Island Time

On Friday of our Spring Break...which was now so long ago I fear I'll never catch up with posting...we took a ferry ride to our favorite island.

First stop was our fav pizza place. It's SO good. The marinara sauce is divine...a religious experience. I order a side of it to pour over my pizza. AND...the kids and Cam know to order their own 'cause I'm not sharing!!

A walk on the beach is always needed after pizza.

The weather was rainy with intermittent sun breaks. We wanted to explore a new town but as we arrived the rain was beginning to pour. We headed indoors to a fun wine shop, coffee shop. I bought two yummy homemade pies while Cam pursued the wine shop and made a few purchases. 

As we came out the rain stopped so we decided to hike to the top of the hill. You can see the water on both sides of the island from the top. It was beautiful!! 

We live in a beautiful part of the world!! Rain...yes....but it makes everything so green and lush.

The fab five!!

And the terrific two!

Back where we parked there were art galleries and a cheese shop. Such fun!

And...there was this lovely pond and an Audubon platform overlooking a preserve. We saw so many beautiful birds.

It was a magical day full of good food, sunshine, rain clouds, and new adventures. Oh, and all my loves!

International District

On Thursday we took the kids to the big city. We have been wanting to explore the International District and eat in China Town. 

I looked online for restaurant recommendations and picked one. I really wanted good Chinese food....not the American version of fried congealed saucy junk you usually find around our town. I had high hopes...and said a few prayers. 

We were seated by a  very friendly woman. This is a BIG DEAL! When you walk into a restaurant with five kids you are often not warmly welcomed. We were off to a good start. 

We could tell the decor was a bit dated....and there was a large broken window near us that had a board nailed over it and cold wind coming through....and there was a huge water damage spot on the ceiling above us. Eeeeeks, Cam and I nervously giggled to each other. 

But, it was clean and that goes a long way.

The kind waitress brought hot tea and the kids were thrilled!! 

A lot of tea was consumed....with sugar of course.

Moses got ready for the main event and was excited to use his chop sticks. 

We ordered four different lunch specials. There was a TON of food!! The kids were in heaven! They LOVED it!! The nice waitress brought extra fried rice just because she knows kids love it. She's right! The kids are still talking about how good the food was. 

Now, if you want to know the truth...Cam and I thought the food was okay. Actually, I think what I said was, "well, it wasn't disgusting". Ha!! It wasn't the best and it wasn't the worst. And...the bonus is that the whole lunch cost us $34.00. No kidding!!! There was so much food left over that the kids ate it for dinner. 

After lunch we hit the streets to explore China Town and Japan Town. There are two distinct areas of the city with shops, restaurants, and businesses. 

We went to the huge international grocery store that we love. It's so much fun!! Everyone got our favorite Hawaiian juice and some rice treats.

We found a huge beautiful community garden on a hillside. You can walk all around and look at the plots and see what is growing. There were even chickens! 

We found some bamboo and it's Cam's favorite plant so we had to get a photo. This would be a good time for all reasonable people to leave a comment telling Cam NOT to plant bamboo in our yard. 

We went to a noodle factory and they also make fortune cookies. We bought a humongous bag of them. They were so good and the kids loved reading the fortunes. 

The best thing we saw was very somber. We spent time telling the kids about what happened in Japan Town during WWII and how the Japanese were rounded up and interned. Many of those families lost their businesses and property. I read a great book called On The Corner Of Bitter And Sweet a few years ago. The book is about that time in our city's history. There is a hotel featured in the book and the building is still standing. There is a tea shop there and we brought the kids to visit. I had the most delicious cup of tea.

I was enjoying looking at the photos on the walls when a man sitting at a table asked me if I'd seen the window in the floor. I hadn't seen it so I walked back to look. A hole had been cut in the floor revealing the basement below. In the basement are items that were left behind by families leaving for internment. In the book I read about how people put all of their things into storage and some never returned to claim it. It was moving to see those items frozen in time....a baby buggy, suitcases, clothing, boxes. It's a shameful part of our country's history. We showed the window to the kids and talked lots about it.

It was a good day. Family fun and history lesson all in one. 

On our way home we decided to stop at a big park that we've never been to. It was the perfect photo opportunity. I recently dubbed my kids, "The Fab Five" and I think this pic sums that up perfectly. for a laugh...look closely at Sis's face. She is such a hoot! 

In turn, one of the kids said Cam and I are, "The Terrific Two". Nice! 

More adventures to come....yes, we were exhausted after our staycation. 

Spring Break...more of it

Whoa...we just finished up Holy Week and Pascha. I still have things from spring break to share and then even more from Holy Week. I'll have to post daily to get caught up. 

Here goes more of our staycation....

Cam worked Tues. and Wed. On Tues. I took the kids to the library and out for treats. They got gobs of books and since it was vacation I let them check out some movies too. We love our local library. What's better than an afternoon of free fun?!

On Wednesday I took the kids to the beach. Sunshine and log jumping and rock throwing fun. Plus, out for ice cream treats too. 

Cam got home in time for some deck happy hour in the sun. Bliss!

Spring Break

We just had a whirlwind week of Spring Break! We didn't go out of town this year....didn't have the extra cash after buying patio furniture.

But, we did lots of local day trips and had a ton of fun!! Cam took off Mon., Thurs., and Fri., for some long weekends.

Monday's adventure was a bike ride. We rode our favorite trail and took in the beautiful outdoors. The birds were singing and everything was in bloom. Magnificent.

We packed a picnic and enjoyed the sunny day. 

At the end of the trail is an old barn....and a resting area. We refueled with snacks and drinks. Really healthy snacks...NOT! It's vacation so we allowed total junk food. Red ropes and Doritos are delicious eaten in the sunshine. I did pack some cantaloupe to balance it out. 

Our kids are awesome...although I include myself in the awesome part too....we rode 16 miles!! Cam likes to point out that the kids are awesome because they rode 16 miles on BMX bikes.

AND....why oh why oh why do I have to see a snake while out enjoying the day??!! I screamed and held my legs straight out to the sides. That nasty garter snake tried to bite me with it's HUGE fangs, and then it chased after me in a side winding motion and lunged at me so it could squeeze me to death and eat me. Seriously...this is all true. Mostly true anyway. I hate snakes. Blech....*shivers*

Deck Fun

Our deck was finished at the end of last summer. But, we didn't have any deck furniture. Finally we bought a set. I love it!! It's beautiful and very comfortable and there is enough seating for our big family. 

You can see that the sofa is a great napping area. 

So far the temps have only been in the mid 50's to upper 60's but we have had lots of deck time. The kids bring out a blanket and cozy up. Most of the furniture is under the cover of the roof so you can even sit outside in the rain. Tuba loves the furniture so much that while I was doing dishes and cleaning up dinner he kept yelling, "Mama, Ahhhhhhhh!", to let me know nice it was. LOL...just what I want to hear while I'm cleaning. 

We moved the picnic table out to the end of our deck and it goes perfect there!! We need a couple new umbrellas to complete the setting. It's almost time to plant my flowers in pots too. It's going to be amazing! Come by for a visit and a drink....cause I'm never leaving!

The kids all love the deck. In fact Sis loves it so much this is what she wrote for her St. Patrick's Day craft at school. So fun! 

I've declared that it's Happy Hour every day between 4-5:00....give or take. Snacks, yummy drinks and put your feet up. I plan to soak up the sun, relax and enjoy the surroundings as much as I can. 

Cheers

When Cam was in Ethiopia he started a tradition. Each time he had a St. George beer he gave a toast saying, "Father, Son, Holy Spirit", while clinking the neck of the bottle against others' drinks at the table. Once home he continued this tradition.

Our kids quickly picked up on it. It didn't matter what they were drinking. I'd look over at breakfast and see my tiny toddlers holding their water glasses up and saying the toast. Tuba especially loves to do it. The kids are always willing to toast with him.

I snapped this pic at Moses's birthday dinner. A family cheers for Moses. Father, Son, Holy Spirit. 

Ladder of Divine Ascent

Lent is marching onward. Last Sunday was the Ladder of Divine Ascent Sunday. This morning our priest sent out a quote from the book Ladder of Divine Ascent by John Climacus (c. 579-649). He was abbot of the monastery of Catherine on Mount Sinai. His Ladder was the most widely used handbook of the ascetical life in the ancient Greek Church.

I really like this quote and thought you might like it too. 

"The first step toward freedom from anger is to keep the lips silent when the heart is stirred; 

the next, to keep thoughts silent when the soul is upset; 

the last, to be totally calm when unclean winds are blowing."