Winging It

SPREAD YOUR WINGS AND FLY AWAY: Today was the day for our butterflies to fly and be free. We've been watching them closely for nearly a month now. When they came to us, they were caterpillars in a cup. They transformed into cocoons and hung out in that state during our trip to Florida.

Just a day after our return, the first of five Painted Lady butterflies emerged from its cocoon and we've been watching them for a few days since. Yesterday, Christian was double checking their feeding instructions and in the fine print we read that their life cycle is a measly two weeks. We decided we needed to let them enjoy the balance of their lives outside of their screened habitat, so we released them this afternoon in a sunny meadow in a 391 acre state park. May they live long and prosper. Here's some dramatic footage of their flight to freedom. :)

LIGHT DUTY: First thing this morning we enjoyed some quality time with Nonnie and Bops. After they left to catch their train, we did a little table work - specifically, some writing about those glorious two minutes watching space shuttle Atlantis roar into orbit.

However, before too long, I was feeling an itch to get off campus. I'll be the first to admit, I'm still feeling like I'm in vacation mode. Naturally, I turned to the Internet to plot our escape. I'm always waxing poetic about how fantastic Seattle parks are, and that's true, but I decided that today would be a great time to head to our nearest state park - Saint Edward.

SAINT ELSEWHERE: St. Edward State Park is a former Catholic seminary, located on 316 acres along the northeast shore of Lake Washington. From the 1920s until 1977, the land was owned by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Seattle. It became a state park in 1978 (under Gov. Dixie Lee Ray's tenure!)

As soon as you pull up, you see this fantastic, sprawling brick building. I imagined all sorts of fantastic things going on within its walls. Imagine my disappointment when I got home, did some research and found out that it's a just a shell. Inside is a museum, of sorts. It's like someone flipped a switch and everyone just walked away. (I'd encourage you to spend a couple of minutes watching a video tour of the former seminary courtesy of the Seattle Times.) It's sad, bewildering and infuriating all at the same time ... (In the 'be still my heart' file, apparently McMenamins proposed a conference center, etc. on the property, but the proposal was withdrawn in 2007, gawddammit.)

But back to our field trip. The kids started out on bikes. They rode around the parking lots, basically, before we ditched the bikes and took a dirt foot trail (labeled moderately difficult) and took the "Seminary Trail" down to the beach. The ingress to the lake was pretty steep downhill, so you know what the return trip was. ;) That said, our kids are used to Seattle dwelling, and here in Magnolia, especially, it's all about ups and downs, so they didn't complain a bit. (This kind of conditioning was the same thing that paid big dividends in Florida, where they trudged along like soldiers!) As if the trails and forest and lake weren't enough, Saint Edward also boasts a phenomenal kids' playground.

Tomorrow we're getting back to a full day of school work. Sure we are ...