Michelle and Mannie (GA)
Member Since 2009
Good Morning LL!! 
(Ahhhhhh.... elixir! Thanks Elsa), and Happy Catmint Caturday!
LL! It's is I, Elsa, KBP, president and CEO of Coffee Cat! Life is GOOD! GUESS WHAT! Paw Prints Pizza is open and ready for business! They are running a Caturday Catnip special today, in honor of Catmint Caturday - lots of nip in those pies!
They have even used their signature nip cheese. 
Best order early! OOOOOOOOO! They have perfected their NY Style hot dog pies. MAJOR YUM!!!! Try one, you'll see! Just order the Mannie and Stu Special! so. well. anyways. Coffee time! 
For today, I proudly offer Elsa's special 10 hour energy coffee, and Double shot espressos, with beans from deep within the mountain slopes of Africa, AND.... for all my Mocha fans: a venti quad peppermint white chocolate mocha, with peppermint infused whip, garnished with peppermint candy chips and white chocolate shavings... It is my bean's fave, and a Caturday tradition! SWEET! OH! No worries, a dollop of peppermint and vanilla and chocolate and caramel swirl ice cream, on top of a dollop of fudge, sprinkled with peppermint chips and a chocolate caramel drizzle.... Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh....... mega good!
I hope everyone had a great week.
The days with the boys have been good ones! We have been very busy, that part of life has not changed. Will it ever? ;-) NOPE!! 
It has been an interesting week! We have been swimming, when we could! Been busy indoors mostly, as the weather has been rather wet, with lots of heavy rainfall, and cold. We have seen some sun, had some gorgeous sunsets, but that sun shows so late in the day that we just haven't been able to take advantage of that, and have outdoor days. Family time has taken precedence this week too, but we still did manage a trip to the Seattle Aquarium. Both boys had been battling the latest round of illnesses, Nicholas with some sort of intestinal flu, William with a cold. By Friday they had finally started to feel better. 
Friday Night was our only swimming day this past week.
Nicholas was down with an intestinal flue type thing that had him down and out for about 3/4 days, which meant there was no swimming for him on Monday or Wednesday. He was rather bummed about that, but knew too he needed the time off to feel better. Monday normally is our joint day with the other GP's, but unfortunately the other GP's were not willing to bring William on his own. 
(sorry.... editorial comment on my part). So there as no swimming at all for William last week. The holidays had the pools closed on a few days too. We hope to resume our normal swim scheduling soon. Our main pool will be closed all of next week for cleaning, and Nicholas's fave FR night pool just does not have any opens swim times in the morning.... bummer! Nicholas continues to be our energizer fishie. That I think will never change, he just has so much fun with it all. He continues to LOVE the new pool we started going to a last summer, in Snohomish. It really is a wonderful experience, and he can do alot of the things he likes there: like the slides, the lazy river, and deep water jumping and diving. The big high in the sky tube water slide is now his favorite thing to do, and it is our main focus when we go to this pool. OMG! 
. Now that is all he wants to do when he goes there. I do have to admit: it is FUN! The guards there continue to let him do that slide on his own, something that has made him very happy. We all just love pool days, and are grateful that we have the pools and the time to be able to do this. I hope to be able to get William back in the water on the days he is in my care. There is an alternate pool, one Nicholas went to way back on FR nights, that I will try for William. It has a shallow beach type area that he may like. GO NICK! GO WILLIAM! 
Nicholas still looks forward to our after swim Friday Night Burger Feast
I know I write this each week, but that is just so fun: burgers and fries, just him and me, with lots of fun stories. He was so happy to see that burger and fries combo show up, just like always. Somehow I think that is part of the magic of Friday night swims: that he gets burgers etc after his swim. :razz: He still makes a point of making sure I have packed it all, and asked when I met him in the morning. GREAT TIME! LOVE Friday nights. Last night, well every Friday night, Nicholas told me it was his favorite night of the week, that this day was the best day ever. Me too little man, me too! 
and..... still no hiking for me this week! Bummer! But the time with the boys was a great offset, and we did make it out as much as we could, so I remain content. :razz: The weather has turned very cold at any rate, with lots of snow now in the mountains. I can during post hike season do the local trails here several times over, and make a decent distance hike out of it all. The local trails here just never disappoints. Life continues to be good. I hope once the busy-ness that comes with holidays is complete that more time will open up for more hiking on my off days.
Monday and Tuesday found me doing local hikes. It was so cold here, like in the 20's, travel was iffy to the really cool hike spots, so I decided to stay local. I spent time at my usual haunt, Meadowdale, taking in what can be a great woods hike. I also visited Picnic Point for some variety. We have a few very nice small urban lakes in the area, one of which, Scriber Lake, offers a nice trail around the lake. Since it was as cold as it was, it was nice to stay close, on trails that weren't too lengthy or involved. I took Tuesday afternoon off to go and walk some of the Sammamish River Trail, out of Bothell. it is a distance trail,. covering well over 30+ miles. It is very popular amongst cyclists as well was hikers and runners. William and Nicholas and I go to what was my starting point often to visit the river and the ducks there. Tuesday I walked as much of the trail as time would allow. Sure had a great time, even with the temps being so COLD!
Wednesday both boys were feeling somewhat better, but still a little under the weather, alot of fatigue on their part. By this time William was coming down with a cold. So... We end up making Wednesday a stay at home with Grammie day. That was fun,. We played legos and built RR tracks. We even manged a short time outdoors so they could get some fresh air. We took a bottle of bubbles with us. That was a hoot. With the temps barely above freezing, those bubbles tend to stick around and not dissolve. At one point we had a see of bubbles laying on the lawn.. It seems Nicholas loves to eat ice ! He'd found a patch somewhere in the yard, came back to meet me , merrily chewing away. 
OMG.... at least it was "clean" ice. What fun! Once hadrons were frozen and cheeks rosy red we headed indoors for mugs of hot cocoa and a few rounds of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. all in all it really was a fun day just hanging out at home.
New years Day was a day of football here. It also was my put away Christmas Day. It seems like it takes forever to put it all up, and a matter of minutes to box it all up. 
We had some decent weather that afternoon, so I also managed a walk to the shores of Meadowdale for some outdoor time. That was nice, and a great way to start out a new year.
Friday was a day with Nicholas and William, and was our free day. Both boys were finally feeling better, but still a bit on the tired side. It was cold out too, maybe 31, so we decided indoors would be best, a place where we could spend as much, or as little, time as we wanted. We ended up at the Seattle Aquarium, always a favorite place for the boys. There is this one tank there that is displaying the growth of Salmon, from the egg stage until they are about 1 year old. We always stop there. Nicholas has been able to watch them as eggs, seen a few hatch, seen them with their yolk sacs, and finally yesterday as very tiny young salmon. What an educational experience for him. He just loves that tank. William jumps ip and down, "yelling" fishies!!!!!! We visited everything for about 3 hours until they were both ready for a nap, though either of them wanted to admit it. "but Grammie! I am NOT TIRED!!!" Oh sure.... They both slept for three hours!
Normalcy in MusketeerVille!
The kitties are doing well, and are adjusting to life without Christmas, Christmas trees and shiny decorations. The tree comes down tomorrow, so Lola has been informed that she had better get her fix in before it is boxed up. Funny: she did go and climb the tree. What will she do without it.... I fear for my house plants, once again. 
. Bug is doing well too. He has been quite the social kitty over the holidays, spending alot of time with whomever was over for visits. He has his annual recheck with his cardo vet, to evaluate a reported heart murmur when we adopted him, this coming Tuesday. His initial eval with this vet went well. It wasn't as severe as the shelter reported, so we really hope that will be the case when he goes this week. Paws crossed! Elsa is doing well too. I ahve been trying a new ay to feed her,a s she is a grazer, and I have felt for some time that the others are eating what she is leaving to snack on later. Anytime I see her in the kitchen she gets a spoonful of food,a n amount I know she will eat in one sitting. This seems to be working. There seems to be a bit more meat of her thin frame. I hope to put back on some of the weight she has lost of the past year or so. Keep on truckin' Elsa! Things are looking good for out kitties. Normalcy in MusketeerVille!
Have a great Caturday everyone. Sorry this post it late today. Time this morning, and the days, have gotten away from me. At least the shopping and the laundry are done. YAY!!! I hope for some outdoor time later today. Rains are due late this afternoon, so I had best get at it if I am going to go.
KITTIES!! Remember: BLUE, think GREEN
(Ahhhhhh.... elixir! Thanks Elsa), and Happy Catmint Caturday!LL! It's is I, Elsa, KBP, president and CEO of Coffee Cat! Life is GOOD! GUESS WHAT! Paw Prints Pizza is open and ready for business! They are running a Caturday Catnip special today, in honor of Catmint Caturday - lots of nip in those pies!
They have even used their signature nip cheese. Best order early! OOOOOOOOO! They have perfected their NY Style hot dog pies. MAJOR YUM!!!! Try one, you'll see! Just order the Mannie and Stu Special! so. well. anyways. Coffee time! For today, I proudly offer Elsa's special 10 hour energy coffee, and Double shot espressos, with beans from deep within the mountain slopes of Africa, AND.... for all my Mocha fans: a venti quad peppermint white chocolate mocha, with peppermint infused whip, garnished with peppermint candy chips and white chocolate shavings... It is my bean's fave, and a Caturday tradition! SWEET! OH! No worries, a dollop of peppermint and vanilla and chocolate and caramel swirl ice cream, on top of a dollop of fudge, sprinkled with peppermint chips and a chocolate caramel drizzle.... Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh....... mega good! I hope everyone had a great week.
The days with the boys have been good ones! We have been very busy, that part of life has not changed. Will it ever? ;-) NOPE!! It has been an interesting week! We have been swimming, when we could! Been busy indoors mostly, as the weather has been rather wet, with lots of heavy rainfall, and cold. We have seen some sun, had some gorgeous sunsets, but that sun shows so late in the day that we just haven't been able to take advantage of that, and have outdoor days. Family time has taken precedence this week too, but we still did manage a trip to the Seattle Aquarium. Both boys had been battling the latest round of illnesses, Nicholas with some sort of intestinal flu, William with a cold. By Friday they had finally started to feel better. Friday Night was our only swimming day this past week.
Nicholas was down with an intestinal flue type thing that had him down and out for about 3/4 days, which meant there was no swimming for him on Monday or Wednesday. He was rather bummed about that, but knew too he needed the time off to feel better. Monday normally is our joint day with the other GP's, but unfortunately the other GP's were not willing to bring William on his own. (sorry.... editorial comment on my part). So there as no swimming at all for William last week. The holidays had the pools closed on a few days too. We hope to resume our normal swim scheduling soon. Our main pool will be closed all of next week for cleaning, and Nicholas's fave FR night pool just does not have any opens swim times in the morning.... bummer! Nicholas continues to be our energizer fishie. That I think will never change, he just has so much fun with it all. He continues to LOVE the new pool we started going to a last summer, in Snohomish. It really is a wonderful experience, and he can do alot of the things he likes there: like the slides, the lazy river, and deep water jumping and diving. The big high in the sky tube water slide is now his favorite thing to do, and it is our main focus when we go to this pool. OMG! . Now that is all he wants to do when he goes there. I do have to admit: it is FUN! The guards there continue to let him do that slide on his own, something that has made him very happy. We all just love pool days, and are grateful that we have the pools and the time to be able to do this. I hope to be able to get William back in the water on the days he is in my care. There is an alternate pool, one Nicholas went to way back on FR nights, that I will try for William. It has a shallow beach type area that he may like. GO NICK! GO WILLIAM! Nicholas still looks forward to our after swim Friday Night Burger Feast
I know I write this each week, but that is just so fun: burgers and fries, just him and me, with lots of fun stories. He was so happy to see that burger and fries combo show up, just like always. Somehow I think that is part of the magic of Friday night swims: that he gets burgers etc after his swim. :razz: He still makes a point of making sure I have packed it all, and asked when I met him in the morning. GREAT TIME! LOVE Friday nights. Last night, well every Friday night, Nicholas told me it was his favorite night of the week, that this day was the best day ever. Me too little man, me too! and..... still no hiking for me this week! Bummer! But the time with the boys was a great offset, and we did make it out as much as we could, so I remain content. :razz: The weather has turned very cold at any rate, with lots of snow now in the mountains. I can during post hike season do the local trails here several times over, and make a decent distance hike out of it all. The local trails here just never disappoints. Life continues to be good. I hope once the busy-ness that comes with holidays is complete that more time will open up for more hiking on my off days.
Monday and Tuesday found me doing local hikes. It was so cold here, like in the 20's, travel was iffy to the really cool hike spots, so I decided to stay local. I spent time at my usual haunt, Meadowdale, taking in what can be a great woods hike. I also visited Picnic Point for some variety. We have a few very nice small urban lakes in the area, one of which, Scriber Lake, offers a nice trail around the lake. Since it was as cold as it was, it was nice to stay close, on trails that weren't too lengthy or involved. I took Tuesday afternoon off to go and walk some of the Sammamish River Trail, out of Bothell. it is a distance trail,. covering well over 30+ miles. It is very popular amongst cyclists as well was hikers and runners. William and Nicholas and I go to what was my starting point often to visit the river and the ducks there. Tuesday I walked as much of the trail as time would allow. Sure had a great time, even with the temps being so COLD!
Wednesday both boys were feeling somewhat better, but still a little under the weather, alot of fatigue on their part. By this time William was coming down with a cold. So... We end up making Wednesday a stay at home with Grammie day. That was fun,. We played legos and built RR tracks. We even manged a short time outdoors so they could get some fresh air. We took a bottle of bubbles with us. That was a hoot. With the temps barely above freezing, those bubbles tend to stick around and not dissolve. At one point we had a see of bubbles laying on the lawn.
. It seems Nicholas loves to eat ice ! He'd found a patch somewhere in the yard, came back to meet me , merrily chewing away. OMG.... at least it was "clean" ice. What fun! Once hadrons were frozen and cheeks rosy red we headed indoors for mugs of hot cocoa and a few rounds of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. all in all it really was a fun day just hanging out at home. New years Day was a day of football here.
It also was my put away Christmas Day. It seems like it takes forever to put it all up, and a matter of minutes to box it all up. We had some decent weather that afternoon, so I also managed a walk to the shores of Meadowdale for some outdoor time. That was nice, and a great way to start out a new year.Friday was a day with Nicholas and William, and was our free day. Both boys were finally feeling better, but still a bit on the tired side. It was cold out too, maybe 31, so we decided indoors would be best, a place where we could spend as much, or as little, time as we wanted. We ended up at the Seattle Aquarium, always a favorite place for the boys. There is this one tank there that is displaying the growth of Salmon, from the egg stage until they are about 1 year old. We always stop there. Nicholas has been able to watch them as eggs, seen a few hatch, seen them with their yolk sacs, and finally yesterday as very tiny young salmon. What an educational experience for him. He just loves that tank. William jumps ip and down, "yelling" fishies!!!!!!
We visited everything for about 3 hours until they were both ready for a nap, though either of them wanted to admit it. "but Grammie! I am NOT TIRED!!!" Oh sure.... They both slept for three hours! Normalcy in MusketeerVille!
The kitties are doing well, and are adjusting to life without Christmas, Christmas trees and shiny decorations. The tree comes down tomorrow, so Lola has been informed that she had better get her fix in before it is boxed up. Funny: she did go and climb the tree. What will she do without it.... I fear for my house plants, once again. . Bug is doing well too. He has been quite the social kitty over the holidays, spending alot of time with whomever was over for visits. He has his annual recheck with his cardo vet, to evaluate a reported heart murmur when we adopted him, this coming Tuesday. His initial eval with this vet went well. It wasn't as severe as the shelter reported, so we really hope that will be the case when he goes this week. Paws crossed! Elsa is doing well too. I ahve been trying a new ay to feed her,a s she is a grazer, and I have felt for some time that the others are eating what she is leaving to snack on later. Anytime I see her in the kitchen she gets a spoonful of food,a n amount I know she will eat in one sitting. This seems to be working. There seems to be a bit more meat of her thin frame. I hope to put back on some of the weight she has lost of the past year or so. Keep on truckin' Elsa! Things are looking good for out kitties. Normalcy in MusketeerVille! Have a great Caturday everyone. Sorry this post it late today. Time this morning, and the days, have gotten away from me. At least the shopping and the laundry are done. YAY!!! I hope for some outdoor time later today. Rains are due late this afternoon, so I had best get at it if I am going to go.
KITTIES!! Remember: BLUE, think GREEN
Many thx on Elsa, and on Bug's upcoming appt. I am sure he will be fine, just one of those things that we need to do to be sure what I keep telling myself actually is true. 
