All about the B's

(finally!! - that weekend wrap-up from a week ago that I'd promised and had been working on before the Sickness became our 7-day housemate)

Bathtime, Birthdays, Bikes, Babies, Boats & Such

I had this great epiphany. I'm always looking for little windows of time to blog and do other sundry tasks. The solution, of course, was a time when I wasn't really doing anything else: during Benjamin's bath. The only problem is that bath time can be like monsoon season, so I have to take great care to put down lots of towels and sit a good distance away to protect the laptop for direct shots from his water missiles. So, I write away in the combat zone.

This weekend was the best of times, and oh, my friends - the worst. Let me take you on the journey that was our weekend...

Happy Birthday, Grandma!

Friday began our weekend in style. We celebrated mom's 61st year of being born with a birthday dinner of White Chicken Chili, Green Salad, and Orange Jell-O. Warm, comfort food on a cold November evening is a sure recipe for success, I'd say. Because it was a small party, I opted to get her an individual fruit tart. She brought some Andes Mint Cupcakes from their bishop's cupcake shoppe and we rounded out the dessert offerings with some orange sherbet, of which my dad made short work.

Island Hopping Adventures

While Dave headed out for a mountain biking trip to Issaquah, we headed north on Saturday morning. We drove along the Snohomish valley where we saw lots of horses and cows, drove up I-5 and caught beautiful views of the orangey-pink skies, beside the empty tulip fields of Mt. Vernon, across the 180'-high Deception Pass bridge (& marks the point we "hopped" onto the island) until we found ourselves in the Scandinavian town of Oak Harbor. We left as the sun was rising and it was extremely cold. Benjamin enjoyed Honey Nut Cheerios, Craisins, & frosty milk on our 90 minute drive. And we had the song, "BananaPhone" on repeat the whole time - per his request; I think he could sing it by memory by the time we rolled into the Applebee's parking lot!

March of Dimes Fundraiser

My sister is one of the coordinators of the Whidbey Island March of Dimes walk each year. Part of her duties include putting together events, such as this breakfast fundraiser last Saturday. And since we had no other plans that day, I thought we'd take a nice drive to join in on the orange juice, scrambled egg, pancake, bacon, syrup-y fun of it all.

It's all about Family

(Ethan, Jen Me, Kal & Gabe)

We don't normally look this "squinty-faced"; thanks to that rare thing called sunshine, our impromptu photo shoot in front of Applebee's found us staring straight into the glowing orb.

Ride the Ferry: a Washington State tradition

Instead of driving back the way we came, I decided to drive the length of Whidbey and catch the ferry from Clinton to Mukilteo. And it was Benjamin's first ferry ride... that he remembers. Can't say for sure, but I think he kind of loved it.

The "& Such" Portion of the Weekend

I don't have pictures of this section but, holy moly, it was a roller coaster ride of stomach flu terror. Projectile bodily fluids never make for a good weekend wrap-up, so I will just leave it there. However, before closing this post, I will say that being sick stinks. Being sick when your husband is sick super stinks. And when you, your husband and any or all children are sick, the whole wide world must obviously be coming to an catastrophic end... cause that's how bad it is.