Halloween on the frontier

We dressed up as a "frontierspeople" this year. It was Soren's idea.

Our costumes were based around the wooden rifle Soren recently acquired from his grandparents. It was his daddy's toy gun when he was a kid.

I borrowed vest, hat and pistols from a friend to make my "Calamity Shel" persona.

Soren wore a sheepskin hat -- good thing, since the wind was chill.

On the walk downtown, the men spotted an urban deer. We were thinking venison. But, darn, they both missed! (This is the longbow Jeff built this summer in a class at the new CedarRoot Folk School.)

At the downtown Trick or Treat Parade, we ran into friend Evelyn, a zombie princess.

We met up with this family (and took them home to dinner). A.J. was the coolest robot, and I appreciated that his mom held onto the remote!

And the boys had fun collecting candy from the downtown merchants. Soren got to eat four pieces today, because he's four.

This rule should work for a few more years, right?

Happy Halloween!

Soren turns four -- Grrr!

Can you believe it? Soren is 4!

Today (Sunday) was his birthday party, a memorable event shared with his best friend (and agemate) Tayla. Here they are blowing out the candles on their cupcakes. We hand-cranked ice cream, too, in what is becoming Soren's birthday tradition.

"Carnival of the Animals" was the party theme, so there was face-painting (Soren wanted to be a puppy)...

...and a pinata shaped like a monkey.

As always, the tire swing at our neighborhood park was a hit. Someone called this bunch "Soren and his girls." Much fun was had by all.

Then home for a good scrub in the bath.

We were lucky to have Grandpa and Grandma make the trip from E. Wash. to be with us today. A new puzzle and a new coloring book were among Soren's many gifts from the people who love him most.

"Now I can fight dragons more better," he said matter-of-factly, upon opening this present from his parents -- a knight's breastplate to go with his armor collection.

So now that he's 4, what's in store?

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!!