I found this on a forum last night: "English doesn't borrow from other languages. English follows other languages down dark alleys, knocks them over the head, and goes through their pockets for loose grammar!" Ha Ha!
The fam wanted to go to a beach we haven't been to before, so we traveled about an hour to this park on the Hood Canal. Zach was at Grandma's house overnight, so it was Chris, me, and the 3 younger kids. The view was pretty; the ground was covered in oyster shells. There wasn't a whole lot to do on the beach if you weren't oystering. But we saw crabs, starfish, and a beautiful bald eagle flew by--it was spectacular! We ate our picnic lunch and then went across the street to hike on some lovely trails. It was pure rainforest--a stream accompanied us a good portion of the way. There were ferns, hanging moss, salmonberries(?), and all sorts of other damp woodland plants. The birds and their songs were melodious, although I don't know the names of all of them. One chap pointed out a towhee.
The newspaper said that nearby Titlow Beach was going to have really low tides for a few days, so I took the kids and our friends the Linsley's so we could hunt for critters. It was a beautiful day, and the tide really WAS low. I was hoping to see some sea anenomes but didn't have any luck. We saw small crabs, hermit crabs, and a few really big crabs, the kind you eat. I found something that looked just like seaweed, but then it moved! I thought it was an eel cuz I heard someone else use that word, but Zach said it was a rare such and such fish. We saw small and large starfish. It was fun! Then we played at the nearby park and stopped at McDonald's on the way home. (Don't say I never did anything for you, kids!) Unfortunately, however, when we got home, Twiggy was dead. Poor thing! A sad ending to a great day
I made this for dinner and totally love it--it smells great cooking, too. It's called Country-style sausage potato salad:
3 lbs red potatoes, cut into 1-inch chunks, boiled until tender and drained
2 T cider vinegar, divided
1 9 oz(at least) Summer sausage or kielbasa, cut lengthwise into quarters, then sliced
2 T packed brown sugar
2 T Dijon mustard
1 T olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 c. sliced green onions
1/4 c. chopped parsley
Place warm potatoes in serving bowl; toss with 1 T vinegar. Cook sausage in medium skillet over medium heat until nearly crisp, about 5 minutes; drain and set aside. Combine brown sugar, mustard, oil, remaining 1 T vinegar, salt and pepper in small bowl. Pour brown sugar mixture, sausage, onions and parsley over potatoes; toss to mix. Serve warm. Serves about 8.
And now for some news of a totally different nature, and sad news at that...Zach's pet rat, Twiggy, doesn't seem to be doing too well. Zach acquired her exactly one month ago for his 11th birthday, at which time he actually said, "I don't know how I can ever repay you!" (And his mother treasured this, and pondered it in her heart.) Twiggy is a she-rat, and she is breathing heavily and acting lethargic. It may be that she has a cold. We have a hot water bottle in there for her and a towel. I hope she mends...I just paid Petco a visit yesterday so I could provide some upgrades for her "crib."It was like "Extreme Home Makeover" on a really small scale--swooping down with my money bags to overhaul her shack with a home gym, a top of the line dining bowl, chew sticks, and provisions for her cupboards. Get well, Twiggy!
On Father's Day, when we were all eating dinner, somehow we ended up talking about our neighbors. Then, to our surprise, Zach informed us that they were rich! "How do you know that?" we asked. "Because they all have cell phones," he knowingly replied. So if one spouse has a cell phone and the other doesn't, does that make them middle class?
This blogging is too fun! I just created my blog today, so this is my first post!
I should be making dinner, as Chris will be home any time. Normally, by now
I would have just started work, but I have vacation until right after the 4th of
July--hallelujah!!!!! And the kids are out of school as of last Friday! Glory Be!!!
William is showing me the cereal and telling me he wants "jue"(juice). I'm hungry,
too! The girls really wanted to do summer school, of all things, and they'll start on
like Friday and go 1 month. It'll be 3 hours a day--arts inspired. I'm going to have
to keep Zach going through the summer in at least math, since that has been a big
struggle.
We have a fixer upper house that we've been working on for 9 years now. The
upstairs is kind of on hold for now, but we just put in a white picket fence out front
and are kind of focusing on the outside now. There's plenty that needs fixing, still,
but we've done a lot, had a good amount of help, and like this house.
It has been a gorgeous summery day today. I took the kids, minus William to
meet Grandma so they could spend the night and swim at her house. After she
took them, William and I went to Bradley Lake Park and walked around, rode my
bike a bit, and looked at the geese. I thought it would be so great to ride around
the lake like 3 times, but I am totally not Lance Armstrong. I barely made it around
once, and the hills were gentle! But William on the back creates quite a drag, and it
seriously seemed like my back brakes were squeezing the tire, cuz it was quite squeaky!
It was like I had this ridiculous, wimpy horn as I pedaled up behind people!
This lady and I noticed a goose with fishing line wrapped tightly around its foot, and
we wanted to try to get it off, but the goose wouldn't let me catch it. There were some very cute,fuzzy goslings. I had to carry William on some of the pine needle trails, cuz he thought
the ants would get him!
