It was nice amidst all the flurry of home economics activities going on this week to be able to take some time out this afternoon. It’s a godsend that I’m on maternity leave since finding our family a home practically constitutes a full time job. 

So, stop the clock… Lake has a play date!

Well, he had fun, but ultimately I think it was really more for me. It was great to head over to Ballard and see some of the PEPSers. It had been a while. I miss those women! 

A pretty fall day to enjoy a walk and some camaraderie!

And maybe a Full Tilt vegan pumpkin spice ice cream… so seasonal! so delicious! (Shhh, it’s the breastfeeding made me do it!)

Yes, you! (And I love you dearly, Lake.) Thanks for the successful play date, friends. I really needed that!

It feels like we have been out to sea for a long while. We are back in port, home now, and in a big way. Getting our land legs back under us. 

Taking care of business. House hunting. Home loan application paperwork. Disclosure documents. Inspections. Au pairs interviews. Home visits. Rain. Lots of rain. Mother in law. Husband. Open enrollment. Laundry. Rain. Closing dates. Holiday plans. Inspection reports. Fees. Water intrusion. Undermining. Heaving. Differential settlement. Slope. Aspect. Sloping. Low point. High point. Drip cap and belly band flashing. Earthquake Retrofitting. Anchor bolts. Earthquake insurance. Escrow. Property taxes. Light rail. Neutral or negative drainage at grade. R-value. Appraisal. Catchment. Physical therapy. Acupuncture. Well-child checks. Skype interviews to Sweden. Conforming. Non-conforming. Credit versus remedy. Repair. Points. Mutual acceptance. 

Breathe. 

Like a song. Lake keeping time. Safe haven. Taking care of business. 

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What happens in San Francisco… is too funny to not share with you! So, enjoy Lake’s gleefully executed table dance (with a little help from daddy)!

Lake was absolutely having the time of his life. Literally, he had never laughed so hard in his life as yesterday evening. We were staying with my cousins in San Francisco for a long weekend. His second cousin Sofia, who is four and a half, was regaling him with gales of laughter… and he was keeping up! Her antics included, but were not limited to, a big pink plush bunny and sparkling pink fairy wings. Hilarity ensued; they could not stop laughing. They had so much fun!

Lake enjoyed spending time with 2 year old Samuel too. Both siblings were very attentive and patient with Lake. It was great to have some good solid cousin time!

We went on a few adventures while we were in town in spite of the unusually rainy weather. It was endlessly charming to take in all the row houses. And the vegetation is quintessentially California coastal, smelling so fresh and aromatic with the Bay Laurels and Eucalyptus. We peeked at the Pacific Ocean in the height of the storm on Sunday. We really felt the wind and watched the crashing surf. 

 

 

We checked out the city’s zoo and admired their handsome heard of giraffes. We exclaimed over the fuzzy koala ears. Lake even rode on the carousel with the big cousins! This visit to San Francisco has been eye popping!

 

Bye bye Bay Area! We had such a great time! We look forward to coming again soon! 

P.S. Now that we have arrived home, it is safe to say: Lake is a champion traveler. He shed not a single tear on either flight!

Who flies in a storm? Lake the Adventurer does! Our first flight, and we are aiming to fly to San Francisco to visit our cousins!

So exciting to check in our infant flyer! Then our flight is delayed two hours. So we set up our sprawling family encampment. We have lived together long enough now to have developed some favorite accessories, our trusty tools of the trade. Thanks to some unsuspecting friends we have the trusty waterproof flannel mat handmade by Katie, the JellyCat zebra from cousin Steve’s family. Lake also can’t get enough of his blankie, this green and gold silk ikat shawl I’ve had for ages. I think I may have gotten it at the old home furnishings store in the Wallingford Center before they closed their brick and mortar location, but I really can’t remember. At any rate we left home at 8:30 this morning to take the bus and light rail to the airport and all along the way Lake attracts a ton of attention due to his magnetic cuteness. He’s bright eyed and alert, making friends and taking names. 

Our flight is delayed again and again. No worries! Lake is happy to hang out in the airport terminal indefinitely. No boredom, frustration, impatience or anxiety for him!

As we pass the time, our conversation drifts to “Ouf Bouf,” the prospective name of a flat-faced Exotic Shorthair kitten we fancied at the Portland cat show we checked out last year. This is Michael’s favorite breed, but I’d always found them a bit ugly. Well, I fell for this litter of kittens instantly. 

For a while we were saving up for the big Exotic Shorthair kitten splurge, but then all the cash went towards laundry money and the kitty jar is long since empty. Now that we’ve just put an offer in on a home in the Thompson’s University Addition neighborhood, the kitten acquisition may be resurfacing. That was the deal: a nice family home for me and as many cats as my husband wants! And Michael sure does love cats, especially the Exotic Shorthair! Mr. Cat, Mr. Silky and dear readers, stay tuned!

For now, Lake, prepare for your first flight! Take off is eminent!

…in a travel seat! Hard to say goodbye to Nana and Grandpa and the Newman Lake retreat. Incredible thanks for their heroic hosting of us. We ate like kings and every day was as if Thanksgiving! We slept like princes and princesses under our down comforters and mohair blankets! We were kept warm with roaring fires! Our fortress and castle was continually being shored up around and under us! Our hearts were exercised in soulful ways! We had a very special two weeks. We will most assuredly remember this October fondly for years to come. Thank you Lynn and Duane!

Here we are now trekking back across the state into the eye of the storm. Slowly and surely. Daddy, here we come!

Lake is usually up for an adventure involving a walk. And we’ve been having fun walking around in the surroundings’ Eastern Washington Pinus ponderosa, ponderosa pine, forest. The air has such a fresh fragrant aroma! There are also birch and alder in the upper wetlands at our end of the lake. We love the trees!

Today is stormy typhoon rainy, but the last two days were the opposite with warm days and freezing ights. They had been super sunny clear days with brilliant blue skies and geese taking flight in v-formation. We had walked down the way to the end of the lake through the neighboring McKenzie Nature Conservancy again. We love it in here. We ended up at the old apple orchard by the lake. More cool trees! We picked a few apples by reaching on tippy toes and climbing up into the lower branches. Taking a sample I paused to appreciate our youngest traveling companion. 

He is a sweet and amicable little fellow. So kind, thoughtful and easy going. In spite of not having vocabulary, he’s nonetheless a clear and honest communicator. Lake has quickly become the apple of my eye. I’m not the only one either. His grandparents are not immune to his charms and are incredibly devoted to him as well. 

Last night the rain stormed down in torrents. It was reminiscent of one year ago exactly. Our wedding day. Which, for good measure hosted a monsoon amount of rain. We had wanted a simple outdoor wedding but having seen rain on the forecast, chose an outdoor shelter for the ceremony. Boy, did we luck out! Our romantic enclave in the rose garden gazebo at Woodland Park Zoo sheltered us perfectly while rain streamed down around us in every direction. They say a wedding in the rain blesses the union and makes for a happy marriage. This appears to be so for us. We are very happy!

Embarking on our journey together has been nothing short of brilliant! It’s been a truly remarkable year. Lake is a gem; a phenomenal complement to our small cast of characters. 

So far our experience with water has been an overall fail. Baths, not so much. So we do the sponge bath version. Swimming, nope. He could do without. Today, we went boating. Out in the “barge” rowboat. Not a great time, really. Naw, Lake is more of a shore man. Just think of him as Lakeshore Odin. He prefers to sit on the beach and watch grandpa’s fire. For the time being, anyways. I guess he is only four months old. He’s still got time. 

We have been eating well all week. Fresh, local, organic. On Wednesday we headed over to Carver Farms, or simply “Carver’s” as we commonly refer to the area’s longtime U-pick local farm.

We were upholding a longstanding tradition of u-picking corn and beans, berries and other veggies all summer long and into the late autumn. The weather of late has been tempestuous, and this day was no exception, bringing us sun and rain by turns. The clouds were dramatic. Yes, we saw another rainbow in the sky, but the real rainbow came in the form of all the colorfully diverse produce we gleaned from the fields.

First there was the red.

Lake and I found a few dozen raspberries hanging on the canes and ate them so-fort. I think Lake appreciated the berries most of all. He was having a generally merry visit, cooing as we walked along the fields, but showed particular interest for the red raspberries. Hold on there, Lake! Enjoy the description, colors, fragrance, shapes and feeling for now. Taste will come in time… It’s my duty to introduce him to all the different culinary pleasures and we have begun with the concept of eating with our eyes, not just our mouths.

“Make vegetables a child’s first food”, Pamela Druckerman writes in Bringing up Bébé. In contrast I’m alarmed by the well meaning mothers (and mothers-in-laws) excitedly plotting to introduce ice cream to their infants (or Lake) before they are even a full six months. Think spinach! and your babe as a mini Popeye. Nutrient dense over calorie dense matters from a young age. My job is to introduce nuances of taste and texture to his palate, assiduously!

Ok, little gourmet! Onward we go with our Carver Farms tour: walking and picking and sampling. Then there was the orange. Orange pumpkins and squash and gourds.We got some gourds for seasonal decor because there were so many interesting shapes and spooky varieties. And two big Hubbard squash because, yum… squash soup!

We take a break to wander through the maze of maize. It’s taller than Lake is! The dry stalks and leaves brush against him, providing the full-on sensory experience. We continue with our food immersion tour… They even have a field of popcorn corn here!

Then green tomatoes. Tomatoes as far as the eye could see. The real stars of the show for me were actually the ripe tomatoes. I ate four in the field and then picked several bags at $0.99/lb each. They were just lying sprawled out in the field. Fields and fields of them. It was challenging to walk through without stepping on the vines, much less squash the tomatoes. Heavy, ripe, juicy and delicious. Next time I’m bringing salt with me!

Blue kale. Well, kale that looks blue. Carver’s wasn’t sure what the variety was. They hadn’t advertised it and therefore threw in the bagful I’d picked for free. I’m looking forward to making some hearty kale salads and tossing it into my squash soup. Kale is a superfood! And so handsome, too!

And last but not least we had the aubergine: purple eggplant. So pretty! The Carvers said the eggplants and peppers didn’t grow very big this year, so extra accolades to my friend Katie for getting her eggplants to grow at all in Bellingham (USDA  Zone 8a vs 6b)! Well, I ould use some help here: I love eggplant dishes. I’m often ordering eggplant entrees when we are out at Thai or other restaurants. However, neither Nana nor I feel very confident with our egplant culinary skills… So if you have a good recipe or secret for cooking, please share!

Lake had his eyes wide open the whole time, taking it all in… He’s psyched about all this rainbow of produce. He’s the ultimate locovore, keeping it very local!