Mary's Solo Bike Adventure and Farewells

Monday I headed out by bike to the Center for Wooden Boats. I took the Ship Canal Trail all the way to the south end of Lake Union.

Some of the sights... a train crossing the railroad bridge...

Distant bridges...

A cool seaplane that landed as I was taking a rest.

A goose surprise at the same rest stop.

BABIES!!!!!

 Here we are.

Most were boats from recent times, but I was delighted to find this boat, a Haida canoe, and most of all meet its carver, Saaduuts. (There should be a line above the a's and u's, but I don't know how to tell my computer to do that.)

He was getting ready to take it out just as I arrived. He said he and the boat go out on the lake every day "so we stay connected."

I also met this totem near another boat that was being made.

Then it was time to head back toward home. Back up along the ship canal near the locks,

over the railroad tracks

on the people bridge, and home.

An excellent adventure.

Today has been cleaning and packing, visiting with Greg once the kids were all out the door, and preparing dinner for the gang so I can spend every precious minute with them from the time they get home until I head to the airport tonight to fly home. A wonderful visit.

A Long Weekend of Play

Karen and Todd took Friday off since both Katelyn and Travis had no school and Papa, Greg, my ex, was arriving in the morning.

We did some planting outdoors...

Chatted and colored...

We took all of us to South Beach to play and look for more sea glass.

The Rock and Stick Drumming Circle Band...

Bonanza!

Then home for a dinner all together, and

after the kids were asleep, I got creamed in Scrabble by two of the best players that I know! Time for bed!

Saturday, let's fill the pool. Why are you wearing Mommy's new running shoes?

Pool time with friends (as well as morning swimming class and afternoon gymnastics)

Scrabble with help. 

OMG! What a blast! Travis was determined to join us, but liked to have the letters all blank side up. Works for me...I can spell anything that way, but no points!

Our Sunday adventure was a family bike ride over the locks to Golden Gardens. Ready to go! Of course, Karen is not in the picture because she is taking it. Todd and I rode the tandem, Papa rode with Katelyn on the trailer bike, and Karen rode with Travis in the baby seat.

Big ship coming into the lock.

Same ship seen from Golden Gardens Beach moving out of Puget Sound with the Olympic Mountains in the background.

Fun beach time

Hey, that's MY hat!

Travis actually took this picture. Katelyn helped by positioning herself in front of where he was aiming the camera.

A busy day outside and now a book before bedtime. We are the Flannel Shirt Gang.

"Dig, dig, dig. A mole was digging a hole. Dig, dig, dig. A dog was digging a hole under a stone to bury a bone."

Back to school and work for all the young ones tomorrow. Greg and I get to just hang out and play. Sounds like a plan!

Mailbox and Book Day

Katelyn and I started the day with more book making. Intently folding paper...

Removing errant staples...

Stencils will help...

Adding some pictures to my book...

Even one from the li-berry project. I have no idea where this interesting woman emerged from my psyche!

Katelyn decided on a new "no words" book of dinosaurs.

And then it was time to go!  Katelyn and I headed to Travis' daycare for Mailbox Day this morning. Each week one of the kids gets to bring something special to share with the others. We got to share two of the books I have made for Travis with his school friends.

Then we were off to... you know where... THE LI-BERRY!

My daughter found this on Facebook just after I had blogged about li-berry vs. library the other day.

Some of today's projects...

It's still Shakespeare Week

After we were all home, and Katelyn had gone inside to help Mom and Dad with dinner, Travis and I stayed outside to play a bit longer. I just couldn't resist this little scenario.

Sleepy Day and Sea Glass Day

Tuesday - I must have worn her out! She woke up long enough to say goodbye to Mom, Dad, and Travis as they went to work and daycare, then went back to bed. I checked her twice, even hand to forehead. She was fine and sound asleep. She came downstairs at 11:48 am! (About 5-1/2 hours later than normal.)

Then on to some bookmaking and hat decorating until she left for a play date with a friend.

 A wonderfully relaxing day for me!

Wednesday - Searching for sea glass. We took the bus to the Water Taxi, a people-only ferry that goes from downtown Seattle to West Seattle, a peninsula, by water.

We went to Alki Beach, renowned for its accumulation of sea glass. First, we found SCUBA divers practicing with underwater compasses.

Then we started to look for sea glass. Actually, it was a bust! We found a few tiny pieces, but nothing like what I found on South Beach in Discovery Park last week!

 That did not keep us from enjoying the beach and the trip.

"GraMary, are those real birds? I think they are bird statues. Oh! It moved! They ARE real birds!"

"This is Mt. Everest in Nepal!"

"This is a bed, no! A crib!"

Heading back to Seattle.

On Katelyn's request, we went back to the li-berry to see what art project was available for today and look for more books. We drew faces and made tree ring drawings (concentric circles for our number of years) noting important happenings in our lives on the appropriate rings. I ran ouy of paper trying to make 63 circles.  :-)

Books of interest today included motorcycles, dragons, and art designs and patterns by Native Peoples. Only the largest and heaviest books seemed appealing...

On the way home, we were on a search for the elusive purple buses. They are all electric and use overhead cables; so only run downtown for that reason. It is all Travis can talk about, so Katelyn said we MUST get some pictures for him.

YEAY!