I’d rather not have animals at the cabin, wanting this space to be friendly towards those with allergies. However, we know more people with pets than with allergies, and our own kittens can’t be completely left alone at home so they come along with us.
I don’t know how Timmy got up here, but since he couldn’t figure out how to get down, I had time to grab my camera before I rescued him.
Wesley wonders how he could do such a trick.
Piper already knows…
Aah, the pictures don’t do it justice, but I like decorating our cabin with my used Christmas finds.
I bet you’d never guess that a thrift store gave me this tree for free! 
I actually had to pry off all the old with lights and put on new ones and cheered it up with red ribbon. Clearly, it can’t handle the star on top.
Our other tree is smaller but sturdier. Sturdy enough for the kids to decorate themselves.
I found these for soldiers at an after-Christmas thrift store sale. Love them!
I probably spend more time putting lights up than we actually use them, but I like making sure Christmas lights light up the way for neighbors coming over for the annual Holiday Open House.
We don’t have the snow to make it picture perfect, but I love our cabin in all seasons anyway!
Before (Single Pane, ill fitting, aluminum frame):
After (The antithesis of previous windows…possibly with a price tag to match):
Much, much, much cozier!
Sometimes, it’s hard to avoid adventures on the island. Take this last weekend. We went to the cabin partly because we were throwing a neighborhood Christmas party over there. Wesley was being his usual obstinate self and had decided to pee on the carpet in the bedroom. [There was evidence and testimony that this wasn’t an accident.] This necessitated a trip to the pet store in the one strip mall on South Whidbey.
When we went in, there was nothing unusual. When we came out, it was snowing! Or soaping? The hardware store had a soap bubble machine and we had fun!
We had to head over to the island today to get a few things for the party, mow the dandelions at the cabin, and what the heck—spend as much time in the afternoon at the the local fair.
SO FUN!
I think I will quit our home, move to Whidbey just so I can learn to hula with this club. So graceful and beautiful!
I want move like this!
The midway only had a dozen rides, but it was candy land for the kids. Wesley was excited about the ship that he could fly and shoot from. I wanted to add a bit of machoism to Wesley’s latest reports.
The best part of these sort of adventures is seeing the pure delight on my children’s faces. Kyla and Piper loved the swings.
So much so, that they did it again.
Wesley wanted to go on the trucks until he realized that he wasn’t on the flying gun ride (it’s a logical fallacy we are working on).
There were fun shows to watch—like the guy who padlocked a chain around his straightjacket.
We explored every single building of the fair (the kids got to fill their fair passport with stamps everywhere we went) and I found the pig judging hilarious.
What does one judge pigs on? How good the bacon is?
Turns out, that’s pretty close. The best in show is the one that is the one most ready (and not overly) for butchering. Yeah, no kidding.
The fair is only 4 days long so we will need to figure out how to get Dwayne to join us next year. And you should come to!
Greenbank Farm, Whidbey Island
Eleven years ago today, Dwayne and I threw our biggest party yet and got married in the middle of it. Due to my parents thinking they can go on vacation whenever they please, we are not celebrating that event. But on our honeymoon, when we stayed a few days at the Guest House Log Cottages, we came across this same Loganberry festival on Whidbey Island and spent a few pleasant hours.
And since we couldn’t pawn off the kids this weekend and the cabin was free, we decided to revisit.
So fun!
Next time, we will show up earlier than noon, and watch more of animal events. We liked the agility dog training as well as disc dog and some riding events. A local church hosted a kids’ fair with bouncy houses and games. Lots of local music and even more food carts. The Greenbank farm has permanent galleries and master garden as well. We exhausted ourselves by the end of the day, but it was a great family adventure!
Baby almost didn’t make it back. Twenty minutes from the festival, we realized Baby wasn't’ t with us. We turned around and asked the first guy who looked like he might know (everyone was doing teardown by this time). A one-in-a-hundred chance, he has found the doll earlier and knew exactly where she was. Phew!
I can’t recommend Whidbey Island enough for the 3rd and 4th of July!
We made the 9:30 ferry Wednesday night, which put us in Freeland just in time for the big July 3rd fireworks show. (Note to self: make it there about 6 hours earlier next year for the whole fun festival and not just the 10pm show.)
Maxwelton Beach community puts on a perfect hometown Fourth of July parade. Buy a $1 button for every family member, come early enough to play a bit on the beach, and get back along the route in time for the 1pm parade. So doing this again next year!
Here’s the grandstand. The big grandstand. Emceed by the grandpa who has lived there the most decades and knows every single person in the parade.
Red, white, blue, and lemonade.
I love these people.
There were many creative entries, but I really liked the two gorillas who were giving out bananas. There was also a food bank promotion that tossed out radishes. (Don’t worry, the kids got a handful of candy, too.)
“Ladies and Gentlemen, please pause for the national anthem, played by ----- on the saxophone.” It was a great way to end the parade.
First of all, isn’t this the coolest cloud formation you have seen? Seriously, Double Bluff beach is a kick, which is why we log in so many hours there.
Kyla, Piper, Wesley, Friend, Friend, and Friend spent 3-4 hours Tuesday afternoon building a teepee out of driftwood, and used kelp to decorate it.
Today we went back so the kids could continue working on their fort and then they “had to” build a bridge, with more wood, sand, shells, and rocks.
Everyone, except Mama, who had books to read, helped.
I love how the girls collected seaweed to make the teepee walls waterproof (and on sunny days, it works great!).
And after all that play, Wesley is exhausted and wants to sleep NOW!
