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. The weather has been good, temps cooler at about 65, outdoors has been our afternoon playground after mornings of swimming for both boys, short of Thursday when the threat of rains loomed. It has been a good week... 
I am continuing with a different method for the photo links this week, same as last week, 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: 8/29 - 9/4/2015.
AWESOME WEEK in the pool!
Last Friday was the last day of the summer session(s). There is a HUGE part of me that is very glad. It has been intense, but I am forever amazed at how well both boys, and especially Nicholas with his swim classes, took to it all. The boys had such fun being able to swim together, that alone has been worth the time spent. Summer programming does not allow us access to the "big pool" and deep water, but even without that they made do. AND (!!!) on last Friday Nicholas passed his current skill level, and will, come fall, advance to the next one, 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. This week there have been no lessons, a lull in that until fall classes start on 9/14. We still went to the pool, as both boys wanted to be there. It was nice in that with no classes, we had access to all of the pool areas, including the "big pool". How awesome to be able to use that again. It was nice too, for me, to see that I can now handle two boys in that pool, as Nicholas can take care of himself, and William, just loves being there, no fear. WOOT! Friday we went in the afternoon, rather than our usual mornings, and took in one of their "open Swim" sessions, which gave us access to all areas of the pool: tube water slides, lazy river, big buckets dumps, diving boards, and the "big pool", as well as our usual beach area. WHAT FUN! Nicholas was so in his element and did everything there was to do. William was so busy trying to keep up with his big brother. He had a ton of fun leaning about areas of the pool that are somewhat new to him. We had an awesome time. Followed it all up with a "burgers and fries" pigout, outdoors picnic style. We were elated that the weather cooperated! 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: he's got one heckuva kick!
Nicholas: He learned the art of cannonballs this week!
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 days, 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, so we opted to play it safe and went to the Seattle Aquarium. That was fun, as it has been such a long time since we have been. With our exceptional summer, we have focused on the outdoors, saving things like the aquarium for those rainy days. It was great to be back there. Weather was good in the afternoon, so we spent some time in the WaterFront Park, with lunch outdoors, and ice cream to follow. YUM! We spent our afternoon and /or mornings, at Edmonds City Park, and Bothell Landing Park, with some down and get muddy time on the Sammamish River at Bothell Landing Park. Those two boys sure love the rivers, big like the Sammamish, and small like the creek at City Park. They just can't stay out of them, and the mud sand dirt and rocks that go with it. FUN TIMES, just watching, and participating with, boys being boys.
William and Nicholas: groovin' with the fishies.
Nicholas & William: HOORAY for ice cream!
William & Nicholas: Barefoot rules, even when it is 49 out....
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!
Physical Therapy update. I had my second PT appt for my shoulder problem, That was great, and I really think it will help me recover some of what has been lost with range of motion, and arm strength, I liked the guy, he seemed to know his stuff. So... I will continue to go there once a week for a while, and do the exercises he gave me daily. YIPPIE! Things are improving.
Normalcy in Three MusketeerVille.
Kitties are doing well, and adjusting to the loss of their friend Elsa. They are doing well, and there really isn't much change from last week in their overall well being. 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. I can't decide if that is good, or not. Still no fighting, so all is well with he group. 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. Vanessa has adjusted well to the group now, and spends a good percentage of her time upstairs, napping and playing in various rooms. Seems she really likes kitty toys. I will get up in the morning to find then scattered about the house. . We now have one group feeding in the mess hall, with no issues. Vanessa had a vetty appointment Monday to check on her ears, due to an inflammation in her ear canals discovered at her last appt a week or so ago. There is some ear wax buildup, the skin is still a little inflamed, but over all is better. we will continue with the Zymox for another 10/14 days to see if we can clear that up. She will go back on 9/14 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. So... something for us to watch over time. I will however, be SO GLAD when these meds are done. Vanessa does not like anything put in her ears, so this has been a battle. All in all: Normalcy in MusketeerVille!
Lola, one of those rare nap times...
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 sunny and warm one. YaHOO!
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. The weather has been good, temps cooler at about 65, outdoors has been our afternoon playground after mornings of swimming for both boys, short of Thursday when the threat of rains loomed. It has been a good week... I am continuing with a different method for the photo links this week, same as last week, 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: 8/29 - 9/4/2015.AWESOME WEEK in the pool!
Last Friday was the last day of the summer session(s). There is a HUGE part of me that is very glad. It has been intense, but I am forever amazed at how well both boys, and especially Nicholas with his swim classes, took to it all. The boys had such fun being able to swim together, that alone has been worth the time spent. Summer programming does not allow us access to the "big pool" and deep water, but even without that they made do. AND (!!!) on last Friday Nicholas passed his current skill level, and will, come fall, advance to the next one, 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. This week there have been no lessons, a lull in that until fall classes start on 9/14. We still went to the pool, as both boys wanted to be there. It was nice in that with no classes, we had access to all of the pool areas, including the "big pool". How awesome to be able to use that again. It was nice too, for me, to see that I can now handle two boys in that pool, as Nicholas can take care of himself, and William, just loves being there, no fear. WOOT! Friday we went in the afternoon, rather than our usual mornings, and took in one of their "open Swim" sessions, which gave us access to all areas of the pool: tube water slides, lazy river, big buckets dumps, diving boards, and the "big pool", as well as our usual beach area. WHAT FUN! Nicholas was so in his element and did everything there was to do. William was so busy trying to keep up with his big brother. He had a ton of fun leaning about areas of the pool that are somewhat new to him. We had an awesome time. Followed it all up with a "burgers and fries" pigout, outdoors picnic style. We were elated that the weather cooperated! 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: he's got one heckuva kick!
Nicholas: He learned the art of cannonballs this week!
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 days, 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, so we opted to play it safe and went to the Seattle Aquarium. That was fun, as it has been such a long time since we have been. With our exceptional summer, we have focused on the outdoors, saving things like the aquarium for those rainy days. It was great to be back there. Weather was good in the afternoon, so we spent some time in the WaterFront Park, with lunch outdoors, and ice cream to follow. YUM! We spent our afternoon and /or mornings, at Edmonds City Park, and Bothell Landing Park, with some down and get muddy time on the Sammamish River at Bothell Landing Park. Those two boys sure love the rivers, big like the Sammamish, and small like the creek at City Park. They just can't stay out of them, and the mud sand dirt and rocks that go with it. FUN TIMES, just watching, and participating with, boys being boys.William and Nicholas: groovin' with the fishies.
Nicholas & William: HOORAY for ice cream!
William & Nicholas: Barefoot rules, even when it is 49 out....
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!
Physical Therapy update. I had my second PT appt for my shoulder problem, That was great, and I really think it will help me recover some of what has been lost with range of motion, and arm strength, I liked the guy, he seemed to know his stuff. So... I will continue to go there once a week for a while, and do the exercises he gave me daily. YIPPIE!
Things are improving. Normalcy in Three MusketeerVille.
Kitties are doing well, and adjusting to the loss of their friend Elsa. They are doing well, and there really isn't much change from last week in their overall well being. 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. I can't decide if that is good, or not. Still no fighting, so all is well with he group. 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. Vanessa has adjusted well to the group now, and spends a good percentage of her time upstairs, napping and playing in various rooms. Seems she really likes kitty toys. I will get up in the morning to find then scattered about the house. . We now have one group feeding in the mess hall, with no issues. Vanessa had a vetty appointment Monday to check on her ears, due to an inflammation in her ear canals discovered at her last appt a week or so ago. There is some ear wax buildup, the skin is still a little inflamed, but over all is better. we will continue with the Zymox for another 10/14 days to see if we can clear that up. She will go back on 9/14 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. So... something for us to watch over time. I will however, be SO GLAD when these meds are done. Vanessa does not like anything put in her ears, so this has been a battle. All in all: Normalcy in MusketeerVille! Lola, one of those rare nap times...
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 sunny and warm one. YaHOO!
KITTIES!! Remember: BLUE, think GREEN
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