February 2014 album part II: Whidbey Island birthday

My brother turned the big 3-0 this month!  We celebrated with him on Whidbey Island, where he and Meg threw a party.  My parents arrived a little early, and we came just in time to set up and enjoy the festivities.  Heading out to Whidbey Island means the kids get to marvel at riding on a ferry boat, which they love to do.  I’m pretty sure they think it’s called a fairy boat.  I mean, what kind of magical boat carries cars across the water? 

  

Seeing my parents two months in a row is such a rare treat!  Meg and I used our party banners to jazz up the place.  We had over 100 feet of festive.

  

Turning 30 doesn’t get you out of sitting at the kids’ table, JP.

We enjoyed this lovely retreat and time with cousins.

On Sunday morning, my parents went to Mass, and the rest of us opted for nature church.

We took some family photos, which were each photo-bombed by Fiona and Carlos, respectively.  The Patinos:

And the Lillards:  (Carlos is rowdier at photo-bombing than Fiona.)

A beautiful day for the beach! 

After all the festivities, we headed back to the mainland. 

  

It was a little chilly out there on the ferry!

Mom and Dad came with us back to Portland.  They were thrilled.

We had a nice visit before they headed back to San Antonio.  Lots of snuggle time.

  

Their last day:  my attempts to catch them on camera all looking at me, all smiling, worked after about two dozen tries!

August Album: There’s treasure everywhere

In addition to a tremendous growth spurt by Leo, our August was awesome!  The highlight included spending our eleventh wedding anniversary on Whidbey Island with my brother JP, Meghan and "cousin Carlos".  We met several members of Meg’s extended family, basked in the sun, and boarded along the beach in a quaint cabin affectionately called “the Peanut”.  It was relaxing and joyful!

During hikes along the beach, Dean scouted for treasures.  Our finds: uniquely colored rocks (he seemed to gravitate toward the reddish ones - must be his Oklahoma roots?), shells, and small abandoned beach toys.  It was such a lovely time - great weather, great company, the best of food and music.  There’s treasure everywhere.

My brother has me convinced that crabbing is the best way to catch your meal:  leave a trap in the water, forget about it all day while basking in the sun and looking for treasures, and then return to find your meal waiting for you.  The intimidating part is reaching in the trap to fetch your crabs (throwing out the females and small males per licensing requirement) without being pinched.  And the crabs are feisty!  They draw blood with their claws and they don’t let go.  I watched him do it successfully several times (the day before he had had one unlucky pinch), and finally I took a deep swallow and fetched one out myself!  It was frightening but oh-so-rewarding.  Crabs make such a delicious meal.

Between crabbing and hiking, our agenda was filled with serious beach-time.

    

The last day on the island, we headed into town for a delicious meal and said good bye.

On the ferry ride over and back, Dean and Fiona were fascinated with the fact that our van could be on top of a boat!  There was giggling and clapping.  Such wonder!

We also were fortunate to spend some time in Seattle before our trip with dear friends, Aunt Terri and Uncle Lou and Erin, Ellis and Camille.  Our summer has been filled with exciting adventures, and we are so grateful for the friends and family that fill our lives with joy and give it meaning. 

Some of August was also spent in quiet (well, never really quiet) moments at home and typical days at the park. 

Monkey in fancy shoes!

Brothers enjoying their treasures.

some new blog

Inspired by family and friends, I am finally joining the bandwagon of bloggy-bloggersons out there. so here I am, posting a post.

A new year, my short list of resolutions:

1. more time with friends and with family, even if it means sticking our necks out there and throwing a party that leaves us exhausted the next morning (which we did new year's eve, to kick it off - and look how wild it got!) 

My brother and family came out to Portland for our New Year's kick-off, which was only enough time to play with our baby cousin in the snow, make a traditional posole (which involved multiple phone calls to my Mom 1700 miles away), do some window shopping with my sister-in-law with babies in slings, get Fia's ears pierced, and stay up late playing Farkle (really fun to use it as a verb: I farkle. You farkle. She farkles. Especially when it's late and you're drinking a Golden Cadillac.) After they left, I asked myself again why we all live so far apart...

BUT wait - This week marks the first gathering of the women in my family for a retreat of sorts, to celebrate my sister Marie's 40th (!) birthday. First of all, I can't believe we're pulling this off! Yay! This will be my FIRST trip away from home without children in 3+ years! Second of all... 40!!! I remember sneaking in the garage to *tape record* her 16th birthday party (which was co-ed) with my other sister and partner-in-crime. The result was just static - we were a little disappointed, frankly. And kind of, well, losers. So this should be much more fun.

        2.  more time for introspection, so voila.

there you have it, the yin and yang of resolutions.  Blogging is kind of cathartic, but I'm not sure how to sign off. So there.