Orcas Island

West Beach, Orcas Island

Mom, take a picture of me looking for shells
When you throw these little pebbles into the ocean, it makes a cool sound!

Hats are not for heads, they are for rock and shell gathering

On the ferry.

On top of Mt. Constitution on Orcas Island

Heidi tried to pose like the rest of the girls. She tossed her head and nearly fell off of her perch.

A day of posing!

Five little monkeys sitting in a tree

A friendly passing photo journalist snapped our picture

Gathering precious, precious rocks at Deception Pt. State Park

Love that gap tooth smile!

Ugh! This year has gone too fast. It's already November and then comes December and that only lasts a minute until 2011 and then we'll all die a year later because of the Mayan apocolypse. I don't think I can be ready in time.

A couple of weekends ago we took a ferry out to Orcas Island in the Sound. It was scheduled to rain all day, but it was warm and beautiful. We did a bunch of nice little hikes, went to 3 different beaches (one sandy, one with big boulders, and one with pea gravel sized black rocks) We ate at an old restaurant that smelled like Grandma Hunter's house in Cottage Grove. I found my first piece of sea glass. The kids came home with their pockets and hats stuffed full of rocks and bits of sea shells, because that's what is bred into them. Dan was exasperated. I snuck a few really pretty specimen into my pockets while he wasn't looking. Our neighbor has a rock polisher. I think I'm going to borrow it and make a little sound pollution along with shiny rocks.

It took me two mornings to clean up Malynn and Sophie's room. That's like slugging through a disaster area. I found all kinds of things in there. Three packets of my nice, expensive 12 x 12 cardstock, which mysteriously got there, because Malynn certainly did NOT put them in there. A bazillion candy wrappers. The best was when I pulled the blankets (and ALL of the rest of the garbage) off of Malynn's bed to change the sheets. I found all of her rocks from Orcas Island nestled in the little spot she saves for sleeping in. There was sand too. This morning when she woke up, she was all itchy. I think she may be allergic to cleanliness.
What are your plans for Thanksgiving? This will be our second year on our own. I'm trying to find someone to invite over, because that much food deserves more sharing. We'll have to see. I'm already salivating. Turkey with cranberry sauce. Creamy mashed potatoes with gravy. Sweet potato souffle. Relish and vegetable plates. Everything else is just filler. MMMMMMMMmmmmmm!!!!! And for Dan, of course, there will be at least 5 pies. I think I might break out one of my precious three jars of strawberry rhubarb juice concentrate that I made this summer. I'd better get shopping!