What We've Been Up To....

So, you may have noticed that it's been a little quiet over here these past couple of weeks.   We spent a fantastic 2-1/2 weeks traveling on the West Coast visiting family, and then came home and almost immediately left for a church retreat.   It has been a lovely, albeit intense, few weeks.   Here are a few of the highlights of our summer travels:

 

Lots of cousin fun with cousins of all stripes – first cousins, second cousins, cousins-once-removed, 'friend' cousins: park dates, swimming, sleepovers….

 

 

 

 

Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, CA

 

These are my children, as they are.  Just keepin' it real, folks!

 

El Dorado Park Nature Center, also in Long Beach

 

 

Tidepooling in San Pedro, CA

 

 

Fun Meet-up with some Ambleside friends in Oregon.  It was like our kids had always known each other or something.  Thanks again, Harmony and Maggie Annie!  (I also got a coffee date with Brandy and dinner with Kathy…but forgot to take any photos. Oops!)

 

 

Deception Pass State Park, Washington

 

 

Day out seeing some of the lesser-known sights in Seattle – or at least things I hadn't seen before, even though I've been there 4 or 5 times - such as Gasworks Park:

 

 

 

The Troll Under the Bridge…

 

 

And watching boats go through the Locks!

 

 

A fun time was had by all, but we were wiped out when we got home and are glad to not have to travel anywhere again for a long while now. J   Now that we are home, we are working towards getting back into a routine…which means starting our new school year….launching a (very modest) new co-op effort….new opportunities for the kids….and hopefully some time for writing in the margins.  My summer reading has been so enriching, and I have so many thoughts swirling in my head that I'd love to have time to share with you here.   Stay tuned!

An Afternoon at Deception Pass

I am very fortunate to have relatives who live in Washington State.  I love Washington.   We honeymooned in Washington.  I would live there if I could.  But since God has other plans for our family right now (one can always dream about someday, right?!), having relatives there is the next best thing since it gives us the excuse to visit regularly.  J Michelle and I were there in September for my grandfather's memorial service.  Our time there was way too short, but thankfully we were able to spend an couple of hours one afternoon here, one of my very favorite spots in the world.   We stopped.   We rested.  We breathed.  And our souls were refreshed. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Where I've Been...

Well, I've been here…

 

Doing a lot of this…

 

And this….

 

And a bit of this too.

 

Spending time with these lovely people…

 

 

 

Celebrating this little guy (6 years old now!)….

 

…and digging in to Ambleside Online Year 2, Term 2 (we will go 6 more weeks before taking a month-long summer break).

 

 

Life is slowly returning to a normal routine, and I have lots of thoughts simmering that I am looking forward to sharing with you all soon. J  In the meantime, I have a guest post up over at Afterthoughts this week, for those of you who may not have seen it yet.

What have you been doing these past few weeks?

Nature Study in the Northwest

Well, I did say I’d come back and share some photos of our time in beautiful Northwest Cameroon.   It was wonderful to get out of the big city for 10 days.

 

This photo was taken in the area we visited in Northwest Cameroon...

 

In some ways it reminded me of where we used to live in the highlands region of Papua New Guinea – similar climate (cool!), similar views.

 

 

...and this one in the area where we used to live in PNG.

 

So many of the plants and flowers we saw were the same ones we used to see frequently in PNG too.

 

This is a "cherry pie" or lantana

 

Geraniums...I don't remember having these in PNG, but I was surprised to see them in Africa.  According to HONS, though, they are native to South Africa.  Who knew?

 

Dahlia

 

Bottlebrush Tree

 

Here is a close-up on the bottlebrush flower.  I think you can see why it has that name.

Hibiscus, although these aren't unique to the highlands.  They're kind of ubiquitous in any place remotely tropical I think. :)

Bananas - again ubiquitous, but I thought I'd throw it in for those who've only ever gotten bananas at the supermarket.  If you look carefully you can see a stalk of ripening bananas on this tree.

 

Poinsettias.  I've always associated them with Christmas, so I was so surprised to find them growing in the tropics (at least in highland areas of the tropics.)
 

 

Not pictured: the coffee plants. J   Yes, it was lovely to be back in coffee-growing country.

 

I also didn’t manage to get any pictures of our friends’ garden and chickens.   Michelle loved helping their kids feed the chickens every morning and evening while we were there.   She already asked me if we could get a chick!   I don’t think I’m ready for chickens, but I’m thinking about the garden.   At least a little patch of herbs.   Maybe peas too – we grew them once when we lived in PNG and even my black-thumb couldn’t mess that up. J

 

 

 

Anyone else have any good nature study opportunities in the course of your summer travels?