Food, Fun, and Fair Weather With My Wonder Kids

With calm seas and blue skies we sailed away to Whidbey Island.

When we arrived Jill and Irene seemed busy cooking. I did not investigate. We had a bit of lunch and then Jill and Tom worked on repairing the gas grill. After finding the right tools and a trip the the hardware store, success!

I read the newspaper I brought with me, and checked in on blogs and Facebook on my laptop. There were birthday messages.

Jill and Irene had headed out for a walk on the tide flats. 

Eventually I went for a walk on the beach, and met them returning. A neighbor, Al,  had greeted me with "Happy Birthday!", so I knew they had stopped to visit and spread the word. Al commented on how fast they walked. Yes, they are both very fit and athletic. That didn't come from me. They are also very beautiful, especially together, and that didn't come from me either. 

When we got back the the cabin, there were a pair of eagles sitting on a neighboring roof, always a good omen for me. 

We visited and caught up with their activities and adventures. I sat outside in the shade for a while, just enjoying being there, and then there was FOOD!

Jill's charcuterie and Irene's savory pin wheels. 

It was all so good, we just kept eating. 

That was followed by a light grilled dinner of chicken and shrimp skewers and grilled summer squash.

Then we all had to go for a walk. The girls walked farther than Tom and I did.

Of course there was dessert. Irene had created a marbled cheese cake with dark sweet cherry compote. Wow! It was so good!

We finally left for home to catch the 9:30 ferry, very full of wonderful food, and feeling loved by our girls.

Now I am a year older. That happens.

It was a very good birthday. 

Eighty-one

Eighty-one is not wonderful, but at least I'm still functioning. :-) 

Here I am enjoying my free birthday Starbucks latte, while on my way to Whidbey Island for the day, to spend time with Jill and Irene, who are there for the week.

 The weather is sunny and mild today, unlike yesterday, which was 95 and HOT. Since I had agreed some weeks ago to go with Tom to the Sounders game, I honored my commitment despite the heat. The light rail trains are air conditioned. That helped. The lounge area of the Club section of the stadium, adjacent to where we have seats, is also air conditioned. The stadium seats are not, but they are out of the sun. It was sticky, but quite tolerable. The game ended in a tie.

We came home in the lingering sunset, much more comfortable with the heat of the sun diminished. 

I'm going to check in with Facebook for birthday messages, and then get outside to check in on Jill and Irene, who have gone for a beach walk. Jill and Tom have finished repairing the gas grill, so I think dinner plans will move forward. 

I'm not in charge of anything. It's my birthday. :-)

 

Mountains and Birthdays and Hiring It Out.

Early last week, before our Family History Tour, the "kids", Jill, Jake, and Irene went mountain climbing. The quote marks are because my kids are 50 and 52, but still my kids, and still doing youthful things. 

Jake is a geology buff, it was his major in college, and he follows geologists on the internet and in written material.

He decided the next challenge was Mount Aix, pronounced "aches", 25 mikes SE of Mt Rainier. It's an extinct volcano millions of years old.

It's just a day hike for these three. The report was that the views were awesome, with other Cascade mountains popping up. See that trail?  It was steep, a scramble up and trekking poles down. 

Jake was not on our History Tour because he was off to another adventure, called last minute for an opening on a trail maintenance crew in the wilderness near Mt Baker.

On Friday Tom and I were off to breakfast as usual , where we helped to celebrate Dede's 98th birthday, joined by her daughter and granddaughter from New York State. 

Dede is quite a remarkable 98 year old, still going strong.

Saturday we slowed down. I spent a lot of time putting my blog post of the History Tour together, and we watched our soccer team on TV.

Sunday we worked in the yard in the morning and then Tom prepared for the crew that was coming on Monday. 

Now it's mid-day on Monday. The crew is done and long gone.

We have reached that stage in life where it's impossible for me to do any big jobs and it's just not safe for Tom to be on the roof and on tall ladders. We hired Valentine Roofing to clean our roof and gutter micro screens and wash the exteriors of our windows. 

Two young men arrived at 8:00, got to work, and got the job done before noon. All the debris has been take care of and it's great to have clean windows!

Tom had all of the window screens off and washed before the crew came, and now has most of then put back on so we can open our windows and let what cool air there is vent the house We are cooler today, only in the high 70's, but we heat back up, reaching 92 by Wednesday. Tom still has the insides of the windows to do, but he can take his time. 

Now the Monday housework is done and the last load of laundry is calling me. Then it will be time for a leisurely lunch. 

Ah, summer!
 

Reeder Family Heritage Tour

 Tom is the family historian, with extensive files of family genealogy, covering decades and centuries, that he has compiled over many years of studying family history.

He decided it was time to take his two siblings and spouses and any offspring available on a tour of their history.

He had fun planning it. Although there were a few last minute additions and subtractions, most were presented with an itinerary and a "Boarding Pass". 

Our first stop was the Masonic Cemetery in Tumwater, just south of Olympia.

Here they dodged a sprinkler while locating Tom, Jan, and Dave's parents, paternal grandparents and great grandparents.

Siblings

Mother and daughter at Aunt Clessie's grave. Jill is wearing a crocheted dress that belonged to Aunt Clessie and Irene is wearing her baret. 

Jill is showing her California cousin Jason the grave of their grandparents, Grampa Bud and Gramma Bernice.

Two more generations were there, including Tom's great grandparents, with the Civil War marker. The younger generation had to figure out how many greats to add for their generation. 

Bud's sister Wanda, and some of her family were here too.

From here we drove across the prarie to Oakville and the cemetery where the maternal side of the Reeders, the Vandervoorts and the Bowers, are buried. Gertie and her sister Phosie, of the famous Phosie and Gerte Picnic, were Vandervoorts, and their line before that was Bower. Eventually the whole clan came from Nebraska to settle here on the prarie near Oakville. 

Tom explained the relationships. Again it was up to each generation to figure out how many "greats" to add to these grandparents and aunts and uncles. 

Now it was time for lunch, which Tom and I packed as a picnic to eat at nearby Millersylvania State Park. More history was shared. 

Then it was time to go in search of Reeder Road, which bordered the property in Maytown where Joe and Gertie Reeder took over a homestead and worked at the sawmill there. 

Siblings

added Spouses, Vicki and Linda

with offspring, Jason and Jill,

and with graddaughter Irene. 

We drove up Reeder Road to locate about where the property would have been. Eventually the mill and much of the mill housing burned down. Joe and Gertie bought the East Olympia store nearby. They ran the store, which at that time was a railroad stop on the main line. Gertie was the postmistress. During the depression much of the trade was through the barter systen, and cash was scarce. 

The old country store is more of a museum than a store now but the current owners are keepng it going. We shared who we were and why we were there and they were very pleased to know the story. 

Old stores always have an ice cream case. We all bought dessert and ate it on the front porch of the store. 

Our tour was winding down, but we still had to locate the property where the old cabin on Offiut Lake was, a rustic dwelling that was both a recreation property for family and a dwelling for Joe and Gertie. 

We think we know where it was. Of course there are big, modern homes there now. 

Then we arrived a bit early for our dinner reservations at Offiut Lake Resort, and the Lady of the Lake restaurant.  We had time to sit and relax lakeside. 

We picked up a few more people here, Vicki's cousin Kay and husband Don, who live in the area. Dinner was good, visiting continued, and then we were invited for dessert at Kay and Don's beautiful home. 

It was time to head home, about an hour away for most of us. We were tired when Tom and I arrived home about 9:30, but it had been a great day, a big success for Tom, and a good learning and bonding experience for everyone.