Our First Squash

When Jairo and I bought our first home in Utah my plan was to get the yard in order and plant a garden. Well, we moved before we finished getting the yard in order. So, we've now been here in Washington for 4 years and I finally started a garden! I admit, it is quite small, but at least I finally got something started. I planted tomatoes, summer squash, zucchini, and red peppers. I got started a bit late so I used starts for all of the plants and the zucchini didn't make it past the first week. I was actually shocked by this as you always hear how easy it is to grow zucchini. So, I wasn't holding out much hope for the rest of my plants, but luckily all of the other plants have done well. Here is our first squash. Yum!!

So, Ethan has been dying for a scooter for some time. It does amaze me that at 1 1/2 he already has his mind set on things he would like to have for his own. When we visited Utah in May every time we went on walks he kept stealing scooters from the yards in my mom's neighborhood. Here, whenever we go outside if he see someone on a scooter he looses interest in whatever he is doing and runs over to try and wrestle his way onto the scooter. So, I finally broke down and bought him a scooter last week. I assembled it while he was napping and when he came down stairs he was so excited that he forgot all about wanting a snack. He just jumped right on and kept saying, "Outside! Outside!" It was fun to see him so happy with his scooter. To my surprise, he's actually quite a coordinated rider. The unfortunate part to the scooter story is that we have been dragging that thing around with us for days! I have to load it in the car just to get him out the door without a total meltdown. Hopefully that part of his scooter excitement will soon fade. :)

Spring into Summer

As we enjoyed the first full day of summer I got to thinking ... what happened to spring. It flew by. So, a quick update for those who are far and for my general record keeping.

Since March we've kept ourselves busy with …

1. Hosting my parents and aunts at our home for a couple of weeks.
2. Taking Ethan on his first backyard Easter egg hunt.
3. Dressing Ethan in his cool Easter threads. He was styln’!
4. Taking Ethan on his first Father and Son’s camp out at Cascade Park in Granite Falls.
5. A visit to Utah to help my mom, let Ethan play with his cousin, and enjoy the sun!
6. Visits to the park, hiking to twin falls and camping at Lake Easton to enjoy the dry weather here while it lasted.
7. Naps whenever we can sneak them in …. Zzzzz.

Snowshoeing Heather Lake

This past weekend we decided to get outdoors for the day and make use of our snow shoes which have been gathering dust in the garage. We headed for Mountain Loop Hwy which offers several great trails to choose from. We decided on hiking to Heather Lake at the base of Mount Pilchuck in the North Cascades.

All dressed up in our winter wear, including a new pair of hiking boots for me (yeah! Gotta love REI), we threw Ethan in the back pack and took off with Maddie leading the way. She was overjoyed to be out running through the icy streams and snow … she’s a true lab! We were able to hike most of the way without snow shoes, but sure appreciated them for the last ½ mile when the snow became soft and deep. Ethan loves heading out in the back pack and found it so relaxing he slept for about an hour on the way up. At the top we stopped for lunch alongside the frozen lake and enjoyed the serene views of the glaciers of Mount Pilchuck.

On the way down the mountain, just a few hundred feet from the parking area, we got a bit careless with the protruding tree branches and Ethan took one to the face! We didn’t think it really did much because he just made a little squawk and that was it. However, a few hours later he had a black eye and cut on his cheek. Ahhh, his first hiking battle wounds!

A poor little homeless child in Alaska ... oh wait, that's Ethan playing in the sludge of the parking area. He didn't care what color the snow was.

Evidence of Ethan's brush with nature. Thanks a lot mom and dad!

Being cheesy ... Ethan taking pics of himself.

A few more thoughts on Colombia ….

One thing that is for sure, you can find all kinds of entrepreneurs in Colombia. While cell phones are common in Colombia, not everyone has one like here in the U.S. But never fear because you’re sure to run into “pay by the minute” cells all around town. I snapped this picture on our trip to downtown Bogotá to a commercial area called San Victorino. These cell phone ‘booths’ are all over. You just walk up to the guy in the middle, ask for a phone, make your call, and pay him when you’re done - quite convenient if you ask me. As you can see, precautions are in place so people don’t run off with the phones.

One of my favorite day trips from Bogotá is to the town of Sopó. It’s a beautiful town against the mountains north of Bogotá. We usually make the trip there to visit the Alpina factory where they make delicious yogurts, cheeses, and desserts. Next to the factory is this new cabana where you can purchase some of their treats and sit outside and enjoy. I had the best cream puff ever!

At the Alpina Cabana in Sopó with Jairo's aunt Yolanda and her daughter Valerie.

We were also able to take a short weekend trip to Melgar. This is a small town about 60 miles Southwest of Bogotá. I have to admit that it seemed much further than 60 miles because it takes about 3 hours to make the trip because the terrain cover many steep mountain ranges so your traveling on two-lane roads up and down steep curvy mountains. It is a beautiful drive. In Melgar we enjoyed nice HOT weather so we spent lots of time in the pool soaking in the sun … although I packed on the sun block so I’m sure you couldn’t tell!

At the hotel in Melgar we found this tree with these amazing flowers that covered the ground below in a beautiful fuchsia that caught Ethan's attention. I still have yet to find the name of this tree. Any arborists out there?

Last, Ethan enjoyed meeting his grandfather, great-grandpa and great-grandma and many aunts, uncles and cousins. He had lots of fun getting to know everyone and of course enjoyed all the attention.

Us with Jairo's grandparents Juancho and Pepita.

Ethan playing with his grandpa Jairo.

Fingerpainting with Ethan's cousin Valerie.