Thor's Well

Night Visitor

Tonight Nathan came downstairs after bedtime to tell me he had a stomach ache.  Then he added, "I thought Dad might be down here and he'd probably get mad because I got out of bed so I disguised myself so he wouldn't recognize me.  Did you know it was me?"  I told him a mom always recognizes her son, but that I almost was fooled.

Note the rainbow Mohawk wig, too.



Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to the best fathers ever.  That includes Grandpa Al, but Mom will have to update with a picture later this summer.  You all deserve a day to be celebrated.  We love you!

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Happy birthday, Dad!  We were all so happy to get to celebrate with you!  (Dad hasn't been home for his birthday since 2011, though we think we may have been travelling together in 2013.  Before that, he had not been home to celebrate on his birthday since before Mom and Dad were married!)

Leo even gave Dad a wrapped gift of his (Leo's) favorite vegies.  Dad generously shared.

It was a lovely weekend, and we all got in the kayaks to enjoy it.  Uncle Joe also took Evan mountain biking!

Memorial Day Weekend - Hello Summer!

We ushered in summer with a 4-day camping trip in the Olympic National Park.  Four days of fun, fun, fun!

Look at this picture in fullscreen.  It's going to be their first album cover.

Hanging out after a hike to Marymere falls

Crazy kids by a crazy tree

River crossing with Dad

 At the top of an unnamed waterfall.  It was actually so large we thought we were at our destination.



Sol duc falls

Canoing across the lake

We went mountain biking with Mom while Dad was road biking.  This was our lunch spot.

Throwing rocks off the cliff.  This lake is 694 feet deep and there is literally no shore.  It's probably a 40 foot drop (water depth) right off the edge of the trail.

Guatemala - Day 9

Dear Evan and Nathan,

     This was a wonderful end to a wonderful trip!  We woke up a little early to climb up to Cerro de la Cruz, which was the place that I ran to yesterday morning.  After taking in the lovely view, we walked into town for a breakfast of juicy mango from a street vendor and crepes. 

     I can't wait to see you tomorrow morning!

Love, Mom

 

Look at what we saw on our way up.  The ruins of a stone building right in front of a basketball court.  Everyday living if you live in Antigua, but still pretty unique for this gal.

We were greeted with a lovely view of Pacaya and Antigua.

 

 

Look what happened on our way into town for breakfast!  A little eruption!  You can see from the crater in the side of this volcano that it has seen a lot larger eruptions in its day.



Guatemala - Day 8

Dear Evan and Nathan, 

     We had a lovely day in Antigua.  What I learned - I need more time here for everything I'd like to do and see.  I started my day with a run up to a place called Cerro de la Cruz.  On my way, I passed through a neighborhood and got to see some of the brightly colored houses that people live in.  It is always fun to see a city wake up.  I passed almost no tourists, but saw many locals getting ready for the day.  Cerro del la Cruz is on a hill that overlooks Antigua and the Pacaya volcano.  I only passed one walker and one runner so it was very peaceful.  The view was beautiful.  I continued further on a trail and then a road that wound its way up the hill so I had several other beautiful views of the city and surrounding mountains. 

     Later in the morning, we went on a chocolate "tour".  We learned all about the history of chocolate and how chocolate is made.  Then we got to make our own!  We made our own candies, brewed tea from the husks of cocoa beans that we roasted, made a spicy Mayan chocolate drink from a paste we made from grinding the cocoa beans by hand, and hot chocolate from the same paste.  It was a lot of fun!  I took even more pictures than I am going to post because I think you would have loved making your own chocolate.  I'll show you when I get home.  I have an especially funny one just for the two of you.

     We spent the rest of the day exploring the city.  When I finally sat down to dinner, I realized that my legs were tired!  I miss you so much!  Have fun with Lauren tomorrow!

Love you, Mom

 

Lovely walk to breakfast 

 

Inside a cacao pod.  The white things are the cacao seeds, which are what chocolate is made from.  If you suck on them, the white part tastes like a sweet, ripe, mango.  The inside of the seed tastes bitter.

Dried cacao seeds

 My chocolates.

Roasting the cacao seeds.  They pop like jumping beans when they are ready.

We had a competition to see who could make the best cacao paste in 1 1/2 minutes.  Kaitlynn placed first; Danny placed second out of 12 competitors.

There is a stage set up in front of the ruins of a church.  We walked by a concert there last night. 

Inside the old convent Santa Domingo.  The grounds were incredibly peaceful and beautiful.

There was a wedding set up in the ruins of the convent.  Wouldn't it be nice to get married here.  You should have seen this space in person!

A procession for Lent.