Indianola Days!!!

This was the first of many summers that we will enjoy Indianola Days as a family.  Our small little community spends the weekend at the beach with lots of friends and family from out of town.  The beach fills up and the quiet streets get busy with lots of fun.  This year Indi Days fell on my birthday, so it was even more fun to have tons of guests visit and enjoy our beautiful beach.  Friday night was a crab feed and birthday celebration.  Saturday was a beach day.  We loaded up the golf cart, drove to the boat ramp (2 blocks from our house) and set up camp on the beach.  From there, we walked down the beach to the dock to see the sand castle contest and beach games.  I think next year Andy wants to enter the contest!  After our walk, we headed back to beach camp for a day of sunning, floating, swimming, and paddle boarding.  What a great day!!  I had so much fun I can't wait for next year.  This year we had 20 guests sleep at our house.  Maybe next year we'll have even more!!

Henry, Andy, and Matt test out the new golf cart. 

Grandpa Mark and Grandma Dawn brought their trailer.  The grandbabies spent lots of time bouncing off the walls in there.

My children LOVED the birthday cake.  This is the messiest Paul's ever been.

Paul did a great job helping me blow out the candles.

The tide goes way out so we have lots of beach sand to play in.

It was a slow half mile walk with 4 little babies.

Henry, Dawn, Paul, Mark, Olivia, Natalie, Lauren, and Brock.

Uncle Andy plays in the water with Henry and Paul.

Ash was our big kid at nearly 5 years old.  He showed the little boys how to play.

Paul is no longer afraid of getting a little dirty at the beach.

Beach camp.

The golf cart was perfect for getting all our stuff to the beach and transporting people back and forth to the house.

Uncle Mike floating the day away.

This little cabana was super handy.  Most of the kiddos slept in there or had a little quiet time at some point in the day.

MIM!!!

Meet-In-the-Middle:

The idea of MIM came to us when we (friends living in or near DC) started moving away.  We decided we would vacation at a central location every year and try something new.  This year, our very good friends from the East Coast (TJ and Tanya from Virginia & Mike and Beth from Rhode Island) came to visit for one of our "annual" vacations together!  This one took place at our house, which is not exactly in the middle, but was a fantastic time and we were thrilled to share some northwest experiences with them.  

We started the weekend with a little tour of Kitsap peninsula and the Olympic peninsula.  Port Gamble General Store breakfast.  Stop #1.

Delicious organic beers in ginormous bottles. (Tanya)

Also, tasty pomegranate mimosas... YUM! (Beth)

Our group at breakfast (from left: Tanya, Lisa, Matt, Mike, Beth, TJ)

Stop #2: Cider tasting at the farm.  Hard cider that is.

Watching the working cider farm produce.

Beth taming some wildlife.

We spent a lot of time with these pigs for some reason.  They fascinated us.  Mike pointed out that while they're eating, you can touch the pigs and they won't even notice.  He proceeded to show us this magical voodoo and nearly got his hand taken off by the big beast. hahahahahahahaha

City folk with pigs.

Stop #3: Agate Pass Brewery.  Not too far from home.  Yummy beers, but don't ask for snack food.  The hostess is NOT interested in your indecision or hungry tummies.

Friday evening we borrowed Les and Kathy's boat and headed out to procure some fresh delicious dinner.  We caught plenty of crab for dinner and our guests got to try their hand at crabbing.

Saturday was a boat trip on Lake Washington.  Captain Jerry was as creepy as ever, complete with thong and grass skirt, but we had a fabulous time.

Great view from the crow's nest.

The day was beautiful.

Amanda was our co-conspiritor in the whole event.  She and Demetri are always a good time.

"I only need a six pack."

This is how Bud Light should be consumed.

 What's a boat party without a dance party!

We stopped for food and more drinks...

The after-car-party was insane (waiting for the ferry)!! Who's the guy up front sleeping through the whole thing?

NATASHA!!!!!

We did not get kicked off the ferry, but it was close...

The next day was an Indianola beach day, much more tame than our Saturday boat day.

And one last boat right to catch more delicious dungenous crabs.

We spent our Monday in Seattle touring the Pike PLace market enjoying samples, walking around in the rain, and stopped by the Truffle cafe for wine tasting and more food samples.  That stop was AMAZING!!!  Delicious food and wine with ample pours and a very fun hostess.  A great way to end our tour of the Northwest.

Can't wait until to see what our next MIM entails!

Garden Redo

When I first planted my garden, I was so proud.  Within a couple weeks these great little seedlings popped up.  Then things really started to get going.  Flash forward 2 months and nada.  The peas have grown nicely but aren't producing any actual peas. The zucchini looked good and then it went all yellow and didn't look so great.  The broccoli and beets looked like they were nibbled off at the buds.  The lettuce, onions, radishes, and spinach were planted so close together, they didn't hardly get out of the ground. :-(  I blamed bunnies and the weather.  And then, the neighbor directly behind me showed me her first crop from her very first garden and it looked so great!!!  I'm not sure how she did it or what I did wrong, but it seems like it's time to start from scratch and see if I can get some late season crops going. 

The local nursery said it sounded like I am low on nutrients, so I bought some compost and covered the garden. The only crops I didn't completely cover with the stuff were the peas and the zucchini. They looked like they might stand a chance. Matt also built me a bunny fence to hopefully keep out whatever was nibbling on my goods.

 If all else fails, buy some plants.  I MUST have success with at least one gardening venutre this year or I may never return to the sport. I transplanted and fertilized them myself, so if I succeed I will be taking FULL credit.  And enjoying the world's most expensive tomatoes. 

I'm also trying some herbs on the back deck.  I saw a little basil popping out. 

Paul screams, "Look Mommy, BAGEL!!!"

Later I found Olivia sitting IN my herb garden.  Maybe we won't be having fresh 'bagel' after all...

This is Paul's very own carrot garden.  Maybe he'll have better luck than me.

However the rest of the season goes, we're still having fun and learning.  Plus, it gives us something to do outside in the sun! Or rain, this year.