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! The new pizza ovens are great, and so far... they been good pies! Lola and Bug say that they makes excellent nip crust. So good they bought some for Mannie's tree house too! They sure host alot of pizza parties up there.... Kitties are always coming and going, mega cool! so. well. anyways. Coffee time! For today, I proudly offer Elsa's special 10 hour energy coffee, and triple shot espresso, beans from the heart of central Ethiopia. and for my mocha fans: Venti Quad orange and vanilla mocha, laced with orange swirls, topped with chocolate whip, garnished with orange zest, slivered vanilla beans and chocolate swirls....SWEET! OH! No worries, a dollop of orange and vanilla and chocolate swirl ice cream, on top of a dollop of fudge, topped with crystallized oranges and chocolate drizzle.... Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh....... mega good!
I hope everyone had a great day yesterday, and a great week. It still continues to be odd not to be doing a daily condo, but the time off has made things run a little smoother here. I've still been reading subject lines, trying to keep up with LL. ;-) . It's great to see the Board a bit more stable, but even with that my condo visits have had to be a little sporadic. The days with the boys have been good ones! We have been very busy, that part of life has not changed. Yesterday, like all Fridays, was very much a water day, what with swimming in the morning, and swimming again in the evening. BUSY!!!! :shock: :razz: Swimming was as good as it always is. The energizer fishie was in his element, and continues to have a great time in the pool. That swim test continues to be elusive.... one of these days we will get that done! :roll: I've been teaching him what I can. He continues to swim two, sometimes more, widths of the pool on his own again yesterday. We are starting to get some "big arms" swim in, which is kinda cool. He's been trying to swim on his back too. LOL: might make a swimmer after all.
His favorite thing to do continues to be retrieving objects, usually rings, from the bottom of the pool, and still takes a bucket down with him, to collect them before coming back to the surface. That is cool! We still swim at the MLT pool, not his main pool, on Friday nights. Last night he was swimming a part of the lazy river. It was amazing to see him swim, underwater against the current of the river, and make it to the other side, maybe 20 feet away. GO NICK! I continue to be grateful to my DMIL Connie, who still watches William on Friday mornings so Nicholas and I can go to the pool. Wednesday's swim was also a good one, many many swims under the surface! He still looks forward to our after swim Friday Night Burger Feast too. That is just so fun: burgers and fries, in the car, just him and me, with lots of fun stories. Last night we again talked mariners Baseball, as well as reliving his visit to the river on Thursday. I still love that drive from the pool to his house: 30 minutes of little guy stories, my little back seat driver! Quite the imagination he has. He tells stories, we continue to look for rainbows and sunsets and views of Seattle. Great drive home! AWESOME TIME!
Nick's Pics continue.... He LOVES the camera, and still asks to take photos. He's learned how to work the zoom, and judge whether a photo should be vertical or horizontal. Often he just stays with the horizontal. It must just look more normal to him. He's decided that the zoom isn't always a good thing, the photos are "too fuzzy". LOL! He took quite a few while we were at the Pool. I thought they came out fairly well. It is often interesting to me what he chooses to take pics of. Sometimes it is just because they are familiar things, like the ones taken Friday while at the pool or the shots of his jeans. Other times because he thinks they are ever so pretty and deserves a pic, such as the day spent at the river.
I wrote this last week, but bears repeating: OH!!! NEWS!!! William is now crawling. and let the fun begin. I SO NEED ROLLERBLADES!! He is off and running to the races, and into anything and everything he can find. One night he was watching his dad and Nicholas play a game on the Kindle, and decided he wanted to too. And the crawling began. WOOT WOO! - Love it! He's started pulling himself up by holding onto things, maneuvers wherever he wants bu doing so. He stood solo the other day: holding onto nothing for maybe 2 seconds. :shock: I bet he is walking sooner than any of us anticipate. Naps are becoming elusive with him. He's so busy trying to keep up with big bro, and would rather do that than sleep. He watches all that big bro Nicholas does, very carefully..... ;-) oh boy.....
The weather the week before last wet, sloppy and raining.... not this week! The sunny warm 75/80 degree days were back.... So, on Thursday we all decided that a river trip was in order. Nicholas asked to go to a place he calls "Broken Road River", which is actually the Skykomish River, near Index. We call it broken road river due to the fact that maybe 5 years ago, after a very stormy heavy rainy week the Skykomish River there was on overload, flooded the road, altered its course, and reclaimed that section of the road. It is missing for maybe a mile. Therefore: broken road river. One can park at the edge of the washout. It is a beautiful spot, up clsoe and personal with the river. Both boys had a great time. Nicholas so did not want to leave. William has learned to toss rocks, maybe a few inches, but the tossing is there.. He to loved the river, and so wnated to be in it. With the river being so high, fast and furious, both boys settled for play at rivers edge. We set up for a picninc lunch at rivers edge. For me, and for them, nothing could be finer. What a great time for both of them. Near the end of our stay there we went half a mile down the road and stopped in at a section where Trout Creek joins the Skykomish, and spent some time there too. That site is beyond words. Beautiful, as it offers views of the mountains too, and one can see where three rivers/creeks join. You are within feet of it all. All in all, such a fantastic day. Nicholas was so excited and happy that he just could not wait to tell mom and dad about his day.
Wednesday was such a beautiful day here. After morning swimming, and a short (!!) nap for the boys, we went to Nicholas's favorite beach/park: Juanita Beach Park. it is becoming William's too! The day was so warm and sunny that both boys were down to their swim attire, and off to play in the water. HOORAY for excellent sun screen. It has been so nice to see nicholas going groups of kids already at play, even better when they accept him, and let him pay too. Often some of these kids are much older than he is, yet they still connect with him. He had so much fun playing in the water, wading out up to his chest, swimming back. I loved that part. William was in the water too, and had such fun just splashing and getting wet. Nicholas would break for his play with the kids at times to come and play with his brother, often dumping buckets of water on William. :lol: :lol: William thought it was great. We left there covered in sand, wetter than wet, with endless smiles on our faces. I so love days like these. We even managed to squeeze in a short picninc snack session, on the blankets, on the grass, under the trees, at the park before we headed out to connect up with their dad so they could go home. Another stellar day with the boys.
Friday afternoon after swimming we ended up at the new local park we have found. Meadowdale Park continues to be a favorite of Nicholas's. The playground equipment is really nice, with good challenges for him, and well there is that zip line. :razz: :razz: :razz: :razz: That thing is so fun. He has made a few new friends during our visits there, and on Wednesday he saw a boy he had played with last week. It was nice that they remembered each other. It is so great to be able to watch him play with boys his own age. They run and climb on everything. The laughs for them are endless. William watches it all, trying so much to be part of the group. :lol: What with Swimming in the morning and these park outings in the afternoon, we have, of late, been heading home after that, late afternoon, as both boys are beat, and some serious napping is in order. I know that the day has been good when I catch Nicholas smiling in his sleep.
Normalcy in MusketeerVille! What to say about the kitties.... They have been good kitties, and even Lola! Well sorta on Lola... Lola will always be Lola. Crazy fun Lola. When I got home last night I watched the usual Friday night run and romp. That is so fun to watch, and so what goes down here on FR nights. Elsa just watches, trying to decide if she wants to run too. We have been, lately, getting her to join in on one of the romps. She runs once, maybe twice, chasing Bug down the hall. Not too bad for my senior gal. :lol: :lol: This is about the only time I can ever get her to run like that. It is nice to see once in a while. There was nothing amiss when I got home, just kitties waiting at the top of the stairs. Just as it always is. LOVE THAT! Lola was rolling on the stairs, Bug was pacing, and Elsa was just sitting with that stare: where have you been? Definitely a normal Friday night for the kitties. I get a few meows, some leg rubs, they get scritches in return, and then off they go. The runs were endless last night. Lola has been fairly good, no plant issues, no torn papers, boxes remain intact. Today is shopping day so she will get a new paper bag. :lol: :lol: No doubt that will make her day. She has been trying SO HARD to get outside during our warmer days, she runs from window to window hoping maybe those screen have disappeared. :lol: :lol: Yesterday she succeeded once, Wednesday twice - she is getting very quick and very good at leaping out the door, through those few inches of that opening... I HAVE GOT TO GET THAT CATIO DONE!!!!! Well, started. I know..... I keep saying that. She continues too to pound on all glass and plastic surfaces. What a hoot. Still walking the railing and the frig door. Crazy fun Lola! Bug continues to warm up to company more and more as the days go by. Sure is nice to see that. He came out and played with my son for a few the other night when he was over to clean out the house gutters for me. We get such a back up up there... THX kiddo! Elsa is still dong well, darn active for an almost 18 year old. She sleeps alot, but what the heck: part of being a cat. She' continues to be a very good lap cat of late, not normal for her, but it has been nice. :lol: With the warm weather she has been out in the yard alot. Lola is SO JEALOUS!!, and lets me know it whenever she sees Big Sis out in the yard. :roll: Kitties are good, and All are sound asleep as I write this.... Stay good kitties! Normalcy in MusketeerVille!
Have a great day everyone! I am off to get those chores done, do my laundry, fill the kitty pantry, and try and relax some. The rains are returning today, later in the afternoon/evening, so once again I hope to get out on a through the woods to the shore walk. YAHOO! Made it last weekend. It is so nice that meadowdale is as close as it is! The walks there have been great.
KITTIES! Remember: think BLUE, think GREEN cat_pet_icon
(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! The new pizza ovens are great, and so far... they been good pies! Lola and Bug say that they makes excellent nip crust. So good they bought some for Mannie's tree house too! They sure host alot of pizza parties up there.... Kitties are always coming and going, mega cool! so. well. anyways. Coffee time! For today, I proudly offer Elsa's special 10 hour energy coffee, and triple shot espresso, beans from the heart of central Ethiopia. and for my mocha fans: Venti Quad orange and vanilla mocha, laced with orange swirls, topped with chocolate whip, garnished with orange zest, slivered vanilla beans and chocolate swirls....SWEET! OH! No worries, a dollop of orange and vanilla and chocolate swirl ice cream, on top of a dollop of fudge, topped with crystallized oranges and chocolate drizzle.... Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh....... mega good! I hope everyone had a great day yesterday, and a great week. It still continues to be odd not to be doing a daily condo, but the time off has made things run a little smoother here. I've still been reading subject lines, trying to keep up with LL. ;-) . It's great to see the Board a bit more stable, but even with that my condo visits have had to be a little sporadic. The days with the boys have been good ones! We have been very busy, that part of life has not changed. Yesterday, like all Fridays, was very much a water day, what with swimming in the morning, and swimming again in the evening. BUSY!!!! :shock: :razz: Swimming was as good as it always is. The energizer fishie was in his element, and continues to have a great time in the pool. That swim test continues to be elusive.... one of these days we will get that done! :roll: I've been teaching him what I can. He continues to swim two, sometimes more, widths of the pool on his own again yesterday. We are starting to get some "big arms" swim in, which is kinda cool. He's been trying to swim on his back too. LOL: might make a swimmer after all.
His favorite thing to do continues to be retrieving objects, usually rings, from the bottom of the pool, and still takes a bucket down with him, to collect them before coming back to the surface. That is cool! We still swim at the MLT pool, not his main pool, on Friday nights. Last night he was swimming a part of the lazy river. It was amazing to see him swim, underwater against the current of the river, and make it to the other side, maybe 20 feet away. GO NICK! I continue to be grateful to my DMIL Connie, who still watches William on Friday mornings so Nicholas and I can go to the pool. Wednesday's swim was also a good one, many many swims under the surface! He still looks forward to our after swim Friday Night Burger Feast too. That is just so fun: burgers and fries, in the car, just him and me, with lots of fun stories. Last night we again talked mariners Baseball, as well as reliving his visit to the river on Thursday. I still love that drive from the pool to his house: 30 minutes of little guy stories, my little back seat driver! Quite the imagination he has. He tells stories, we continue to look for rainbows and sunsets and views of Seattle. Great drive home! AWESOME TIME! Nick's Pics continue.... He LOVES the camera, and still asks to take photos. He's learned how to work the zoom, and judge whether a photo should be vertical or horizontal. Often he just stays with the horizontal. It must just look more normal to him. He's decided that the zoom isn't always a good thing, the photos are "too fuzzy". LOL! He took quite a few while we were at the Pool. I thought they came out fairly well. It is often interesting to me what he chooses to take pics of. Sometimes it is just because they are familiar things, like the ones taken Friday while at the pool or the shots of his jeans. Other times because he thinks they are ever so pretty and deserves a pic, such as the day spent at the river.
I wrote this last week, but bears repeating: OH!!! NEWS!!! William is now crawling. and let the fun begin. I SO NEED ROLLERBLADES!! He is off and running to the races, and into anything and everything he can find. One night he was watching his dad and Nicholas play a game on the Kindle, and decided he wanted to too. And the crawling began. WOOT WOO! - Love it! He's started pulling himself up by holding onto things, maneuvers wherever he wants bu doing so. He stood solo the other day: holding onto nothing for maybe 2 seconds. :shock: I bet he is walking sooner than any of us anticipate. Naps are becoming elusive with him. He's so busy trying to keep up with big bro, and would rather do that than sleep. He watches all that big bro Nicholas does, very carefully..... ;-) oh boy.....
The weather the week before last wet, sloppy and raining.... not this week! The sunny warm 75/80 degree days were back.... So, on Thursday we all decided that a river trip was in order. Nicholas asked to go to a place he calls "Broken Road River", which is actually the Skykomish River, near Index. We call it broken road river due to the fact that maybe 5 years ago, after a very stormy heavy rainy week the Skykomish River there was on overload, flooded the road, altered its course, and reclaimed that section of the road. It is missing for maybe a mile. Therefore: broken road river. One can park at the edge of the washout. It is a beautiful spot, up clsoe and personal with the river. Both boys had a great time. Nicholas so did not want to leave. William has learned to toss rocks, maybe a few inches, but the tossing is there.. He to loved the river, and so wnated to be in it. With the river being so high, fast and furious, both boys settled for play at rivers edge. We set up for a picninc lunch at rivers edge. For me, and for them, nothing could be finer. What a great time for both of them. Near the end of our stay there we went half a mile down the road and stopped in at a section where Trout Creek joins the Skykomish, and spent some time there too. That site is beyond words. Beautiful, as it offers views of the mountains too, and one can see where three rivers/creeks join. You are within feet of it all. All in all, such a fantastic day. Nicholas was so excited and happy that he just could not wait to tell mom and dad about his day.
Wednesday was such a beautiful day here. After morning swimming, and a short (!!) nap for the boys, we went to Nicholas's favorite beach/park: Juanita Beach Park. it is becoming William's too! The day was so warm and sunny that both boys were down to their swim attire, and off to play in the water. HOORAY for excellent sun screen.
It has been so nice to see nicholas going groups of kids already at play, even better when they accept him, and let him pay too. Often some of these kids are much older than he is, yet they still connect with him. He had so much fun playing in the water, wading out up to his chest, swimming back. I loved that part. William was in the water too, and had such fun just splashing and getting wet. Nicholas would break for his play with the kids at times to come and play with his brother, often dumping buckets of water on William. :lol: :lol: William thought it was great. We left there covered in sand, wetter than wet, with endless smiles on our faces. I so love days like these. We even managed to squeeze in a short picninc snack session, on the blankets, on the grass, under the trees, at the park before we headed out to connect up with their dad so they could go home. Another stellar day with the boys. Friday afternoon after swimming we ended up at the new local park we have found. Meadowdale Park continues to be a favorite of Nicholas's. The playground equipment is really nice, with good challenges for him, and well there is that zip line. :razz: :razz: :razz: :razz: That thing is so fun. He has made a few new friends during our visits there, and on Wednesday he saw a boy he had played with last week. It was nice that they remembered each other. It is so great to be able to watch him play with boys his own age. They run and climb on everything. The laughs for them are endless. William watches it all, trying so much to be part of the group. :lol: What with Swimming in the morning and these park outings in the afternoon, we have, of late, been heading home after that, late afternoon, as both boys are beat, and some serious napping is in order. I know that the day has been good when I catch Nicholas smiling in his sleep.
Normalcy in MusketeerVille!
What to say about the kitties.... They have been good kitties, and even Lola! Well sorta on Lola... Lola will always be Lola. Crazy fun Lola. When I got home last night I watched the usual Friday night run and romp. That is so fun to watch, and so what goes down here on FR nights. Elsa just watches, trying to decide if she wants to run too. We have been, lately, getting her to join in on one of the romps. She runs once, maybe twice, chasing Bug down the hall. Not too bad for my senior gal. :lol: :lol: This is about the only time I can ever get her to run like that. It is nice to see once in a while. There was nothing amiss when I got home, just kitties waiting at the top of the stairs. Just as it always is. LOVE THAT! Lola was rolling on the stairs, Bug was pacing, and Elsa was just sitting with that stare: where have you been? Definitely a normal Friday night for the kitties. I get a few meows, some leg rubs, they get scritches in return, and then off they go. The runs were endless last night. Lola has been fairly good, no plant issues, no torn papers, boxes remain intact. Today is shopping day so she will get a new paper bag. :lol: :lol: No doubt that will make her day. She has been trying SO HARD to get outside during our warmer days, she runs from window to window hoping maybe those screen have disappeared. :lol: :lol: Yesterday she succeeded once, Wednesday twice - she is getting very quick and very good at leaping out the door, through those few inches of that opening... I HAVE GOT TO GET THAT CATIO DONE!!!!! Well, started. I know..... I keep saying that. She continues too to pound on all glass and plastic surfaces. What a hoot. Still walking the railing and the frig door. Crazy fun Lola! Bug continues to warm up to company more and more as the days go by. Sure is nice to see that. He came out and played with my son for a few the other night when he was over to clean out the house gutters for me. We get such a back up up there... THX kiddo! Elsa is still dong well, darn active for an almost 18 year old. She sleeps alot, but what the heck: part of being a cat. She' continues to be a very good lap cat of late, not normal for her, but it has been nice. :lol: With the warm weather she has been out in the yard alot. Lola is SO JEALOUS!!, and lets me know it whenever she sees Big Sis out in the yard. :roll: Kitties are good, and All are sound asleep as I write this.... Stay good kitties! Normalcy in MusketeerVille!Have a great day everyone! I am off to get those chores done, do my laundry, fill the kitty pantry, and try and relax some. The rains are returning today, later in the afternoon/evening, so once again I hope to get out on a through the woods to the shore walk. YAHOO! Made it last weekend. It is so nice that meadowdale is as close as it is! The walks there have been great.
KITTIES! Remember: think BLUE, think GREEN cat_pet_icon
