What a sick/family/warm/sunny week

While Andy was here last week, we went to the local library.

I'm a book/library girl and may someday be a librarian, so I love to "check out" different libraries. :)

It was so cool, the library had a lot of the books from the series we've been reading, and there was so much room in there, and it was only a branch library!!

To check out, you scan your card, then pile your books on a surface that detects the smart stickers inside the books. It automatically knows which books are in the pile. Awesome...technology is cool, but I hope it doesn't go too far, making people think librarians and library staff aren't important anymore.

We went to the beach before Andy left for home.

While the girls and their friend fed the ducks and seagulls their lunches, Josh wanted to do his homework. That lasted about 10 minutes, then he was ready to enjoy some of the sun also.

Josh found some shells, just like Maggie did not too long ago.
Josh gave each of the girls and underdog on the swings, then got on a swing himself.

After Andy went home Thursday, the children enjoyed a craft night with the Stampin' Up ladies.

They all made one of these St. Patrick's Day crafts which held chocolate coins in the center.

After crafting, the baby got sick.

The next day, Friday, I got sick.

Andy came back again, to take care of all of us.

Now, I'm sick of laundry.

Yesterday, we started to feel better and went to the beach again and the park for some fresh air.

Daniel and Kelly came with Andy this time.

Josh, Daniel, Maggie, Kelly, Lilly

Daniel sat there for about 5 minutes, trying to get the seagulls or ducks to eat bread out of his hand. It never happened, although they came close a couple times.

Kelly found this D for Daniel at the park.

Today, we went to Seattle.

I've had nightmares about drowning my entire life, so I don't like to drive over bridges. And, even though I learned to drive on the freeway, I really don't like to drive on freeways.

So, today's trip was a practice for tomorrow.

The younger children will be meeting an Olympic swimmer at school tomorrow, but I have to go pick them up so they can get their teeth cleaned afterwards.
With the bumper-to-bumper traffic, we had a good chance to look at the sailboats and other watercraft by Seattle.

We went to a park in Seattle, where the children played, and Penny (our dog) loved getting out.

It was pretty neat to see a food giveaway to people who needed it there. It went fast.

We are so blessed where we are living, and have our needs mostly taken care of.

I would encourage anyone reading this to donate even one can of food to a local food bank.
So many people are hungry.

There are p-patches in Seattle, or basically small garden plots for rent. I think they're for rent...

Below is a picture of the rain barrels to collect rain water to supplement the water demand in the gardens.

These children who don't like to smile or pose for pictures are what's growing in my garden right now.

Seeing the p-patches made me realize that if I want real, home-grown veggies this summer, I better plan a garden now. It would be a good project to work on with the children.