Michelle and Mannie (GA)
Very Active Member
LL! It's is I, Vanessa, Kitteh Barista! well I am trying anyways... This is hard stuff! Elsa trained me well, so I hopes I do OK! I gots Mannie's original coffee recipe book, and Elsa notes, so... off we goes! Life is GOOD! Coffee is on, Lola and Bug , founders of Paw Prints Pizza, are ready to go! Want pizza? it is MEGA GOOD! They are offering a special on the Mannie and Stu Pizza Special: Hot Dogs RULE Pizza, buy one get one free! Try it, it is mega good. Mannie said so! so. well. anyways. 
Coffee time! For today, I proudly offer Vanessa's special 10 hour energy coffee, and triple shot espresso, beans from the heart of central Ethiopia. For my mocha fans: : a VENTI Quad Blueberry infused white mocha/mocha blend with white chocolate chips melted within, swirled with a raspberry puree, topped with a strawberry infused whip garnished with caramelized berry sprinkles and white chocolate curls and a caramel drizzle.......SWEET! And I gots cimmamum donuts too! Elsa said Mannie said FD kitties and their bean like cimmamum, so I will make those. I hopes they are good...
Vanessa, your new kitty barista
I hope everyone has had a great week. We have been.... well, busy again!
I just can't imagine not being on the go. 
It keeps us out of trouble, and makes for great times! I often think back on the weeks happenings, and wonder how in the world did we do all that! It was the same this past week. We have had a week of adventure, and fun, and feels awesome to be back at it, fall style. Nicholas is back in Pre-School, and swim lessons. William is back riding on the shirt-tails of his brother, and creating a few of his own. The weather has been good, some sun, some clouds,. some rains, temps cooler at about 65, outdoors has been our afternoon playground (we have dodged those rains) after mornings of swimming for both boys, short of Thursday which was our "off/free" day. It has been a good week... 
I am continuing with a different method for the photo links, same as weeks past, providing the link to Google/Picassa photo albums, rather than individual links to the albums themselves. It seemed to work the past few weeks, and does save me alot of time. So.... here ya go: Photos for the week: A Week in the Life of Nicholas & William: 9/12 - 9/19/2015
AWESOME WEEK in the pool!
We started the Fall Session this week, with Nicholas's new lesson time slot of "after school". He leveled up to the next skill level at the end of summer sessions, what they call A Youth Safety 4 level. 
These classes are geared for the elementary age kids, and wow, to have a 4 year old be at the top of the level is really darn amazing. WTG NICHOLAS. It was so nice to see him fit right in with the elementary aged kids. He has 2 7yr olds, and 2 6yr olds in his class. He Loved class, and couldn't wait for the next one to come along. We are adjusting to getting both boys adequate pool time. William will be swimming in the morning when Nicholas is at school, and this time slot last week proved to be a really nice one for him. The pools are not busy and he can do and learn at his own pace. I've introduced him to the "big pool", and he has taken to that very well. It so reminds me of Nicholas when he first started using that pool. Nicholas has his free swim time on the afternoons, at what is called an open rec swim, about an hour or so before his class time. It is nice for him in that this time slot has the extra things open that he really likes: big tube slides, lazy rivers, and deep water. Wednesday has prove to be a challenge, in that William needs to go with Nicholas for this swim, after already having a full morning in the pool. He did well last week, but in reality that is alot of pool time for a 2 year old, so we may adjust that going forward. Nicholas continues to swim Friday Nights in the late afternoon, early evening. It is a night of just fun swimming in a very nice pool. This time slot if just for fun, something he and I have been doing for sometime now. I just love Friday nights! We are grateful for our time in the pool. It has all enabled to boys to explore anther aspect of growing up, one they really enjoy. It has just become the norm for us, we go each week, and just never tire of it. It proves to be such fun for both boys, and their excitement with it all has not wavered. And then there is that Friday (night) burger feast....
GO NICHOLAS! GO WILLIAM !!
William: Learning the joys of underwater swimming!
Nicholas: Tubin' if the lazy river!
We are back to adventure after adventure. What fun it is to have so many cool places to have these adventures in. We have taken advantage of rainless periods during the day, and warm temps, and are grateful that the hot weather seems to have left us for a while. Fall seems to be in the air.... Thursday was our questionable weather day, and our "free no obligations" day, so we opted to play it safe and went to the Pacific Science Center. It is one of the boys favorite places to go. It was nice too to ave the whole day to explore, and not have a set time frame. I think we did just about everything there as to do there, FUN STUFF! We have explored a new park, Wilcox Park, as it is near to Nicholas's school, and the pool. It was welcome on Wednesday when we were juggling pool and school obligations, but still wanted an outdoor place to play. We had enough of a weather break Friday afternoon that Nicholas and William were able to return to the Sammamish River at Bothell Landing Park. It was 70 that afternoon, so the boys decided they needed to be IN the river, so they did. KUDOS! That was a blast, and drew a few raised eyebrows form trail walkers. and comments from other kids: "Why can't I do that?" Boys had so much fun getting down and dirty in the mud and sand and rocks and water that made up the Sammamish River. I think the duckies missed them too, as they showed up in droves when we got there. FUN TIMES, just watching, and participating with, boys being boys.
Nicholas & William: fun times on the Sammamish River!
William and Nicholas: The joys of water cannons!
For my own personal time, I continue to hike the local trails here when I can: Meadowdale, Picnic Point, Mesika and Scriber lake. It is great to have such good places to go to when time permits. Due to weather, wild fires, and appointments I really didn't have anytime to travel for a hike, but hope to rectify that this upcoming week. Out wetter weatehr has helped with the wildfires, and some of the areas I hike in are open once again. YAY! I can hardly wait to get back out there! I was able to go for a short hike on Sunday, a new hike spot for me: Sultan Canyon River. It was a decent woodsy hike, culminating at rivers edge, in the canyon. The river was very pretty there, but access to the river was somewhat limited. As this is a newly built trail, I will hope for plans to expand it some, with a river walk. Paws crossed!
Sultan River Canyon
Normalcy in Three MusketeerVille.
Kitties are doing well, and adjusting to the loss of their friend Elsa. dang, we still all miss her alot, think of her daily. They are doing well, and there really isn't much change from last week in their overall well being. They are adjusting to the arrival of fall, I will often find them curled up in kitty beds or their fleece blankets. Bug is still being cuddly and befriending Vanessa. He has become the new patriarch of the family, taking over for Elsa. Lola is still escaping, and has decided that Vanessa is her new best friend. They can often be found hanging out together. Lola really seems to have mellowed alot over the summer, "growing up" I guess. She still is my crazy feisty girl, but I find I am saying "LOLA STOP" less and less. I never thought I'd ever be saying that Lola has mellowed. 
Vanessa and Bug are my lap cats. They often trade off lap duties. Vanessa was back on 9/14 to the vetty to have the ear(s) looked at, and helpfully the meds will have helped get the inflammation down. The vetty seems to feel that this is a chronic condition with her, as there is alot of scar tissue in there, indicating it as been a recurring problem for her. Ears are looking great! Plan gong forward it to treat and clean once a week to ward off any problems. We also had them culture some scaly patches on her ears. As they say, never ever a dull moment! The patches came back with a DX of Ringworm. ARGGHHH!!!!! 
and DARN IT!!! 
Anyways, she is on meds for that, a pill once a day and topical lotion twice a day on obvious fungal spots. She seems to be responding to the topical medicine, as there are no new spots, and the ones that are/were there appears to be improving. I have tossed what I could of hers, but so much is communal between all the cats, how does one toss carpets and sofas, and well.... they have already been exposed. I am on watch with the other cats, and after two weeks, so sign of a fungal invasion. a relief! We have cleaned with what we should clean with, changed bedding, etc. The only thing I haven't done is isolation. Maybe I should have, but I just couldn't do that to her, it has taken so long for her to feel comfortable here. So... we are taking a risk, but so far, the others are fine. All in all: Normalcy in MusketeerVille!
Bug, one cool laid back dude...
I hope everyone has a great Caturday. It is catch up day here: shopping, laundry and maybe a local hike this afternoon, as it should be a somewhat sunny and warm one. YaHOO! My son has a band concert tonight, so I am off to that. WOOT, and Rock on Fallen Angels!
KITTIES!! Remember: BLUE, think GREEN
Coffee time! For today, I proudly offer Vanessa's special 10 hour energy coffee, and triple shot espresso, beans from the heart of central Ethiopia. For my mocha fans: : a VENTI Quad Blueberry infused white mocha/mocha blend with white chocolate chips melted within, swirled with a raspberry puree, topped with a strawberry infused whip garnished with caramelized berry sprinkles and white chocolate curls and a caramel drizzle.......SWEET! And I gots cimmamum donuts too! Elsa said Mannie said FD kitties and their bean like cimmamum, so I will make those. I hopes they are good... Vanessa, your new kitty barista
I hope everyone has had a great week. We have been.... well, busy again!
I just can't imagine not being on the go. It keeps us out of trouble, and makes for great times! I often think back on the weeks happenings, and wonder how in the world did we do all that! It was the same this past week. We have had a week of adventure, and fun, and feels awesome to be back at it, fall style. Nicholas is back in Pre-School, and swim lessons. William is back riding on the shirt-tails of his brother, and creating a few of his own. The weather has been good, some sun, some clouds,. some rains, temps cooler at about 65, outdoors has been our afternoon playground (we have dodged those rains) after mornings of swimming for both boys, short of Thursday which was our "off/free" day. It has been a good week... I am continuing with a different method for the photo links, same as weeks past, providing the link to Google/Picassa photo albums, rather than individual links to the albums themselves. It seemed to work the past few weeks, and does save me alot of time.
So.... here ya go: Photos for the week: A Week in the Life of Nicholas & William: 9/12 - 9/19/2015AWESOME WEEK in the pool!
We started the Fall Session this week, with Nicholas's new lesson time slot of "after school". He leveled up to the next skill level at the end of summer sessions, what they call A Youth Safety 4 level. These classes are geared for the elementary age kids, and wow, to have a 4 year old be at the top of the level is really darn amazing. WTG NICHOLAS. It was so nice to see him fit right in with the elementary aged kids. He has 2 7yr olds, and 2 6yr olds in his class. He Loved class, and couldn't wait for the next one to come along. We are adjusting to getting both boys adequate pool time. William will be swimming in the morning when Nicholas is at school, and this time slot last week proved to be a really nice one for him. The pools are not busy and he can do and learn at his own pace. I've introduced him to the "big pool", and he has taken to that very well. It so reminds me of Nicholas when he first started using that pool. Nicholas has his free swim time on the afternoons, at what is called an open rec swim, about an hour or so before his class time. It is nice for him in that this time slot has the extra things open that he really likes: big tube slides, lazy rivers, and deep water. Wednesday has prove to be a challenge, in that William needs to go with Nicholas for this swim, after already having a full morning in the pool. He did well last week, but in reality that is alot of pool time for a 2 year old, so we may adjust that going forward. Nicholas continues to swim Friday Nights in the late afternoon, early evening. It is a night of just fun swimming in a very nice pool. This time slot if just for fun, something he and I have been doing for sometime now. I just love Friday nights! We are grateful for our time in the pool. It has all enabled to boys to explore anther aspect of growing up, one they really enjoy. It has just become the norm for us, we go each week, and just never tire of it. It proves to be such fun for both boys, and their excitement with it all has not wavered. And then there is that Friday (night) burger feast.... GO NICHOLAS! GO WILLIAM !!
William: Learning the joys of underwater swimming!
Nicholas: Tubin' if the lazy river!
We are back to adventure after adventure. What fun it is to have so many cool places to have these adventures in. We have taken advantage of rainless periods during the day, and warm temps, and are grateful that the hot weather seems to have left us for a while.
Fall seems to be in the air.... Thursday was our questionable weather day, and our "free no obligations" day, so we opted to play it safe and went to the Pacific Science Center. It is one of the boys favorite places to go. It was nice too to ave the whole day to explore, and not have a set time frame. I think we did just about everything there as to do there, FUN STUFF! We have explored a new park, Wilcox Park, as it is near to Nicholas's school, and the pool. It was welcome on Wednesday when we were juggling pool and school obligations, but still wanted an outdoor place to play. We had enough of a weather break Friday afternoon that Nicholas and William were able to return to the Sammamish River at Bothell Landing Park. It was 70 that afternoon, so the boys decided they needed to be IN the river, so they did. KUDOS! That was a blast, and drew a few raised eyebrows form trail walkers. and comments from other kids: "Why can't I do that?" Boys had so much fun getting down and dirty in the mud and sand and rocks and water that made up the Sammamish River. I think the duckies missed them too, as they showed up in droves when we got there. FUN TIMES, just watching, and participating with, boys being boys.Nicholas & William: fun times on the Sammamish River!
William and Nicholas: The joys of water cannons!
For my own personal time, I continue to hike the local trails here when I can: Meadowdale, Picnic Point, Mesika and Scriber lake. It is great to have such good places to go to when time permits. Due to weather, wild fires, and appointments I really didn't have anytime to travel for a hike, but hope to rectify that this upcoming week. Out wetter weatehr has helped with the wildfires, and some of the areas I hike in are open once again. YAY! I can hardly wait to get back out there! I was able to go for a short hike on Sunday, a new hike spot for me: Sultan Canyon River. It was a decent woodsy hike, culminating at rivers edge, in the canyon. The river was very pretty there, but access to the river was somewhat limited. As this is a newly built trail, I will hope for plans to expand it some, with a river walk. Paws crossed!
Sultan River Canyon
Normalcy in Three MusketeerVille.
Kitties are doing well, and adjusting to the loss of their friend Elsa. dang, we still all miss her alot, think of her daily. They are doing well, and there really isn't much change from last week in their overall well being. They are adjusting to the arrival of fall, I will often find them curled up in kitty beds or their fleece blankets. Bug is still being cuddly and befriending Vanessa. He has become the new patriarch of the family, taking over for Elsa. Lola is still escaping, and has decided that Vanessa is her new best friend. They can often be found hanging out together. Lola really seems to have mellowed alot over the summer, "growing up" I guess. She still is my crazy feisty girl, but I find I am saying "LOLA STOP" less and less. I never thought I'd ever be saying that Lola has mellowed. Vanessa and Bug are my lap cats. They often trade off lap duties. Vanessa was back on 9/14 to the vetty to have the ear(s) looked at, and helpfully the meds will have helped get the inflammation down. The vetty seems to feel that this is a chronic condition with her, as there is alot of scar tissue in there, indicating it as been a recurring problem for her. Ears are looking great! Plan gong forward it to treat and clean once a week to ward off any problems. We also had them culture some scaly patches on her ears. As they say, never ever a dull moment! The patches came back with a DX of Ringworm. ARGGHHH!!!!! and DARN IT!!! Anyways, she is on meds for that, a pill once a day and topical lotion twice a day on obvious fungal spots. She seems to be responding to the topical medicine, as there are no new spots, and the ones that are/were there appears to be improving. I have tossed what I could of hers, but so much is communal between all the cats, how does one toss carpets and sofas, and well.... they have already been exposed. I am on watch with the other cats, and after two weeks, so sign of a fungal invasion. a relief! We have cleaned with what we should clean with, changed bedding, etc. The only thing I haven't done is isolation. Maybe I should have, but I just couldn't do that to her, it has taken so long for her to feel comfortable here. So... we are taking a risk, but so far, the others are fine. All in all: Normalcy in MusketeerVille! Bug, one cool laid back dude...
I hope everyone has a great Caturday. It is catch up day here: shopping, laundry and maybe a local hike this afternoon, as it should be a somewhat sunny and warm one. YaHOO! My son has a band concert tonight, so I am off to that. WOOT, and Rock on Fallen Angels!
KITTIES!! Remember: BLUE, think GREEN
Last edited:
Hope your shoulder is feeling better too! Did you lose power yesterday? Ours blinked on and off but not like the last time, thank Goodness! Sending vines for Vanessa's ear, and hugs and scritches for the whole crew!