Sept 22.

Mommy prints. Katie prints.

Today we went to the Oregon Coast Aquarium and had a great time. It was a beautiful day, and Katie loved all the animals.

The sea otters were rolling around, Katie thought it was so funny to watch them underwater.
The seals and sea lions were playing, swimming and sunning.
She loved all the fish.
Especially the ones in the touch pools, because she actually got to pet them. They have 2 touch pools and Katie thought that was the best part. She was very sad to leave.
These anchovies are pretty wild. Flashy little things.
Outside they have a nature trail and a play area for kids. The play area is a bunch of bronze and cement animals. And Katie wasn't too sure about playing on them. They sure don't look like anything she's been allowed to play on before. We finally managed to convince her to sit on the tortoise, but just barely long enough to get a picture.
After the aquarium, we headed up to Lincoln City to the Alder House. We've been going to watch Buzz blow glass since I was about 6, and I love it as much now as I did then. He's making an oil lamp here.

Someone was too tired to appreciate it, so we snuggled up and watched the little weasel who had snuck in to visit earlier.
One last stop before we went home. (Okay we had supper after too.)
You can't go to the coast and not go down to the beach.

Katie and Grammy took off to go see the ocean.
A little closer.
Oh no! Not that close!
I think Grammy's legs got a bit wetter than she was hoping for, and she nearly lost her shoes. But Papa and I had a good laugh.
But Katie was very upset that her feet got dirty.
So we cleaned our feet, got some amazing Thai food for supper, got back in the car and headed back to Grammy and Papa's house to rest up for our OMSI adventure the next day.

Sept 19-20

Grammy and Papa have a new kitty. They rescued her from the farm where Grammy works after her mom disappeared. Her name is Taffy and Katie LOVES her. Taffy's not so sure she loves Katie, but Katie is very gentle.

First you have to find her. She likes to hide under Papa's chair.

Then you hold her, ever so gentle.

And take her for a ride in the stroller! We were all (except Katie) shocked that the poor cat actually stayed in the stroller and went for a ride around the house.

Saturday, Grammy & Mommy went for massages and pedicures. Then Papa brought Katie and she got her toes painted too. With sparkly purple polish. She was so very excited to sit in the big chair and let the lady paint her toes. Too funny.

September 16-17

Visiting with Katie's Great-Grandparents. Two of my favorite people. Since they live more or less halfway between our house and my parents' house, it gives us a good stopping point to have a break from all the driving, and we love to visit with them.

Katie made sure that Grandpa got down to business with the sidewalk chalk.
Oooh! A bug, Grampa!
Then the lawn needed watered and the chalk got washed away, so she made sure Grandma helped too.
"Oh, Honey"
This kid hates getting her feet dirty.

Finally

14 September

You've seen this one, but I love it, so here it is again. I think the shirt is highly appropriate.
"I do all my own stunts."
We had to stop for supper anyway, and I decided that since Katie had been doing so well in the car for such a long time, we needed to find a park as well. And we did. Rotary Park in Fernie, B.C. It's a fantastic little park, with plenty of options for play.

You can drive...
Like a mad woman.

Crawl through numerous tunnels.
and you can "fwing!"
Of course, after all this fun, a person hardly wants to get back in the car. So we only made it a little farther that day, to the closest town with less expensive lodging.

Don't mind the chili remnants on her face, we forgot the napkins in the car and couldn't be bothered to go back just for that.

Weary travellers.

No new pictures today, but hopefully more tomorrow. I'm back in a place with wireless internet (oh how I've missed you!) and I can upload pictures from my computer again.

Katie and I had a fantastic few days with Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa in Idaho and made our way to Oregon today. We ended up taking a couple of wrong turns but we made it here in one piece, and in good time. And I just realized we forgot to call the Greats and tell them. Sorry! I'll call first thing in the morning!

Now we're both exhausted. Katie's crashed out in her bed, Mom has crashed (because she never can sleep the day before she sees us) and I'm nearly asleep sitting in this chair.

So pictures will come later.

Up too late with a teaser of things to come.

As we crested a hill this evening, I noticed a woman standing next to her car on the side of the road. A bit odd for the location. But I looked in my mirror and saw this. So we had to stop too. This picture doesn't do it justice at all, but it's the best of 20 shots with my point & shoot camera. A rich indigo sky, a reflection on the mountains of the vibrant pink sunset, and trees in the foreground just starting to show their autumn color. Absolutely beautiful. I love the Rocky Mountains.

Katie and I are traveling for a bit, and we're stopped for the night in a little town about 4 hours from our first destination. We are both too tired and too tired of being cooped up in the car to continue tonight. We'll start again in the morning.
I should be sleeping. But I just can't pass up the opportunity for this.
It's not often that I'm allowed to watch her sleep anymore, especially since she decided to be a big kid who sleeps by herself in her own room.
She's still just as precious as ever.

And here's the teaser.
Katie was so good in the car for hours on end (nearly 12 hours on the road today, including stops.), so we picked up some sandwiches and chili for supper and found a park to have a picnic. She had a blast, and I've got loads of cute pictures.
I'd have had this picture centered better if I wasn't holding her over my head with my other hand. Still, I like the way it turned out.

More pictures, finally.

I'm trying out a new photo manipulation program for resizing/cropping, so I'm not sure how slow these are going to be loading. If anyone's having problems, please let me know, I want to keep this dial-up friendly.

Starting with Saturday morning. Katie played with Daddy while I was working. They turned the tower on its side and built a fort. Katie was so tickled.

I cut up and roasted some red peppers. No pictures of the end product, but they were so yummy. Made the house smell delicious too.

At least until I started boiling vinegar.
Tomato pickles!

All jarred up. They're quite good.

Monday we got a bit of rain, and since Katie's been asking to "bounce" in the water for days, I decided it was time to get out the rain boots.

Yesterday we babysat a little 4 month old. Katie was totally in love. Today she kept asking me where the baby was.

Bear with me.

I have new pictures for you. Of a kid even, not just jarred food. But I'm trying to abandon my laptop with the faulty power cord and take over the ex-work laptop that Andrew no longer needs, so I may be lacking a bit. If all goes well, I'll have a new picture post tonight. Possibly even with pictures of the baby we're watching for a few hours this afternoon.

Glutton for Punishment.

I don't know what to say about this picture. She wanted her picture taken.

Today we managed to get the chicken stock canned. Used my pressure canner for the first time. Okay, I've been using it as a boiling canner for a while now, but you know. This is the actual color of the stock, and it tastes fantastic.

I have beans soaking.

Tomatoes quartered (they're Romas) and salted and sitting in a crock overnight to be pickled tomorrow.

Onions too.

I almost start to think I'm making headway when I look at this pail.

And then I look at this one, and I get snapped back to reality.
I have a ton of work to do. And if that's not enough, I bought 2 bags of cucumbers at the farmer's market this afternoon.

And these lovely strawberries, which have already found their way into the freezer.

Tomorrow we'll be making pickled tomatoes and bean soup. Maybe chili as well, we'll see how the rest of it goes. Lots of red peppers that need roasting too. I may be setting another batch of tomatoes overnight for pickles the next day as well, have to get these things used up before they get soft. Then we move on to apples! Andrew is very excited at the prospect of apple pie filling being canned. I suppose he thinks I'd have to make pies then....

Cooking up a storm.

When we were at IKEA last, I found a cute little set of pans & spoons for Katie. She was so excited, and she's been playing with them all the time. Last night, she stole a bag of lemons and was having a blast. If you notice, she even has a tiny potholder (or a piece of gauze, however you look at it) on the lid of one of her pans, just like Mommy does.

As for my cooking progress, we had roast chicken for supper last night, then I put the carcass in a pot with an onion, a bunch of garlic, and some herbs and let it simmer all night. It smells so good this morning. Will be canning that this afternoon when we get home from town, I think. Beans go in to soak overnight tonight, and some sliced green tomatoes to be turned into pickles.

Katie's Easy Bean Soup

2 cans black beans
1 can pinto beans
1 med onion
2 large red bell peppers
1 tsp cumin
3C chicken broth
1pkg bacon, cooked
salt & pepper
sour cream

First thing I did was spread the bacon on my stoneware bar pan and put it in the oven. 425F until it's cooked to your desired crispness. Drain beans and pour into a pot (mine is a 4qt) with cumin and some pepper. Let a little helper stir the beans while you saute the onion and peppers in a bit of olive oil. Just until they get a bit brown. Then dump them into the beans and let her stir some more while you get the chicken broth poured in there. Simmer 20 minutes, stirring more frequently than I did or you'll get clumps. Then I did a little light blending with my immersion blender, but you don't have to if you have more time to wait for it to thicken. (My helper was "hongry".) Chop half the bacon and put it in, simmer 5 more minutes. Salt & pepper to taste.

Serve with a dollop of sour cream and more chopped bacon to garnish.