I ♥ Washington

Yesterday Woodine and I picked up a second child carrier backpack. On our way home we saw The Rainbow. I'm not saying we saw a rainbow. It was "The Rainbow". Probably straight from Genesis, or the Muppets, or Ireland. It was so bright. And unlike any other rainbow I have ever seen, it was in front of trees about 100 yards away. I have never seen a rainbow that shone in the foreground of the landscape view, but this one did and it was spectacular.

I have the day off, so this morning we went on a nearby hike. It's about 10-15 minutes away from our house and has a trail with 4 different loops and some elevation change as well as great views across the Hood Canal (the nearest fjord in our area). As it seems like always happens, our camera was out of juice. But we managed to take 3 pictures. It was low tide and we were able to go down to the shore and toss rocks into the water, look at oysters and barnacles find little sand crabs and enjoy the view. This was Atom's first hike and he enjoyed it in his own abnormally quiet way. He fell asleep on the way back to the car.

It was so muddy! MaryP ran around and got some mud on her shoes, but Woodine's and my shoe were caked. At first we tried to avoid the mud, but by the end we just tromped through it. MaryP got to feel how soft the moss ubiquitous in this area is with her little hands, I held a little crab in my hand for her.

Woodine and I are REALLY going to miss this area. We keep on saying that to each other. WE will miss the many wonderful people we have been lucky enough to rub shoulders with and to call friends. That is always the hardest part about moving. The people. We will also miss the views. I cannot think of a place that combines the beauties of nature better. Green forests, blue water, misty snow-capped mountains and bald eagles soaring overhead; this is a description of . . . my drive to work. I will sorely miss the scenery here. Now Amphibians and other creatures of the Arizona desert, do not mistake us, we are very excited to be close to ya'll, but probably not for the scenery.

And for some general humor, MaryP is a big fan of Disney's Sleeping Beauty. She often insists we call her Princess Aurora. During breakfast she dubbed me Malificent, and Mom was the Handsome Prince. Then she came and sat on my lap and gave me a big hug and said, "I love you so much, Malificent!" She then explained that handsome princes were good at killing dragons and Princess Aurora is really good at falling asleep. She pricks her finger everyday. What a role model! Every parent's dream at bedtime.

Here are some recent pictures of the family.