Tagged

So, Sarah tagged us with this game, problem is, all the people she tagged are the same people we blog. Does this mean we do the "tag your it" merry go round?

Uhmm, not so much.

Well anyway this is my picture. Fitting it happened to come around on this weekend

Craig, looking good in his cammies!!

I actually think this is the day he got his walking papers from the Army

We love you Craig and thank you for your service!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A Weekend in the SUN!!!!

We spent Mother's Day weekend in Toppenish, Wa at the Yakama Nation RV park. The park is on the Yakama Nation Indian Reservation. The sun was warm, the sunsets beautiful and the park was clean and quiet. This is a place to consider for all you RV'ers out there. It is deep in American Indian and farming culture. Steve and I would love to go back and take our fellow RV'ers with us. A great place for a group campout and not so far away.

Rest stop near Ellensburg. This about halfway to Yakima. Notice the Stuart Mountains in the background. Absolutely beautiful

The Yakama Nation Museum, Library and Gift Shop full of wonderful cultural items. Beaded purses, clothing and wool blankets, plus many other "goodies" you can't live without. There is also a family restaurant with actual homemade food and pretty tasty, too!! The Ledgends Casino is very close, maybe within walking distance and is supposed to have a great restaurant

These TeePees are available for camping. What a kick for the kids.

Steve reliving his inner kid

Emmy determined to get that wascally wabbit that eluded her the day before

Did I mention a heavy farming influence?? This is the Tractor Parade through the campground. There were new tractors, old tractors and everything in between. My very first tractor parade!!

Part of old downtown Yakima. The date on the sign is 1889.

I'm not sure why it has NYFD and NYPD on the front

Original train depot built in 1908
Now it is a restaurant

A great place for a cool drink on a warm day

A great ending to a wonderful day!!!

** Summer Time In The Garden **

This is the beginning of an ongoing blog about our summer veggie garden. We love to grow veggies, probably more than eat them. In the past we have grown enough to eat fresh and share with friends. We have canned, frozen and dried tomatoes, green beans, several types of peppers and many herbs. This year we are trying the upside down method and are hoping it is not a bust. We are planning on making our own salsa. We have onions, tomatoes, peppers, cilantro and garlic in the ground (or pot) along with two types of lettuce, oregano, parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme, wait, I hear a song.................... sorry, I digress. I can't believe I am really blogging about gardening. Steve's mom used to call us and talk endlessly about her gardens. We could have cared less, but as we age this is one of the things that gives us pleasure, so here we go!!!

The beginning of the garden in 2008

August 2008

in the beginning 2009

to be continued..........................

Last of the Cakes!!!

(for a while)

After another memorable celebration at Los Pinos in Orting,

we all ate cake!!

Gabe wanted a Powice Caaw cake,

so this is my rendition

April Date "Night"

**********************************************************

Some of our date "nights" that Steve has arranged are day trips(he has set up a date once a month through December). This month it was supposed to be to the Air Museum in Seattle, but because the winters are wet and long here, we decided to change plans. On a not exactly warm, but sunny day, we went to the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge. The refuge is closing in order to remove some dikes blocking seawater from covering land at the mouth of the Nisqually River. The dikes were built in the 1800's in order to establish grazing land for livestock. In the process many wetlands and the estuary were compromised and many species of birds and sea creatures suffered. We have always wanted to visit and this was one of the last chances to do that in it's current configuration. One small dike will be retained, so there will still be a hiking trail, but not near as many as now. This is a good thing they are doing, reclaiming this land and restoring it to its natural state. I'm sure if we looked around, there are many areas that could use some restoring. Spring was definately in the air as you can see by all the pairs of birds. I don't think we saw any by themselves.
We also observed turtles, frogs plus many types of songbirds not to mention many trees and shrubs in bloom, as well as daffodils and other natural flowers. It was an awesome place to observe wildlife in all its beauty. If you enjoy the outdoors, it's a great place to wander on a sunny day.

There was a lot of "honking" and nest protecting. There was even a sign in one area warning of a very aggressive daddy goose. It was best to not wander off the path.

This Merganser is not alone,

just couldn't get them both in the picture

American Coots

Mallards
Huge flocks of Canadian geese