NorthWest Trek

Heather and I have been wanting to get the kids together for a while, but something always comes up.  Luckily, we didn't let that happen today!  Despite the fact that it was soooo cold, we all had a great time.  Dana and Auddie especially loved getting some time with each other.

We learned about skunks.  They will give you lots of warning before aiming one of their scent-sacs toward your eyes (which they can hit dead-center from up to 15' away!)...

We saw river fishers, badgers, more skunks, bison, black tailed deer, and rams. 

  

I loved that the ground was covered with snow and we could see our breath and that we got to spend time with our friends! 

Merry Christmas | 2010

Well, Christmas has come and gone once again.  Along with a pile of wrapping paper, empty boxes, and overflowing stockings, we were blessed to be able to give and recieve some fun gifts.  Each of the kids got at least one thing from their lists, and some children (who were more practical, for instance) actually got most of their list.

 

We had a lot of fun getting acquainted with the Kinnect ~ playing Kinnect Adventures and Kinnectimals.  Here's Dana playing with her pet.

We also read the account of Christ's birth from the Bible.  What a miracle His humble birth was.  What a miracle and blessing his life still is to us today.  We are grateful for His love and guidance in our lives!  Merry Christmas &Good Night!

It must be Christmas Eve

...because we ate Chinese food, played games, and watched Christmas Story at the Campbell's house...

{ pictures should be here, but we were having too much fun to take any }

...and we wore our pajamas and went to Slurpee 11...

...and then we drove around in the truck to look at Christmas lights.

[ this is not our home...but they have the words I wanted to share ]

Eagle Float | Chinook Expeditions

Last Thursday Doug did a story on the bald eagles that live on the Skagit River.  He had to get up and leave the house before 6am, and then came home, changed clothes and accompanied me to my Holiday Party.  And he kept talking about how awesome it was, so we decided to take the kids.

Join us on our amazing day...

the kids were wiped out from waking at 6am, and fell asleep on the loooonnnng drive North to Skagit County

  

Laurel, Aubrey and Malcolm (who said, "No thank you" to the photo)

Aubrey has studied salmon in school this year, and couldn't wait to find salmon in the Skagit River...she spent much of the float downriver just like this.

We'd heard that it was snowing in Skagit County.  WRONG!  The sun was shining the whole day, and it was amazing and beautiful!

our first eagle sighting of the day

Shane, our expert guide, lead us on an unforgettable day!

I wasn't kidding ~ she was not about to give up looking for salmon!

sometimes it was hard to see the eagles in the trees...but if we were floating in the summer, we wouldn't have seen any of them at all!

When we landed for lunch, Aubrey was super excited to find this huge salmon!  Too bad he was long, long gone!

   

 

We saw more than just bald eagles

Malcolm used his beaver-chewed stick to help Shane guide the boat

my cute girls

reminds me of the saying, 'You have to hang with a lot of turkeys before you can soar with the eagles' ~ or something like that.

juvenile bald eagles don't get their white heads and tails until about 5 years of age ~ about the same time they begin to mate, which they do for life

we even saw some heron!

We got to know this family when our two boats stopped for lunch together.  Grandma and Grandpa joined the Conservancy of Washington about 10 years ago, and absolutely love this area!

I had a photographer's unrealized fantasy about getting mind-blowing photos of an eagle as he soared mid-river upstream toward our raft...but this one makes me pretty happy, too

Shane told us that the term "spread eagle" derived from the lable given to eagles who perch high atop a tree and spread their wings to dry after a successful river feeding; this juvenile was demonstrating how it's done (though his balance needs to be improved)

I am still curious about the relationship of these two...the juvenile is too young to mate, so I wonder if it's a sibling, parent, relative, patient mate-to-be...?

How many eagles are in this picture?

this shot alone made the entire day worthwhile

so this photo was just icing on the cake

Shane -- our expert guide from Chinook Expeditions

of course, if this photo was blurry from my nervous and cold hands (and bad lighting), it could win me some kind of award.  ;)

TOTAL COUNT (managed by Laurel):  171

+ 4 new ones I saw from the bridge

Thanks for an amazing day, Shane! 

NW boring?  NOT!!!