Visiting Index!

Here are a few photos from our time spent in Index.  We visited the area after we attended our niece's graduation in June.  We were lucky enough to experience 4 days of sunshine.  Index is a beautiful town and we are blessed to have family there.  Nothing beats waking up on a cool, crisp morning and looking out the window to see this . . .

The most fabulous chicken coop you will ever see!  Yep, the car is part of the set up.  That is where the chickens sleep!  

Katy and Etta at the Index community garden.   Etta is mixing up an eggshell concoction that will be used to ward off the veggie predators!

Emma's cute grin!  The young man in the background is Alden (aka ACME).  He is Emma and Katy's cousin who was visiting from Portland.  

The Skykomish River with Mt. Index and Mt. Persis in the background.   I love this view!  

Preparing to hike the Heybrook Ridge trail with Grandpa, Alden, Emma and Katy.  It was a lovely way to spend a few hours, even though the trail kicked my fanny!  Here is a great website to learn more about how Heybrook Ridge was saved from a 95 acre clearcut--www.heybrookridge.org.  

Whirlybirds? ? ?

This!
(maple leaf seeds/"whirlybirds")  

This!
(house vent, aka "whirlybird")

Even this!
(old British TV show called "Whirlybirds")

But not this!

I was composing an e-mail a few minutes ago and, as usual, I had spell check "on."  It always alerts me to the fact that they think "Hilburn" is spelled incorrectly.  I usually ignore it and go about my business.  Today, I decided to peruse the alternatives!  Here they are, in order of suggestion:  

Wilbur (maybe?) 

Hiltons (not so much!)

Hilbert (Hmmm . . .)

Childbirths (seriously?)

Children (really?)

Hailers (you must be joking?)

and last, but by no means least, 

Whirlybirds! (blogworthy!!) 

You've got to love that spell check!  

It all ended . . . at about 2:15 this morning . . .

We did it!  Our family survived 5 hours at a movie theater.  At first thought, arriving at Edwards Downtown Stadium 9 a little under 3 hours before the start of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 seemed a bit silly.  Until we got there!  Lots of people.  Mostly teens and young adults.  Everywhere and they were all lined up outside the building.  Lucky for us, those who had secured tickets to the 3-D "event" were allowed inside at 9:15 pm.  That privilege gained us access to the line that had formed just outside of the actual theater #8 inside the building.  Confused?  Basically, we were able to sit on a dirty carpeted floor while waiting as opposed to the dirty cement sidewalk!  It was good!  We were in our seats by 10 o'clock--early enough to score 4 spots on the top row!  We had time to take a few pictures and enjoy all of the costumes.  Emma dressed as Dobby, the house elf.  Katy reprised her role as Luna, with a few tweaks to her costume since the last outing.  They both looked fabulous!  Emma really enjoyed her turn as Dobby.  She received many compliments regarding her outfit.  She chose to go as Dobby when he was wearing several hats, socks and scarves.  It was kind of cute and funny at the same time!  

Like Part 1, the audience attending the movie were well-behaved and having a good time.  Never before had I wished to have a smartphone or iPad to keep me busy.  Watching the youngsters play Harry Potter games and watch late-night TV on various devices really looked like fun.

We really enjoyed the evening.  It was great to be able to share such an exciting event with Eric and the girls.  I am sure we made more family memories they won't soon forget!  Here are a few pictures from last night.

Look out the window--the sun was just barely setting as we arrived at the theater.   Yep, we got there pretty early for the midnight show!  

This image was the inspiration for Emma's costume!  

Killing time by playing "Go Fish."  It looks like some serious negotiating is taking place!  

Being silly after both losing at the card game!  

Check out the awesome 3-D glasses they had for the HP movie.   Clever little details that just added to the overall experience.

Another movie that opened today.  Poor Pooh Bear--He does not stand a chance against the likes of Harry Potter!  One teenage girl actually dressed up as the "willy, nilly silly old bear" for the HP movie.   Kind of fun!  

Preparing for Potter . . .

Emma saw this blog template several weeks ago and asked if we could try it out for the big night!  If you normally read this by e-mail, click on the link and see if it takes you to our blog so you can see what I (temporarily) added!  Our web address is brickhousebloggers.blogspot.com!  The girls are getting into their costumes and we are preparing to head to the theater.  I hope to post pictures tomorrow . . .

Revenge of the Nerds!

Eric bought new glasses yesterday!  Aren't they great?  He went with the bold frames and I think he looks kind of cute!  The girls say he looks like a "nerd!"  I know I love my "nerdy" frames so now Eric and I can rock the look together.   (Aside from liking the style, the size of the lens helps to accommodate his bifocal prescription--age is creeping up on him!)

I kind of thought he looked a bit like Michael Stipe--but more straight than gay and minus the singing/songwriting talent!  (Michael Stipe is the lead singer of my favorite band, R.E.M.)

On a completely unrelated note, we have been lucky to have visited with quite a few family members in the last month!  I have not had enough time to chronicle it all here, but I am hoping to drop a few lines when I can.  Our photos have been downloaded so I am halfway there . . .

More pictures . . .

We stopped at Howard Amon park in Richland, Washington on our way to Auburn a few weeks ago.  We love this park!  It is located on the Columbia River and includes an awesome play structure, tons of shade trees, lots of grass, great picnic areas and a small wading pool for the little ones. We happened upon it about 5 years ago on one of our trips to see Eric's family but had been unable to locate it on the last few excursions.  We made a point to find it this time around.  It was worth the wait!  

Hanging out on the zip-line swing!  

Fun on the equipment!

The beautiful Queen of the West sternwheeler steamboat docked at the park.  You can book cruises from Portland, OR or Clarkston, WA.  We were not allowed on the boat, but were able to sneek a peek through the windows when we walked out on the dock.  Lots of older couples, so it is unlikely we'll be taking a family cruise anytime soon.  They may have a minimum on the age requirements!!  

More fun on the play equipment!  

More from the road trip . . .

Monday morning at the Market!  We had clouds, we had fun, we had brief moments in the sun . . .   

Sunny moment checking out the postcards . . .

Emma posing with Rachel the Pig.  Rachel is the mascot, of sorts, for the market.  According to this article,  she had rough morning last February!  Glad to see she is back and looking no worse for wear.

Eric's niece, Crystal, looking for coins to give to her daughter, Dyllan, to throw into the fountain on the Waterfront.  I just love Dyllan's face!  We met Crystal, her friend Dave, and Dyllan at the Market.  They all recently moved from Alaska to the Seattle area, so they were game to do some sightseeing and lunch with us!  We really enjoyed spending time with them.  Crystal is the daughter of Eric's brother, Troup and Dyllan is the first great-grand baby in the family!!  She is the cutest thing ever.  My girls loved playing with her, especially Emma.  

OMG!  I thought Emma might burst with joy at the sight of this penguin.  I thought I might get ill thinking about how many people had touched/hugged the fake-fur covered germ magnet!  It could so use a good scrubbing . . .

When Dyllan noticed the penguin, she grabbed the wing and said "Pleased to meet you!" several times!  All kinds of cute, especially if you don't think about the unhygienic aspect of it all . . . 

And finally, my favorite sign of the trip!  "Sanitary Public Market"  As opposed to what?
The "Unsanitary Public Market?"  There were no signs pointing to such a place, but I have my suspicions at to which one the penguin came from . . .