Life Lately

Good Morning to you!

It has been so cold here in Washington.  We woke up to a new year with a fresh blanket of snow.  It felt a little metaphoric. Fresh snow - fresh start. That's ok.  I like that. 

We've been stuck below freezing since then.

Daniel was in need of some shoes for the 12th Night Ball.  He and I went shoe shopping and saw this water fountain that was in front of the store next door.  I thought it looked so cool.  See, I wasn't kidding when I told you it's been COLD!

. . . . .

Our first Funday Monday of the new year brought us studies in value.

and then naming them. I love the difference in personality that shows through here.

contrast and value

. . . . .

Mary lost her first tooth!  She was SO EXCITED!  Three others are wiggly.
And that was the LAST of the first tooths.  😏

. . . . . 

We had our first family adventure of 2017.  

We took a ferry over to Whidbey Island to the little charming town of Langley for the 

"Sea Float Scramble".

Side Note:
Half way into our ferry ride they stopped the ferry completely so that a memorial could be observed.
This small group of people huddled together for, what appeared, special words and prayer.

They then threw two packages into the water followed by white rose petals.  I had no idea that the ferry system would let you do that.  I thought you could only do that from a private vessel or the Neptune Society.  Anyway, I debated about whether or not to snap a photo, not wanting to be disrespectful or irreverent, but since I was witness to it, I chose to.

We arrived in Langley with plenty of time and found the spot where this Scramble was to take place.

This sea float experience is different from the one on Jetty Island.  The floats here are not hidden, but rather a race to get to them first.  We thought we had a pretty good chance because we were up in front.

Believe it or not we did NOT get to any floats in time!  Both Ellie and Abbie were right up front, but they are not aggressive.  Mary stayed with Eric (good thing!) Daniel, Hannah, and I were about 4-5 rows of people back, so by the time we got to where they were...

BUT,  there are some kind people in the world.  Abbie and I were together when an older lady came up to her and asked if she had gotten one.  I think she could see Abbie's disappointment and offered her a "wishing stone".  It's a flat piece of smooth glass with colors inside.  Someone else offered the same thing to Ellie, and best of all...a man asked Mary and Eric if they had gotten anything, and he gave a sea float to Mary!

 A local glass artisan makes these especially for this annual event.  This year they put out 500 of them!

Afterwards we hit the local coffee joint that we really like for some hot chocolate and pour-overs.
Across the street is the sweet shop.  How could we not go in for a sea salt dark chocolate?
While there we bumped into the mayor, and he was astounded by the turnout of people.  In years past, he said there were always enough floats for everyone to have one.

It was super cold, but super fun, and we came home with a few treasures.  :-)

. . . . .

A friend invited us to see the Gothard Sisters perform at a local school.  They were amazing.  They all began learning classical violin (like at age five), but have learned other instruments as well (guitar, penny whistle, bodhran drum, mandolin, just to name a few) - AND they are competitive Irish Dancers as well.

They made fiddling and dancing look so easy.  They were truly inspiring.
How we would all love to take Irish dancing lessons!)

. . . . .

It's a quieter week for us this week.  For that I am thankful, as we continue to ease into routine again and try to find a good rhythm for school and...stuff.

- Carol

Linking with Image-in-ing and Strangers and Pilgrims