Memory Lane: WA 2010

More from August 2010 "Memory Lane"... These are photos from a wonderful vacation we took to see friends Gabe & Hana and their boys, Liam & Silas, in Washington State.

Sam & Liam hamming it up and shoveling rocks along the beach on Guemes Island.

College friend Mike Sterner and his family also joined us on Guemes. Here Gabe takes Sam, Liam, Elinor and Ruthie for a row.

Lots of feasting on fresh crab. In this photo: Mike, Blair, Gabe & Kevin.

Very happy boys.

Our hosts Hana & Gabe with wee Silas who was just 8 weeks old!

Blackberries grow wild all over the island. Yum.

The Sterner girls proved to be intrepid blackberry pickers.

Jack & Sam getting to know baby Silas.

Hana with Silas.

After a few days in the San Juans we traded beach for the mountains of the Methow Valley.

Truth be told, the above family portrait was taken on what turned out to be a less than graceful hike for our family. Unexpectedly frigid air coupled with fatigue got the better of our Sam Q. who was decidedly grumpy and unimpressed with the mountain view. Alas... At least he did his part to make the outing memorable!

The Masts pressed on without us...

We celebrated Jack's 1st birthday at the little cabin we rented. This photo of a tired Jack and his store-bought cake is quite sad looking, but we did manage to get in some festive singing and hip-hip-hoorays before the birthday boy was ushered off to bed.

More beautiful hikes...also known as schlepping small children through the woods...

Kevin with Sam & Jack.

Hana with Silas.

The sweet little cabin we shared.

Our view.

What could be cooler than licking an ice cream cone from a horse's saddle?!

In Seattle we met up with more college friends. L to R: me & Jack, Gretchen Muller, Beth French, Kristin Moore-Huey (my roommate for three semesters), Kristin's son, Hawkeye (in stroller), and Sam.

At the famous Pike Place Market in Seattle.

I think Sam will never forget watching the fish mongers shouting and tossing large, whole fish through the air to impress the tourists. Even now we still play a game where we throw the boys onto the bed and yell, "Sockeye! Bag-o-Rocks!"

We also stayed a couple of nights outside Seattle with my Uncle Jon and Aunt Cheri, and visited with my cousin Nikki and her family on Mercer Island. Unfortunately I failed to capture those visits with photos but we had such a nice time with all of them and truly enjoyed their hospitality.

Such a fun trip!

Memory Lane: August 2010

Since I accidentally took a year-long hiatus from our blog starting last summer, I'm going to throw in a few "Memory Lane" posts to catch up. These memories are from August 2010.

Morfar & Grandma Kay came for a visit!

Along with girlfriends Janice, Anne, Chelsy and Meeghan, I competed in a triathlon. (Decided next time I'd better train!)

Sam & Uncle Willy at cousin Sheila's wedding in Warren, PA.

Visiting Kathy's mother known as Grammie-Maine to her grandchildren and Gigi to her great-grandchildren. Along with Kevin and the boys are Kevin's sister,Laura, and her girls, Ava and Bella.

.

Grammy-Maine (Romaine Ericsson) and Mimi.

It was a special visit for everyone and Gigi even played the piano for us.

Happy Birthday Jack

Jack turned TWO on August 26th! We came home from vacation on his birthday and failed to do a proper party. But he was delighted by a few gifts and ice cream topped with the blackberries we picked on Deer Isle. The following day we went to Mormor and Cappy's for blueberry cake, more gifts, and a couple rounds of "Happy Birthday" with Cappy on the piano. Sweet Jack could not have been more pleased.

Jack was slow to grow hair but now has the sweetest little curls at the nape of his neck. I tried to capture this darling do on camera the morning after his second birthday. His first haircut might make me weep.

And here is what Jack looked like on his 1st birthday! Photo taken in the Methow Valley, Washington State.

Deer Isle Vacation

Instead of hopping on a plane for our annual mid-August vacation, we opted to explore our own "back yard" and headed up the coast to Deer Isle. A decade ago I spent quite a bit of time on Deer Isle as a ceramics TA at the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts. Both the school and the island are magical to me. Kevin has been there but it was a first for our boys and they both loved it. Truth be told, we could have been anywhere because what they loved most was the four of us just being together; it had been a long, busy summer for Kevin and the boys were thrilled to bask in his uninterrupted attention day after day.

"Get naked!", seemed to be Sam & Jack's rallying cry all summer long, so it was no surprise when the very first thing they did when we arrived at our rental house was to strip down and run free. Minutes after we arrived I snapped this photo of the boys and Daddy checking out the lay of the land.

Our romantic (and rather rustic) rental house.

Out our back door was this lovely expanse leading to a beautiful, quiet cove.

Said beautiful, quiet cove.

We brought our tandem and did a bit of riding with the boys. Ample snacks proved key to our success.

We went for some wonderful hikes through moss covered forests. Jack was an especially happy hiker and kept repeating, "Daddy, I hike every day!"

Barred Island Trail, as this one was called, led to a stunning spot where, at low tide, you can walk across to an island named...you guessed it...Barred Island.

Due to the shoe box sized shower at our rental house, the boys enjoyed bathing en plein air.

Just down the road from us was a place called Nervous Nellie's Jams and Jellies. Aside from selling delicious jams and jellies, it is also a fabulous, whimsical sculpture garden. We found it was a great place to drink coffee, eat scones and watch the boys explore.

We also took a day trip to Acadia National Park. Although not our smoothest day of vacation, (both boys were largely tired and grumpy), it was nice to remember what a stunning place Acadia is. It did feel a bit overrun with visitors, though, so we'll have to return when the boys are older and we can more easily disappear deep into the trails.

All in all, a wonderful vacation here in "Vacationland"...