Mikaela & Old Faithful

There she is finishing her ice cream at the historic Old Faithful Lodge in Yellowstone with Old Faithful steaming in the background.  We'd seen it go off once already that day and ended up seeing it go off 2 more times, once during our hike around all the geysers in the area and then once more just before we continued on our drive through the park.  It's still faithful even after that 1959 earthquake.

The Caverns

Close to the entry of the Lewis & Clark Caverns looking south.  The Jefferson river is below.

Looking back from the entry of the caverns to the visitor center.

Another place we visited while in Montana this August was The Lewis & Clark Caverns.  That was the highlight of our trip for the kids I  think.  They loved it!  We had a GREAT tour guide and Aunt Betty came along.  At 78 that's awesome!  It was HOT HOT HOT hiking up to the entry then we put on our jackets for the tour of the caverns.  We had a great tour guide who involved the kids in the tour.  In the last picture he's going through information for the kids to take home. 

Yellowstone

A Magical Place

Josie

While we were in Montana last month I fell in love with this mule. She's over 16 hands tall and a sweetheart. I rode Josie down to the Gallatin a couple times during our visit. Krissy and Dave found a new place for her so we'll have to visit her in her new home next time we are there. I miss her.

3rd Grader?

Térèse's Breakfast

More Cousins!

We met Aunt Betty, Karen, Jen and Tommy at Krissy's in Bozeman this year. Spent a day in Yellowstone, a first for the kids. They loved it. Most of all they loved being together.

Rosie

Our newest addition wears herself out.
And Teddy too.

Great Day at Aunt Krissy's

Happiness = Shade + Boots + Dog

COUSINS!

Titles Under the Tarps

This group brings a great variety of reading material for rainy days under the tarp.  

This year's titles:

Dreams of my Father, Barack Obama

What is the What, Dave Eggers

Krakatoa, Simon Winchester

Redwall, Brian Jacques 

Mossflower, Brian Jacques

Half Magic, Roald Dahl

A Grisham Novel or two (Bob, I  forgot which ones)

Pacific Coast Berry Finder, Glenn Keator

Pacific Coast Tree Finder, Tom Watts

All That The Rain Promises and More...A Hip Pocket Guide to Western Mushrooms

 by David Arora

Western Birds, Peterson Guide

Pacific Seaweeds, A Guide to Common Seaweeds of the West Coast, Louis Druehl

Whelks to Whales, Coastal Marine Life of the Pacific Northwest, Rick M. Harbo

Rainy Days in the Hakai

Sketch by Lisa

ink and water color

Two Tree Rock

Looking out from our camp on Huckleberry Island is this little rock with a wild personality. I brought along a sketchbook this year so I  captured it with pen and ink.  Kaj captured it his way. The photo is his. Thanks Kaj!  
Lisa

More Bella Bella Food

Bringing Home Dinner!

Hunk-o-cheese, HOT soup, FishonCracker = PowerSnack

Blue Plate Special x2

Limpet stew and Beer Bread

Full-proof: tortellini and sun-dried tomatoes 

Bella Bella Coastal Food

Most of the time, wilderness trips get talked about in terms of where, when, and how. But when the weather keeps

 you under the all important tarp (outdoor

 rainy day living room), the interests turn to food. 

Ours was such a trip. With six of the 10 trip days involving 20-35 knot winds and plenty of wetness from the sky, food (thinking of, harvesting, cooking, and eating) became the easy consumer of time.

Previous encounters with similar weather in the same area led to the food names of the otherwise unnamed islands that we chose to camp on, Huckleberry Island, and Halibut Head.

Aside from the mounds of food we manage to pack in the canoes, this coast line can yield a veritable feast for those that are persistent, patient, and adventurous. This trip north of the Hakai region of BC was no exception.   

The freshly harvested listed included: Lingcod, Rockfish of many varieties, Limpets (the only "shellfish we ate because of the redtide warnings), a few just ready Gooseberries, Huckleberries and Halibut. 

First HOT weekend of the year!

Recital

Térèse on the UPS campus after her recital.

Maple Lawn Elementary's 6th Annual Art Walk

Resident Artists: Every single Maple Lawn Student
Guest Artists: Kaj Bune and Lana Hoover
Co-Chairs: Shannon Tracy and Lisa Steudel

Luhr's Landing, around Anderson Island and back

A warm Spring day, a willing flotilla, and a picnic lunch. all you need for perfect day on the water. 15.2 miles of beautiful water.   

Wild life encountered:

pacific harbour seal

california sea lion

common loon

arctic loon

western grebe

bald eagle

orange sea pen

anenome

sun star

sand dollar

pigeon guillimot

king fisher

merganser

scoter

star fish

jelly fish

great blue heron

dungeness crab

red rock crab

salmon

sea run cutthroat

kids

clams

power boater

sea cucumber

barnacle

mussel

moon snail

starry flounder

killdeer

not a bad wildlife list for a day paddle in the Puget Sound!

check out Kaj's photo blog for some fun images.

Fearless Adventurers:

Nils

Mikaela

Terese

Maylon

Kaj

Lisa

Ted 

Human powered vehicles:

two Sea Clipper canoes and Lisa's Arluk 1.8 sea kayak

Spring Paddle to the Spit

Paddled out to the Spit on the Nisqually Delta one day over spring break.  We had Great company (thanks Kris!) and saw eagles, seals, giant limpets, gulls, and sunshine.  We'll definitely return when the mercury rises a little and the arctic terns start to migrate.  Great day for a sneak peak of spring in the Pacific Northwest.

Use it or lose it. Guess that applies to remembering how to post a blog. 

It has been a month or more since our last post primarily because our Nekst Projekt (s) were either so big (and still ongoing) or complete surprises (not the fun kind).  Fortunately we've had good friends and family help and humor us through the various debacles. 

It all comes down to being the owned by a house with "character". In this case, character took the multi-headed form of a complete refitting of the house electrical systems, doubling the usable square footage of the house by exposing a hidden stair case, and digging up the septic system for kicks! 

In this last few months we have been reminded that every house projekt will handsomely exceed even the most carefully planned budget and timeline. Budgets and timelines are for fooling yourself into a projekt and believing that it will be complete before the next pumpkin is carved.

Lilly

We've been spending these long winter evenings curled up with good books or magazines in front of the fire.  Lilly loves crashing in front of the fire and then when she gets too hot she'll get up and move to the cool slate floor.  It's back and forth all evening for her.  Here she came back to the fire and fell asleep on my magazine.  She's got a rough life!

Special Guest

Thank you Uncle Mark for coming and reading The Wind in the Willows with me at school this morning!   Since Dad couldn't come to "Donuts with Dads" I'm glad that you came!

Térèse

The Perfect Lunch Spot

I  found a paddling partner today and we put in for a beautiful little trip off Dash Point.  We had lunch floating in the sunshine between Dash Point and Brown's Point.  It was perfect.   Thanks Michelle for being fun and spontaneous!  Thanks Saige for helping fill up that big canoe.  You're a great passenger and a good paddler too.   

Lisa

Bozeman Christmas Project 2007

Traditionally a jigsaw puzzle fills the time between Christmas meals, but Dave and Krissy had to up the ante with a vintage sleigh restoration project. Puzzles are easier, but the sleigh has much more class. 

I think Dave is looking for a decrepit stage coach or Conestoga wagon for Mark and Bebeth's visit in February.