A Grandma Sunday

Had breakfast at Grandma's after sleeping in today. We picked a flower on the way to give to Grandma, and Grandpa picked a yellow tomato for Pyper. Everyone is happy. Pyper loves her green onion pancakes!

Pyper being silly. 

Calling Gramma Jody over dinner describing spoons and everything else. No prompting needed here, she's having her own conversation. "I want to go to your house right now," I heard a couple of times. We miss our Gramma on the East Coast!

Yup, that's a land line!

Blast into the Past

Ten years ago I graduated from Western Washington University's and North Cascades Institute's Graduate Program. This last weekend we had a fun filled weekend meeting up in the heart of the North Cascades with long lost friends. This was the first reunion of its kind. 

At the "Wizard" tree. A dozen years ago, we brought many kids to this fire hollowed tree. It has grown up too. 

A dozen years ago at the beach with my cohort. 

Cascadian Farms wasn't a brand name when we were in school, but even today it's one of the the best stops along the Skagit River for homemade berry icecreams. I've lost track how many times Lauren and I stopped here to get treats. 

Pyper not afraid to get into the water, even at 44 Degrees, we put her wetsuit on for the plunge. 

The kiddos weren't allowed on the boat rides, so they checked them out dockside. 

Our cohort retreated to the town of Newhalem. This was our stomping grounds back then before the Environmental Learning Center was built. Pyper teaching Lisa about sword ferns. Us exploring what use to be the gravel bar before it was swept away while we were teaching kids about the natural world. Teachable moment. 

14 years of graduate students representing!

Everyone at the reunion celebrating John Miles' retirement. He was our advisor at the Western campus. 

Kid Magic: First day of Preschool

Last week we started the monkey in Preschool. She goes two days a week, four hours at a time, and is surrounded by farm life. The week before, when we were visiting, she banged on the door yelling, "I want in, I want in, I want to go to preschool."  So it was no surprise that it was harder for Andy and I to leave that first day; she didn't even bother saying bye. The second day of preschool was a little different with her wanting us to stay. I'm glad she's already announcing her love for her teachers, she has two. The student to teacher ratio is good with six girls in it, boy ratio is nonexistent.

Getting out of the car, ready for day one. After school she happily played hard in the meadows surrounding the school. 

Too cool for school backpack! One of Andy's previous coworkers gave it to her last Christmas because she is such a Batman fan. 

Let There Be Lots of Cake

Earlier this week we celebrated Milton's 9th birthday. It's tradition in the Ginsberg family to let the kids decorate the cake. When we arrived, Pyper jumped in to help, but really only succeeded in just eating. 

Super focused on the task at hand. 

A good look at the baker (Aunt Lora), cupcakes before and after, and a steller "Wopper" Ying-yang cake. Earlier in the day Pyper was excited to have some company in the back seat, boys less than stoked. 

A look at taco dinner on the patio. 

Later that week, on Milton's actual birthday we had dinner, another cake, and then another cake, yup, on the same night. 

The first one was a Ginsberg cake, the second a fresh fruit Korean cake. 

A couple days later we headed back to the Ginsberg house to celebrate Cousin Alex's 18th birthday. Nice big family gathering to celebrate a milestone. 

A Ginsberg cake, cream puffs, krispy kremes, cupcakes, and oatmeal chocolate chip cookies to finish off dinner. And me with the birthday boy. 

Having lost her privilege to eat treats today, Pyper was eager to fill her belly with treats from the garden. 

Picking ripe tomatoes for the appetizer plate.  

Pyper getting her share of the good stuff. 

Andy showed great restraint on the treat front, Milton slid Pyper a cream puff not knowing she was banned, I managed to eat two puffs. When offered a cupcake, Pyper told Aunt Lora that her mom said she could not have any. Good girl!

If you are wondering, she was banned from cake at the party because she slapped me in the face after we had just discussed good behavior for the party. 

Evergreen State Fair: A Yearly Tradition

The Evergreen State Fair is small and quaint in the little town of Monroe, WA. This is our second year going, so it's tradition in my mind, at least for now.  

This year we took a picture at the end of the day. It was a hot one.

Last year we took a photo first thing, and we had a nice little cloud layer to keep us cool.

Pyper pulls off the Farmer Jane look pretty well.

Wood fired pizza and fries, nothing like  fair food once a year.

Pyper's first "ride" on the Merry-go-round. The horse she wanted got scooped, so she picked the sleigh, and was completely content. She's officially over 32".

Tomas picked the Hare to ride upon.

The Young'uns had it out for 10 minutes in the car, then cooled off. Pyper was yelling for a toy we put away because they could not share, Tomas yelling because Pyper was too loud. A little book, a little music, down goes Pyper for the afternoon. I

48 Hour Daddy Stretches

One negative thing that came with the move back home is lack of Daddy presence due to a high training load. This has been a tough month, but in all honestly, we would probably see him less if we were just visiting Seattle. I guess it's not too bad for this time of year. One more week in Portland and training will move to Seattle, then we will see Daddy more. 

Love it when we are all together.

Cougar Mountain "Stick" Walk. Okay, it's always a stick walk. 

Working out the moves to get to the top, or at least the side, of the mountain. 

During our 48 hours, we always manage to get in some negetive ions (nature time) by means of a hike. Other than that, it's study time for Andy with the occasional break for a meal. It's nice having our Pacific Northwest woods again. Yes we have the occasional prickly thing or stinging thing, but most of the time you can avoid it.

BBQ time with a "thumbs up-shooting star" move. Check out that tongue working. 

Just like her Daddy! Brunch at the Country Club. 

Coming and going...the anticipation of seeing Daddy, and big girls don't need to say good-bye. 

Block Party 2014

Did you know last Saturday was International Geocaching Day? Well it was, and there is a huge block party every year in Fremont in front of GroundSpeak Headquarters to celebrate. GroundSpeak is the name of the company that runs all things geocaching. We came last year, were completely overwhelmed, but decided to give it another go. 

Me posing as "Signal" the frog, Pyper taking my picture because she didn't want to be Signal. I'm on hands and knees trying to get low enough to get my head through. 

Hanging out with the real/fake Signal is always fun. Pyper exploring the rocketship shaped bouncy house, and coloring her hat that also features Signal. 

On a tour with new friends. Jenna making sure Pyper is cared for and having fun all morning. Great having a Mama helper. 

After finishing the block party tour, we claimed our prizes. Pyper doing a celebratory dance with her prize. 

Us signing and sticking our name onto the official logbook for the event.