Bon Voyage – Sniff.

Glad I’m not the one calling the shots.  So grateful the Big Guy Upstairs is.

And this is why…

My husband loved this boat, babied it, took better care of it than any other vehicle he owned.  If it didn’t get washed down every time he pulled it out of the water he would go nuts.  The thing sparkled it was so clean.

 

I on the other hand was the boat Grinch and sometimes despised the cost of the big hunk of  …,   BUT I Loved the memories he was able to make with our children and family on it.  Financially, it was a strain.  But we were always careful.   It was a Joy!

On board we visited different countries, (Hello Beautiful Victoria,Canada, and the country of imagination – Yo Pirates), scenic and quaint picturesque islands of the San Juan’s.

 

Nearly every trip to the San Juan’s we were able to see the breathtaking Orca’s in their natural habitat.  And their beauty in nature is so awe-inspiring that the Orca shows’ at Marine Parks pale in sad comparison.  I’ve never seen anything so beautiful as free Orcas, dolphins, sea lions and soaring bald eagles.  All of which are plentiful in the islands.

 

Having a boat gave us the freedom to explore scenic State parks that could only be reached by personal craft. 

Plus, we always got the best seat in the house every time the Blue Angels came to town.

Prince Erik loved tossing the kiddo’s overboard.  They loved it too.

And we could drag them around by a rope when they gave us any lip.

 

‘Faster, Daddy, Faster.’

 

We put our boat on the market 1 1/2 years ago when our families finances started to show some strain.  But nearly everyone else in the country was undergoing similar money woes.  So the people who viewed my husbands pride and joy were few and far between. 

Last spring was the best time to sell.  Before boating season began.  But days turned into weeks and we couldn’t understand why it was taking so long to sell.  It was meticulously maintained, had less than 275 engine hours, and was priced competively. 

Then around 10 weeks ago when the biggest trial our family has ever gone through hit – the boat was a blessing from heaven.  We knew that Heavenly Father knew we would need it.  That’s probably why it hadn’t sold.  For three weeks it sheltered and buoyed us up.  Somehow, it also got more wear and tear on it than it had the previous 8 years we’ve owned it.

 

Then things calmed a bit and we cleaned it up.  We were so grateful that it hadn’t sold because the sweet boat saved our bacon during those three weeks at the end of summer.

But finances were still tight and we had to list the boat again without much hope of actually selling it because – Who buys a boat after boating season is actually over?  However once it was listed we had people calling round the clock to look at it.  More than in the previous year combined.

Once again we realized that we are not in charge.  God is.  He knows what we stand in need of and has taken care of us yet again.

The boat was sold.  And Friday it left our family with it’s new owners.  And at Sunset – how appropriate is that?

Some say that the happiest days of a boaters life is the day he buys the boat and the day he sells it.

Not true!  It was a sad day Friday – we will miss the big hunk of gas-guzzling family fun.  It was a huge sacrifice on my husbands end in order to keep me a stay at home mom for a while longer, and pay for new unexpected expenses.

It was also a reminder of the fact that when we rely on the Lord his time-table will always be the right one.  We can’t see the end like he can and we sometimes get impatient.  But he knows our true needs and has taken us under his wing yet again.

Someday, I’d love to buy my Prince another boat.  To see him standing behind the ships wheel with the wind blowing through his hair, with a big old school boy grin on his face  - That would melt my heart with joy.  It might not be for a long while yet.  But maybe just maybe one day we’ll hear the sweet little voices calling to him,  ‘Captain,  permission to come on deck?’

‘Aye!’

Warning: crafting + boating = hurling

If your prone to motion sickness then crafting while sitting on a boat in water may not be the best use of your time. I’m a major boat wimp. I felt queasy within being on the boat after 10 minutes and that was in calm water – tethered to a dock. Had I been on the open water and I might have just lost my cookies. But I agreed to spend the weekend with Evo-man on Prince Erik’s boat.

Seeing that we would have lots of spare time I brought craft projects along with me to kill time. But darn if I didn’t start feeling sick within minutes of trying to focus on them. Evo-man had better success than I did. So I just sat back and instructed him on how to make fun little pirate trinkets out of bottle caps.

Had a couple of fun Fawn firsts again. Nearly four decades old I am (I know I’m insane to publish that), I mean being a super young whipper-snapper that I am. Somehow I’ve never seen turtles or beavers in the wild. Until this weekend that is.

This little fellow was about 10 inches and was about the only one I could snap a picture of. There’s this beautiful lily pond and beaver dam right next to the Marina and when you sit on a boat all day your bound to see a bit more of nature than you would with a quick glance.

The turtles ranged in size from a couple of inches to probably a foot long. They didn’t like people looking at them and didn’t care for getting their picture taken either. But they were everywhere.

Evo-man and I also enjoyed the path by the lake that stretched on for miles and miles. Seems everyone else and their dog, bike and row team did too.

But it was gorgeous and so I would pull my son along on walks that lasted for hours. Gorgeous I say.

Clearly more than made up for the bouts of upset stomach. It wasn’t that bad – only when I tried to craft. How cruel it that? But there’s nothing like the lull of a gentle rock to put you to sleep at night. And the motion of the boat led me to dream and wonder about mermaids and what I would tell my girls about them when I came back home. I know that didn't make a whole lot of sense but we're still gearing up for our party. And Hope is determined to be a real mermaid.

Seafair Fun

Once a year Washingtonians put their pasty white bodies in swimsuits and converge on a beautiful lake close to Seattle. There’s pirates, parades, hydroplane races and a whole lake full of scantily clad drunk boaters.  Some go for the one reason or another.  We go for the Angels.

Prince Erik pulled his Pride and Joy out of mothballs and took the kids out for a day of fun.  It’s the first family trip we’ve taken the great white gas sucker on in over a year.  Stupid economic reasons won’t let us go more often.  But for one day we relaxed and had some fun and tried not to think about all the other worries we seem to be focused on.  It was heaven in so many ways because Prince Erik got to spend some good old QUALITY time with the kids after being out of town for over a week.  The icing on the cake was watching all the jet screaming, fly-by maneuvers of the Navy’s Blue Angels from the best seat in the house.  The Lake!  Boaters have the best view of the show.

Ahhrrrr!  Screaming Jet Engines are the perfect rejuvenation needed to slap a silly smile on my Princes Face.  

And when the shows over it’s easy just to toss the kids overboard (in a less drunk populated part of the lake) and watch them swim.  I think Hope’s part fish.

My kids love being thrown overboard.  ‘Do it again Daddy, PLLLeeeaaasssseee!’

 

And when they get tired of swimming put them on the end of a rope and drag them around. 

They’ll smile soooo big, that they’ll be in danger of sucking down a few bugs while zipping along.  Ah, the good life.   Abner can’t resist trying to get some rays as well.  Nothing like a fresh coat of pinkish-red skin to cover up the normal northwest pale skin tone.

 

The crowning glory happens when Mother Nature decided to put on her own show.  I never cease to get a thrill from seeing a majestic Bald Eagle in free flight.

To be honest I’d never seen one that wasn’t in captivity until we moved to the Northwest.  And even though I see them quite regularly, they still fill me with awe!  Love care-free days like this.  I definitely need more of them.

Boating with Dad

Prince Erik took his Pride and Joy (Boat) up to the San Juans this past week ...


to help out with Evo-man's school. They were camping on a private island that didn't have ferry service.

On Friday I embarked on an all day adventure taking Lea, Princess, and Hope up to meet him and pick Evo-man up.

It was Princess and Hope's first ferry ride and they couldn't sit still.

It seemed like we went from sitting and looking out the window to running all over it to see the view from in front, then in back. In the end they were pretty tired.

So I dropped them off with Dad and came home with Evo-man's school.

As much as I don't like the boat for obvious upkeep, storage, cleaning and monetary reasons (believe me I could go on and on), the one and only thing I do love about it is the adventures the kids get to share with their Dad. Since our family is so large we don't stay over-night on it all together but we will break up the kids and let them all have different turns. How's that for some quality time with Dad.

Prince Erik took them to Jones Island...

which is a state park and also not accessed by the Ferry System. So you get a State Park all to yourself with local deer, bald eagles, otter's, sealions, and various other wildlife all to yourself.

He kept them there Friday night and they made for home today.

With little sun-kissed faces, grins a mile wide, a boat-load of Dad memories, and a bag full of shells and rocks for our fairy garden.

To Blog, Or Not to Blog, There is no Question...

I’m gonna Blog.

When I started last fall I didn’t know if this would be something that would be a lasting fascination or a temporary whim. But it has turned into way more than that.

So for my 100th Blog I thought I would tell you my top 10 reasons for blogging.

1. It helps keep me connected to our extended family – The closest of whom live a mere 13 hour drive away. Since the gas price has been limiting travel plans, at least they can still visit our family via my posts.

2. It’s given me whole new gaggle of blog friends and family.

3. Keeps me Accountable. If I say I’m going to do something and I know other’s know about it, then by-darn-it I’m gonna do it.

4. Let’s me look back and see the goofy, fun, enjoyable things that my family gets to do.

5. Gives me a feeling of accomplishment. You know the whole Before/After stuff.

See I finally finished the boat cusions.

Here's a tiny glimpse of the old cushions, brownish, of course they were covered with stains, (Hello, I have kids!) so the normal wear and tear.





Here's my nautical after. At least I like it. Well to be honest, I have to like it because these darn cushion only took me through 5 days and approximately 17 hours of sewing. Half of that time I was unpicking mistakes. Groan.



6. Seriously, this blog helps me maintain my cool when the kids decide to create abstract works of art on walls, furniture or themselves, or demolish something valuable. Something that used to bring me to bouts of screaming insanity now gives me the calm to ask, ‘Can I take a picture? ’

7. Somehow typing my ideas down helps clarify my muddled, chaotic thought process. So if you don’t understand half of what I’m typing – just think of what my family has to deal with without the editing.

8. Blogging helps me focus on some of the ‘Good Things’ in my life. Like noticing the rainbow after the rainstorm. And believe me we get plenty of rain here.

9. It’s a me thing. A time where I can do something I want to do instead of something I have to do.

10. Helps me Dream of things I still want to do.