Strangely over spring break all of our kids were somewhere else for the night.  It doesn’t happen often.  More so as they are getting older but we are still able to count the times on one hand.  That evening was eventful with a DUI accident in front of our house. The next morning though was special.  Special because we were able to have breakfast out.  It’s not something we do often and for a long time I really didn’t like breakfast menus.  Ham and eggs are growing on me but they aren’t my favorite still.  Give me a croissant and a cup of coffee and I’m good.  However this morning we decided to drive to downtown Bellingham.  I wanted crepes but it didn’t open until 8 am.  Unheard of. It’s breakfast, by 8 am the day has started and is in full swing. We settled on Old Town Café.  It was cute and the food was good and the coffee never ran out.  A gentleman came in and set up his mandolin and played while we ate breakfast.  Apparently people can play for their breakfast and I love that idea.  After breakfast we went next door where I browsed an antique store with John.  This was incredible for him.  I know that he would rather give blood or take a shot than go to an antique store.  He hates needles and shots (ironic that he has a diabetic son).  However he was wonderful and patient and didn’t complain.  I saw some cool painted brick across the street and made him go over to take photos.  He ended up taking some of me.  I’m hardly ever in photos so it was fun being on the other end of the camera when I’m feeling put together.  If I’m ever in photos it usually Christmas morning and I’ve just gotten out of bed.  I’ve never been one to “rock” that look. 

Lately it seems as though I've been taking a lot of photos of Lona and I have. She's around and most of the time willing to help me out. She's the only one still at home and I have decided to make this end of the year of homeschooling completely opposite from the beginning of the year. Right now she loves converse, will still wear a dress when I ask her, and wants combat boots. She likes the steam punk look as long as it's fairly covering. She's crazy and fun loving and sometimes it seems as though she's starting that teenagitis. It's amazing how diverse her interests are from soccer to ballet; piano to unicycles and pogos. I am scouring craig's list, antique stores and Value Village for a vintage hard suitcase because she wants a crafting suitcase. At night she wants to play ping pong and listen to music and eat popcorn. She keeps a list of everything she has to do for school and crosses it out as she gets to it, yet I still need to check to make sure she isn't crossing out before it is totally completed. Sometimes she feels left out because she has her own room and then other times realize how wonderful it actually is.  She is full of contraditions at the moment but she's quickly turning from a young girl to a young woman and I'm not sure either John or I are ready for it.

In the past I've taken all kids to the Tulip Fields.  Then I took only two and now I'm down to just 1.  In the future, I think I may borrow kids for this.  It was a day just for Lona and I to bond; to go on a road trip, to not have any plans except to stop where ever the road takes us.  After dance, we did what every road trip needs, a coffee stop.  Yep, it's a tradition to stop at Starbucks/Woods/where ever to get some kind of fancy coffee.  I also try to bring some kind of prop or fun thing to do while at the Tulip Fields.  Really, do you think that kids want to tromp around the tulip (they don't tip toe) having their picture taken, being told to smile.  Last time, they were in rain boots and had an umbrella and jumped while saying, "Somebody stole me lucky charms!"  This year I brought the goodwill umbrella. Once we got to Mount Vernon we followed the Tulip route signs.  This led us to a field right outside of Mount Vernon where we stopped we took some phot os then onto to the next stop which was for wine tasting and a bottle of wine.  That was for me, but they had a fun little patios and we decided that it was a perfect spot for our picnic lunch.  Then down the road some more where we pulled over at a fresh vegetable place and ended up looking at the goats and cows. We finally ended up at Tulip Town.  I thought we would try it again but Roozenguards is still our favorite place to go.  We love their plantings and grounds outside, not to mention all the yummy food there like deep fried bear paws and almost homemade very expensive fudge.  Tulip Town is different.  They have fields close but still have wagon rides around the fields for a price and their sample grounds aren't as nice or as established. Next year we'll be back again to Roozengards. Lona was very gracious to allow me to take a ton of photos of her and she snapped a bunch herself.  The last place we went to was a nursery.  Oh my goodness I loved everything about this place.  The greenhouses were beautiful, the plants were healthy, the cat was nice and they played french music.  I could have stayed there for a really long time but we felt like it was time to go home.  Of course a stop to Hobby Lobby was in order and Lona was super impressed.  We got out of there without spending a dime but it sure was fun to look.  When Job heard about our field trip he asked if he could be part of the next one.  I'm thinking of pulling out of school for that afternoon and going to either Port Townsend or Ballard back to the locks.  Of course there are a couple of days off before school ends that we could do those in too.

I want to build this type of shed on the side of our house for all the tools

Oh my goodness. In the 13 years that I have lived here, I have never been to Port Townsend. Now I wonder why? It is such a cute quaint little town that was built in the 1800s and the buildings have great character. It reminds me a little of Red Lodge Montana. Although Red Lodge has more of a cowboy feel compared to the Victorian feel of Port Townsend.  We started off the day grabbing a Starbucks coffee on our way down to Whidbey Island where we caught the ferry.  We parked the van at Fort Ebey and walked onto the ferry.  On the crossing over we were blessed to be able to view whales which made the $6.30 roundtrip fare a screaming deal.  Once at Port Townsend, it was a two block walk to these stunning buildings.  Some of them were painted, some looked like they still needed some repair work, some were available for lease.  I keep thinking of Isaac's The Three Essentials, a wine, bread and cheese bistro that would fit in here.  We window shopped, we oohed, and ahhed at the buildings.  I almost choked on "robust" olive oil.  When they said robust they meant it.  I think I'm a mild olive oil gal or maybe that I need smaller sips of olive oil.  I was enthralled by the architecture and I had ideas brewing in my head of all the places for a photo shoot.  I snapped photos of alleys and buildings to use as backdrops, I started planning waredrops and props.  I just couldn't help it.  Then there was lunch and hot drinks and chocolates to slowly eat as the rest of the day went on.  An amazing smelling pizza place that looked like a dive but inviting anyway.  A steampunk and pirate shop was the last stop and I texted Lona a picture of boots I thought she would like and I was right but not ready to shop.  To see other photos from a different perspective check out Marie's blog of our day.  Knitting the Moment

A potential secret garden; ivy on the brick, trees shading the lot.