Tulips 2014

Sarah bought herself a new Canon 60D just like mine and has been needing to get out and break it in. So we started a spring photo challenge on facebook which got the ball rolling, it was actually a lot of fun. Here are a few of my favorite shots from that project:
Then there were tulips.

We live in a bulb farming part of the country so we have daffodils, tulips, and other bulbs in huge fields that attract tourists by the droves. We don't care for the droves and last year we found a lesser known bulb farm that's 10 miles closer than the popular ones and is a prettier drive. So it was a beautiful Saturday and we headed out. By the time we got there it was raining a nice, constant, saturating rain.

While we were in Ireland we braved the "driving rain" to visit the Giant's Causeway. So a little Washington spring rain isn't gonna stop us! We got out and shot the tulips and the show garden. When we were all sufficiently soaked and cold we headed toward home with food on our minds. We drive through the town of Elbe and they have a few old railroad cars parked and converted into restaurants, taverns and motels so I suggested we stop there to eat.

It was a little on the cool side, a little on the expensive side, but the odd surroundings (including the odd waitress) the beer, and the food were all worth it. I finally tried a Monte Cristo sandwich. I enjoyed it but will probably not have another, too much cholesterol. Rick and Sarah both got vegetarian chili served in a bread bowl. All good fare for the cold and damp.

So now our appetite has been whet and we're going to start another 365 on June 1. We're having weekly themes and we'll share that on our current spring photo challenge page on facebook so anyone who wants to do a weekly project can follow along. 

Uh Oh...

Another Sizemore has made his appearance on this planet - and it's another KEVIN Sizemore, to boot!

Yes, Shirley was able to get the delivery up and running just a few days before the due date because of health issues. Things started out slowish but when they ramped up it was over and done in record time! Nothing like poor Chelsea's recent experience.

Kevin was born at 2:33 in the afternoon on 4/18/2014. He weighed 7 lbs and 4 oz which was the exact same weight as his older sister Elise. He was a little longer and pretty much perfect. No cone head or "stork kiss". The only thing that was said was that the cord was wrapped around him (not his neck) 3 times!

Shirley's good friend, Christie, Grandma Mimi and I were all allowed to be present for the birth, it was a real treat. Kevin (dad) stood  by the side that we were on so as to block viewing what none of us wanted to see anyway, but we did see the little purple baby as soon as he was out. Now I know what they mean when they refer to the baby as "pinking up".

Auntie Rachyl brought the older siblings along with gifts about an hour after he was born. When Ellie entered the room she headed straight for Grandma Mimi but when she saw her holding the baby she made a sudden turn to me instead! Then Ellie gave mommy the gift and opened the card for her. It was sweet, all 3 wrote something in it by themselves. Elise's was a picture of a face.

The nurse was bathing the baby and I finally said something about dad bathing the baby so she handed the job over. It was apparent that he was an experienced dad but for some reason she thought she should give him his first bath - NOT! After the bath, inoculations, temperature, head measurement, etc were done it was time for the kids to officially meet the new brother. Joe held him like a champ. Shayne was slightly more awe-struck and Elise handed him to dad after about 2 seconds!

They ended up having to stay one extra day but all got home Sunday noonish. Shirley was happy to have her whole BIG family together! Who'd-a-thunk Kevin would be the one to have the biggest family?

Mr. Mason...

...Vanderville, that is! Yep, grandbaby #6 entered the world this past Thursday morning just before 4 AM.

Nothing about the labor and delivery was easy, it was long and hard. 32 hours total with 3 of those hours pushing and a couple of them sleeping to prepare for the next round of pushing. The midwife was at the end of her abilities and suggesting a c-section. But first she suggested they consult with a doctor.

In walks this very large, butch woman, with a short, chunky haircut, Dr. Jolly! She was totally no-nonsense. The first thing she did was remove some of the membrane that was blocking access to the baby's head. Then she managed to turn the baby as Chelsea pushed and it worked! He was born! I just think it's mildly ironic that the midwife was heading for a c-section and then the doctor managed to get it done natural.

Chelsea said that nurses and midwives that visited after the birth all gave her kudos for getting the deed done. Good job, Chelsea!

Little Mason weighed 7 lbs 11.5 oz and was 20.5 inches long. Just a nice size. He had an understandably cone-shaped head that seems to already be gone after only a couple days.

So the family's home now, finally able to get some sleep and working on the whole nursing thing.

But don't blink! He'll be a year old just that fast!

Next up - grandbaby #7!

Oh Whale!

I stole that title from a friend of Rick's. He lives on Maui and makes videos that he posts on youtube, then links them to facebook. Thanks Steve!

Per Sarah's request I'm getting my whale watching adventure blogged - thanks for the kick in the pants, Sarah!

I went on the Blue Dolphin tour located at Port Arthur, along with most of the other Na Pali, Niihau, snorkeling and other whale watching tours. In '04 we went on a Holo Holo tour to the Na Pali coast. Then, like this trip, the sea was particularly calm, making for a very enjoyable cruise on one of their large catamarans.

It was a cloudy day, just warm enough for shorts but I brought my sweatshirt along just in case it got cooler on the boat.  Having been on a "barefoot cruise" before I knew that we'd be surrendering our shoes on the dock so I bedecked my common flip-flops with yarn bows so I could identify them upon our return. I planned it all perfectly! First I sat on my sweatshirt because the boat had been rained on, then, as soon as we picked up a little speed I put it on and was the perfect temperature!

As we were leaving the port the captain told us to start looking, the whales were visible from there. So we started and didn't see much until we finally spotted a pod. After watching the pod for a while we determined that there were probably at least 6 or 7 whales in it. 


We headed southward toward Poipu and saw more and more whales and groups of whales. We would sit quietly in the ocean, watching and listening to their spouting. For a few minutes the captain activated a mic of some sort and we listened to their songs. He said if you're snorkeling you can hear them.  A great deal of the time we were surrounded, although, for the most part, not closely. I know at least twice there was jumping going on but both times I was fixed on the wrong group of whales! I tended to stick to the larger groups.

As we watched we learned their routine: first they spout, then you see their "hump", then, if they're going to dive, you can see their tail. And usually when they dove they arched their back very tightly.  I have one here that I caught through the whole thing, from just after he (or she?) spouted, then brought his nose out, you can see his whole back, he arches, then dives and his tail emerges:




So our 3 hour tour (gasp! I didn't bring my trunk full of evening gowns!) was done and over with quickly. We all had a great time. At one point, during sunset, when the crew was passing out the champagne, I remember soaking the whole thing in and totally enjoying it all - the sunset, the temperature, the boat softly rocking, the whales spouting and Jack Johnson playing on the intercom! It was perfect!

For a cloudy day the sunset was spectacular, just enough open sky!

A Different Kauai

So here I am back on Kauai after just a short time. I'm fortunate to have a husband who understands the need to help out our parents and gave me permission to visit more often. Hopefully I'll be able to help them get their house finished and sorted out and they can just concentrate on living their lives and not still building their retirement house.

I chose to come back in February due to the upcoming births of my next 2 grandsons, taking place in March and April, hopefully. I haven't experienced a Hawaiian winter since 1973 but I do remember them as being quite a bit cooler and a lot stormier than the summer trips I've made over the last 10 years. Well, what happens my first night here? I'm sleeping in my Washington pj's including socks and I'm covered with a blanket. No fans are running through the night and the doors and windows aren't opened until late in the morning. And the windstorm that hits takes down a palm tree in the folks' yard and blows around lots of building materials and other loose items on the lanai and carport. The big news was the monstrous waves expected to hit today, the biggest in at least a decade.

I headed out toward the north and stopped first at Kahili beach, a popular local surfing beach. If it weren't sunny I wouldn't have gone, the Hawaiian soil is very clay-like and it's a dirt road downhill to that beach. The surf was amazing and I was surprised the beach was accessible. So I traipsed down to the beach with all my gear and sat it on a driftwood log about 30 feet from the water. I was shooting with different lenses, trying for the best composition, lighting, etc and decided I might want to walk to the rocks on the north side of the bay. I noticed that the water had been quite high during the last high tide. I wandered away from my gear to ask a couple people if they knew the tide schedule, if it was going out or coming in when a wave came up a little higher than they had been. "I guess it's coming in" we all said simultaneously. I liked the look of that wave so got ready for the next one to try to get a picture of it. Well, it came up a little more energetically than the previous one. I snapped the shutter quickly when I realized that wave was going WAY further up the beach than it's little predecessor! My gear! I just began to RUN! (after a small scream!) and got there just as the water was reaching everything! I grabbed it all and headed up the shore, squishing in my sneakers and socks, winded and laughing!

Well, the waves were definitely big but nowhere near the 30-40 feet they were supposed to hit. The big windstorm messed up the giant waves so, though not as big, the wind made them quite dramatic. I took some shots at Kahili and Anini and looked at the Kilauea overlook and Princeville. The biggest problem was parking, I was not alone in my pursuit of the big waves. Once I got to Princeville I saw a massive traffic backup so decided to end my northward hunt there.  I did run back to Kealia beach which is always pretty wavy only to find it nearly glassy, then stopped for a quick look at Anahola beach. Included are a few of the better shots I got.

So the first day here is usually a relax after the long plane trip and time adjustment. Tomorrow the work begins and the blogs will most likely end...

A Quickie!

Road trip, that is!

Not last Sunday but the Sunday before (24 robbers came...) Mary excitedly came to me to ask if I could go on a road trip in a week. Our little Bonine family (Jon, Maricel, Isabel and Myka) was moving to San Diego and they only had to get their cars down but with 2 cars and only 2 drivers along with 2 little kids it was a daunting task. So they were looking for another couple drivers to share the load with. Mary has some credit with Southwest Airlines after cancelling a trip so she was willing to use it to get us back home. Another friend from the congregation was gonna do it but bowed out so Mary was scrambling. Sure! I can do that (Rick was good with it)! So that night I went over to Mary's and helped her make the flight arrangements and it was a GO!

Things didn't start out too smoothly. Jon told us they would be here at 6:30 to pick us up and hit the road but there was a lot more to do than he expected - cleaning, packing, breakfast, errands - they ended up getting here at about 8:15.  Late is understandable but they never called to let us know so we sat there in our coats ready to jump at any moment!

When we first hit the road Maricel was driving the van with Mary and I as passengers and Jon was alone in the car with the kids. It appears that Maricel is not very secure in her driving so she stayed glued to Jon on the wet, grey, drizzly freeway. Jon drives a lot for work so he's mildly aggressive and Mary and I were rather uncomfortable. We're a couple little old ladies and are more comfortable at a slower pace. We finally stopped for gas and switched drivers around and it was finally as Mary and I had hoped it would be: the family all together and Mary and I in the other vehicle by ourselves. Whew! We could slow down a little and leave a bit more space between us and the car in front of us.

Jon had booked rooms in Redding, the halfway point so that was our goal for the day. We met up with them throughout the day for gas, etc. The drive through Washington and Oregon was as I already described - wet, grey, and drizzly and as soon as we neared the California border we could see the clouds thinning out.

They got to Redding before us and decided to have dinner at Olive Garden so we met them there, then to our rooms afterward. Jon is a Marriot customer apparently so we had nice rooms. It was a little warm in the rooms so we had to turn on the AC (in December!?!?) to make them comfortable to sleep in. Mary was still too warm and didn't sleep very well. The next night she didn't sleep too well either, she was hot - cold - hot - cold... Such is life on the road.

We got up the next morning, hit the measly, mostly-carbs breakfast and were back on the road by about the same time, 8:15. I was amazed at how interesting the scenery was in spite of the time of year.  This day we were all just heading for the same destination and route so we did our own thing. Turns out there was a gas card in the van so we could fill up when needed. So we got to travel more leisurely as the old ladies that we are. I got to drive through the Los Angeles traffic and Mary got the last leg to San Diego.

Jon reserved a room in another Marriot for us near their house since we told them we were too old to sleep on the floor. It was another nice room, better than the first in my opinion and not a bad price. We got to stay there for 2 nights and they had a better breakfast buffet.



We got to go do some sightseeing on Wednesday since all there was to do at the Bonine's new place was clean, their furniture was due the day we left for home. I looked online to see what there was to see and chose to visit the Ocean Beach Pier and Tidepools. It's a long pier with a cafe on it and Mary wanted to try some local fish so we had lunch. We split one plate of fish 'n' chips, it was $10 and was HUGE. The weather was perfect, even too warm! I was hoping to be able to show Mary the tidepools after our walk on the pier but the sandstone was a little too slippery for the shoes Mary was wearing so all I could do was point to them and describe. We had a great time there. Then I tried to go to another tourist stop and, despite it being Xmas day, there wasn't a parking spot to be found! Then Maricel called to let us know that we could keep the car til the next morning so we just did a little more driving around.

When we got back to our room I discovered a message from an old high school JW friend who lived nearby so I called her and we tried to get together but there just wasn't enough time. Bummer! It's been like 40 years since we'd seen each other, it would have been fun! Mary and I were planning to go to the Chili's restaurant that was right next door to our hotel and get dessert but forgot it was a holiday - it was CLOSED! Darn! So we ended up sitting in our room watching a movie on my iPad. It was like the second worse movie I've ever watched - but we stuck with it til the end! And had m&m's for dessert.

In the morning we visited the local Kingdom hall and Mary accosted some of the publishers coming for field service. Then we went to the Bonine's and helped them a little, I lined their cabinets with the rubber shelf liner stuff. Just as we were ready to head to the airport their furniture arrived. They have a real large, nice duplex with an attached garage, a hot tub and a view!

The first leg of our flight home was very bumpy and we were seated way in the back. I was squished between Mary and a large fellow, both overflowed their seating and I had sore arms/shoulders the next day from holding them in. When we landed in Oakland we got to change seats and we ended up in the first row! So getting off was pretty quick! This time Mary sat in the middle and a small woman sat next to her so we were much more comfortable. Kevin was waiting for us in the baggage claim area so we didn't have to stand out on the sidewalk watching for him - it was very nice that way.

I hope Mary enjoyed our little adventure - I know I did!

Heart Smart

So this past Wednesday was my long-awaited angiogram. I don't know if the cardiologist appreciated my insistence on having it done and not just taking her opinion as "good enough". I know I feel much better! There were so many symptoms, etc leading me to fear I may have a bad heart:

• It runs in both my father's and mother's (and even stepfather's!) family
• I have mildly high cholesterol
• I was having lots of chest pains, then the event on the plane which many medical personnel agreed sounded like a heart attack
• My EKG, echocardiogram and stress tests all showed abnormalities
• My general practitioner saw what she thought was damaged tissue from a heart attack on my stress test.

Long story short - I'm fine! That's a huge weight off my mind!

Now - for anyone needing an angiogram, no need to fear, it was quick and painless. The hardest thing about it was having to lay flat for 2 hours afterward, to avoid opening the wound in the large artery. Everything else went smooth as silk...