the answer, and a hail of snowballs ensued.

Which lasted until he ran out of puff.

This was Ewok’s first snow experience. The (expensive) boots to protect paws from ice lasted all of 5 minutes, but the Wokster was happy enough on the snowy trails, and even wet for a dip in the Wenatche.

Ahhhhhh, nice hat Fay. Where did you get it?

The lights are still up, and the snow is still there. Just.

A holiday means a long trip sometimes by car; a long car trip means McDonalds; therefore, holidays are fun.

At least, that’s F’s world view this weekend.

I’m just glad it’s a rare enough event to be _that_ exciting (McDonalds, not holidays).

No, not Timo Mäkinen.

Nothing quite beats Lego when it comes to a wet and rainy Saturday afternoon.

Here’s the finished car, it’s called Arsenal (someone made a mistake and called it “Arsenal Destroyer” on the official entry)

H got 2 first’s, I think 4 second’s, 1 third and 1 fourth. Each car raced four times, once in each lane, and the best sixteen went into the final. H got through to the top sixteen and came twelfth!

Here’s the stats thanks to www.rentmytrack.com

[guest post by Harvey]