Fitting Exploration into Holiday Travel

(Warning: Photo Dump Below!)

Whew!  I think we've all recovered from the Fourth of July holiday!  We decided to make a trek up to my parents house  in Washington.  While we were out exploring, I told my husband that I didn't know how to work this into the blog, because I want to make sure that each post has something to offer you, the reader.  I just love his response: "Just share it!  Give encouragement to people to get outside and explore!"  I kinda, really love that man! =D

So without further ado, this is how our holiday travel went while enjoying some adventures, both outdoor and indoor. 

Day 1: The Drive:  So it doesn't take all day to drive up there, but it's 6-7 hours.  Given the time it takes to load and unload, it's basically a full day.  Thankfully now my little ones are doing so much better in the car, so we don't hear screaming the whole way.  When the fussing started, I'd just pull out another book, read it, then pass it back for them to re-peruse (lift the flap books are awesome!).  We'd try to take advantage of meals and gas stops to take a stretch break (or as the kids call them, shake breaks!)  Other than that, lots of dried fruit, I spy, singing and license plate tracking!   We got in with just enough time for the kids to play with a little, battery powered four-wheeler that my dad had received broken, but free and fixed it up.  That got the wiggles out!

Day 2: After a lazy morning, Josh and I borrowed my parents' jeep and headed up some mountain trails (holiday tip: you don't have to have/bring all the "toys."  Share and borrow what you can!)  It wasn't a clear day, but it was so gorgeous!  The ruggedness of the hills is so stark against all the foxglove blooming (my favorite!!!)  Josh was able to just reach out the door and pick me bouquets.

  We picked wild salmon berries and went for a small hike at the end of one of the trails.  At the very top we even ran in to another couple from Alaska, so naturally we had to stop and visit with them for a bit!

 

After we got back we loaded in the truck with my parents to hit the carnival.  Though it was a fairly small carnival, the kids were awestruck.  Our 5 year old enjoyed a few of the kiddie rides, but our 2 year old would only go on the carousel until we got to the Ferris Wheel.  Grandpa and Daddy went with them and even at the highest point you could see both of their faces beaming with delight and they excitedly waved to us every cycle!  What a treat! 

So fun to see familiar faces as well.  A former neighbor and her grown daughter also visiting from out of town, two mission trip coordinators and an former worship teammate let alone countless others that I couldn't quite place anymore. 

Day 3: My former church GAVE me a piano!  I'm so excited and grateful, but have no place to store it right now, so my dad is hanging on to it for me.  He, Josh, and my brothers moved it to their garage for now.  Boy, do I owe them cookies or what?  I just have to tease them that they'll forever be helping me move pianos!  (It may have happened a time or two before) 

First we had to stop by Wing's cabin and learn how the pot-bellied stove worked!

Ringing the church bell with Bampa

 Then the whole crew drove up to Bellingham to the Spark Museum.  If you ever get a chance, check it out.  A museum on the history of electricity, complete with a functioning Tesla Coil (I didn't remember what that was until we got there!)  I'm not a huge fan of electronics, but even I found much of this fascinating.  Just this history, if nothing else, and the beautiful detail they seemed to put into everything they did. 

We got back into town to visit my best friend from age 4 and her family and to barbeque and hang out in their new back yard.  Beautiful end to a busy day!  And I love that our kids feel like cousins!

Krista and I basically have this exact photo of us when we were this age!  Now it's our kids!

Day 4:  Church the next morning (same one I grew up in!) along with many more familiar faces.  Then lunch at the favorite spot  before the in-laws joined us for the logging show and chainsaw carving competition. 

Pole Climb

Day 5:  Independence Day!  Parade in the rain, then about 30 people came to the house for a get-together, fire crackers, and a ton of food.  Lots of playing in the  rain and dancing through the smoke! 

Day 6:  Home again, home again, jiggety jog.  When we hit bad traffic we just took old farm roads.  Better moving the long way through beautiful scenery than stuck in stress and traffic. 

I'm so grateful for my family, but I know for some staying with family can be a difficult time if they are not accustomed to spending much time outside.  I think, especially during a visit to see someone, relationships take priority.  Be with those you've come to be with.  But if the opportunity arises to get everyone out and see something new, maybe it could benefit all!

Wild Cooking Adventure: Sourdough and Jelly

We just came from the land of the sourdough, both in cooking and in locals.  (Alaska calls their long time homesteaders "Sourdoughs" for those not familiar with the term.)  And sourdough bread remains a popular baked item there.  Many have heard of Dick Proenneke from the television show and I was given some of his sourdough starter from a friend of a friend and kept it alive and well until I had my second child (plus two cats, a puppy and six chickens) and I let it go too long without feeding it and it died!  I'm still kicking myself for that, but I recently learned that you can't transport sourdough starter.  Well, you can, but over time, the local yeasts will overtake it and it will take on the local characteristics.  Sourdough is unique to the area, isn't that interesting?

Wild Yeast Trap Set.  Complete with guard dog!

So I recently began to get a hankering for sourdough again.  I always wondered where the starter came from, I'd only been given jars of starts before.  So the wonder that is Pintrest came to the rescue again and I found that you can capture wild yeast right out of thin air!  Christina Keibler is very knowledgeable has great written and video instructions, but it's basically just flour and water in equal parts.  You leave it in a bowl outside, stirring every few hours to incorporate more air into the mixture.  After about 24 hours you can see the bubbles and "hootch" (clear liquid from yeast) forming and that's it!  She also has a recipe for bread from the starter you can find on this page.  I'm still working on the quirks of Oregon yeast to get a big fluffy loaf, but the flavor is amazing!

Then I got to thinking about jelly and what I have on hand, and I recalled a recipe I have for rose petal jelly.  This rental that we're living at has an abundance of gorgeous rose bushes around it and a good many were just starting to drop their petals.  So my sweet daughter and I plucked them up and followed this recipe by Luckybeans for the jelly.  It turned out a vibrant fuscha red and took a little mending  (it didn't want to set up) but now has a lovely light flavor.  Just a beautiful process as a whole.  So lots more photos of this:

I love that glowing color!  And making good food with what we already have, and getting the little ones involved and learning new skills.  I'm going to chalk this one up as a win! =)  Do you have any fun new food projects planned?  I always love to hear what everyone is up to!  Happy Memorial Day Weekend and I hope in your celebrating you can appreciate those who serve and have served.

Trail Etiquette: Hiking with Children

Some of my happiest memories all through my life have been on a trail of one sort or another and I'm so thrilled to begin to share that with my children.  For many trails, there are outright laws that direct behavior while exploring, while there are some courtesies that can be applied to all.  Most of them are common sense or perhaps even regional, but I'd like to share my thoughts on trail etiquette, especially with children

Happy!  I will be so goofy for that grin!  Hiking at Chatanika, AK

1. Be friendly!  Greet those you pass!  This is how we used to pick out newbies or "city folk" growing up!  Haha!  (Sorry city folk, I know some of you can be outdoorsy, too! =)  Hiking can be hard.  Be nice.  And don't forget to warn of any dangers (wildlife, path degradation, etc.) ahead.  Or go the extra mile and say something encouraging!  On one of our last bigger hikes, my son was struck by how encouraged he was on our way up by one man who simply told us how much farther we had to go.  So he told every single person we passed on our way down about how far thy had left!  This might be excessive for an adult to do, but it's a nice thought!

I believe this was Fynn's first serious hike (3 mo.  6 miles to Kennecott Mines, AK)  Doesn't he look happy!? =)

2. Yielding the path.  I know the general rule is just for those going down hill to yield to those going uphill, but with very young hikers, we pretty much step aside for everyone.  It's okay to get passed.  We all get to where we're going at our own pace.

Nov 2015, McKenzie River, OR

3.  A group only goes as fast as their slowest hiker.  Basically, stay together.  Of course differing opinions on this, too, but isn't the point of going on a hike together to be together?  There's always a little straggling or speeding, but our general rule is to stay where we can all see each other.  And I find for us it works well to just let the kids pick the pace.  Yes, there's lots of stopping, but that's when I see the most learning happening.  It's not all about the destination. 


Studying a snail.  Sweet Creek Falls, 2015



4. Staying on the trail: most public parks employ this rule, but I would say the best excuse to break that would be to relieve oneself.  Lets face it, with little ones, potty breaks aren't always predictable and usually quite urgent.  Just remember to have them go at least several yards off the trail, 200 feet from water, and to bury anything solid (especially toilet paper!)

Kauai 2013

5. General public trail respect.  Pack your garbage out.  Don't vandalize.  Don't feed the wildlife nor try to get too close to them.  Don't pick the flora, the exception being an emergency.  Though I have also picked edible plants that were growing in abundance along the trail itself for grumpy hungry children.  But in these cases I follow the forager rules of only picking what you need and leaving more than enough for the continuing of the growth.  Interesting article on public land foraging regulations along the Pacific states (and BC) at Wild Harvests.

Valdez, AK 2011

And here's my rule that I've pretty much tossed out the window: be quiet.  Maybe it isn't perfectly courteous, but I have children.  They're outside and excited and wild adventurers.  They're not going to be quiet.  I know people go hiking to get away from the noise, and to them I do apologize.  I know it's going to scare off the wild life.  But right now, they are the wild life!  I can't tell them to use their inside voices.  Right now, being quiet outside is only for hunting. 

Darlingtonia Wayside with my parents, 2015

As you've probably already gathered, I can be a bit of a rule breaker at times, and I feel like so many of the "rules" are situational and dependent on the time and the trail.  Just some things to think about, though.  There are lots of great trail etiquette posts out there like this from Melissa Farage  and another from North Cascade Hiker.  Happy hiking!

Silver Falls, 2015

Beginning the Gardening Adventures (2016)

Daffodils blossom at the base of a fallen snag.

 

It really is February still, right!?  With this weather, I'd never guess!  On our trip to town this week the kids were hot and stripping off layers, begging to have the windows down in the truck!  We did and it felt SO lovely!  "May means maybe" (may still have more snow and freezing temps)  is what we were always told in AK, so this definite spring so early feels a little foreign yet!

Spring Queen

And things are blooming!  Daffodils and crocuses of course, but also camellias, violets, nettles, mock cherries, and several new to me as well!  So I began to think, "well, maybe I should be growing things now, too?"  And, though slightly early, when I looked at a planting chart for the area (great zoning and scheduling for US here) it could already be time to plant some of the seeds I had OUTSIDE!  I love it!  And I love how we can get hints about the timing of planting based on the wild things growing around us!

So my trusty helpers and I got everything together and got those seeds in some rich dark dirt. Mostly according to the directions, but  when your over-eager assistants are 2 and 4, the depth and spacing measurements are kinda out the window.  We'll see how things go!  This is my first year really trying a container garden, too!  My hope is that we'll be moving to our own plot of land by the end of harvest.  It may be a long stretch, but I can dream, right? =)



It's good to coat my hands in earth again!

So once we planted and "tucked in" our seeds (for whatever reason, burying them was too traumatic, so we just tucked them in their dirt beds and bid them a nice nap! =) ) it was time to water them.  Out came their water buckets and certainly washed away a section of our broccoli before it even had a chance!  I quickly stopped that method and we pulled a couple milk jugs out of the recycling bin. 

With a few holes hammered into the lids and filled with water, they made perfect watering cans for the little ones: a manageable size that only released a drizzle instead of a deluge of water at once!  Now we wait!  I can't wait to be growing our own food again!

Any hints for a new Oregon gardener  wannabe?  Every thing seems so simple here as a whole!  I'm comparing this to my Fairbanks garden where I had to dig several feet through peat moss to the permafrost, build a frame for my garden and line the bottom with 2" insulation, fill with dirt and surround with a fence to keep the arctic hares out all while fighting the swarms of mosquitos.  Then every year our neighborhood moose and her calf(s) would eat the majority before I could harvest it!  SO infuriating!  I've been told the deer are an issue here, and I remember the slugs; is there anything else I should be aware of?  I look forward to hearing your gardening adventures!

KISS Play Dress or Shirt (Keep It Simple, Sweetie)

Pretty sure I figured out (one of) my problem(s) this week.  I often feel like I do nothing well, but I'm interested in doing almost everything.  You've heard the phrase Jack of all Trades?  Me to a t.  It's becoming clear to me as I see the same attitude in my tiny daughter whose favorite phrase right now is, "Me got this."  I got it, I'm good, I can figure this out by myself.  Apparently, from my own mothers stories, my similar phrase at age two was, "Do it by myself."  I'm sure it's quite common among two year olds, but I evidently never grew out of that!  I have this desire in me to figure things out by myself and just be as self sufficient as possible.  And most often this comes out in a joy to learn new skills such as cooking from scratch, animal tending, and homemade utensils and clothing.  But then I'm on to the next thing, often without honing my skills to an adept level, but just enough to get by in a pinch if I needed to. 

Ah, well.  Perhaps expertise will simply come with age?  Speaking of which, is it just me, or has time picked up the pace a little bit?  It seems to be screaming by with a 4 and 2 year old growing in our home!  Wow!  Every day they amaze me!  And every day I'm amazed by which of their clothes no longer fit! =)  Even a non-parent friend of mine commented yesterday how absurd he found it to spend a fortune on a child's wardrobe when they so quickly out grow (or wear through) it! 

And while children's clothes can be less expensive, great deals can be found a thrift shops, and little blessings of hand-me-downs sometimes appear, there's something very satisfying in making something specifically for your child.  While I love knit and crochet, the investment of time alone into the project makes it a precious commodity that I tend to reserve for occasions such as church or the like.  But more often than not, my children live in play clothes.  I've made (refashioned) several simple play dresses for my daughter, but have been hesitant to share them on here because they're not perfect, not well-finished they're just comfortable play dresses that she will outgrow in a couple months!  But for those of you who might have a similar interest and goal, I'll sketch out my quick process.  Usually this dress takes me less than an hour, start to finish.

1)  Select a shirt: I do this from my give-away pile.  Some stains and small tears can be avoided depending on where you place your pattern.  Select a long sleeved shirt if you want your new dress to have long sleeves.

I wanted to put this here because it's often difficult to determine the shape of the sleeve.  You want to shoot for this bell shape where the sleeve will connect to the bodice so that it will hang well. 

2) Trace pattern: take a shirt or dress that currently fits (or mentally add a slight margin if you know you want it bigger), turn it inside out and fold it in half.  Likewise, fold the adult shirt in half. Line up he collar and, after you've determined how long you want the bodice to be, trace arm holes, sides and waist, lifting the sleeves to trace the arm holes if necessary.  Continue the waist cut all the way across the shirt.  This bottom rectangle will be your (already hemmed!) skirt section.  If you need to make it shorter, cut away desired strip size from the waist side.  Then determine how long you need the sleeves to be and line up the top folded edge before tracing it'sbell shape onto the sleeves of the shirt.  Don't forget seam allowance of about 1/4".   

3) Cut pieces: remember to consider seam allowance. 

4) Sew:  With right sides together, I like to start with the shoulders and sides of the top first.  Be sure you sew from the collar side toward the periphery on the shoulder seams so the collar is sure to line up.

 

 

     After this you can do a slight gather on the skirt, but I often just pin the bodice (right side out) to the skirt (inside out over the bodice so right sides are facing) at the quarter marks and then gently gather as I go. 

 

And to finish off with the sleeves, you need to sew the seam the length of the sleeve first, set it into the armhole of the bodice, and (pinned and right sides facing again) carefully sew around. 

 

 

 

 

New dress!  Time: 1 hour, Cost: $0 Ready to play and I won't worry a lick if it gets muddy, stained or torn!  This easily translates into a shirt pattern and you know it's going to fit your little one perfectly!  Though I tend to make mine on the larger side so she can wear it just a little bit longer! =)  I've used this concept for all the tops pictured.  As I mentioned, I'm not much of a sewer (Haha!  "Sewer!"  I mean "seamstress!"), so if you have any questions or I can provide better instructions in some way, I would love to hear from you!

Variation: with this sweater dress, I omitted the waistline and continued my side seams to the original bottom hem.

Variation: Use a men's dress shirt (and keep the pockets!)

Variation: no waist, higher bottom for shirt style that I did have to hem myself