fri, 10/1...day 274

I can never resist taking artsy photos of these delicate purple flowers when they bloom at TLS. I think they might be...asters? Cosmos? I'm terrible at flower names except the very common varieties like lilacs and roses. :P

thu, 9/30...day 273

I took a few pictures while I visited PSCS on Tuesday, including a great shot of the wonderful staff (they are the BEST!), and Tynor hanging out with Juju and a very goofy Luke.

wed, 9/29...day 272

Cory's class had their first field trip today: a visit to the salmon spawning stream near teacher Steve's house.

They've been reading and talking about salmon for a week or so now, learning about their lifecycle, different kinds of salmon, and so on, and they were excited to go see some in real life.

tue, 9/28...day 271

Busy day today, but fun. It was Microsoft's annual Company Meeting, which is at Safeco Field in Seattle, so Tynor and I drove downtown together after dropping off the little guys at school.

I got to hang out at PSCS for a bit, attending check-in, chatting with Tynor, Julianna, and other friends, and wrapping up with a fabulous gab session with Steve about progressive education (yeah!).

Then I walked over to the meeting, which was actually surprisingly good. Minimum slides and yammering about profits and market share, maximum cool demos showcasing truly amazing features and integration between products. Wow!

Plus the darling and very funny Amy Sedaris was our hostess. How can you go wrong? :D

As I was walking back from the meeting, I decided to stop at a Starbucks for cocoa. And who should I run into there but...Kellen! What a wonderful surprise. It had been way too long since I'd last seen him.

He told me that this Starbucks - about a 2 minute walk from Uwajimaya - was his "office" and he came by often to sip a mocha and tap away at various online projects before heading over to work.

So a day full of treats all around!

mon, 9/27...day 270

These delightful relics are in the Extended Day room at the boys' school. I just love that they have this ancient record player (like the ones from when I was a child!) and a real, honest-to-goodness typewriter.

I expect they use the record player for splatter art (on paper plates - very fun) but I know the kids were typing away on the typewriter the other day, having a grand old time. I wish I had an old typewriter myself. Great for typing up journaling. :-)

sun, 9/26...day 269

The afternoon was just misty, not really raining, and we went for a neighborhood walk/bike ride.

It was refreshing to be outside after mostly being cooped up inside all day, and it gave me a chance to do a little nature photography. :-)

The outing ended a bit dramatically, with Niall taking a big spill off his bike, flying down the hill toward home. He was trying to avoid an oncoming car, braked too hard, and flipped his bike. I wasn't even over the crest of the hill yet, so I didn't see the accident. But the people in the car stopped, helped him up, and made sure he was ok. Whew. Not ready for a cracked noggin on this one...

sat, 9/25...day 268

Cory made the most wonderful sword and shield set today, from paper, ribbon, and an ice cream tub lid.

He wanted me to take a picture that showed the sword blurring as he swung it through the air, and...I kind of captured it. It was trickier than I thought. After 5-6 tries, Cory had to sit down and rest his arm from all that work swinging the sword, poor guy. :P