First T-Shirt
This one has a story behind it too.
Printed via Cafe press on Anvilorganic 100% organic cotton; made in Nicaragua.
Another morning worth getting up for
February, in the Pacific North West, and another day starts like this.
Oar-somme.
A morning worth getting up for
February, in the Pacific North West, and the day starts like this.
Oar-somme.
H in the woods
Foreground: H with a smile and a hood.
Background: second growth forest and sunlight.
An Ewok gone Mad
Observe one normal Ewok, at rest amongst the ferns.
Contrast with one crazy Ewok as he leaps through the undergrowth.
Forest Run Forest
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.
I want to ride my bicycle
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!)
Rattlesnake Mountain
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.
Seattle Museum of Flight
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).
Morning Ride
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.
Thinking of home
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.
Happy Valentines Day
Whoever and wherever your loved ones are today, a happy valentines to you all.
xxx
A wide aiddy
A wide me in the morning, for today’s daily shoot .
Note: This post was updated on 2020-12-22 to fix broken links.
Good Morning Rainier
"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
Ewok’s long day at the office
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).
Note: This post was updated on 2020-10-01 19:36:29 to remove broken links (the Daily Shoot is no more, and has been for a long time.)
Chef Finn Tasting
Chef Finn made the cheese sauce for Martin’s visit.
We were lucky there was any left to go with the cauliflower.
Snow slowly goes
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.
Skiing at Ski Hill
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!
Disappearing Nightmare
Dessert: “Visconti’s Nightmare”. So delish, it disappeared in seconds in a whirl of twirling forks.
Note: This post was updated on 2020-11-15 to remove broken links
Ski Doo Do Do
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.
Crossoak: Behind the scenes
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.
Snow in Leavenworth
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?