Blog

  • Rattlesnake Lake

    Rattlesnake Lake


    We spent the afternoon at Rattlesnake Lake east of North Bend. It is so strange because it has large old tree stumps strewn all over the lake bed. We met a man who explained that the town of Moncton (pop. 200) used to exist where the lake bed currently is. In 1915 the town was condemned due to flooding  caused by the seepage of water from the dam-created  lake up the hill. The dam was secure but the hill consisted of gravel and therefore acted as a sieve allowing the water from the newly filled lake to just flow downhill to the town of Moncton. You can still find bricks near the edges of the lake from some of the old building foundations. The kids brought home a couple as treasures.


  • trick or treat in Talus

    trick or treat in Talus

    After raining all day the skies cleared up for Halloween night. The
    ghouls and goblins of the neighborhood came out to try their best to
    spook the kids. We had an awesome window animation projected onto our
    front window. It received many rave reviews from the kids and adults
    in the neighborhood but unfortunately there were a few little ones who
    skipped our house completely due to fright. On the top of our hill
    there were adults with a keg of beer in a wagon pouring liquid treats
    for the adults out with their kids. Everyone was in great spirits. They were  
    simply thrilled to have a dry relatively warm (in the 50’s) Halloween
    in Seattle. Of course it helped it was also a Friday.

  • The angel and bride

    The angel and bride

    The theme this year was white. Dahlia was an angel. Monti wanted to be
    an ice princess but settled on wearing the bride costume I brought
    home with full intentions of adapting it to be an ice princess. I
    found out later that Gwendolyn, Monti’s cousin, was an ice princess this
    year back in Chicago.

  • Halloween parties at school

    Halloween parties at school

    I worked both the kindergarten party and the 2nd grade party at
    school. The 3 kindergarten classes paraded around the school in their
    costumes for all to see. In Monti’s class I was in charge of the mini
    pumpkin decorating station. Above is Monti’s pumpkin creation. I
    noticed that some of the kids’ costumes looked like my kids’ everyday
    school clothes. In fact, one first grader was wearing the exact same
    dress Dahlia has (and wears) but she was dressed in a full princess
    costume. The chicken costume I wore to school was a huge hit with the
    students and teachers. Some of us just never get too old to dress up
    in costume whenever we have the chance.

  • Merry-go-round

    Merry-go-round

    I thought they had become extinct in playgrounds especially new ones
    but we spotted something spinning at the new park. We planned on
    taking a hike up Cougar Mountain but once the kids discovered the new
    playground equipment our hike was abruptly ended.

  • Clean up

    Clean up

    A good mess is always the sign of a great party! Monti was very sweet when she thanked me at the end of the night for letting her have the Halloween party but when she asked about having another one next year I could only say “Maybe.”

  • Dancing (of course)

    Dancing (of course)

    What would a Fleck Fright Night be without dancing? The kids did partake in some dance moves in the media room. Joe had the iTunes visualizer running up on the big screen which the kids enjoyed playing with. The media room setup would have been great for our old “before kids” parties. Some of our regular guests could have used the extra room showing off their personal favorite dance moves.

  • Witch training in process

    Witch training in process

    The final lesson was to make Dragon Bellyworms. The spell went something like this:

    Beetle eggs and vampire pee
    Gooey, gluey wait and see
    Atomic worms pulled from the cups
    Witches’ pets instead of pups.