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> well duh! They do EVERY Caturday. :roll:
AND! Still with lots of nip in those pies! They have even used their signature nip cheese. Best order early! 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 fav! 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 day yesterday, and 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? ;-) What a BUSY week! Truth be told, I prefer it that way.
We have been swimming, and hiking, and to beaches, and urban parks. We have had lunches on the river, car camping some too, and on grassy lawns picnic style. These days are wonderful ones. I love it when Nicholas says: I have had the best day grammie. Me too little man! Life is good!
Fall is upon the boys, with their scheduling and activities. Swimming will move to Mondays and Wednesdays for Nicholas. William will be starting on a regular schedule too. Right now he will be swimming on Mondays (this may move to Tuesdays), and Thursdays. Nicholas will be in Pre-School Tuesday and Thursdays, in the morning. When he is in school William will be at eh pool. The timing of this worked out well on Thursday, my first official day of trying that out. it was great to see that Nicholas did not mind that little bro was in the pool without him. YAY! Mondays will be at this point a joint swim day, with Nicholas and William both there in the morning. Bob, one of the other grandparents will he there to take on William, while I have Nicholas. We will see hoe this arrangement goes. I have a feeling I will end up being there on my own, as Bob really isn't into swimming, and to do this jointly may cause alot of confusion for both boys, from an attitude perspective alone. Time will tell. Friday will be our new free and travel day, with no obligations for the boys, except to have fun, whether we are at a river, the aquarium, wherever. Yahoo on that! My hike day at this point moves to Tuesdays which means all my social stuff moves to Monday afternoons. shesshhh! I need a calendar! :shock: :lol: anyways... onwards! and bring on the adjustments that Fall season alwyas brings.
Thursday and Friday, were our swimming days this week. William went Thursday, Nicholas friday nght. Some of the pools were still on summer scheduling, the rest are closed for fall maintenance. We got through all of that Wednesday night. Going forward this coming week, all are open and ready for swimmers! AND!!! The big pool is reopened! Nicholas will be more than elated. Nicholas still loves going, and continues to do well in the pool. He's been making lots of new friends when he goes. it's fun to see him concoct up with kids when he gets there. Nicholas and I will continue to swim on Friday night, as he so loves that experience, at a pool that is not his normal pool. They have been very fun times for him. We are still trying to "convince" Nicholas that swim lessons would be great, but he is adamant that he does not want to do them. silly boy! All in good time. In the meantime I teach him what I can, and marvel at how well he does on his own. Nicholas has been trying very hard to swim what one considers a normal swim: big arms, kicks. last night he made several laps in the lazy river, trying to do just that. Not too badly either! Pool time with William was great. He has taken to this just like his brother did.He loves all he did. I'm not too sure if that came through on the pics, but no matter. We did all we could just to let him try everything. We even had a few dunks under water, those he didn't mind, no fuss, no tears, no fear. I put him trough the same "drills" I did with Nicholas, we stayed about an hour, until he was tired. Success I think. This should be fun. GO NICK! GO WILLIAM!
Nicholas still looks forward to our after swim Friday Night Burger Feast too. (sorry, no photos! picassa will not process the upload,working ion it.... :roll: )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. Somehow I think that is part of the magic of Friday night swims: that he gets burgers etc after his swim. :razz: Yesterday we again talked pool closures, as well as all our berry hunts, swimming in the rivers, and this weeks visit to Gold creek with his dad. He was really into that discussion, as we had spent the day swimming in it, with a few geese. He also talked alot about summer swim schedules, and the changes coming this fall. He still talks about his camping trip with his family, and wants to go back. What fun time, talking through mouthfuls full of burgers and fries. :lol:
Nick's Pics continue!. He still loves the camera, takes them from time to time. this week he wanted to take a few of the streets of Monroe, during our river trip day. Not too bad! I love his perspective on things, how he changes angles to get a different picture. creative! ;-)
Nicholas likes school. He is in basic pre-school program, and goes twice week. He was very excited that I get to take him to school one of the mornings. Thursday went well, I so had to laugh at his comment when I picked him up: ""ok, that's over, can we go to the beach now?" :lol: :lol: :lol:
No hiking this past week for me,. MAJOR BUMMER! monday I had typo wait for a guy to come and measure for a new slider door for the deck, The current one is old, sticks, doesn't slide well, and is falling apart. I so hate waiting for people.... SO now I wait to see what eh can do for me, and how much of a dent it will make in my pocket book! ;-) It is step one in the development of a catio for the kitties.
Tuesday ended up being my social day. And since I couldn't take a hiking day spent some time on a few urban
I met with my son Anthony for breffis. We still go every other week,to a nice Pancake type place that serves lots of very good food. It is nice to be able to do that: get together and catch up on what is new. The restaurant is a great place: any kind o breakfast food you can imagine, and it is all good. and lots of it! I always end up going home with a doggie bag. :lol: :lol: On the way home I stopped in at a mall urban lake, Scriber Lake, and walked the loop trail there. it is very short, but not too bad for a morning walk. the ducks were out, it didn't rain, yet, and I enjoyed the time. Later that day I met with my friend in Seattle for coffee. It was a sunny warm day there then so we took or brews outside to one of the courtyards across the street. That was nice, very pleasant way to spend an hour, talking and catching up. I spent about an hour walking the FreeWay Park Loop, as the sun finally came out, I had a free hour, so figured why not? The park as as pretty as it always is. The fountains were all working, flowers were a-blooming, and the skies were finally all blue. Awesome day!
Wednesday ended up being a travel day. The pools were still clsoed for maintenance, the boys dad had the day off, so Nicholas decided he wanted to take his dad to one of his fav places: Gold Creek Pond, up at Snoqualmie Pass. We did well! I was a little concerned when we headed out to the pass and had nothing but fog, a light drizzle and very overcast skies. Sure was nice to see the sun break when we made the pond, Awesome skies after that, maybe 60 there. It was not overly warm, but not cold either. Nicholas was so excited to have his dad there, kept asking.him "dad do you like it here? Isn't it beautiful?" Jason did enjoy the place, thought it was a perfect spot for a family outing, or just for people with little kids etc. Right he is. We walked the loop, stopped here and there, found the biggest ant hill I have ever seen in my life. Easily 4 feet across, three feet high, and teaming with ants doing their thing. Really something incredible. Boys played in the water, Nicholas went in in his suit. It was really cold, but he still ventured in, lasted maybe 45 minutes. William was content to play in the mud at the edge of the pond. Very fun times for both boys. and for dad!
Thursday, after William's swimming, and Nicholas's school, we went to Juanita Beach. The weather was great, the afternoon was turning into a warm afternoon, like 80 (!!), so off we went! We did all of what he goes there for. Lots of play, and it was warm enough that he could swim in the water. He had such fun with that. I had also brought a pair of swim trunks for William, so he was able to really get in the water, and play as much as he wanted. He continues to love the very small waves, and had a blast. They both built beach lakes and rivers. Nicholas would start one, William would come in and mess it all up. Earlier another group of kids had dug this large hole in the sand, maybe 4 feet across and about a foot deep, which they had filled with water. OMG: that was a magnet for William. His own private little muddy sandy swimming hole. SPLASH SPLASH SPLASH! :lol: :lol: :lol: WHAT FUN! WHAT A MESS he was after that. :roll: :lol: :lol: They both were! William has really developed a fondness for it all, he just gets so excited when he sees the parks, the beaches, the rivers, He is so very much like his brother when he was that age. He just loved it. Nicholas did a very good job too making sure little bro was doing OK. We also had a small picnic after our beach and park time. All around - really a terrific day. I bet both those boys slept well that night. AWESOME time at the beach.
Friday was our travel day: "Road Trip!". We went to gold bar, and the Skykomish River there, spent the whole day on the river. The day was full of nice weather, warm, cold water, but nobody cared on that part. We were the only ones there too. river was gorgeous, running low, which made for easier than normal access. We were able to fond some one inch long fish too, in one of the small pools right next to the river. Nicholas loves that, was all excited when he saw them, standing there with these tiny fish swimming at his feet. William had such fun. He found this section of warm sand and just rolled and played and threw sand all over. What a hoot! bit boys spent alot of time at rivers edge, just playing in the water. Fall is in the air there, lots of fallen leaves, some color to the trees. The boys had a very good time. On the way home we stopped in at the Starbucks in Monroe, and had Fraps. That was fun, and major yum! Apparently William knows what they are, and would not leave us alone until he got some. Such fuss! :shock: :roll: :lol: sheshhhh.... :lol: so I positioned the cup so he was slurping the ship part, and not the frap part, and he was happy. ;-) It was a great day, just a very long one for me. With the PM swim for Nicholas I did not see my front door until well after 9PM. I-)
I am sitting here this morning, just like last week, trying to think what to write about the kitties.... and just like last week, thinking alot too about Mannie. Bug so reminds me of him, the mannerisms that are the same are so evident! Mannie chose well! The rest I wrote last week, but all of it continues to be true. More so on the things about Bug and Nicholas. "The kitties are doing well here, all three of them. The last three days that Nicholas has napped here, I have found Bug sleeping, or watching, just outside of Nichoals's door, on the threshold. To me, that was huge. Could it be that Bug may take over where Mannie left off? I always swore that Mannie and Nicholas were bonded, inseparable, perhaps his feline GA is making sure all will be well. I always felt that Mannie sent Bug to us. They are just so much alike. Lola continues to be Lola, wild crazy fun Lola. Still the ultimate escape artist. She loves the outdoors, it has been hard to keep her inside. Our escape artist continues to try and get out. After having a few hours out there she has decided that it was PRIMO (!!!!!) and tries every chance she gets to sneak on through that opening, when anyone goes in or out. She even paws at the door, with what I swear is an "open PLEASE" chant. :lol: :lol: She is relentless. ah Lola....never ever a dull moment with you. Our resident escape artist has perfected her skills. Six times last week! Outside at all costs, in her opinion. :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :-x :razz: :evil: :shock: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: My son says I should jut let her out, He really feels she knows home, and will not wander, even if she plays to the max, is wild and crazy, she still knows home. I dunno... maybe he's right. Maybe supervised venture out? Maybe? nailbite_smile 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: nice! 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: It is interesting that Bug just doesn't seem to mind that all. He is more than content to be a house cat. Kitties are good, and All are sound asleep as I write this.... Stay good kitties!" Normalcy in MusketeerVille! cat_pet_icon
Have a great day everyone! Enjoy your Caturday. The laundry almost done, shopping done, the rest of the day is free! :razz: :razz: :razz: I hope that later today I will be able to walk the trail here, to the shore. the skies are sunny, the tempos are warm, and it is too nice not to! Paws crossed!
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> well duh! They do EVERY Caturday. :roll:
AND! Still with lots of nip in those pies! They have even used their signature nip cheese. Best order early! 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 fav! 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 day yesterday, and 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? ;-) What a BUSY week! Truth be told, I prefer it that way.
We have been swimming, and hiking, and to beaches, and urban parks. We have had lunches on the river, car camping some too, and on grassy lawns picnic style. These days are wonderful ones. I love it when Nicholas says: I have had the best day grammie. Me too little man! Life is good! Fall is upon the boys, with their scheduling and activities. Swimming will move to Mondays and Wednesdays for Nicholas. William will be starting on a regular schedule too. Right now he will be swimming on Mondays (this may move to Tuesdays), and Thursdays. Nicholas will be in Pre-School Tuesday and Thursdays, in the morning. When he is in school William will be at eh pool. The timing of this worked out well on Thursday, my first official day of trying that out. it was great to see that Nicholas did not mind that little bro was in the pool without him. YAY! Mondays will be at this point a joint swim day, with Nicholas and William both there in the morning. Bob, one of the other grandparents will he there to take on William, while I have Nicholas. We will see hoe this arrangement goes. I have a feeling I will end up being there on my own, as Bob really isn't into swimming, and to do this jointly may cause alot of confusion for both boys, from an attitude perspective alone. Time will tell. Friday will be our new free and travel day, with no obligations for the boys, except to have fun, whether we are at a river, the aquarium, wherever. Yahoo on that! My hike day at this point moves to Tuesdays which means all my social stuff moves to Monday afternoons. shesshhh! I need a calendar! :shock: :lol: anyways... onwards! and bring on the adjustments that Fall season alwyas brings.
Thursday and Friday, were our swimming days this week. William went Thursday, Nicholas friday nght. Some of the pools were still on summer scheduling, the rest are closed for fall maintenance. We got through all of that Wednesday night. Going forward this coming week, all are open and ready for swimmers! AND!!! The big pool is reopened! Nicholas will be more than elated. Nicholas still loves going, and continues to do well in the pool. He's been making lots of new friends when he goes. it's fun to see him concoct up with kids when he gets there. Nicholas and I will continue to swim on Friday night, as he so loves that experience, at a pool that is not his normal pool. They have been very fun times for him. We are still trying to "convince" Nicholas that swim lessons would be great, but he is adamant that he does not want to do them. silly boy! All in good time. In the meantime I teach him what I can, and marvel at how well he does on his own. Nicholas has been trying very hard to swim what one considers a normal swim: big arms, kicks. last night he made several laps in the lazy river, trying to do just that. Not too badly either! Pool time with William was great. He has taken to this just like his brother did.He loves all he did. I'm not too sure if that came through on the pics, but no matter. We did all we could just to let him try everything. We even had a few dunks under water, those he didn't mind, no fuss, no tears, no fear. I put him trough the same "drills" I did with Nicholas, we stayed about an hour, until he was tired. Success I think. This should be fun. GO NICK! GO WILLIAM!
Nicholas still looks forward to our after swim Friday Night Burger Feast too. (sorry, no photos! picassa will not process the upload,working ion it.... :roll: )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. Somehow I think that is part of the magic of Friday night swims: that he gets burgers etc after his swim. :razz: Yesterday we again talked pool closures, as well as all our berry hunts, swimming in the rivers, and this weeks visit to Gold creek with his dad. He was really into that discussion, as we had spent the day swimming in it, with a few geese. He also talked alot about summer swim schedules, and the changes coming this fall. He still talks about his camping trip with his family, and wants to go back.
What fun time, talking through mouthfuls full of burgers and fries. :lol: Nick's Pics continue!. He still loves the camera, takes them from time to time. this week he wanted to take a few of the streets of Monroe, during our river trip day. Not too bad! I love his perspective on things, how he changes angles to get a different picture. creative! ;-)
Nicholas likes school. He is in basic pre-school program, and goes twice week. He was very excited that I get to take him to school one of the mornings. Thursday went well, I so had to laugh at his comment when I picked him up: ""ok, that's over, can we go to the beach now?" :lol: :lol: :lol:
No hiking this past week for me,. MAJOR BUMMER! monday I had typo wait for a guy to come and measure for a new slider door for the deck, The current one is old, sticks, doesn't slide well, and is falling apart. I so hate waiting for people.... SO now I wait to see what eh can do for me, and how much of a dent it will make in my pocket book! ;-) It is step one in the development of a catio for the kitties.
Tuesday ended up being my social day. And since I couldn't take a hiking day spent some time on a few urban
I met with my son Anthony for breffis. We still go every other week,to a nice Pancake type place that serves lots of very good food. It is nice to be able to do that: get together and catch up on what is new. The restaurant is a great place: any kind o breakfast food you can imagine, and it is all good. and lots of it! I always end up going home with a doggie bag. :lol: :lol: On the way home I stopped in at a mall urban lake, Scriber Lake, and walked the loop trail there. it is very short, but not too bad for a morning walk. the ducks were out, it didn't rain, yet, and I enjoyed the time. Later that day I met with my friend in Seattle for coffee. It was a sunny warm day there then so we took or brews outside to one of the courtyards across the street. That was nice, very pleasant way to spend an hour, talking and catching up. I spent about an hour walking the FreeWay Park Loop, as the sun finally came out, I had a free hour, so figured why not? The park as as pretty as it always is. The fountains were all working, flowers were a-blooming, and the skies were finally all blue. Awesome day! Wednesday ended up being a travel day. The pools were still clsoed for maintenance, the boys dad had the day off, so Nicholas decided he wanted to take his dad to one of his fav places: Gold Creek Pond, up at Snoqualmie Pass. We did well! I was a little concerned when we headed out to the pass and had nothing but fog, a light drizzle and very overcast skies. Sure was nice to see the sun break when we made the pond, Awesome skies after that, maybe 60 there. It was not overly warm, but not cold either. Nicholas was so excited to have his dad there, kept asking.him "dad do you like it here? Isn't it beautiful?" Jason did enjoy the place, thought it was a perfect spot for a family outing, or just for people with little kids etc. Right he is. We walked the loop, stopped here and there, found the biggest ant hill I have ever seen in my life. Easily 4 feet across, three feet high, and teaming with ants doing their thing. Really something incredible. Boys played in the water, Nicholas went in in his suit. It was really cold, but he still ventured in, lasted maybe 45 minutes. William was content to play in the mud at the edge of the pond. Very fun times for both boys. and for dad!
Thursday, after William's swimming, and Nicholas's school, we went to Juanita Beach. The weather was great, the afternoon was turning into a warm afternoon, like 80 (!!), so off we went! We did all of what he goes there for. Lots of play, and it was warm enough that he could swim in the water. He had such fun with that. I had also brought a pair of swim trunks for William, so he was able to really get in the water, and play as much as he wanted. He continues to love the very small waves, and had a blast. They both built beach lakes and rivers. Nicholas would start one, William would come in and mess it all up. Earlier another group of kids had dug this large hole in the sand, maybe 4 feet across and about a foot deep, which they had filled with water. OMG: that was a magnet for William. His own private little muddy sandy swimming hole. SPLASH SPLASH SPLASH! :lol: :lol: :lol: WHAT FUN! WHAT A MESS he was after that. :roll: :lol: :lol: They both were! William has really developed a fondness for it all, he just gets so excited when he sees the parks, the beaches, the rivers, He is so very much like his brother when he was that age. He just loved it. Nicholas did a very good job too making sure little bro was doing OK. We also had a small picnic after our beach and park time. All around - really a terrific day. I bet both those boys slept well that night. AWESOME time at the beach.
Friday was our travel day: "Road Trip!". We went to gold bar, and the Skykomish River there, spent the whole day on the river. The day was full of nice weather, warm, cold water, but nobody cared on that part. We were the only ones there too. river was gorgeous, running low, which made for easier than normal access. We were able to fond some one inch long fish too, in one of the small pools right next to the river. Nicholas loves that, was all excited when he saw them, standing there with these tiny fish swimming at his feet.
William had such fun. He found this section of warm sand and just rolled and played and threw sand all over. What a hoot! bit boys spent alot of time at rivers edge, just playing in the water. Fall is in the air there, lots of fallen leaves, some color to the trees. The boys had a very good time. On the way home we stopped in at the Starbucks in Monroe, and had Fraps. That was fun, and major yum! Apparently William knows what they are, and would not leave us alone until he got some. Such fuss! :shock: :roll: :lol: sheshhhh.... :lol: so I positioned the cup so he was slurping the ship part, and not the frap part, and he was happy. ;-) It was a great day, just a very long one for me. With the PM swim for Nicholas I did not see my front door until well after 9PM. I-) I am sitting here this morning, just like last week, trying to think what to write about the kitties.... and just like last week, thinking alot too about Mannie. Bug so reminds me of him, the mannerisms that are the same are so evident! Mannie chose well! The rest I wrote last week, but all of it continues to be true. More so on the things about Bug and Nicholas. "The kitties are doing well here, all three of them. The last three days that Nicholas has napped here, I have found Bug sleeping, or watching, just outside of Nichoals's door, on the threshold. To me, that was huge. Could it be that Bug may take over where Mannie left off? I always swore that Mannie and Nicholas were bonded, inseparable, perhaps his feline GA is making sure all will be well. I always felt that Mannie sent Bug to us. They are just so much alike. Lola continues to be Lola, wild crazy fun Lola. Still the ultimate escape artist. She loves the outdoors, it has been hard to keep her inside. Our escape artist continues to try and get out. After having a few hours out there she has decided that it was PRIMO (!!!!!) and tries every chance she gets to sneak on through that opening, when anyone goes in or out. She even paws at the door, with what I swear is an "open PLEASE" chant. :lol: :lol: She is relentless. ah Lola....never ever a dull moment with you.
Our resident escape artist has perfected her skills. Six times last week! Outside at all costs, in her opinion. :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :-x :razz: :evil: :shock: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: My son says I should jut let her out, He really feels she knows home, and will not wander, even if she plays to the max, is wild and crazy, she still knows home. I dunno... maybe he's right. Maybe supervised venture out? Maybe? nailbite_smile 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: nice! 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: It is interesting that Bug just doesn't seem to mind that all. He is more than content to be a house cat. Kitties are good, and All are sound asleep as I write this.... Stay good kitties!" Normalcy in MusketeerVille! cat_pet_iconHave a great day everyone! Enjoy your Caturday. The laundry almost done, shopping done, the rest of the day is free! :razz: :razz: :razz: I hope that later today I will be able to walk the trail here, to the shore. the skies are sunny, the tempos are warm, and it is too nice not to! Paws crossed!
KITTIES! Remember: think BLUE, think GREEN cat_pet_icon
