January 2009

Seaside, Oregon

Our vacation to Seaside, OR was a much needed time of rest and recuperation. While the temperatures were quite cold, the fun we had on the beach and mostly in the pools was quite refreshing!

I taught Aubrey how to knit at a great shop in Seaside. We sat and had tea and cocoa while Aubrey (8 years old) learned to knit on pink wool. I remember being 9 when I learned from our next door neighbor, Mrs. Frolich. Knitting with Aubrey was quite enjoyable!

She's doing it! (And wearing the poncho that I knit for her, too!)

At the Fort Clatsop visitors center, we met some folks wearing Lewis and Clark like attire who also taught us how to load and fire a trade rifle! All of the kids had a chance to hold the rifle. It was a fun demonstration.



Austin can't believe I let him hold a REAL rifle. After seeing the bright "blast" when it was fired, he couldn't wait to touch the real thing!

Yes, that's 3 year old boy with a rifle. Note the helping hand keeping us all safe!

The twins tried on the animal skin clothing in the fort replica.

I was complaining about the extremely cool January temperature being too much for baby Aria until I realized that Sacajawea cared for her little baby "Pomp" from January through March in this very location! Gave me a much better appreciation for all that we have.

Alister checking out the Fort doors. Open, close, open, close, you know the drill.

Aubrey wanted to pose with the Sacajawea statue, too.

Pictures on the beach! Sand writing!

One cold baby. See that pink nose?

HOME AGAIN

I finished it! This is the sweater that I started for Alister on our vacation. I had to begin 3 different times due to gauge issues. Alister was THRILLED that I made a sweater for him! He watched the progress throughout it's construction and would hold up the pieces to his body to see how it would look. When I finished it a couple of nights ago, he wanted to put it on over his jammies to see how it looked. Then he insisted on sleeping in it. Here he is posing on the kitchen counter the next morning!

BREAD, BREAD, BREAD...

Back at home. Here's my first attempt at real Artisan bread. The kids thought at first that I was making Civil War style "Hard Tack". Very funny, guys. At one point I wasn't certain if in fact we might actually be eating the hard as rock ration as I tapped more and more aggressively at the hard crust of my first boule. I finally sliced into it with a bread knife and VOILA! Steaming hot chewy tasty bread inside a crispy crust! Ohhhhhh..... Treadmill on standby....