Author: Elsa

  • Torture

    Torture


    This series of pictures just breaks my heart. The girls really wanted their ears pierced. After deciding to do it they had to wait a couple of hours so that Claire’s would have 2 employees able to pierce at the same time. I know Monti was just stressed waiting all that time. She decided to go first. She did a really good job being the brave big sister. She simply looked stunned afterwards and said “that really did hurt.” Dahlia had a tougher time keeping the tears in but both said they would do it again if they could go back in time.

  • Twilight marketing

    Twilight marketing

    The Olympic peninsula is trying to make the most of the Twilight
    series popularity. Forks, Port Angles and La Push all try to lure
    Twilight fans their way. The town of Forks celebrates Stephenie Meyer
    Day on the same day as Twilight’s Bella Swan’s birthday, Sept. 13.

  • Hoh Rain Forest

    Hoh Rain Forest

    We hiked through the Hoh rain forest in the Olympic National Park.
    This area of Washington gets about 12-14 feet of rain. Overall I
    thought the rain forest in Mt Rainier’s national park was more
    impressive than this one.

  • on the coast

    on the coast

    We made it to Washington’s Pacific coast for the afternoon. On our way
    home Monti collected the remains of a variety of sea creatures while
    Dahlia enjoyed writing her name.

  • Walk-a-thon results

    Walk-a-thon results

    One of my last jobs for the Walkathon at school was to put together a
    bulletin board that displayed the results for the students. We
    exceeded all our goals this year. The kids at the school raised over
    $31,000. I like to think Joe’s Blues Brothers interpretation helped
    rally the kids around the fundraising goal.

  • Modeling

    Modeling

    The girls did a little modeling for me when we went to the temperate rain forest.

  • strep throat

    strep throat

    Poor Monti had fever and a horrible headache. She also felt sick to
    her stomach so she made her home in our bathroom. Our camping mat
    works as a great temporary mattress. The next day she tested positive
    for strep throat at the doctor’s. The doctor only tested her for strep
    because it is the only sickness she could give me anything for.

  • Deal with the face painter

    Deal with the face painter

    The farmer’s market had lots of other vendors. One of them is the face
    painter lady. Monti drifted on over there and started talking to the
    lady. I was determined to not give her money for any face painting. I
    wanted her to stay focused on her goal of selling baked goods. After 5
    minutes of conversation the lady started painting her face for free.
    Monti came back beaming telling me she had made a deal with the lady
    to help promote her face painting in exchange for free face painting.
    Monti did live up to her end of the bargain.

  • 2nd Grade Bake Sale

    2nd Grade Bake Sale

    Monti’s 2nd grade class has been learning about the rain forest. Her
    friend Knicole had the idea of having a bake sale to raise money to
    protect the rain forest. The moms baked the goods while the kids put
    on their cutest faces and sold the goodies at the Issaquah Farmer’s
    market. The kids had a lot of fun and they made $500 which was enough
    to protect 10 acres of rain forest.

  • a total of 54 feet

    a total of 54 feet

    My parents left Chicago in May to head up to Alaska for the summer
    months. They are pulling a trailer camper that will be home for them
    the next 5 months. Their total length is 54 feet which completely
    changes your perspective on driving and dining choices. Many campsites
    in Washington could not accommodate a trailer of this size. My dad
    will become an absolute pro at driving this beast.