Autumn in Seattle

Last week we took a few days to visit Seattle. Neither of us had ever been there, but knowing how much we both loved Alaska, this trip to the Pacific Northwest was sure to be enjoyed.

We flew in on Monday afternoon. The sun was shining, which we understand is a rarity, so we took that opportunity to go to the top of the Space Needle first thing.

This is Greg taking video of the landscape. We could see for miles.

This is Mt. Rainier... Then we took the monorail into the heart of downtown Seattle. The monorail only has two stops, one near the Space Needle and one four blocks from the Public Market. Easy on and easy off.
We checked out just a little of the Market. It was only 4:00-ish, but the sun was going down.

We walked past the Market to the Piers in hopes of finding a good seafood place to eat supper. Here I am with Ellery Bay in the background. Puget Sound is beyond the bay. We ate at Fisherman's Cafe. Greg had stuffed cod and I tried Ahi for the first time ever. (Ahi is tuna, supposed to be served "rare" - I got "raw".) The clam chowder was good, though. I had clam chowder each day we were there and it was different each time, but always VERY GOOD. Greg had fish chowder a couple of times (I know, surprised me, too!) and really liked it, too.

While we were eating supper, the sun set over the bay and we walked back to the monorail stop in the dark. Our hotel was just a short walk from the space needle so we rode back there and this is what we found. Isn't it beautiful?

On Tuesday we went back downtown and walked from the Market to Pioneer Square, the area where the original city began. We took the Underground Tour and learned quite a bit about the founders and hisory of the city. Several weeks ago "Ghost Hunters" visited these same places, trying to find evidence of the paranormal or haunting, but found nothing. We didn't see anything, either, though our guide did mention that some people have seen a man dressed as a banker and a little boy.

Back to the waterfront for lunch at Ivar's, a place recommended to Greg by a coworker who used to live near Seattle. This particular store was like a fast-food seafood place where you took your food from the window and either sat at tables outside on the pier, or inside a separate glass-walled building. It was too hot inside the building, so we braved the giant seagulls and ate out on the pier. Now these seagulls were beggars. It is custom to feed them your leftover French Fries, and they won't even consider anything else. I tossed a piece of my flour tortilla (I had fish tacos for lunch), and crushed up a tortilla chip, but they left those for the pigeons. These monsters only wanted fries. So we fed them Greg's fries. They were very convincing.

The pigeons were very friendly - they'd hop up on the seat beside me and ate cracker pieces from my hand. They weren't picky and appreciated our generosity.

After lunch we started walking along the waterfront again, planning to head to Pike Place Market and find the fish-throwers. We happened upon a harbor boat tour that was leaving in less than 10 minutes and still had room, so we hopped on board. We cruised along the shore, getting another history lesson about the buildings we could see. That was interesting enough, but the highlight was coming up on these California sea lions lounging around. They perked up when we came along.

After disembarking the tour boat, we continued on to the Market. I guess we were too busy looking and not photographing, because I don't have any photos of Pike Place Fish Company where they throw the fish. We only saw them throw one fish, but the guys were pretty entertaining otherwise, so it was fun to just stand there and watch them. We went back on Thursday morning and made a purchase and had some nice conversations with some of the guys and Greg chatted with who we think is the owner.

Anyway, on Tuesday afternoon we found the original Starbucks. One tour guide told us there are 107 Starbucks in a 33 square-block area in downtown Seattle.

On Wednesday we rented a car and left the city for a drive out in the wilderness. We went to Woodinville and visited a couple of wineries. We did the wine tastings at both places and brought home a couple of bottles of our favorites from each. Greg is standing under the arbor at Chateau Ste. Michelle where we met some very nice ladies who recommended we go to Redhook Ale Brewery for lunch. After the equivalent of at least a couple full glasses of wine before lunch, we needed to eat. :o)

After lunch we took a back highway to Snoqualmie Falls. The trees were ablaze with autumn colors and the air smelled SO good. After we left the Falls, Greg thought we needed to just take a random road and drive. I'm not so keen on not knowing where I'm going, but away we went. It didn't take long to get to the Interstate and I felt better, but we did see some pretty country.

We drove around in the city a bit and found another Ivar's to eat at. This one was a sit-down restaurant decorated like a lodge with lots of Native American artifacts. Our window faced the water of Washington Lake where we watched the college rowing team practice.

On Thursday we went back to the Market, then had enough time to visit the Science Fiction Museum when we were done. If you're not into scifi, you probably don't care about seeing parts of the set and costumes from the original Star Trek series, and the prop blasters from Star Wars, but we enjoyed them. Unfortunately they didn't allow any photography so I have none.

The rest of the day was spent in airports and on airplanes and then driving home from Omaha.

That's it for a quick recap of our vacation. I hope you enjoyed it!

Anniversary

Bob & Jan -

Halloween helpers

Randy's kids ended their Halloween trek around the greater York and Polk county area by coming to my house. After taking photos of costumes and me giving them their treats, they helped hand out candy to the kids who came to the door. Last year Wyatt was afraid of them, but this year, when the kid with the bleeding "Scream" mask came up the steps, Wyatt thought he was cool!

At first, Wyatt would hold out the candy basket and say, "You want candy?". :o) Pretty soon, Garett was handing it out while Wyatt held the basket. Definitely video moments, but the battery on my camera died after taking a few photos. :o(

Anyway, here are the boys, handing out some treats. Grace was safely ensconced on her mommy's lap, watching with interest, but not getting close. The little boy they're treating is from our church, but since he doesn't belong to me, I've obscured his face.

Happy Halloween!!

(Randy, Arlan, Tammy, Alan, Tonita)

I'm very behind in my blogging, but wanted to share this "Blast from the Past" from the Regier kids' photo archives.

This was taken after the Halloween party at the York Community Center. I think the CC had just opened that Fall. Alan won a prize for most creative costume. We all enjoyed ourselves. Halloween was a huge deal for us. We usually would trek down to Hested's and pick out one of those cheap, hot, suffocating plastic masks with the rubber elastic that wrapped around your head (see everyone but me in the photo has one - I was a hippy and got to use make-up...).
Then we'd have to bundle up in our winter gear to walk around the neighborhood. We usually carried pillowcases for our candy, but I remember taking brown paper grocery bags, too. I think we got those plastic pumpkin buckets once or twice just before the last time I went trick or treating.
We had tons of kids in our neighborhood, and most of the time we walked around in a large group. We'd hit every house that had a porch light in a 2 or 3 block radius, then one of the grown-ups would load us all in a car and take us to the other side of town for a little while.
After we got home and inventoried our stash, we'd go to bed. Then Mom would rifle through our bags and take any and all full-sized candy bars. She'd hide them away and put them in Dad's lunches for the next few weeks. Grossly unfair, yes, but that's what she did. I don't think we suffered any because of it - there was plenty of stash. My favorite was always homemade caramel apples and homemade chewy popcorn balls. Yum.
I don't expect many kids here tonight. The number of trick or treaters is less with each passing year, but I have a big basket of candy already sitting by the door, waiting for them!

Chillin'

It's raining again today. After watching the news about Atlanta and the water shortage there, I'm sure not going to complain about the rain. Yet. But this area is +8" for the year in rainfall. I think we're good. The rain can go away now.

I don't like when it's so dark during the day, and opened all the shades to lighten up the inside of the house a bit. This little guy is what I saw when I pulled the shade in the bedroom. He's been there for hours, just snuggled up in the wet grass.


Tomorrow and Saturday are supposed to be nice, but I think we're going to have some cold weather next week. Might have to turn on some heat then. I mentioned at work that I hadn't turned on the heat at home yet (after complaining about melting at work) and they called me "Menopause Woman". I guess that's better than some other things I could think of...


On Tuesday I bought a heated mattress pad for our bed. After sleeping on a heated water bed for 26 years, we made the switch to a regular mattress last June. We're not so much loving the cold bed when we first get in. I got a dual control, so my side will just be warmed before I climb in, then I can turn it off. Greg can put his on "roast" and be toasty all night. Anyway, I told Greg that night, "I bought you a present today!" Now it could have been ANYTHING, right? You know what he said? "Is it a heating pad for the bed?" Yeah.

Spots of Autumn

We don't have much pretty autumn color outside just yet, but that doesn't mean we can't have it inside. :o) Autumn is my absolute favorite season. Cooler temps. No humidity. Gorgeous color. I know I share my love with many of my online friends, and we've been sharing photos of some spots in our homes where autumn is highlighted. Here are a couple of mine:

Catching up - again - this is long...

Sometimes it seems there is nothing to blog about, then life gets crazy busy and I don't have time to blog all the fun.

Just before my last post, I went to Maryland with Alan, Randy, and Jessica. We attended the 2007 Motocross of Nations at BuddsCreek.

Our motel was in Colonial Beach, VA, and only a city block from the Potomac River. There was a large pier we went out on and watched people fish. One guy pulled in an eel, about 10 or 12" long. He tossed it in his cooler to take home to eat. (Um, eww...)
We flew into Washington D.C. and we took the Metro to the Mall where I got to show the boys some of the monuments. When I was last in D.C., five years ago, the Archives building was closed. It has since reopened, so we were able to see the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Very COOL.

After about 4 hours of walking, paying $5.50 for a hot dog, and getting a sunburn, we took the metro back to the car rental place and headed for traffic gridlock. Took us two hours to go about 4 miles. Fun. Not.

We spent Saturday and Sunday at BuddsCreek at the track. It was hot and dusty, but the track was beautiful, the bathrooms had running water and AC, and we got our t-shirts first thing. The bad part was that my shoes gave me blisters and that was the only pair I'd brought along. I spent a great deal of time barefoot at the track, but still had to wear flip-flops for a week after we got home.

You can see some of the photos taken at the track here. I'll be adding a few, and making another album of D.C. and other miscellaneous photos after I get Alan's, Randy's, and the rest of Jess's pictures.

So we flew home on Monday the 24th. On Tuesday I was exhausted and slept most of the day. Turns out I was getting sick. Spent Wednesday and Thursday pretty much as a slug with a head cold. Worked at the theater Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday nights, slogging my way through.

By Monday I was feeling some better, still had a cough, but was well enough to start my new part-time job at Fitness Worx. I'm working the 5 - 8 a.m. shift at the front desk. Yes, that was 5 A.M. (though I really have to be there by 4:45). Yes, I'll still work at the theater since neither job interferes with the other. Anyway, I tried to keep busy during the day after I got home so I wouldn't be tempted to sleep.

Monday night I taught my Freezer Cooking class for Community Ed. It was a small class, but went really well. I like when there is a lot of conversation and sharing of ideas.

Worked Wednesday night at the theater, then Thursday night I babysat Randy's kids.

By Friday afternoon, I was more than happy to snuggle into the sofa cushions for a wonderful afternoon nap. Did it again today, too. :o)

Tonight I'm not feeling too great - I think I may have that tummy bug the kids had last week. I wish they wouldn't be so willing to share, but I love them anyway.

Tomorrow will be Greg's first day off work since late August. I think he plans to sleep most of the day. :o)

(The photo is Jess, Alan, and Randy walking next to the reflecting pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial.)

Catching up

It's been so busy around here the past few weeks that I have had a hard time keeping up on my blogging. These photos are from last week when I had Randy's and Leslie's kids for six days while they went to Las Vegas. It was a busy and fun time, and I sent them back undamaged for the most part. :o) (Grace had a bowling ball dropped on her toe, but it's pretty much healed now.)

The kids loved to stand in the big window and see what they could see outside. While Greg was mowing, it was so exciting for them to see him ride by. :o)

The cats pretty much staying in my bedroom under the bed, but when they did venture out into the open, they were quite tolerant of the kids wanting to touch them.

Grace especially likes the kitties and is always thrilled when one just lays there and lets her pet them. It is unusual when that one is Max.

I took Wyatt to his first day of P.L.A.Y. school in York.

Just like their father, these boys can sleep whereever they need to. Yes, Garett is standing up. He was sleeping on the sofa, woke up, walked around the living room, and laid his head on the footrest and went back to sleep.

We won't talk about the food and drink that is still under my dining room table. (The carpet cleaners come tomorrow.) This supper was spaghetti, corn on the cob, and garlic bread. They inhaled it. Garett was gnawing the corn cob after he got all the kernels eaten. :o)

Don't really need to explain this one. Those kids LOVE corn.

I took them home on Tuesday evening (a week ago today) and it was such fun to see them greet their parents when they arrived. We had a good time, and I'd do it again, but it was nice to come home and be able to sleep in my bed all night without waking to check on them. :o)

Birthday boy

Yesterday was Caleb's 19th birthday. Freshman in college, engaged to be married - where did the little boy go? We wish you the best, Caleb. And STUDY HARD!

Love, Aunt Tammy & Uncle Greg

What a way to start the day...

don't you think?

How many times...

in the past 31 hours have I said:

"Let's go to the potty! Quickly!"

"Please pick up your shoes."

"Do NOT hit/pinch/kick your brother/sister!"

"Why don't you go to the playroom?"

"Yes, I heard you. I heard you. I HEARD you!"

"Just try one bite."

"Pick that up. Pick it up. Pick. It. Up."

"Sit on the chair until the timer goes off."

"Don't pee on the floor!"

"If you have to poop, you tell me so we can go to the potty."

"Do NOT chase the cat!"



How many times in the past 31 hours:

have I had to "come see!"

have I pulled up the blankets to cover little bodies in their sleep and watched them snuggle into the warmth.

have I given and gotten "high fives".

have I had little arms wrapped around my neck, little lips puckered against mine.

Tagged for Favorites

I see my friend Rhonda at A Home With A Smile has tagged me to list some of my favorites.

Favorite:
Sound – I have two: a baby's belly laugh, and the preschoolers singing "Away in a Manger" at the church Christmas program

Late Night Snack – I don't really snack at night, but if we have cake and/or ice cream, that would be my choice.

Smell – vanilla

Color Combination – blue and black
Nut – pecans (as in PIE!) :o)
Time of Year – Autumn (YEA!)
Books – I enjoy all manner of fiction, self-help, decorating, gardening, cookbooks, child-development and parenting
Female Actress – Don't really have a favorite, but I enjoy Susan Sarandon, Meg Ryan, Katherine Hepburn
Flower – daisies
Vacation Spot – Mountains (Vail and Alaska so far)
Subject in School – Sociology
TV Channel – HGTV and Food Network
Radio Station – I prefer stations that play oldies or classic rock
Holiday - Christmas
Perfume – Don't wear it much, but prefer fresh, clean scents
Shoes – Reeboks, baby. Helps the plantar fasciitis and arthritic knees.

Now I'm supposed to tag someone... how about Barbie, Bobbi, Robin, Melanie, and Nancy, and anyone else who wants to share.

The Kiddoes

Some recent pics of the kids.

Taylor

Grace

Garett

Wyatt

Boys in hats

Help wanted:

Okay guys, Greg picked up this neat chicken waterer /feeder at a garage sale awhile back, thinking I'd love it for my garden. And I do. I love old things, and I love metal things. I'm just not sure what to do with this particular thing.

So, I'm asking you all for ideas. I want to use it in the garden. I probably won't paint or use faux embellishments, but would consider natural things.

Any suggestions?

Flower swap

Dot has posted that she received the Flower swap I sent to her in California. I thought I'd post a photo of what I sent. It was really easy to find flower-themed things to send, but I wanted to include something handmade, too, so I stitched the flower border on the cloth. Dot says she has the perfect table to use it on. :o)

The grout is done!

Greg got the grout down late this morning, then I cleaned it up this afternoon. I love it.

And I'm so glad I repainted. :o)

And yes, that is a Pirate's Of the Caribbean At World's End bucket.

Oy, what a day

Painting again. Tiling again. Sweating again.

So I got a new color of paint this morning and it's better. Still looks a little peachy in the afternoons, but that's the reflection of the cabinets onto the walls. The last time I got off the ladder while painting, I broke a tile. Had the leg of the ladder too close to a corner, and it snapped. I'd been very careful about that up until that last time - guess I was seeing the end of the painting job and in a hurry to be done.
So Greg changed the tile - not too happy about having to wait another 48 hours to grout, now, though. This was after he wasn't too happy about waiting to grout until I repainted... but he's a patient man and I'm lucky to have him.

Good as new!

So, while I worked all day in there, doesn't seem like much progress has been made...

Tile on the floor

It has taken us just about all day, but the tile is set on the bathroom floor. Greg did all the measuring and cutting, and we only had to sacrifice one tile out of four boxes' worth. Not bad. He also mixed the mastic (thinset) and then brought it to me. I got to spread it, trowel it, and set the tiles. Now that it's finished, I can see a few places that are slightly askew, but nothing to be done about it now, and it really won't be noticeable when I put some rugs down. No, it really won't be. :o)

I'm not loving the paint color as we watch it change from the light tan it's supposed to be in the mornings, to a peachy-orange in the afternoons. Yep, I'm going to change it. I've been watching it for three days, and I just don't like it. It's just paint. (Yes, I'm eating those words I've said a hundred times to other people!)

I am loving that floor, though. Crooked tiles and all, I'm keeping it!

Renovation progress

I don't know if I really should call this project a "renovation", but it is a change, anyway. I've finished the second coat of paint this morning and that always makes a huge difference. It's a caramel color and when Jess looked at it yesterday, she said, "It's 'warm'. " That's exactly my thought. The color in this photo isn't quite true...

We also changed the ceiling light fixture the other day.

Today we're prepping the floor - well, so far Greg is prepping the floor, though he had me dig out the rubber mallet. He says I'll need it later.

Flower Swap

I've been a member of the Creative Home Life Yahoo group for several years, and consider these ladies my very good friends. Every now and then we have "swaps" and send each other a little assortment of gifts. Recently we held a 'flower swap' and I just got my package in the mail this morning from Mary Kathryn. She's a new friend in our group and I've enjoyed getting to know her. She is an incredible stitcher, and I am so pleased to have something she made for me. The pillow is so sweet! Everything else is fun, too, and I look forward to using it all. Thanks Mary Kathryn!

I'm sending to Dot, and am woefully tardy in doing so, but I will finish my project for her today. That is top priority after I put that second coat of paint on the bathroom walls! :o)

And so it begins...

Greg and I are on "vacation" together this week and will spend our togetherness doing some renovation in the master bath and bedroom. Just a little spackle and paint, and a ceramic tile floor in the bathroom. Oh, and new light fixtures, and a new shower head, and a new exhaust fan, and my favorite thing of all, no wall of mirrors over the tub!

No more having to see ourselves as we get out of the shower, or as we sit for other necessary activity... Yea!

The mirrors came down easier than expected. We did have to heat them to soften the glue, but then they popped right off the wall. You can see where I scraped the glue off the wall, and took some wallpaper with it. Greg is covering that with spackle and assures me it will paint out with no evidence it was ever there.

So I didn't get any real "before" photos. These were taken after we ripped up the carpet and took down the mirrors.

I'll update as we progress...

Ninety years old

We celebrated Grandma Regier's 90th birthday yesterday. Just a small family gathering, but she got to meet her two newest great-grandchildren, Case and Taylor.

A simple cake with white frosting and real purple roses. I wanted to put 90 candles on it, but we didn't want to set off the fire alarms. :o) There was one candle for every decade. Grandma got two of them:

Jeff and I help her finish them:

Meeting Case William Anderson:

Meeting Taylor Rae Regier:

A hug from her oldest great grandchild, Nick:

What do you see?

When I worked at Head Start, I made a little color identification activity based on the book Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin. There is a little bear cutout on the front of a manilla envelope, then various colors of construction paper are inside. The text goes, "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, what do you see? I see a (color) bear looking at me." You repeat this line as you go through each color of paper in the envelope. I think Wyatt may have done this at preschool last year, because he picked it up really quickly today when I was playing this with Grace. This video is Wyatt's version of the activity. It's not a great video - Grace and Garett were back and forth and in front of the camera, but I think Wyatt did a great job anyway and I wanted to share with everyone. :o)