Bloom and Sprout: April 2012

First track meet of the season today. I didn't get many photos as it was very disorganized and busy plus it started POURING down rain on us. Will ran through a huge rain shower and we were all soaking wet as we waited for him to finish up his long jump before we headed home. Click on the links to see videos of his events.

Diggers

Lovely Day for a Tractor Ride

Snail Trail

Salmon to Sound

The last batch of salmon were released tonight and we gathered at dusk with flashlights to see them begin their journey. Some of them will complete it in around 15 or so hours but many more will take 2-3 days to make it down the creek to the salt water.

Another One

We clearly spend a LOT of time at this park! This morning as we arrived a firetruck was there for kid to tour and chat with real live firefighters then we saw three trains pass on each track one right after the other and two together. Jasper just stood there as though he were waiting for rapture.

Stop to Smell the Flowers...Please?!

I really hoped to get a nice portrait of the boys in the tulip fields but I could hardly get them to stop moving long enough to turn on the camera. Most of these are action shots!

But the tulip fields were gorgeous. I overheard someone saying that there are over 140 different kinds of tulips and around 240,000 flowers in the fields!

Coolest Slide

Beach Buddies

Our dear friends have been away in NY for awhile and it was fun to catch up with them now that they have returned.

Trainspotting

Here comes the train!

Will is standing on the bridge

This was likely our last weekend feeding the baby fry as they will be released this Saturday. The boys have really enjoyed our early morning fish feeding and trainspotting missions.

Save Our Shoes

Tiptoe through the tulips...

I looked up from my camera to discover that my subject was lying in a puddle! See his hat?

Jasper at low tide--without boots

Lately I have been lacking in my ESM (extrasensory mommy foresight) and going to places in Seattle without boots and encountering water in the form of tremendous puddles, sandy tidepools or surf. This is a huge fumble on my part because Jasper is so attracted to water that he cannot be contained when either of these possibilities for tromping, running, splashing or galloping can occur. This means that he is almost always soaked from head to toe and his darling little shoes squeeze out bubbles of mud when he walks.

Ugh, I must be better prepared!

The real winning moment was today at the Tulip Festival which wasn't the idyllic setting that I envisioned with my children running through the tulips wearing perfect smiles. The only thing I had right in my daydream was that they were running and there were tulips present but along with that came tractor tracks filled with deep sloshy slippery mud. At one point I looked at Jasper and he was laying down in a puddle of mud laughing.

I later came to realize that I had packed the boys' boots in the trunk along with extra clothes! Next time I'll have my ESM tuned in AND I'll remember as much!