Station 33

We stopped in at fire station 33 to ask for a tour...the fireman was so kind to chat and show us around. Elliott is in a fireman kick right now and brought his own helmet and jacket. We do a lot of fire rescue play :)

Spiritual Ecologies and New Cosmologies Convergence

A friend from college, Jason Brown, planned a Spiritual Ecologies and New Cosmologies Convergence as part of his PhD studies at UBC (University of British Columbia). He invited me to share an LDS ("Latter-Day Saint"aka: Mormon) perspective during a panel discussion at their opening night Beginnings Storytelling event. There were 10 speakers sharing stories from their faith or ethnic background with the theme of "beginnings." 

The speakers were:

First Nations, Musqueam - Larry Dean

Hindu - Acharya Dwivedi

Buddhist - Master Shiu Fong

Jewish - Rabbi Joseph Saltoun

Christian - Jason M. Brown

Muslim - Dr. Nasir Zaidi

Sikh - Balwant Sanghera

LDS/Mormon - Tess Barlow (me!)

Cosmos - Dr. Benoite Pfeiffer

First Nations - (Not sure his name)

It was an interesting event. I enjoyed the night and my time preparing for it. Adam was great watching the boys during the presentation and panel discussion. We made it a family day excursion up to Vancouver, Canada and got lunch at Granville Island Market (kind of like Pike's Place Market in Seattle). 

Lost Lake Dayhike

(Continuing from Packwood Lake Family Backpack trip...)
In the morning, we packed lunch/supplies and began our day hike to Lost Lake. Why didn't we stay around the lake and relax? Not our style. Instead, we walked, pushed, pulled carried our boys up 4 miles of steep trail to eat a sandwich at Lost Lake for 10 minutes before heading back to camp. That's one way to look at it, but there are always more than one side to every story. The day was challenging but rewarding; the trail and terrain was gorgeous; and Elliott enjoying himself, despite the hard work. 
After the steep, 2 mile section, the trail mellowed and we had beautiful views of Old Snowy and walked through a pleasant meadow. Elliott learned a lot and rose to the occasion, like usual. I know we are his parents, but Adam and I both think he is a remarkable boy.

Photo tour of our day:

Morning view of Packwood Lake:

exploring around camp: Elliott can identify skunk cabbage :)

So sad to see all this trash :(

granola breakfast:

milk breakfast:

learning to filter water:

starting for Lost Lake:

My new favorite "furry" lichen: (sad my ID books are in boxes)

Elliott begged Adam to shorten one of his hiking poles for him to use. He insists he is not little, but loves it when things are "his size."

We had to take it away a few times because he kept stopping to poke around. Sometimes he would write letters - which should be encouraged - except when sunlight is ticking away on a mountain:

At first I was confused by these mushroomms, but I think they are young chanterelles or Gomphus...?

My first Sparassis!!! What a beauty, and edible, too :)

Lunch break #1, trail life had become emotional because his pants were wet (with Adam's sweat) after being carried up a steep section:

But Arlin hadn't noticed anything had gone awry:

After the 2 steep miles, the trail leveled out and circled the mountain. The ecosystem changed and it was a dry, sunny open forest/meadow combo. I liked it:

There was a lot of bear grass, on which Elliott cut his thumb while pulling our a blade.

I wanted to pop these sap bubbles and smell the lovely pine scent:

Adam in the meadow with Old Snowy in distance. The Knife's Edge ridge traverse (which Adam did with the Scouts a few weeks ago) goes to the left of Old Snowy:

Hiking momma:

We made it to Lost Lake! If we had had more time, we considered going to the old fire look out located above the white dead trees on the mountain above Adam in this picture.:

Instead, we threw rocks in the water (leftie!)

Elliott said, I love Lost Lake!

then we ate sandwiches:

and climbed around on rocks:

Bye, Lost Lake!

Mermade Market April 2014

I just applied for the upcoming December 2014 Mermade Market, and it reminded me I never posted about the April 2014 market. 

Mermade Market is a new small business started by a family friend, Elise Capener, from my hometown. It is a curated market of handmade goods in Dana Point, CA. I heard about the first

market in February right after I had Arlin. Feeling a bit "blah," I thought it would give me the creative boost I needed to get out of winter hibernation/pregnant mode. Plus, how could I miss a handmade market in my hometown and the opportunity to craft with my own mother? I also schemed that this could be the boost my mom needed to work on her "someday dream" of selling her culinary treats. We applied, were accepted, and then scrambled to figure out what exactly we should make. I felt rusty since my last Punk Rock Flea Market and Provo Farmer's Market days were gone. I hadn't made any new patterns for a while plus all my craft supplies were in boxes in a freezing garage. 

Since the sale was the 3 days leading up to Easter, it would be a good idea to have Easter themed goods (not to make a sacred holiday commercial....), so we went from there thinking of little gifts for Easter baskets. In the end, we had a good time emailing, talking on the phone, scheming what we could do and what the other person could make; it's always easier to tell someone else what they are good at and what others may want to buy. 

My mom made her famous marshmallows (vanilla and passion fruit!) and infamous caramels (vanilla and salted). I made linen rabbits; papier mache hollowed eggs from my own ducks and chickens; and small bags (zippered and drawstring) from vintage linens. I also had a random sale section from old stock. True to form, my mom took the extra step to have a polished storefront and created a business name and logo: BLACKWELDER BAKING CO. Brook Reynolds, of Inchmark, was the graphic designer, I love her work - she did our wedding announcements. To display our goods, I remembered my mom had a beautiful pine armoir to contain and display our items in many layers. I love how our booth turned out and we were 3rd highest grossing seller :)

Packwood Lake Family Backpack Trip

At last, our first family backpack trip! Elliott has been asking to go on an adventure since he has watched Adam pack and leave for 6 or so trips this summer. I prepped him about the commitment it would require and he agreed to the terms. Elliott insists he will make it to the top of Rainier soon. Adam is proud of this desire and tempted to oblige (we read that the youngest person to summit Rainier was a 4 year old. It took 7 days, but he made it).

On our way to the trail head, we had a lovely view of Mt. Rainier (somewhat in the clouds). Adam has summited twice and enjoyed sharing some of his love for the mountain with us.

 Adam had recently been on the trail to Packwood Lake on the SE corner of Mount Rainier and remembered it to be very moderate and doable for our current "combined ability level." After packing all morning (first day of Paternity Leave!!!), we drove away at 2 pm and began hiking at 5:30 pm! Luckily, we made it the 4 1/2 miles to the lake by about 7:30 pm - just as it was getting dark. Elliott did great on the trail. He rode his bike on the relatively flat places which meant fast hiking, and he walked on more steep areas while we carried his bike. He carried his own backpack with snacks, jacket, headlamp the entire trip. As i said, he wanted to go on this trip, so he never thought to complain about anything.

 Adam carried all our gear and helped motor Elliott. I carried Arlin on my front and all our food on my back :)

 On uphill trails, Adam would give Elliott a "motor" with his hiking pole.

 I kept a bored and squashed Arlin placated by slipping him a red mountain huckleberry every couple seconds. He must have eaten 100+ berries over the trip.

  Blister care...Adam was recovering from Mt. Rainier the week before.

 We made it to Packwood Lake:

 View from the eating area of our camp:

 Adam kindly set up the tent  (I was near useless as far as camp stuff went because I was holding a mobile and rambunctious Arlin) then we feasted on smoked salmon, incredible Gina Marie cream cheese in adorable packaging, and crackers.

 Best camp food. Was supposed to be our idyllic lunch picnic, but we got a late start.

 Tent doggies:

Lost Lake day hike photos coming soon....