You do the math: 1200 sq. ft house x 5 adults x six under age 6 x 13 days

We've had our dear friends Joe and Steph in town from Utah, and their 3 boys (two of whom are our godchildren). So imagine a smallish, 3 bedroom house filled with 5 adults (my sister lives here remember) and 6 BOYS-- under age 6... for almost 2 weeks!!! Their stay got extended quite a bit because their truck broke down and they had to special order the part for it and it was just a crazy extensive mess. BUT, for all the chaos and constant sensory overload of the past two weeks... it was worth it. It's always good to see those true blue kinds of friends and especially good to get to know our godsons a bit more (they are Leo's godparents) since we've barely seen them since leaving CA.

Anyway, it was an eventful first half of the visit. They have some kind of timeshare thing in Victoria, B.C., so we spent a couple nights there in a lovely room overlooking the harbor. The kids had a blast at the Bug Zoo, riding the double decker bus, going to Miniature World etc. The adults had some fun (mostly after 10 pm when the kids were finally asleep and damage control duty was off, and we got to sit in the hot tub with a nice drink and catch up on life.)

After the trip, their truck broke and we were pretty much incapacitated to go anywhere in one vehicle being so large a group, but we did manage some time at Fort Ebey in Coupeville and got to spend lots of time shooing the boys outdoors to dig in the pea gravel etc.

Now, the house is quiet and the little squabbles and noises of my regular crew seems like nothing... all is well. Tomorrow, Sia (another good friend, Dominic's godmother) is coming to visit (with her two boys, one of our godsons)... so we'll be in the visitor routine again. But these visits are a treat for us. Sometimes we can feel quite isolated from family and friends up here on the island and it's nice to have a flow of visitors occasionally. I suppose I should share some photos... there are too many. I'll pick out a couple faves.

This is our godson Braxton:

This is Joe, Steph and baby Marcus:

This is our other godson, Corban:

This is sweet Dominic's favorite run to a parent with open arms and tongue a-wagglin':

This is five boys in a bathtub:

This is Steve-O at his finest with the boys in Anacortes:

This is the view from the condo we stayed in:

This is the kids wishing we had one of these at home:

This is the view from the front seat, level 2 of a double decker city bus in B.C.

This is Dominic holding one of the MANY bugs he got to handle at the Bug Zoo.

chicken dancing aprons?

It's just that my amazon wishlist is getting too long. So I attempt to win a gift card by commenting on this fun recipe from The Apron Queen's Reviews!

You can too! Click here!

perfectly addictingly unhealthy

Have you discovered Amazon's new universal wishlist?! Holy cannoli! This thing rocks; you can put anything on the entire internet, from any store, on your amazon wishlist. Talk about convenience!!! Talk about a way to drool even more easily over things... STUFF. Crimeny, now my husband can never say that he doesn't know what to get me (for Christmas, anniversary, birthday etc.). There are some really outrageously expensive things on my list now... but just for kicks! Hahaha... I need to get away from the internet for a while.


For your amusement, click here.

from the book basket...

I'm just going to keep small updates on what we're reading here. We finished "The Princess and the Goblin"; it was a smashing hit with the boys.

Now, we're onto "The Cricket in Times Square." Incidently, I have a copy of this book in Spanish too... so maybe we'll play around with some language lessons.

picture parade

... after all what is a daddy for?


Dominic and Kate playing in a birdbath.

On the boat that took the kids on a boat tour of the Penn Cove Mussel farms.

And the find of the year at a rummage sale, remember Pogo Sticks my 80s friends?

Steve thinks he's still got it in him:

Craft time in Autumn : Making a bear cave for a hibernating bear.

We gathered leaves and nettles and pinecones and such for the inside of his cave and Xavier insisted that he needed a blanket (grass) for the cold-weather nap: the sign on his cave reads: "Good night Mr. Bear! See you next Spring!"