Projects

We got a lot of projects checked off the list while the parents were visiting – Alice got a real bed, which she loves,
  
the study got more organized with a bookshelf and desk, the big alder got cut up and stored,
  
 
Gryphon got to hold a newt in the woods behind the house (that wasn’t on the list),
 
and Cheri baked two pumpkin pies!
 

Logs

We’ve been busy stacking firewood lately.

Our friends Sue (creator of Gryphon’s favorite blanket, the “Dickinson Bobby”) and John and showed up for a visit on their way southward Thursday.  The children liked them right away.
 
Yesterday my parents arrived with a van full of bookshelves, didgeridoos, and other good stuff. 

Dad and I started sawing down an alder in the backyard but had to stop when it pinched the chainsaw.  We tried some jury-rigged levers to free it, but eventually resorted to old-fashioned chopping.
 

 

Mimi and Boppa come to Port Angeles

 
Gryphon and Alice carved a pumpkin on Saturday.  It came out pretty close to Gryphon’s design.
 
On Sunday Cheri’s parents came up for a couple of nights.  We cooked up the salmon chowder. 
 

Cheri showed them around town on Monday, and we had a tasty seafood dinner that night. 

Warty and Biggie

Gryphon wasn’t feeling well, so we skipped preschool and headed for the pumpkin patch.  That seemed to cure him.
 
 
We found two pumpkins, named Warty and Biggie.
 
We sneaked into the corn maze but didn’t get very far – the kids liked stopping to pick up each caterpillar.
  
Gryphon said his favorite part was petting the warm pigs.  Here’s the poster he made to introduce himself to the class.
 

Birthday part 3

Gryphon made the first pancakes in the new house on Saturday. 
 
On Sunday Alice opened up her final birthday presents, including Rodi the rubber horse, who can support a maximum load of 400 lbs.
 

The birthday move

On Friday the 5th we drove down to Portland and celebrated Alice’s Birthday Part 2 with Mimi and Boppa.
 
 
We spent Saturday at our house on Holgate, loading boxes and stuff from the attic into our oversized Uhaul truck.  We used craigslist to employ four dudes in various stages of fitness to help us out.  Gryphon and Alice played at Jonah’s house before naptime, which allowed us to work at twice the pace.  Sunday morning we made a stop for an Ikea shopping spree – hey, when else will we have the truck? 
 
And we still had room for the saws that had been living in Farmers Greg and Amy’s barn for the last year.  Alice and Sadie pushed them up the ramp for us.
  
The great-grandparents bestowed their love before we had to get back on the road.  It was a slow trip, but the truck arrived intact that night.  With Gryphon and Alice at preschool on Monday, Cheri and I set about unloading the truck.  We stopped halfway through for lunch and a pumpkin spice mocha.
 
We managed to shuttle all the boxes into their appropriate rooms, reflecting on our life of relative minimalism in Saipan – “Why do we need all these books?!” 
 
Fortunately my lumbar discs survived the task, so we celebrated with dinner at Sergio’s.
 
On the 10th, the kids said goodbye to “Little House,” our vacation rental, and moved into “Trampoline House” (though there’s still a good amount of stuff left to move over).   
 
Cheri worked on fixing up the kitchen, and I put together the Ikea couch all by myself.