Whitman Mission

View from the hill where the monument is

We went to Whitman Mission yesterday. A raptor rescue group was there with some of the birds, so Game Boy collected change and we went. (We turned it into folding money first.)

As you can see, it was another beautiful day in the dry part of the Pacific Northwest. It's not cool yet, but we are starting to see the bright blue skies more rather than the washed out blue of the really hot temperatures. We saw where the mission used to be (it's all gone now), the monument on the top of the hill, and the mass grave of the victims of the massacre.

near the mission building sites

One of the things I always wonder when we are wandering around all of these historical sites is why did a group stop here, and not somewhere else? Walla Walla Valley is beautiful, and there is water, but it must have looked like a lot of nothing to people in the nineteenth century. Of course, I wonder why they stopped in Kansas, too.

Wiz and Game Boy in the tipi.

a golden eagle

The birds were all raptors that have been rescued and rehabilitated, but cannot go back into the wild. Game Boy wanted to see them. And so we did, twice.

Barn Owl, Game Boy's favorite

Peregrine falconGreat Horned Owl
Red-tailed Hawk

American Kestral, Wiz's favorite

Then the evening was spent at a party for friends' son and new daughter-in-law, welcoming her to Walla Walla. It was a beautiful evening to be at an outdoor party, and we all had a wonderful time. The sunset to the west was full of colors, while the mountains to the east had a lightning show for us. A peaceful way to end a nice day.

And in other news

The basics for this week:

• Game Boy sprained his ankle (Sunday morning was spent in the ER).
• The boys started school on Tuesday.
• The first day of school included both boys' schools being on lock down, and requiring parental signature to get out. (There was a standoff down the street from our house!)
• I rode my bicycle 114 miles this week.
• I'm over 1000 miles for the summer.
• I haven't had much time to knit. Even at knitting this week, I sewed a project together.
• We went to Whitman Mission today, but that will get its own post, with pictures.
• We finally picked three tomatoes. They aren't doing well this year. :(
  

And that's the news this week.

What's New

This picture has nothing to do with this post. It's just a funny picture of Wiz. He's wearing the batter's helmet backwards, because it looks like a knight's helmet.

As you may know, Wiz suffers from migraines. We finally made it to see the neurologist. The most likely diagnosis is classical migraines, so we are supposed to keep doing what we are doing. We'll probably add a couple of supplements (the neuro wants me to run them by the hem first though) and keep track of his migraines. If they are worse, we'll pull out some of the big guns.

The neurologist is a thorough guy, and doesn't appear to like to drive, so he is letting us get the MRI (why the diagnosis is still most likely and not set) down here if the hospital can do one with sedation. He's happy with phone consults, so he also decided to have a baseline EKG run, so if we need to have the big guns, he'll know which ones to avoid. This is where things have gotten interesting.

Yesterday, we got the results from the EKG back. There is some sort of abnormality (don't know what) so we now will be heading to the cardiologist for a consult and probably more testing. It's unlikely to be anything too bad, since this kid one of the more poked and prodded of the 8 year olds, but it does need to be checked out.

It's going to be an interesting fall.

Lazy Summer?

Hardly.

We've been growing vegetables and fruit:(Oh, I love chard. I'm going to grow more next year.)
I finished another pair of mittens. These are Annemor #5 (aka the raven mittens) for the Collar. It's a kid sized pattern, but with bulky yarn and size 6 needles they sized up nicely for him.

Soon we're going to Office Depot because the most wonderful time of the year is soon approaching. (School starts Tuesday for the boys. For me, it started on Monday. Not fair.)

Summer Swapping

happens so fast!

Every time I do one of these, I think I have the best upstream ever. (All of them have been fabulous!) Summer Trails has been amazing.A very full box!

We're supposed to be tourists for our downstream pals. You can probably guess the themes that I sent. (Wine, onions, and outdoor activities--all of which you can walk to from our house.)

My spoiler is from Iowa. She sent me things that are representative of her community. She definitely put a lot of thought into this.

She knit me fingerless mitts in a yarn made locally. They have a cable up the sides. I don't know if she designed the pattern or not, but they fit me, and I'll wear them a lot this winter when I'm working. (Why does typing make my fingers cold?)

Then there are the stitch markers. The blue ones are to represent Delft pottery and the others are tulips, which are representative of her town.And then there's this yarn, which matches one of the colors in my new dress. Maybe there's enough for a shrug! (It's Therapi in a coral color.)

And a gluten free cookie, which I'm saving for after the birthday cake is finished. Yum. A cookie I didn't have to make.

Game Boy is 12!

His boring birthday cake, with 13 candles (one to grow on)
An ipod, with green earphones, so he can listen to Weird Al all he wants (oh, and Miles Davis, too)

A very cool frisbee from his little brother
and every 12 year old boy's wish: a personal mountain of ramen.

On this day, (not so much of a surprise, as I'd been in preterm labor for a week. He was however, supposed to be a mid September baby) Game Boy was born. He was in the ob's words, a remarkably polite baby: he was born at 4:11 pm on a Friday afternoon, during office hours, and made no one stay late.

He didn't sleep much (ever!) and is just now learning the joy of sleeping until 8:00 in the morning. He's always been an active kid, and he still is. He loves cycling (cyclocross starts soon!), playing his trumpet, hiking, walking the dog, and finally has begun to love to read.

As he put it today, he's finally old enough to start 6th grade! (Last spring, he was one of the students who gave the incoming 6th graders tours of the school. Half the kids were older than him.) Happy Birthday, my dear Game Boy.

Waterfalls

The canyon near Twin Falls, Idaho. The Snake River carved it out.

More of the canyon.

All of the Shoshone Falls (there are a lot of them of varying sizes).

Wiz, Game Boy, and the Collar. The viewing areas were up *really* high.

There were two groups visiting: one was a Taiwanese tour group, the other a Spanish language documentary crew.

The big falls.

And that was our last stop on our road trip. Who knows what we'll see next?

Long Car Trips

means I knit a lot.

First there were these:A pair of plain man-sized socks. Knit Picks Felici, colorway Meridian, although I think of it as earth and sky.
Then there are these:
"Darlarna" from Knitting on the Road by Nancy Bush. The yarn is Wollemeise in Red Hot Chili. I chose the yarn because they have quite a bit of yellow, and I knit them while watching Le Tour de France. I finished them on the last day of the race, too!Finally on the trip back west, I started another pair of socks. These are "Denmark" also from Knitting on the Road. These are knit in Colinette Jitterbug Fire (I think). I finished the whole pair on Thursday in Oregon, before we hit Pendleton. Cool, huh?
I now have two more cheerful pairs of socks to wear this winter. :)