Half Off

Last year he was sporting his newest in snowboarding attire, This year we are going pirate, or hockey player.

The sun (which we are just not used to up here in the Pacific NW) was out and shining. When something got tossed to him at work, he couldn't see it as it flew right into the sun. Turns out the thrower had good aim and was able to hit his mark. You can see that the sun really was shining by the red line on his forehead.

I appreciate that I have raised him well and he knows to stick his tongue out through the hole.

More flood pictures- 10 days later

When you start off on a walk to take pictures 10 days after the flood, it is important to see how "warm" it has become. Gee the snow is practically all melted and I am in a fog.The river is usually only flowing behind the row of trees in the background Today the gate is open because they are using the Field to the right (not in this picture) for dog training.

Standing on the bridge looking up the river...

Back in its bank.

I was confused looking down this passage to the river, because I know that in the summer the kids like walking down to the river on a path that was right here.

Here it is!

You might wonder how tall these signs are when they are underwater......The signs are close to the ground but the water was still pretty deep.I like that they have created a useful park all year round.

The reason we are going to Orlando

Getting ready...Here are some of my favorite pictures from their winning routine... not necessarily in this order.

If we all wish them luck, then maybe winning the competition will be the best part of the trip!!! Otherwise I hope Disneyworld really is the happiest place on earth.

The difference a week makes

Here we are a week later, a week after all that flooding. Today the sun shone through even though it didn't get very warm. I spent most of the day inside running copies at our elementary school. Occasionally I would step outside to talk to teachers or to deliver the papers that were done and I realized it was a bit chilly, okay it was really cold. As I got home, I was greeted by my son out on his bike. Wow!! What a good idea! I wanted to go back out and take pictures of the same falls I had shot a week ago, the sun was shining, and I could spend some quality time with my son. Maybe get some exercise too, something I am not big on, unlike some people I know. WHAT WAS I THINKING??!! First of all it was all of 44 degrees, and when you are out on your bike, if you are moving at all you can subtract several degrees for that wind chill. I remembered to wear gloves and glasses so my eyes didn't get too cold. My son had to pop his eyes out when we got to the bottom of the hill, since they were frozen, and we warmed them up under his armpits. Good thing I know how to put them back in too. Ear warmers would have been nice.

Here are the pictures from last week and this week, taken from the same locations.

We start with the falls: January 8th...

January 14: Other than a lot less water, you might also notice that there are people walking in the park. Last week it was closed.From the bridge looking down on the falls and the foot bridge: January 8January 14: I didn't get quite the right angle to show the new lumber that has collected on the falls. Amazing what a strong current can carry.January 14: Where was this young man last week?

A reminder of our picnic table January 8th;And today: A little more picnic ready, although the grass was still pretty squishy.The lower falls January 8;Not as zoomed in on January 14. Although they are still pretty strong, nothing like last week.This is the old Olympia Brewery and the lower falls. The small square object in the water between the falls and the brewery is a sampling raft. They use it to test the water, and to check on the salmon migration.A week later, you can actually see the difference in the level of the falls. It is starting higher and falling, not just raging into the sea. The water is clearer already, not the brown murky storm water coming out of the hills.I have been trying to get out more, not in my car, now that it has stopped raining, for a little while. Usually I walk, and I have noticed the fall out of a good snow. On my bike, a nice 10 speed with skinny little wheels, all that gravel on the side of the road becomes treacherous. The bike lanes are bad and the sidewalk is even worse. My son has a new bike, as of this summer, and his tires are a bit wider. His wheels are much larger than his old bike and I found myself moving right along, and he was keeping up with me the entire time. I guess he is growing up, and soon he will have to slow his pace so that I can keep up with him.I was glad to get back in my car, the one with the seat warmers, to take #3 to dance this evening. Not only are the seats warm, they are much more comfortable than a bike seat, and I have a radio.

Consistency

consistency definition - Dictionary - MSN Encarta
1. constancy: the ability to maintain a particular standard or repeat a particular task with minimal variation Consistency is important in performing this job.

I find myself being fairly consistent. When it snows I take pictures from my doorway so I don't have to get bundled up or put shoes on. When I need to go somewhere in the snow, I walk. When it is flooding, I know where to take the best pictures too. When my son has a birthday we go the same place for dinner.

If it is snowing, wear your snow shoes, along with your snow outfit. (Note: she is wearing a coat.)

The pictures of her sliding in the snow were too dark to post.

You are never too old to be silly!!

We went early this year so dad could join us.

This year the staff didn't get any whipped cream on the birthday boy's nose, so his sisters had to do it for them. This is where one sister is doing her best and the other one came in for the kill. If you are the younger brother, try to stay out of it completely.

His preference is Flan, whereas we get the Sopapillas for the rest of us.

I can also say I am not on time with anything I do. Posting this should be no different. Here it is 2 days late.

When It Rains, It Floods

For anyone who hasn't been watching the nation's weather, we have been having some exciting weather around here. First we had over a foot of snow fall in December, leaving us with a white Christmas. Then it got warm and started to rain. This melts all the snow we have, add all that rain to it and we get rivers overflowing their banks. Flooding is not an uncommon thing in an area that gets lots of rain in any given year. When it snows, I stand in the same places to take pictures, and when it floods I go to the same places each time to watch the water.

I start out upstream from the falls by traveling down this road. Normally you cannot see the river from here. There is a bridge that I cross, just after the yellow sign. If the river is running high, we can see it as we cross the bridge.

As I walk across the bridge, I watch this porch and BBQ float towards me. It got hung up in the trees so I am not sure it will make it into the main flow of the river.Here you can see where the river normally flows, only between the trees.Like a blackbox on an airplane, they stamp the year a bridge was built somewhere on the bridge. I think that is so when it floats downstream, they know how long it lasted. It is nice to see that something as old as my sister can hold up even in these floods. I hope I am doing as well when I get to that age.NO SHOOTING.. How will I take pictures?All the hay you want...??If you are coming to the park to watch a soccer game, or a baseball game, it is nice to enjoy a picnic too. Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink.And when you take your dog for a walk, make sure you clean up any droppings.

I then come farther downstream to Tumwater Falls. They did not have the park open today, something about flooding. I had to shoot pictures from the other side of the fence, so all of my angles are a little different. Between the grass and the river, there is a grate over the fish ladders. (Who knew fish could climb ladders?) Most of the year you can walk on the grate and look down into the fish ladders. There is a cement wall separating the walkway from the river.I am standing next to the stone marker to take this picture. This footbridge crosses the river to a walking trail along the river to the lower falls. I was standing on another higher bridge. The smooth part of the water on the left is the falls you can see in the last picture. On the right is the cement wall and the fish ladder (covered in water)Again from a different angle, the falls on the right, the footbridge is the lower bridge on the left. I was standing on the upper bridge (you can see in this picture) to take the last shot. All of this in the shadow of the old Olympia Brewery.What a nice boy, and no water under his feet. Here we look down toward the lower falls from the footbridge. Fall is pretty in the NW.

To get a picture of the lower falls I had to go past a couple of road closed signs, into Tumwater Historic Park and all the way out to the river. Normally the river would have been 20 feet away from me, but today the river was flowing right by my feet. This is a different footbridge at the bottom of the trail. Normally these are the tall dramatic falls. Today it looked like

a small step down.

Let it keep snowing....

Although our weather has warmed up a bit and the snow is melting enough to make roads passable again, we still wake up to new snow in the mornings. I get out my camera and take "socks pictures" from the same 2 locations each time. That means I am standing in my doorway without putting shoes on. I sent this picture to my sister, in Spokane, and her son could not see the snow. She thinks she has more snow than I do, silly sister. I just think he wanted to see a ski lift, and I don't have one on my back porch.

I heard if you are going to be out driving in the snow, your tires will have more traction if you put a heavy weight in your car. I think this qualifies.

Looking forward to school starting back up tomorrow and finally getting around to doing all the things I really need to do, without the distraction of kids...