Sara Bear

My bold, playful, fearless but sensitive girl… giggling makes her hiccup, she wears shorts in cold weather and cozy fleece pajamas on hot summer nights, she loves books more than any toy available, she sings in a high little voice while she plays, she can tell a fairly detailed story in one long breath, and she loves to goof around but prefers to only be called a silly name if it is accompanied by her real name, such as “Sara Bear.”

Opting for a preschool close to home this year, we are starting a new two day a week co-op preschool program next week. Today was our kick-off play date where the teachers and all of the kids and moms (and one dad) showed up to get to know each other. Looking so grown up and poised, she quickly befriended two classmates who shared her love of bouncing on the teeter totter, climbing, running around, and zipping down the swirly slide.

Spinning tall tales about why she needed a band-aid on her finger this morning (the real story is that she just plain loves band-aids, especially princess ones)--I think her new friends totally understand

Fast friends

Shine On

We celebrated the Harvest Moon with a potluck out at Jubilee Farm Monday night. As the sun set, the golden hued moon rose over the treetops, lighting up the happy scene of Farmers Erick and Wendy surrounded by CSA members, friends, family and neighbors.

Our favorite farmers, Wendy and Erick Haakenson

Hay bales were set up for sitting but the kids decided hay-hopping was a better idea.

Despite my efforts to explain otherwise, Sara says that the gorgeous glowing moon absolutely positively followed us the whole way home. We are rarely out driving after dark so it was a thrilling ride home for her. She kept mentioning that things were "flashing" and it dawned on me that she probably didn't know what else to call the "glow" of streetlamps and other lights in the dark.

Roadside photography, a stop along the way home, appreciating the gorgeous night

Yup, I'm A Soccer Mom

Cleats, shin guards, special socks, and his very own size 3 regulation soccer ball in gleaming red (not shown):  William is all tricked out with cool soccer gear and he finally got to use it today. We arrived at the field not knowing what to expect. What we found was organized chaos, masses of suited-up kids with their parents and siblings, looking for their coaches and place on the giant field. Once we found our team, William proudly put on his new burgundy t-shirt and joined in the practice. He and his teammates look strangely the same (same hair color and cuts along with the matching shirts) and I had a Twilight Zone moment.  You are about to enter another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land of cleats and shin guards… next stop, the soccer field!

They start out their session kicking the ball around with teammates then the remainder of the hour is spent in a scrimmage with another team. It surprised me to see my “sweet William” aggressively go after the ball and oops, sometimes he was so focused on the ball that he forgot to not try to get it away from his own teammates. But he was not alone in his confusion and all of these little guys play pretty rough. There were several minor collisions and one was with William’s noggin. After a couple tears and sitting out for a minute he jumped right back in once he saw the game was going on without him. And to think this was the boy I worried about riding the bus on his own…

This is my favorite shot of the day. Look at that determination on his face, he is gonna get in there!

Wait, maybe this is my favorite. It shows him enjoying the way his cleats propel him off the unnatural spring of artificial turf.

What is that on his chin, you ask? Band-aid covering an almost-Doctor-worthy split chin... apparently sitting in a dining room chair is more dangerous than soccer, he just plain fell off while eating lunch. Makes him look extra tough, don't you think?

Sara sat patiently on the sidelines during all this, inspecting the bizarre pebbly rubber material that is part of the artificial turf. I didn’t think she paid much attention to the game but as William relayed the excitement of the whole experience to Daddy at dinnertime, I realized she hadn’t missed a beat. “When I be five I gonna get a sparkly blue ball and not bonk my head but not let anyone get da ball from me and I get it in da net and I win!” she said all in one breath.

Let the games begin, I’m officially a soccer mom.

This Moment: Huckleberry Heaven

A Friday ritual. A photo capturing a simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment that I want to pause, savor, and remember. Hosted by SouleMama. (If you're inspired to do the same, please leave a comment below with your link.)

The Wisdom of Daddy: Surprise!

Give me an itinerary and I will give you organized bundles of toys for the car or plane, homemade snacks to keep blood sugars even, and a suitcase packed with everything our family might need (and then some). Planning and organizing can be part of the fun but sometimes it’s a huge relief to just relax and see where the day (or the Dad) takes us.

Weekend hikes have been a surprise all summer. The kids pepper their Daddy with questions:  “Where are we going, Dad?” “What’s the name of this place?” and everyone’s favorite “Are we there yet?” but he just keeps driving, not offering any clues about our destination. There’s a good chance he is simply undecided about which hike would suit us best but I prefer to think that this added element of surprise is a stroke of genius.

Speaking of surprises, Rob planned a brilliant overnight trip to Vancouver, BC for my birthday. He told me about it on Thursday then we left early Saturday morning, leaving the perfect amount of time to get things together but not obsess about the details or over-pack. Forty eight hours in Vancouver really doesn’t do the city justice but we managed to experience plenty of highlights without getting stuck in obnoxious Labor Day traffic at the border crossing.

Using Bing’s travel alerts, Rob scored an excellent last-minute deal at the Fairmont Pacific Rim, set near the lively harbor full of sea planes, enormous cruise ships, and the majestic sails of the iconic Canada Place. The Fairmont kindly let us check in early so we had our home base established, suitcase dumped, car parked, and we were ready to explore.

Our whirlwind of fun began with a bus ride to Granville Island, a mecca for art, shops, food, glorious produce, and all kinds of entertainment.  

We wandered aimlessly enjoying the sunshine, street entertainers and musicians, and window-shopping until we stumbled upon the Kids Market and our children saw a wall of toys in a store window… they had William and Sara at Lego. Rob and I had other thoughts on the best way to spend our time, namely not indoors and not shopping, so after letting them look for a bit, we pried the kids away from the clutches of the insanely huge building full of toy shops with the lure of lunch.

Next stop:  lunch at Bridges then the famous Granville Public Market. I’d like to say that we walked through this historic market full of exotic wares slowly and let all of our senses be delighted by the amazing sights, smells, and sounds but (here is where I wonder whether blogging should always be the whole truth and nothing but the truth) yours truly had a little meltdown…. nothing embarrassing just a quiet yet abrupt “Get me OUT of here!!!” moment. The closed-in marketplace was absolutely packed with people, it was extremely noisy, I was clutching on to Sara’s little hand terrified that I might lose her, and hating that William and Daddy were so far ahead that I couldn’t see them.  Plain and simple, I was overwhelmed. And since we had just dragged the kids out of the toy store I didn’t understand why we were “shopping” more.

Yeah, that's what I felt like, "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

Rob did not understand why I was suddenly freaking out and I was not in a great place to coherently explain myself. It took some time but we recovered. The refreshing water park smack dab in the middle of everything helped. We had fun running around in the mist, splashing in troughs of water, and spraying a couple fire hoses. After some fresh air, deep breathing, and being hosed down (kidding), I came to understand that (duh) people come to this island simply to experience the very market that had me out of my mind. We weren’t there to shop, rather we were there to experience interesting new things, one of the mantras of our vacation agenda... oops, Mommy forgot… maybe I needed a nap. Anyhow, we gave it another try and did great the second time around. We got to sample local honey, check out vegetables and fruits we had never heard of, admire handmade hats and scarves, appreciate local art, drool over gorgeous pastries, and take a nice quiet little break perusing books (a wonderful little bookstore was right across the street in another building called the Net Loft).  

A moving iron sculpture with balls rolling on ramps and chain "elevators" lifting the balls back up, located right next to the enormous cement factory. Even the massive cement trucks are decorated in colorful art on this Island.

Native artisans actually carve totem poles right on Granville Island -- they weren't working when we passed by but we got to peek a their workshop and see their creations up close.

After discussing the different images depicted on totem poles, Sara declared "dis one me!"

Pondering frozen treat options

Sara holding my hand

Our ride to the next destination

Taking the AquaBus was a relaxing and fun way to leave Granville Island. It took us to Science World.  

We didn't go in (it was under renovation plus we didn't want to be inside on such a pretty day) but Science World did look great -- maybe next time.

We were all a little tired by this point but talking about a ride on the SkyTrain perked the kids right up. 

We started high above ground, zooming along with views of the city. The kids were fascinated when it went dark around us and our stop was underground

A transportation theme had emerged. We drove the car up, rode the bus to Granville Island, hopped on a little boat to catch the SkyTrain then back to the hotel which is right next to the busy harbor with seaplanes, cruise ships, and all types of marine vessels coming and going.

The hotel's kid-friendly (only 3' 6" deep) pool was the perfect respite after our jet-setting day.

…and the pool was the perfect start the following day. After a little morning splashing we said goodbye to the Fairmont and were back in our car heading toward the awe-inspiring Stanley Park. Having misjudged the distance from the parking lot to the Fish House restaurant where we planned to have brunch, the kids were a bit tired but the benches along the way were a good spot to rest and the payoff was an incredible meal.

William with his cornflake crusted, banana, nutella french toast topped with caramel, whipped cream, strawberry and mint. No, this boy is not interested in the kids menu, thank you

William was happy and the waiter was impressed

A family could spend a full week in Stanley Park and still have fun things left to do. After some time at one of the many incredible playgrounds, we opted to hop on the Stanley Park Trolley to see as much of the park in our limited time frame.

Waiting for the trolley... looking a tad bit tired

While we would have loved to get out and enjoy the park more, the trolley turned out to be perfect for the kids' dwindling energy levels and it rounded out our "transportation theme" beautifully.

The Stanley Park Trolley, complete with a clanging bell at every stop

Rob loves giving gifts of experiences rather than things and I feel very lucky to have received such a well-planned gift. Thank you, Sweetie!

Seed Collecting

Like an industrious little squirrel, I enthusiastically collect flower seeds every year. Many years ago I would roll my eyes at my mother doing the same thing on just about every walk we’ve ever taken. Well, I suppose I used to roll my eyes at her for breathing … sorry, Mom. My dear Mother was always on the lookout for pretty flowers and abundant seed heads while I was always on the lookout for Park Rangers to slap our hands from taking seeds from the park. Now, I’ve come full circle and here I am scurrying around (mostly in my own back yard) looking for seeds to collect.

Seed collecting is pleasing on so many levels. I will admit I get some perverse defiant pleasure from by collecting my own seeds. I pluck those plump little seed heads and think about how much money I’ll save the next year in seed purchases. “Ha!” I think, “I’ll show you, $2.99 seed- packet-company, my homegrown seeds are better than yours and they don’t cost a cent!” Don’t tell Monsanto, they’ll be after me…

Mostly, I just love being outside doing something fun and useful. My heart feels full of gratitude for the plants that thrived enough to produce seed, and I look forward to Spring thinking about what new plants I’ll try the following year and where I’ll sow these seeds. The kids love helping too and there are tons of learning opportunities. We look at how each seed looks different and how some have little “wings” to help them float away to a new location while others are “designed” to just fall to the ground. Much to the kids’ delight, a little potty talk gets thrown in when we discuss how seeds can be carried in bird poop. After they’re done snickering about mom saying “poop,” they go back to sensing my attachment to seed gathering and respectfully treat each little seed like a tiny treasure.

Other times they lose interest and decide it's time to bring Mr Potato Head outside to play... that's alright, they let me borrow his hat.

This Moment: Self Portrait

A Friday ritual. A photo capturing a simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment that I want to pause, savor, and remember. Hosted by SouleMama. (If you're inspired to do the same, please leave a comment below with your link.)