Pop(sicle) Art

CUTESY: For several months running now, the kids and I have helped decorate the monthly calendar of events at a local transitional housing program for women. 

This month we wanted to do something with a summery theme. We struck upon Popsicles as our inspiration. We were just going to cut them out of flat foam or paper, using our Cricut machine, but I did a little Googling and found a tutorial about how to make some cute and easy ones out of dollar store pool noodles, and that's just what we did.

We cut the 'noodles' into 6-inch sections. Then, we sliced two sides off each noodle. 

Next, one end of each segment was rounded (we used an Exacto knife), and then the two parts were hot glued together to form the frozen treat. 

Add a couple of wooden sticks, and presto, Popsicle!

Overall a quick, easy, inexpensive way to make some summery decorations with real "pop."

SYNONYMS: A week or so ago, the kids and I scored a brand new, used Password game. They'd never heard of it, but I explained it was based on a fun old (like older than ME!) game show, and that it's all about synonyms and word relationships. (Password first aired on Oct. 2, 1961, hosted by Allen Ludden.)

Per Wikipedia, "in the game, two teams, each composed of a celebrity player and a contestant, attempt to convey mystery words to each other using only single-word clues, in order to win cash prizes."

We play for pride here at MPA. ;)

There are several versions of the tabletop game on the market. The one we found is the one pictured below.

We've mixed up teams and have (mostly) had fun playing. One session CJ kind of groaned a little bit about being compelled to play. I reminded him that this was his language arts class/education for the day, and if he'd rather do some worksheets or whatever, I'm sure I could find some. He came around remarkably quickly. ;)

Thanks to YouTube, you can watch 56 (or so) year-old Password episodes. Like this one. ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFcLLrFC3HA


COLORFUL: Just in time for the pyrotechnics tomorrow (America's Independence Day), Skunk Bear  of National Public Radio shares a video about how fireworks get their colors.
https://youtu.be/dW5OBrB4MRM

Trekking

NORTHWEST TREK: So, for fear of sounding like a broken record, we've been busy. Born to run, as Bruce Springsteen might say.

Last Thursday, we headed an hour or so south to Eatonville, WA, to visit Northwest Trek Wildlife Park. It was a working visit for us (and that's all I can say about that), but we enjoyed it nonetheless.

One of our first stops was the bathroom. An unglamorous destination, but I loved the posters they had on the wall outside. 

From there, it was off to more interesting things. Like, the badgers. :)

 We saw some cool cats along the way.

A highlight of the visit was a tram ride out through acres of grasslands and wetlands. There, we saw many a bison.

 And many a baby bison!

 In fact, this baby below was just three days old!

CJ can tell you a bit more about our visit. ... 

On 28 June 2018, my family visited Northwest Trek, located south of us in Eatonville, WA. Northwest Trek is a zoo displaying a variety of animals native to the Pacific Northwest, particularly those in the Eatonville region. We visited for a mystery shop, and as such, had to carefully catalogue the details of our visit (employee names, times of entrances and exits to certain places in the zoo, etc.). Here are some highlights from our visit:

At one point, we waited near a barn owl enclosure to see a presentation about barn owls. Wendi, the presenter, introduced us to Tuccloose (I think that's how it's spelled), a resident barn owl of Northwest Trek. Wendi attempted to feek Tuccloose a rabbit head, which he was reluctant to go for. Wendi compared an owl being given a rabbit head during the day to a human being woken up at 3 A.M. to eat a cheeseburger. I did admit that I would eat a cheeseburger, if woken up at 3 A.M. and presented with one. Wendi also showed us some owl pellets, presumably from Tuccloose.

At 1:00 P.M, we went on a tram ride, Northwest Trek's main attraction. Grace, the tram driver, provided us with knowledge about the various animals along the path. In particular, we got to see a three-day-old bison. Multiple caribou were also present on the path, including multiple that forced Grace to slow the tram by walking along the path.

Below is a snowy owl, who didn't like the sound of my camera's shutter.  

Here's a 'fairy' house from our nature walk. (Really, the whole day was a nature walk.)

 The barn owl is photoed below. 

 And here's his lunch - rabbit head!

We saw some big cats during our travels. 

 Doe, a deer. A female deer.

 We saw a trio of lovely wolves, two sisters and a brother.

 The animals were the main draw, but the nature trails were compelling, as well. 

All in all, it was a great day full of lots of amazing animals and sights we wouldn't see elsewhere.

Greenery

This morning we decided to take the dogs for an overdue walk and wound up on a winding trail along a lazy river.

Per King County's website, "The Green River Trail winds more than 19 miles through industrial lands near the Duwamish Waterway in Tukwila to the broad Green River Valley. The trail provides excellent views and access to the Green River and surrounding river valley from Cecil Moses Park near Seattle’s south boundary to North Green River Park in south Kent near Auburn."

I have seen Cecil Moses Park along the highway a number of times. I didn't know that is the trail's northernmost spot. We'll have to stop by some time.

Today, we walked for about 45 minutes along the west side of the river, next to the area labeled Skyway on the map. We parked at the Tukwila Community Center, walked across the Allentown bridge, and headed south along the paved pathway.

For a lot of the walk, we were sandwiched between the slow-flowing river and industrial parks. In the photo below, you can see the Boeing Employees' Credit Union (BECU) headquarters looming in the distance. 

We were pleasantly surprised by the number of benches and roofed structures along the way.

We reached a turnaround point near a huge Shell Station in Tukwila. On our way back to the community center, I saw a small, yellow winged creature near the riverfront. 

At first I thought it was a butterfly, but then I realized it was a bird. See if you can spot the tiny yellow spot in the crappy, enlarged cell phone photo below.

It was so bright, at first we surmised it might be an escaped parakeet. Then, it occurred to me that it probably was a goldfinch. I told the kids that I thought that, in fact, it might be the state bird of Washington.

Once we got home we hit the Internet and found out that, in fact, my hunch was right. The Audubon Society's BirdWeb informed us the American Goldfinch "is common throughout the lowlands of Washington, often coming to bird feeders. The male in breeding plumage is bright yellow with a black forehead, wings, and tail. He has one white wing-bar on each wing and white on his tail."

Here is a slightly better photo of the American Goldfinch (via Wikimedia, thanks to user Breck22)

I have not seen a goldfinch in YEARS (like, since my childhood), and the kids don't ever recall seeing one. 

We're definitely interested in exploring the entire Green River Trail. King County Parks describes it as a trail that "links industrial lands to pastoral landscapes, parks, communities, and river views. Ideal for recreational journeys and non-motorized commuting, the trail is highly popular with a variety of user groups. In the future, the trail is slated to continue south through the City of Auburn and eventually to Flaming Geyser State Park at the Green River Gorge."

Cool!

VINYL TIE: As we were walking along the Green River trail this morning, CJ informed Annabelle and me that Mudhoney's frontman Mark Arm used to be in a band called Green River, named after the waterway we were paralleling. 

When we got home, we learned more about the band. Turns out their release "Come on Down" in 1985 was pre-grunge at its perhaps first and finest. (In fact, Arm is the human credited with coining the term 'grunge.')

The band Green River was comprised of members of the biggest names in the grunge genre, Arm and Steve Turner, who would go on to form Mudhoney, and Jeff Ament and Stone Gossard of Mother Love Bone, and later Pearl Jam.

"Come on Down" was just re-released on pink vinyl, and CJ wants it so, SO much.

MOON WATCH: Wednesday night, there's a sweet treat in the sky, a "Strawberry Moon."

The first full moon of summer will take on a reddish tint and appear unnaturally large, according to a press release by a Washington State University press release. 

Moonrise will occur at 8:24 p.m. Pacific Standard Time and be at its fullest by 9:53 p.m. A double delight, watch for Saturn, as well. It will be a bright object just south of the full moon, the biggest and brightest it will be in all of 2018.

Weekend Scenes

TAKES THE CAKE: Busy weekend! Saturday, we were busy with a Teen Feed feed. That meant prepping for we're never sure how many diners in a one-hour span. It seems to range from about 40 to 80 meals. Saturday is was way closer to 80 - so busy! We had a "Hot Diggity Dog" bar (BIG hot dogs with multiple toppings/condiments), plus homemade baked beans (I made eight batches of beans in my Instant Pot pressure cooker), plus banana splits for dessert. Fortunately, we had lots of people helping provide food and serve the meal, and it went fast and well!

Sunday, we had a cake to make. We've started volunteering with Birthday Dreams, a non profit that provides birthday parties, cake and all, for homeless youth. 

Late last week, we searched the requests that homeless kids had for cakes/parties, and I saw that a teen had requested  Tupac Shakur cake for this Monday. We're Tupac fans and I thought it would be fun to give it a go. The teen requested a white cake with white buttercream, and mentioned her favorite color are red and blue. 

We baked a three-layer vanilla cake, put red between two of the layers and blue between the other two, and iced it all in white. 

We decided to go with a Tupac portrait cut out of a sugar sheet. Annabelle did made it, and it was really, really hard/dicey, not just cutting it out (via a Cricut machine), but transferring it atop the cake was super stressful. 

Fortunately, it worked, and then it was "just" a matter of surrounding it with a marshmallow fondant 'bandanna,' which we had to hand paint in a paisley pattern. I kind of grossly underestimated how long that would take. 

The photos don't show that we did the birthday girl's name in fondant on the cake board, or the blue and red filling stripes. Would love to have had a photo of that.

EYES ON THE SKIES: This weekend, our eyes were on the skies from time to time.

We're lucky to have three airports near, so there's often something interesting overhead. 

Sunday, this helicopter was so near overhead, I could see its pilot and passenger. 

I kept my camera out on the deck on Sunday, knowing the Collings Foundation was selling flights out of Boeing Field. I was hoping to photo one of their beauties. 

Finally, late Sunday afternoon, I heard the rumble, and here it came!

The shadow in the lower left corner is our house eaves. It was that close!!

Behold, the B-17 Flying Fortress!

 Developed in the 1930 for the US Army Air Corps, this four-engine heavy bomber is a sight to behold. 

We also saw this B-24 Liberator overhead several times this weekend.  

Its split-tail design is very distinctive (below is not my photo, obviously!).