Earthy

REACHING OUT:  When we're out and about, we try to pack along an art supplies bag with us at all times, because Annabelle just churns it out nonstop. If we were to keep every drawing of hers, we'd need to live in the far, far, far, rural hinterlands, just to be able to afford the warehouse space for all the papers. 

So one thing I've been encouraging her to do is share her art with others. As in, give it to someone who would *love* it. This afternoon presented one such opportunity. We were at a local restaurant and there was a family with a young (about 11 month old, I'd estimate) child at a table near us. The child was very precocious and was actively making eye contact and trying to communicate with us (in his case, given his age, it was shrill squeals). At one point, I suggested Annabelle send a drawing over to their table. She did, and the child was absolutely entranced. 

In fact, even though the child couldn't yet speak, he immediately started using the American Sign Language motions for the word "more." (A number of parents teach their infants ASL as a way to communicate.)

Seeing the wee one passionately gesturing "more, more, more" was a rather ringing endorsement that Annabelle's drawings were pleasing to the eye. 

The parents acknowledged the young one's "more" symbol and thankfully Annabelle had another drawing to hand him. And another. The last one she passed the family was the photo up top, the panda with the star. The parents were so appreciative, and the mom shared they sing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" to him every night at bed time. It was funny, the parents were so protective of the drawings, making sure their not-quite-yet toddler didn't mar them in any way. Bet they're going in the baby book. :)

FEELING BLUE:  Today, our calendar included a full day workshop at the University of Washington for Engineering Day.

Alas, those plans were scuttled when CJ woke up with a cold. He just wasn't up to traipsing around the acres of awesomeness the event would entail. 

So, we kept our activities lowkey. We delivered a plant stand to Mukilteo and played a vintage MAD Magazine board game (which CJ won).

That made him feel better. :)

EARTH DAY: And then there's this, an appropriate parting thought for Earth Day ... 
https://youtu.be/p86BPM1GV8M

Birthdays

BIRTHDAY BOY:  And just like that, CJ wakes up one day and he's a teenager. What better way to mark that than a terrible breakfast of doughnuts and Black Label Mountain Dew (fancy sauce!).

In the early afternoon, we headed up to Everett and went to the coolest collectibles store around, Bobakhan, where CJ scored another item for his Cantina Band collection. From there it was on to Jimmy Mac's Roadhouse for lunch (CJ's choice).

Next on the agenda: A boat ride across Puget Sound, from Mukilteo to Whidbey Island. Here was our ride approaching. 

Its name was the Tokitae. That means "nice day, pretty colors" in Chinook jargon. Very fitting for our trip, I'd say!

It was a gorgeous afternoon on the sound. Hardly a breeze, sunny and warm, with brilliant blue skies and water.

We saw sailboats ... 

 and other ferries. 

 We walked 'round the ship ... 

 and stopped to puzzle for a moment.

We made a brief stopover in Clinton, WA, ...

and then headed right back to Mukilteo.

 Seagulls seemed to like to use the ferry as a floating island.

 This bird caught a ride for awhile.

 On the return trip, we had a nice view of the Mukilteo lighthouse as we approached port.

 After that, we were back southbound, stopping in Edmonds to hit Another Castle, a great retro game store and arcade!

CJ's birthday wish was to beat the game CarnEvil for the first time. With Annabelle's help and about $10 in quarters, they did it!

We continued south, stopping in the Green Lake neighborhood to pick up CJ's cake, which is almost entirely ice cream. The writing on top was his idea. ...

All in all, a big, busy, fun day! Happy #13, CJ!

NEEDLED: This morning, an email alerted me to the fact that April 21, 2016, marks the Space Needle's 54th birthday.

She's looking pretty awesome for 54, don't you think? As iconic and futuristic as ever!

 And how nice of the Needle to host its own birthday party, complete with Full Tilt ice cream. 

Called Wheedle on the Needle, it's a special Full Tilt flavor, available only at the Space Needle on most days. Below, you can see Jeff Maxwell, executive chef of the landmark's rotating restaurant SkyCity, making sure Annabelle got her ice cream. :)

 Oh, and there was FREE SALMON as well. Mmmm! 

We've been to Seattle Center four times in the last five days!

Glassy Eyed

AFIELD TRIP:  Tuesday dawned another clear day, destined to be well over 80 - uncharacteristically hot for Seattle in April.

We dropped CJ off at his class at 9 on Queen Anne, and then Annabelle and I headed to Seattle Center for an art-related field trip to the Chihuly Garden and Glass. 

 There, we met a few dozen of other art students and their guardians for a tour of the museum. It started with a glass-blowing demonstration.

 Naturally, that involved some special tools and high temperatures. 

It also involved teamwork, as one artist tooled the material while another blew through the tube to help form it.

After the demo, we made our way into the gallery. Our first stop was the neon forest. It was so dark compared to the brilliant light outside, it made a few us us a bit dizzy!

 One gallery, Persian Ceiling, had a ceiling with wall to wall glass overhead. 

 Also overhead, the chandeliers were stunning.

Puget Sound was the inspiration for this mammoth glass sculpture in the Sealife Room.

 The Float Boats were a carnival of color.

 Mille Fiori was inspired by Dale Chihuly's mother's garden.

In the Macchia Forest, German-sourced colors were incorporated into Chihuly's glass, resulting in over 300 colors being used.

 The Glasshouse was phenomenal!

 And the gardens were divine!

We were fortunate to visit while the gardens (helped along by a mild winter and way warmer than normal spring) were in beautiful bloom.

Annabelle and friends took a moment in the garden to do some sketching.

I just took in the scenery.

 Apparently, I have a thing for the Space Needle.

You can take an audio tour of the museum at this link: http://www.chihulygardenandglass.com/m/tour/

Afterward, we headed over the great playground at Seattle Center for a few fun minutes.

Obviously, a busy and interesting Tuesday.

Trekkers

GOING COASTAL: We continue our look back to last week's adventures afield.  For a large part of our journey, we trekked down Highway 101, which often affords lovely views of the Pacific Ocean.

At the stop above, we learned that we have a gentleman named Oswald West to thank for access to the coastline in to perpetuity. 

A Democrat and the 14th governor of Oregon, West established Oregon's beach highway law, proclaiming the entire Pacific coastline to the high tide line to be a public highway, thereby preserving scenery and beach access for future generations.

What a swell thing to do, right? 

On the highway just south of Cannon Beach, we saw a number of monolithic rocks. Haystack Rock is the most famous and biggest. Below is a photo of one of the 'smaller' rocks, dotted with shore birds.

We read with great interest the tale of "Terrible Tille," a lighthouse built on one of the monoliths near Haystack Rock. 

Just barely visible in the photo below, the lighthouse was built on a chunk of basalt 1.2 miles offshore of Tillamook Head.

Conditions were treacherous and it took more than 575 days to build the lighthouse over 575 days, starting in 1879. 

The lighthouse was decommissioned in 1957. It got 'new life' in 1980, when it became a warehouse for cremains, but that license was revoked in 1999. Now "Terrible Tilly" just sits there on the monolith, with a few guests on board for all eternity.

Further down the highway, we arrived at the headquarters of Tillamook Cheese (and ice cream)!

 Many photo opps were on site. 

The view of the factory floor was super interesting. We stood and watched for several minutes. 

 After the factory view, we enjoyed some samples. 

Here's CJ's summary of our part of our adventure:

Recently, my family went on a road trip down to Siletz, Oregon, to see my grandparents. On the way there, we made several stops, One of which was in Tillamook, Oregon, home of the famous Tillamook Cheese Factory. Tillamook Dairy is a creamery, most well known for their cheese, with their cheddar variation being the 2nd best selling cheddar cheese brand in the world. The Cheese Factory contains a visitor center, where visitors can enter and begin a self-guided tour of the factory. The tour was relatively short, with the primary stop being windows where you could see two different parts of the cheese production process. In the first large room, the cheese ingredients were mixed together, with the curds being put together, and the excess liquid being removed from the tub. After binding, the curds would then be packed into 40-pound blocks, and sent to age in the warehouse.

After the cheese has significantly aged, the blocks get sent to the next room. In the second room, the cheese blocks would be cut into smaller blocks (the ones you see on the store shelf,) with small slices being cut off the top to be put into slice packets. The smaller blocks are then manually put into plastic packages, whereafter they go to a peculiar-looking "octopus" machine. According to a sign at the factory, the "octopus" looking vacuum sealers give each packet an airtight seal. Packages are run through a heat shrink tunnel, then pass through a metal detector for safety. The now-airtight cheese packages are then sent to the next room, unseen to people taking the self-guided tour.

I enjoyed my visit to the Tillamook Cheese Factory, and I recommend a visit for anybody travelling on the Oregon coast.

NEAR NEWPORT: On Wednesday, we reached Siletz, Oregon, home of beloved Nonnie and Bops. The grounds of their home were beautiful, as always. 

 Loved this fern seeming to emerge from a moss-covered tree trunk. 

 While checking out the orchard, we got a mini lesson in grafting. 

We headed back up to Seattle on Friday, stopping briefly in Puyallup for the Washington State Spring Fair. 

Good times. :)