On our own

Alex is back to work in Seattle so we are on our own again.  It's amazing how luxurious parenting can feel with both parents home.  I got to sleep in while Alex, Audrey and Tess took early morning walks around the neighborhood.  I ran errands with just one child.

We had a good day today.  We took Tess for a walk, built lincoln log gymnastics buildings while Audrey napped, picked Red Huckleberries in the front yard, got a library card and played at the Waldorf School playground. 

We lucked into a story time at the library.  It was "Big Kid" story time so Cole got a name tag and went into a separate room while Audrey and I tried to occupy ourselves in the main children's section for 30 minutes.  I'm struck by how differently my reading relationship with the two children has developed.  As I remember it Cole would sit on my lap and listen to books very early on.  Audrey is mostly interested in turning pages and will not sit for more than 1 minute.  She did however sit to "read" a book on her own today.  I was in Cole's room and heard a deliberate sing song while Audrey sat with the book Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?  When Cole was in Infant Coop we sang this at the end of the class every day.  This was also his "good night book" so we sang it every night.  I've tried to do this with Audrey's night time ritual but in my mind to no avail.  It seems to be sinking in though.  I think Audrey is just more independent from an earlier age.  She is also experimenting with feeding herself with a spoon.  This morning she couldn't do it at all (she got it on the spoon but then turned it upside down before it got to her mouth so the food fell off) and tonight she'd figured it out.  She is a bit of a firecracker.  She knows what she wants and she's not afraid to let you know!

We originally hoped to put Cole in the new preschool class at Whatcom Hills Waldorf School but we just don't have the finances.  The local cooperative school is much more affordable and has a wonderful classroom and teacher.  I went to the first parent meeting last night and felt right at home. He starts next week and I'm very excited to have him back in a social environment. It's been almost a month since his "summer school" ended at Seattle Preschool.

Mt. Baker

Today was "don't work on the house day" so we headed up to Mt. Baker. It was warm, in fact probably one of the last really warm days left until next summer (high 73 degrees). Even from Bellingham it's still a long drive up there, approximately 1.5 hours I'm guessing. We saw a lot of bicyclists with racing numbers on their way back down the mountain. It was Ride 542 - Glacier to Artists Point, 4300+ elevation gain in 24.5 miles. The road is closed from 7:45 AM to 12 PM until the last rider makes it to the top. Turns out it pays to be late getting out of the house sometimes.

Mt. Baker from Artist's Point.



Future rock climbers. Don't worry, she's actually standing on flat ground trying to scale the rock in front of her.



Cole could have stayed for hours and just made up games to play in the snow and rocks.





But this is how Audrey felt about staying.



Audrey and Dad.



Me looking skeptical.

Here we are

5 Lost Lake Lane



A picture taken from the street.



A view of the daylight basement where all the bedrooms are.



My first impressions of our new life in Bellingham.

• The kids in this neighborhood are very outgoing and friendly. We've met Madison, Emily, Madeline, Mariah, Mia, Isis, Christian, Noah, Naomi, Eve, Annabelle, .... Our street is very quiet and mostly people drive cautiously. Thank goodness since there is always a flock of kids riding bikes, playing ball or just meandering around in the middle of the street.

• Alex just completed his first work week since we moved into the house. I was dreading having him gone, gone, gone during his work week and it's actually worse than I imagined. I've been spoiled for many years. For one reason or another his schedule wasn't that bad with paternity leaves, working in the office as a Port Engineer, and working in Eagle Harbor when his boat wasn't on the run.

• Bellingham has changed a lot since I lived here. It's bigger with all the headaches associated with more people - traffic, less trees, more buildings, etc.

• We've not gotten away from house projects. The list of things to fix is rapidly growing.

I guess that's 3 negatives and 1 positive. That might be where I'm at right now. I think it's going to take awhile to adjust. I miss Seattle. I've decided that we'll have to make a fun game out of exploring all the new things to do and see in Bellingham and we'll keep you posted.

5 Lost Lake Lane

Just in case you thought I gave up on blogging I'm posting tonight even though I don't have the energy to upload any photos.  

We moved.  We don't close on the house until the end of the month but all seems go and it better be since we moved all our worldly belongings this past weekend.   A big thank you to our friends and family for making it possible.

I stopped posting at first because our computer was sick and in the apple hospital then later because I was supposed to be packing boxes!  I am now surrounded by partially unpacked boxes in the office/spare bedroom of the new Bellingham house typing on the new aluminum keyboard for the new iMac because the "geniuses" couldn't figure out what was wrong with the old computer.  In case you don't know "apple speak" - the technicians at the apple store are called "geniuses".   I really love our iMac and wouldn't complain about it or the company since their customer service is great but I'd say if you decide to buy an apple you should get the extended warranty like we did!!

Cole seems to be weathering the move well and at one point said that he hoped we lived in Bellingham "forever" and that he loved the new house.  On another occasion he crumpled into a sobbing heap because he didn't want a blue room, he wanted a red room because red is his favorite color and he didn't want to move.   I expect all children are equally mercurial especially in the middle of a huge life change.   We are torn between Waldorf preschool and another year of co-op preschool here in Bellingham.  We've got a spot at the Waldorf school and we are the first on the waiting list for the co-op. 

Audrey now has a real bedroom instead of a partially converted storage room (her bedroom in Seattle was quite small and not at all nursery like).  We painted her room "poetic light" - a mostly warm white with subtle yellow undertones.  It's a dark room because the one window faces North so we wanted to keep the paint light but I expect to paint one wall with a soft purple so she has some color on the walls.  Her sleep schedule is totally out of whack but I hope to reign that back in. 

The house is 1900 square feet with 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, and an office/den.  For now we are going to make the den our bedroom so we will be on the same floor as the kid's rooms.  The "master" will be our office and the spare bedroom.   We've got a double lot and the view from the kitchen is of treetops with a small creek in the back of the property.   It's very quiet which is nice.  

I'll update with pictures tomorrow.

Christina Zecha - Guest Blogger

Big Sister's trip to San Jose de Las Moras, Mexico.

Everyone loves fresh fruit. When we arrived to Tia Manuela's (Daniel's aunt's) house to stay for the next ten days, I took one look at the pomegranate trees growing in the backyard and knew that I was going to be happy as a clam. Fresh fruit, fresh tacos, fresh tortillas, and best of all- 10 worry free days in Mexico with Daniel and our two friends, Emily and Kevin.



The last semester of high school was a bit rough. Lack of sleep and a serious case of Senioritis made it really easy think about nothing except the upcoming trip to Mexico. Daniel's parents generously took us back to their home town, where they promised us a relaxing vacation. Relaxing indeed- our schedule went a bit like this.

12 pm: Wake up
1 pm: Get out of bed to have breakfast (homemade refried beans, tortillas, pan dulce, and fresh fruit)
2-4 pm: Play cards, read books, and sit on the roof
5-8 pm: Siesta time (...I love Mexico...)
9 pm- 2 am: Go taco-hunting for dinner, legally drink cerveza, play more cards, and watch the lightning storms

No wonder we look so happy, huh?



I'm 18. That means that I could order and drink as many of these as I wanted.



We visited Daniel's grandparents in a smaller town further east. The little puppies made the 9 hour drive so worth it. That, and meeting Daniel's sweet abuelitos.



Kevin is the one who took this picture. He was exploring his inner photographer while we stood on a huge bridge over the railroad. From here, we could see everything. It was beautiful. Everything was.

Sweet Times

July 20th (tomorrow) is Alex and my 5th wedding anniversary. Cole and I made a pie for Alex with raspberries and boysenberries from the yard.

The beginning of the crust.



My recipe comes from Maida Heatter's New Book of Great Desserts. A dear friend gave this book to me on my 20th birthday. The inscription reads:

Heather -
This is for all those luxurious, sweet times ahead in your new decade(s). Happy Birthday and Enjoy. Love, Sid

These are sweet times.





Cole sprinkles sugar on the "sugar pies". My grandma, the true pie goddess, taught me to make sugar cinnamon cookies from the left over crust edges.

Sand Puppies

Our trip to the Pacific Science Center on Thursday was fun for both Cole and Audrey. Cole has adapted to "summer camp" and now looks forward to visiting his new friends. The culmination of two weeks of science discovery ended with a trip to the science center where we saw something new - naked mole-rats. Naked mole-rats live in burrows in the deserts of Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia where Native Africans call them "sand puppies". The students studied the animals in class this past week - reading books and making their own set of teeth for an art project. We also played in the Gemini capsule (of course!) and spent some considerable time in the toddler area so Audrey had fun too.

Grandpa and Tutu, in from Hawaii for a wedding, brought a perfect summer dinner over. T-bone steaks, corn on the cob, and tomatoes. Daniel came for dinner as well.



Grandpa and Cole fed our neighbor's chickens the cobs. Chris, our neighbor, says this is their favorite food after slugs. I'd like to have chickens someday, especially since a dozen organic cage free eggs goes for almost $4 these days. Seattle Tilth offers a class but I doubt Sudden Valley Community Association allows chickens.

City Chickens 101
Good Shepherd Center Room 140 (Senior Center)
Aug 02, 2008 10:00 AM
An introduction to chicken husbandry in an urban and suburban setting.





Cole has been waiting to set off his fireworks since we bought them on the 4th over on Bainbridge Island. We kept saying we had to wait until Grandpa was here. Here Cole is showing off his arsenal - pop its, party poppers, smoke bombs, and a couple fountains. When I was a child I would orchestrate firework shows for my grandparents at the ranch in Idaho. I encouraged Cole to think of putting on a firework show for us.



Setting up the extravaganza.



Big Sister helping with a popper.





Me not behind the camera for once.





Grandpa and Cole.



Cole loved the smoke bombs though breathing the dye particles is probably something to avoid.



Grandpa and Audrey.



Zecha Kids