10 Year Anniversary Trip: Goats on the Roof

One of the first questions I asked some of the locals was if there were any Farmer's Markets around and most suggested the small town Coombs, so we took a drive. There was a block of shops and novelty gifts stores for us to browse through, but the Farmer's Market was really not a typical Farmer's Market. Sure, there was lots of fruits and veggies, but most of them had stickers on them... like you'd find in a grocery store. Disappointing.

HOWEVER...

There was this great little store called Goats on the Roof. The decorations were fantastic!

Inside was a wonderful assortment of food from all over the world. Plus a fresh pastry counter and a fresh bread counter.

There was also a wide assortment of local cheeses and fresh jerky. There were toys, too! Oh, the wonderful wooden toys! Jeff and I had a blast checking out all the options! We decided on three little pop-guns and huge wooded dice to bring home for the boys. I took this picture to remind me of the cute swords and shields that would be so easy to make!

I just can't explain the assortment of foods, novelties, soaps, etc that this little store had to offer. It was one of my favorite stops on the island.

And then of course, when we walked outside, the goats had come out so I could get a picture!

Yep, honest to goodness Goats on the Roof! :)

10 Year Anniversary Trip: Nannoose Bay

For our 10 year anniversary, we took a trip to Vancouver Island, BC. We stayed in a resort on Nanoose Bay. The tide came and went each day so we decided to take a trip down to the bay to see what we could see. :)

We had a fun days of exploring and saving starfish! These pictures are from two days of playing out in the bay.

Here is a shot from the shoreline; note the log in the front... at the end of the post, you'll see the same log while the tide is back in. (Such a difference!)

Jeff saved about 10 - 15 starfish during our exploration!

(The purple sand dollars are still alive.)

Jeff dug up this huge clam!

And wanted to open it

But that clam wouldn't let him... and neither would I. I told him if he wasn't going to eat it, that he shouldn't open it. Such a party pooper!

We decided that this guy is a red sea anemone with all his little "feelers" retracted.

Jeff saw a huge shell and tried to pick it up, but it didn't easily come up from the sand. That was because there was a HUGE SNAIL still inside!!!

A blue heron having lunch:

And a bald eagle!

And another bald eagle (War Eagle, that is!) {grin}

And the tide back in early in the morning... BEAUTIFUL!

10 Year Anniversary

Jeff and I will celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary on June 19th.

We're going on vacation

we are going to be alone

and it is going to be quite

and I'm not going to worry about food allergies

and I'm going to sleep when I want to

and I'm going to let others cook and clean for me

and we're getting a massage at the spa

Hopefully a much more relaxed me will be returning - ready to hit summer full on and enjoy my days with the boys better!

Miss me while I'm gone... :)

Jekyl and Hyde

We actually tried to cut Nathan's hair in a mohawk first, but his hair is so fine and thin that it really wasn't noticeable. He was sad to see all the smiles Will got at church until we told him that he had a mohawk, too. The next day, I grabbed some gel and attempted to bring more attention to his 'hawk, which he appreciated very much! :)

Here are the two sides of Nathan caught in pictures: sweet and innocent with a side of crazy! :)

Food Allergy Labeling

Find Safe Foods is putting together a detailed description of what people with food allergies really need to safely eat manufactured and restaurant food. Please head over and read her draft. She's looking for input from allergy folks and so far I think she's really done a spectacular job!!!

Witt's First REAL Haircut

Although Witt has had a little trim before, I think I'd have to consider this a first REAL haircut.

He is my only child that had this long fine baby hair with curls and I wanted to leave it until he was 2. Well, now he's 2. :(

Jeff put the clippers to work that day and did all boys' hair. We saved Witt for last. He was terrified of the vacuum cleaner noise. Jeff keeps the vacuum going while he's cutting so there is very little clean-up. It works really well.

However, with this type of screaming going on, we opted not to use the vacuum with Witt even though he had the most hair:




The first thing I did was pull the hair from the crown of his head up into a ponytail and Jeff snipped it off.


Oh, he was MAD!!

"Back! Back! Hair! Back! Mine!"

I gave him a piece of red licorice and pulled him up on my lap. Will took the following "during" pictures for us.

(Yes, he's always got those boots on!)

Look at all the hair! It broke the chainsaw! LOL!



He's not a baby anymore! WHAAAAAAAA!


If you click on this picture, you can see his "whiskers". :)


I was so sad to see my baby disappear in a matter of minutes. First haircuts really didn't bother me with the other boys; I guess it's that third child that makes a difference... knowing he's our last.

It was also interesting that some of the things I considered "cute" just the day before became little boy stinker-ness. It's hard to explain, but that long, fine, hair with curls was part of his personality and he got away with a lot just because he was so darn cute!

Now he's a little boy. No more fine baby hair; he's got coarse hair now. And to be able to see the way his hair grows in different directions is amazing. He's probably gonna have trouble with cowlicks! We will most likely not cut his hair this short again, but it will be great for the summer.

Oh, and that sprig of hair in the rubber band? Don't show it to him... he'll get mad again! (ask me how I know. LOL!)

You're Gonna Do WHAT to My Hair????

WayO Bee

Nathan (3 1/2) had been outside in the sandbox. When he came in, I helped him get his boots off, which had at least a good handful of sand in them. He started dumping them out in the sunroom. I tried to stop him, "No, Nathan! Not in the house. Your boots are full of sand!"

Nathan's matter-o-fact reply, "No, just a little bit." (It took me a minute to realize he wasn't trying to be sassy... just literal.) {grin}

Witt (2) picked up a cooked elbow noodle, looked at it and said, "Foe?" (phone?)

Then he placed it to his ear and said, "Hey Woe?" (hello?)

This lead to a three boys conversation at the dinner table on "foes". It was really cute!

*****

When searching for an item in the house, we like to sing a little song. For instance, if we are looking for Witt's stuffed frog:

Where, Oh where, Oh where is frog?

Where, Oh where, Oh where is frog?

Where, Oh where, Oh where is frog?

Where could frog be?

Witt thinks this is the best! He comes singing it to me just for fun: "WayOWayOWayOWayOWayO Beeeeee"

He also likes to help me sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. He fills in the last word of each line:

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

How I wonder what you Star

Up above the world so Star

Like a diamond in the Star

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

How I wonder what you Star

******************

Will (6 1/2) has been kind of repetitive this week upon meeting someone (whether he knows them or not), "Hey, look! I've got a mohawk!"

(I'm not posting a pic of him here to make you click the link.) {hee hee}