Our second road trip over Spring Break takes us to Whidbey Island for a visit with Laura Schmidt.

Here is a quick pic of the kids at the front of the M/V Kittitas ferry. She lives in the town of Langley and recommended a great pizza place for lunch.

We hit the beach for a stroll before the restaurant opened. That must have worn the kids out because they ate a whole 16" pineapple & ham pizza! I enjoyed a pint keeping my fingers clear of the feeding frenzy.

The highlight of the day was the ducks! They shied away from the kids. Étienne loves how fast they can run. Laura put out lettuce scraps and the girls really wolfed it down. Laura has nine ducks now and another batch arriving soon. We look forward to visiting to see the young ducklings. They get shipped, just hours old, through the mail in a small cardboard box. That keeps them warm for the trip.

Monday April 14 marks the first day of Spring Break for the kids. Judy took the day off and we headed out to the Olympic Peninsula. Our plan was to hunt waterfalls. I printed several pages off the Olympic Waterfall Trail web site. We packed a lunch for the trip.

The kids are looking forward to the trip while we wait to board the Edmonds ferry. It is a bit tight on the ferry but we all fit and enjoy the short ride to the peninsula. This is a popular ferry for bicyclists as they complete an eighty mile loop on the peninsula. I hope to do that myself someday.

Our first stop was Ludlow Falls. This was a short walk from the parking lot along a freshly laid cedar path. Veronica brought her video camera and did a great job getting up close to the water. This fall is a popular spawning spot of the wild salmon. I look forward to returning for the spawn.

Our second stop at Madison Creek Falls was a little too exciting. A short walk ended when we turned a corner and right there in front of us was the beautiful falling water. The kids jumped and screamed with glee. Again, Veronica got up close with wet feet and camera running. We set up our picnic lunch with Mount Olympus in the background. Our original plan was to hunt more waterfalls but with the blue skies and mild temperatures we elected to enter the park and enjoy the vistas along Hurricane Ridge.

We stopped along the way to enjoy another vista. Here we have Mount Hood in the background. We also saw our Ballard neighborhood. We are standing on the mountains that we see walking to school!

I am jealous of another bicyclist making the 5,200 foot climb.

This first picture from atop Hurricane Ridge is looking South. Don’t slip Étienne, it is a long slide down! The snow pack was very deep but we could climb the snow ridge to view the surrounding parkland. Veronica figured out that she lost feeling in her feet. I think the icy water and walk in snow finally proved too much for her Keens. Although we were the only ones in shorts on that mountain, with no breeze it was quite warm standing in the sunshine. Olympic National Park is beautiful and we look forward to returning, perhaps for a camp out!

On the ferry ride home, we see downtown Seattle with Mount Rainier in the background. Great trip.

Loyal Heights Elementary had their musical this weekend. This year Étienne was cast as a Royal Cardsman, and Carl was on the production crew. They both have been working very hard since Christmas break. Unfortunately Étienne woke up this morning with a stomach bug, and after agonizing about it for several hours we decided we couldn't take the risk of him up-chucking onstage, so we called the director and she was able to get another student to fill in. As I write this his stomach is still upset, and he has a 100 degree fever, so I think we made the right choice. :-/

Carl, Veronica, and I went to see the show so we saw what Étienne would have done. Steve and the little Frenchman stayed home on the couch.

The photos in the program were hard to see, but they had full-size photos in the lobby so I took photos. Production crew, with arrow pointing to Carl:

Royal Cardsmen, with Étienne:

Next year we will be putting Étienne in a sterile bubble a week before the show!

Veronica had an orthodontist appointment today... do you see the difference?

She is looking forward to eating caramel apples again!

After blessing the fleet, we got to work knitting hats and scarves for Compass Housing Alliance.

Our group of 8 set to work knitting and crocheting. Since December, this group accepted the challenge from Ballard First Lutheran's Outreach committee to knit and donate warm clothing for those in need in Seattle. Of course we can have fun and fellowship along the way:

Nourishment included cucumber sandwiches with watercress mayonnaise, smoked salmon sandwiches, banana cupcakes, meringues, scotch "quail" eggs, three types of tea, and pictured on the right, meyer lemon tarts.

All that fellowship produced a rainbow of hats and scarves. Thank You BFL.

Once again Ballard hosted the Blessing of the Fleet. This year we all attended and Jane joined us.

There was a great turn out, even the media joined the celebration. The sun warmed the crowd and Pr. Erik enjoyed squinting over the cooler blessings of past years.

Click on any page of the bulletin to enlarge.

This year Pr. Laurie gave the homily. The fishing vessel Quandary had the honor of representing the fleet.

Here is the presentation of the Christ Pennant. The Quandary will fly the pennant throughout its voyage. The state also issued a resolution:

We wish the fleet good fishing and pray all crew return safely.

Post by Veronica: Even though Carlton found the baby last time I was tasked with making yet another king cake this year. this time I got to make the cake too. My best friend Izzy helped me make the dough and then I built the cake and baked it. Later the following day I iced it and put sugar on top. I also got to put the baby in the cake when no one was around! Good luck finding it this year Carl!

Another year, another middle school musical. This year Veronica has TWO parts.

Is this the result of over acting?

Today is Carl's 11th birthday. Which means it's been almost 11 years since we left Huntington Beach for Wichita...

Tomorrow Carl is having a mega-Minecraft sleepover! Tonight, we are having prime rib for dinner and a lemon birthday cake.

Traditional mother-son birthday photo:

This entry written by Veronica:

After three different trips to Jane's house I finally finished making this skirt. I made 100% of it. Jane fixed the machine when it got stuck and gave me much needed advice. Thank you Jane! This is my second sewing project, the first being the quilt I made with Kyle. I hope you see this Kyle and get well soon!