Dressing up & treehouse update

Sorry for the gap in blog posts. I (Shelly) have been more than a little busy in the last two months organizing an Earth Day celebration with Local 20/20 and volunteering for the 2nd annual PT Wearable Art Show, which is a fundraiser for Jefferson County's Fund for Women and Girls.

This is the second year I wrote a script for and emceed this amazing runway fashion show. Here I am after the show with the "Best in Show" winning wearable art (a Dacron wedding dress detailed with sailcloth "feathers") modeled by the artist's mother. The artist, Riel, is second from right. Debbi, at far right, is the event chair. Kudos to ALL who were involved in this incredible effort. See more pix of the winning entries here.

Meanwhile, Soren hasn't stopped growing up. He is officially 3-3/4 today, and already answers "almost 4" when asked how old he is. Here he is on our Easter Sunday beach walk.

Most mornings, he straps on his sword and scabbard before he even eats breakfast. Here he is, fully armed, for whatever dragons or evildoers he may encounter in The Roost. (Note: it's a cap gun, and it fits in the chest pocket of his overalls.)

Another kind of dress-up has intrigued him lately: the fluffy princess and fairy costumes worn by his little girl friends. He borrowed this get-up from his friend Tayla (pictured below). Note the RC car at his feet.

 

When I promised to stock a dress-up box of his very own, we hit Goodwill and found a set of six costume noses. What a find!

Tayla is still Soren's best friend, and their shenanigans give both of our families lots of laughs and cute photo opps. I don't think I need to say more!

I'll close with an update on the backyard treehouse, which has been joined by a firepit -- meaning s'mores at least once a week. Since this photo has been taken, Jeff has added railings between all the treehouse posts.

Glad to have some time this weekend to catch up on photos -- and with you! Happy Memorial Day.

Spelunking and sailing: The latest adventures

Today Soren accomplished his biggest cave exploration to date. He made it all the way to the pitch-black and somewhat scary end of an abandoned mining tunnel in the Anacortes Forest Lands. He and his grandparents had tried to explore it before without proper lights, so this time (with his mom and Aunt Jill along), we brought multiple flashlights.

Soren showed his characteristic caution for new situations, but once he made it timidly to the destination (not wanting to be in the lead), his confidence perked up, and with his own flashlight he made several solo trips in and out, laughing and singing and shouting echoes and collecting rocks--all the things that make spelunking so much fun.

It's very nice to have rendezvoused in Anacortes with Auntie Jill, who is visiting us from Portland. She's starting school (again) this summer to become a nurse practitioner, at OHSU. Congrats, Jilly!

In other adventures.... On the last day of March, we were honored to be aboard the first public sail of the 2012 season for the schooner Adventuress. She schooned around Port Townsend Bay in the rain, testing out her new mainsail (the biggest one on the west coast!), and Soren got to check everything out. (He'll be volunteer crew in no time.)
Soren's favorite activity? A close second to dogging down the watertight doors in the fo'c'sle bulkhead (just like in the Nautilus submarine in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea!) was viewing fresh-caught plankton with a video microscope in the deckhouse.
Now, when I was crew in 1999, we didn't have such fancy equipment. But no way could we have ever spotted an urchin larva with those old magnifying boxes! With this, we could even see diatom chains. Way cool.
Too bad Jeff couldn't come with us; he was manning a booth for Power Trip Energy Corp. at the Sequim Home Show. But my boy and I had a memorable sail together. Here's to many more.

P.S. If you're not a subscriber to Soren Talks, he also posted today:

http://sorentalks.blogspot.com/2012/04/im-all-boy-and-i-can-drive-tractor-too.html

Soren's new tree house

Poor Soren... He has pink eye, but he also has a new tree house! Should we pity or envy him?

Well, if you have to stay home from preschool for a week and a half, you might as well have something fun to climb on in your own backyard!

Jeff has been busy (at least, until he caught pink eye from Soren yesterday--sigh) building this structure from salvaged lumber.

It features poles from the deer fence that was shortened when we built our garage, treated wood joists and untreated cedar planks disassembled from a deck one of Jeff's solar clients was getting rid of, and a temporary aluminum ladder for access.

The tree is a volunteer plum that was there when we cleared the lot for building, and has been doing poorly in the last year -- many dead branches. So Jeff carved it up and left a structure of branches that would support a tree house.

It will get a railing eventually.

Here's Jeff at work. This corner of our rather big backyard is the least "organized," to put it kindly. But we're working on it. There's a playhouse planned to be built out of the rest of the deck pieces at the far left of this photo.

The new planter bed (will be between the two play structures) has raspberries and strawberries, because when Jeff asked Soren what he wanted his playhouse and tree house to be like, his pithy response was, "I want them to be near berries."

I think we need not pity Soren, because he's almost all better. The pink eye diagnosis was actually the first time he's been to the doctor outside of preventative visits. His strong constitution headed off the worst, and his energy has remained high. (To my weary chagrin...)

P.S. I am the lone healthy person standing in our family of three. Pray for me!

Winter at the beach

Can't say I'm a born Northwesterner (being birthed in Tennessee), but I'm certainly a bred Northwesterner. I love our mild winters and am secretly hoping we won't get any snow this year.

Soren, of course, is a born-and-bred Port Townsendite, so he doesn't know any differently. For him, Christmas means not snowballs and icicles, but 50-degree days at the beach. Wearing a scarf, yes, but not his mittens or hat.

I had to keep pulling out my camera while we played with a buddy on Dec. 16 at Fort Worden State Park. (That's the Point Wilson Lighthouse.) We stayed out till the sun went down.

Soren's good friend Django.

I'll close with a Soren-ism. In reply to my off-hand comment that we haven't had any snow yet, Soren says, "No, but we've had lots of frosting!"

Wherever you are in the world and however chilly or mild your Christmas will be, we wish you happy holiday greetings!

P.S. Check out Soren Talks for his version of "Merry Christmas."

Thirty-six Thanksgiving pix

I'm sharing 36 pix from our Thanksgiving celebration at my grandpa's house on Vashon Island.

Guaranteed to make you nostalgic for the time when your fingers were small enough for the black olives to fit on!

Click here to view the Picasa album.

Happy extended holiday season!!

Photo series: Soren in the chair

I call this series "Soren in the Chair."

Soren and his friend Tayla -- and stuffed animal friends, too.

Soren reading to Papaw -- wearing Papaw's glasses!

Nice new striped shirt (size 4!) is from Grandma Gloria...

...As is this cozy new bathrobe, which Soren donned this evening after his bath. Jeff pressed him into service licking the whipped cream beaters. Then he and I snuggled up in "The Chair" and read too many stories to count.

Happy Thanksgiving to all our friends and relations! May you have whipped cream, stories and snuggles, too.

Two knights and a queen this Halloween

Introducing Sir Dance-alot and his family!

There was swashbuckling, capture, enslavement, and escape in the Randall clan this Halloween! We took the drama to our downtown parade, and acted out the fight that freed the queen and enslaved the bad Viking-knight. Soren, of course, was the hero!

The sword and helmet were a birthday gift from Grandpa Jim and Grandma Gloria. There was a scabbard on a sash, but it restricted his movement and wasn't worn long. Someone commented that Soren looked like a chess piece -- hee hee!

Soren chose his own costume this year and he wanted to be a knight, but one inspired by his current favorite movie, How to Train Your Dragon. If you've seen it, you'll notice that Jeff resembles Hiccup's dad...which translated to "Viking knight." He took along his boffer sword.

It was an unseasonably warm October 31st, with warm sunshine and no breeze blowing off the bay.

Soren peeks in his friend Tayla-cat's candy bag to see what's inside. He called the few pieces of candy we allowed into his possession "trick-or-treats." He graciously shared what he had with us. Such a chivalrous action!

We wrapped up the evening with a lighted jack-o-lantern walk in a friend's woodlot. Very magical for a boy who is developing his first traditions around this rather bizarre holiday. Well, see ya stormin' the castle!