Hat Island

We spent Saturday the 18th out at Hat Island to visit my grandpa.  Dode thought it was great because that meant we had the boat on the water the earliest it's been in years.  We only took four of the children because Jacob had to work and Isaac had a school activity to attend.  I had produce in the morning but once we were finished, we headed off, pulling away from the house around 9:00 am, quite early for our family!

We launched from the Everett boat launch.  When we got there, Dode tried to use his debit card to pay the launch fee, but the machine wouldn't accept his card.  We had to drive up to the bank, towing our boat through downtown Everett and wondering if we'd find a place to park, to get money out of the cash machine.  The launch payment kiosk didn't give change and the cash machine only gave $20's so I made a big sacrifice and walked across the street to buy a pastry in order to get bills that would add up to $8 for the launch fee.

We headed off with some excited children.  We were surprised to see many bald eagles on Jetty Island. They were spaced out along the driftwood and rocks and as we boated along the island, we kept seeing more and more.  Once we made it past Jetty Island, we were able to speed up and were soon heading to the island at a good clip.  The water was a bit rough so there was a bunch of whooping and hollering from Miriam and William.  Elizabeth hurt herself and spent the rest of the trip to the island crying.

When we got to Hat Island, we weren't sure where to tie up the boat but finally found the correct spot after three tries.  Hat Island is a small private island with no stores, just homes.  My grandpa lives too far from the marina to be a comfortable walk.  When we arrived, we called up to his house and my Uncle Dale soon drove down to pick us up.

It ended up feeling like a mini family reunion.  My mom is one of four siblings and three of them were there.  The children enjoyed playing at the beach and exploring outside.  It was nice to sit and visit, listening to the children who were getting along well with each other.

William's goal at the beach was to gather as many shells as possible.

Miriam went to the beach in style!

The children found this frog at my grandpa's house.  Gabriel wanted to bury it in an ash pile but Elizabeth saved it.

Chocolate the bear enjoyed his trip to the island and even made some new friends!

Miriam has been taking Chocolate the bear with her everywhere for years.

Dressed in her island finery.

The boys enjoyed digging up the lawn to look for bugs.

The normal rules of the road don't apply on the island.  The cars out there don't need tabs because all the roads are private.  Seat belts?  Who needs them!  The only rule for how many passengers you can take is how many you can stuff in the vehicle.

While visiting together, I remarked that I do not have a normal family.  The men were sitting around talking.  Assembled was my husband, a land surveyor, my step-dad, retired fireman now a luthier (guitar builder), my uncle, who has worked in the television industry his whole life, and my grandpa, a retired heating and air conditioning repair man.  They were discussing a commercial ice cream maker Dode is trying to refurbish and were throwing around terms like, "hard start kit" and discussing tearing into a compressor (with lots of technical lingo that went right over my head!).  My grandpa turned to my uncle and said, "Mike, do you remember seeing that hard start kit in the garage?"  He knew just where and what it was.  Maybe I'm wrong but I don't think most men from such varied could sit around and brainstorm how to get a balky compressor working again.

Although it looks like we're arriving, we're actually leaving in this photo.

We'd swung around the marina to be near the ferry so my mom could snatch a photo.

In our boat from back to front:  William, me, Dode, Anastaya, Gabriel, Miriam

We traded Gabriel for Elizabeth for the return trip.  Gabe really wanted to ride in the boat and Elizabeth really wanted to ride the ferry so it was a win/win.

The ride back was great.  The water was glass.  What took us at least 30 minutes in the morning took 15 minutes in the afternoon.  We stopped to watch some seals resting on a navigation buoy and let the little people have turns driving the boat. I asked Miriam and William if they'd had a good day and got an enthusiastic "Yes!" back as a reply.

Field Trip to the Aquarium with William

William's class field trip was a trip to the Seattle Aquarium.  This is the first year that his class and Miriam's class had different trips.  Why is that important?  When their trips coincide, the teachers give me Miriam and William to chaperon and no one else.  This time, I got William and two girls from William's class.  Why would that strike fear in my heart?  William is in a self contained special ed classroom.  I wondered what type of behaviors I was going to encounter.

My group, William, Abbie and Kiley

Why do children love these so much?

William loved the touch tanks.

dressed up in some diving duds

We ate our lunch in the underwater dome.

We were only at the aquarium for two hours before we had to load up the bus and head home.  

The girls and William did great.   I never lost anyone and for the most part, they got along.  The aquarium employees were training the otters while we were there.  I found it quite interesting and wanted to watch but the children spent about 30 seconds watching and were ready to move on.

Random Images

Some things don't have enough of a story to merit an entire blog post but they're worth saving for the memories.

My step dad Greg is a retired Seattle Firefighter.  He is learning to play the bagpipes so he can be part of the Seattle Firefighters Pipes and Drums band which plays at funerals and in parades.  He brought it over to practice when they came one Sunday for dinner.  I'm sure the shoppers at Haggen had to wonder where in the world the sound of bagpipes was coming from!  Miriam and Gabe think they're way too loud and run screaming with covered ears whenever the bagpipes come out.

We call this "The Natural".  Someday, people are going to hear Anastaya play the piano and think, "Some people are just gifted."  We know the true story.  She spends hours at the piano practicing.  She's started using a blindfold to help herself memorize the location of all the keys.

Dode hard at work as a dad.  This was one of Miriam's first times to drive the lawn mower around.

Although his pose looks very relaxed, he actually  had a purpose in sitting like that.  He could push his shoes into her seat, lifting it and cutting the engine, if she steered somewhere she shouldn't.  He also used this as the brakes since her feet don't reach to the pedals.

Just what everyone needs parked in front of their house, a rocket!

Keeping the porch around the front door cleaned up junk is an ongoing frustration of mine.  I don't think I've ever had to contend with a rocket before though!  The rocket is going to day camp this year for our outer space theme.

Dode in a tux!

We had a formal dinner and dance at church and Dode decided it was time to go all out.  What does that mean?  Well, it's the first time I've seen him in a tux or suit coat since I was 16!  (We went to the winter tolo together back then.)  He hasn't worn a suit coat since the last Sunday of his mission when he was 21.  When we got married, he asked me, "You're not going to make me wear a suit on my wedding day are you?"  I figured if I got to choose what I wore, he should get to choose what he wore, so it was a white shirt and tie for him.

He borrowed my step dad Greg's tux for the event.  The children, especially Anastaya, couldn't get over how "cute" we looked.

Looking good in our borrowed and thrift shop finery.  The girls thought my dress was amazing.  I'm not so sure, but I was looking for modest and this being prom season, there wasn't a lot to choose from at Value Village.  Not too bad for $10, but I think I was rocking the "older lady on a cruise dress" vibe.   Miriam tried it on the next day and is dreaming of when she'll fit into it in.

We had a nice time at the party.  Unfortunately, they were having problems with the speakers and we were never able to strut our stuff.  So, I had to be content with showing my snazzy husband off at the party.  The youth helped serve dinner at the party.  I thought Isaac would get to be our waiter, but he ended up dishing up plates in the kitchen.  It was a nice gesture to treat the event like a real restaurant where your plate comes already assembled instead of the buffets that usually happen at church events.  The drawback was that the youth aren't very skilled at serving.  Half our table got their food 20 minutes before the youth came back with food for the other half.  So half of us were stuck eating cold food.  

They had an area for taking photos. 

When Isaac was done with his kitchen duties, he agreed to get a photo with me.

I think he looks pretty good.  He thinks he looks like a dork because he doesn't have his usual smirk (He considers it his smolder).

Elizabeth and Mom Day

I took advantage of a groupon to buy a two for one boat trip for Elizabeth and I.  We left from LaConner and toured around the islands near the mouth of the Skagit River.  As we boated around, I realized that we didn't do anything that we couldn't do in our own boat but Elizabeth loved that it was just her and I.  She often thinks that there are too many people around and she can't really talk as much as she likes.

It was a beautiful day to be on the water.  We were able to explore two beaches, one on Goat Island and one on Hope Island.  Elizabeth loved exploring the beaches, looking for sea life and just enjoying being outside.  We saw seals, a few bald eagles and lots of birds.

Elizabeth felt that the beach to boat ratio needed to be much more beach, much less boat.

Seals on the beach that we watched for a while.

The boat we rode in.  Our captain, Captain Dave was quite a character.  He had a bluetooth phone and at one time he suddenly says, "Hello, this is Captain Dave.  We're sitting here on a beautiful day with a couple of girls and about 6 or 7 seals in the water swimming up to us.  What can I do for you?"  Without ever hearing the phone ring, it was weird to hear him suddenly start talking.

Captain Dave at the fort.

Our last stop was back to Goat Island where we had to ascend a rope to get up a cliff in order to explore the old military fort that was built before WW1.  Elizabeth loved climbing the rope and did it again and again just for fun.

At the top of the rope climb.  

I'm not as sure footed as Elizabeth so it wasn't quite as enjoyable for me!

sitting at the fort

Nature is taking back the fort structures

Elizabeth really wants to come back and camp as a family on Goat Island because she didn't get long enough to explore.  I haven't convinced Dode that the boat would be safe beached here though!

LaConner's rainbow bridge where we started and ended.

After our boat ride, we stopped at Snow Goose produce between LaConner and Conway for ice cream cones.  

So many choices!

Death by Chocolate for Elizabeth, Praline Pecan for me.

We had a successful day.  Elizabeth thanked me over and over and said what a great time she had.  

I thought it was a great day as well.  A sunny day on the water with a special girl is a great way to spend a Friday afternoon!

Writing About Writing

I created this narrative essay for an assignment in the writing class I'm taking at Coursera. Maybe it will be of interest to a few of you.

“There is nothing to writing.  All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.”  Variations on this quote have been attributed to many famous authors over the years, including Ernest Hemingway, Thomas Wolfe and Red Smith.  The idea that writing requires a hypothetical blood sacrifice appears to be a belief held by many.  In my own experience, writing from the heart often feels like standing naked in front of the room.

Several months ago, I wrote my most read blog post of all time, a post where I shared the struggle I had with trying to offer service with a willing heart.   (read it here)  “I could think of lots of reasons why I shouldn't have to help.  I started thinking of people I knew, who I was "sure" would be more appropriate to help out.”  I shared that ultimately I ended up helping, but that I wasn’t able to maintain the kind attitude I wanted.  I had a difficult time hitting the “publish” button on that post.  Did I want to share that part of myself with the mostly anonymous audience who reads my blog?  I wondered, if writing requires such a willingness of openness, why do reasonable people engage in it?

Earnest Hemingway wrote “All you have to do is write one true sentence.  Write the truest sentence that you know.”  Writing a blog is a vehicle where anyone can write one true sentence after another.  In order to see how my life as a writer compares to other people’s experiences, I searched the Digital Archive ofLiterary Narratives for other writers who express themselves through blogs.  I found three narratives that interested me, “Things I do not know” by May Harriet, ”I am a writer, really?” by Jenni Mantey and “Getting to know you” by Keith Addison.  Each writer discussed how they use a blog to share their life and interests.  May Harriet uses her blog to write about running.  Keith Addison writes about life with a child with a rare genetic disability.  Jenni Mantey uses her blog to share the day to day happenings in her life.  Like these writers, I maintain a blog where I share the things my family does as well as write about some of the challenges that come with raising six children, one of whom has special needs. 

Writing a blog is time consuming.  Trying to decide what to share and how to write in such a way that the reader is interested and engaged takes time, something each of us thinks we don’t have enough of.  Why then do people write blogs?  English is a second language for Jenni Mantey.  She writes of her experience with writing assignments, “For the most part, my writings were rather duties as if I had no choice but must write, therefore, I did not enjoy writing.”  Later in her essay, she says that through her blog, “By taking time, writing my ideas, and reading my own stories on the web, I have been feeling great sense of achievement.”  Although English is my primary language, there have been times in my life when, like Jenni, writing felt like a chore, not something to be enjoyed.   Like Jenni, maintaining a blog has been a way for me once again to enjoy the process of writing. 

May Harriet shares in her essay that she struggles with depression.  She has found that the feedback she receives through her blog is sometimes what inspires her to get out of bed in the morning.  Although I don’t struggle with depression, I have found that keeping an up to date record of my life does inspire me to do more.  If a few weeks go by and we don’t have any fun news to share, I’ll make sure to plan a fun event for our family.  I’ve also noticed that when we do things as a family, I am more conscious of small moments of whimsy and I am tuned in to the funny things my children say in order to write about them in the blog.

Keith Addison writes, “I think I am one of the few people who can say that writing saved my life.  If I hadn’t have kept that diary and had the outlet through my blog, I may not have been sitting here today to write this.”  He had struggled with binge eating for most of his life but by chronicling his struggles in his blog, he was able to overcome his eating challenges.  Another outcome of his blog was the opportunities he received to give presentations about raising a child with a genetic disability at medical conferences.

While blogging hasn’t saved my life, it has blessed it in unexpected ways.  A blog post I wrote about my husband’s work as a land surveyor was published in a magazine.  That publication was selected as the author of the year for the publication and I received an award of $500 for my contribution.  As a stay at home mom, unexpectedly receiving $500 was extremely validating to myself as an author. 

“There is nothing to writing.  All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.”  At times, narrative writing feels like creating the words with our very blood.  Why do writers choose to engage in such a sacrifice?  Through reading the narratives of other authors and comparing them to my own experience, I have found that although we have very different life experiences, writing benefits authors in similar ways. Writing is more than a form of expression.  It can be a way to heal ourselves, to inspire ourselves, and a way to open ourselves to unforeseen opportunities.  Just as physicians used to bleed their patients in order to cleanse them of sickness, when we “sit at a typewriter and bleed”, we create something that cleanses us, strengthens us and causes us to grow in unexpected ways.