National Lighthouse Day

In honor of National Lighthouse Day {Aug. 7th} we went in search for the Alki Point Lighthouse that is located inside the Coast Guard's property on W Seattle. During the summer one can tour the lighthouse but only during specific times. The gates were closed when we got here so we decided to go exploring a different way in hopes to get a chance to see it.

We could see shore space to walk on so we just went for it.

We saw a swing someone made on a large piece of driftwood. Since it was on public property we let Riley sit on it. He was a bit nervous though. He didn't want to move, lol.

The faraway sky looked pretty, displaying pink and different blue hues.

I see Mt. Rainier.

There were some big rocks to climb and there were also people enjoying a bonfire near the lighthouse so I didn't feel comfortable getting closer to it and taking a picture. So this is the best shot that I could get. I'm glad we got a chance to see it though.

I love the clouds over the Olympic mountains. I remember thinking about wanting to be on a ferry ride on this day. I wanted to feel the chilly wind hitting my face when one goes out on the ferry deck. There's just something about it that's so captivating to me.

As we enjoyed our time out here by the water I noticed the water rising. I felt a prompting and told Jacob that we needed to head back .... like now. As we were walking back we noticed that the shore part we had walked on was mostly covered with water. There was just a small patch of dry sand. We walked with haste and as soon as we were on the clear, waves had covered the entire area we had just walked on. Geez! That was close. I definitely didn't want my suede birkenstock's to get ruined.

Jacob and Riley were cracking up, laughing hard and loud. It was actually exhilarating risking getting wet but thankful that I didn't. Jacob did get his feet wet but at least he had sandals on.
It was definitely a fun evening.

Beside The Water

On one of our quick getaways ... we decided to go hang out by the water.
It was cold but we had our jackets on and our hot drinks. We sat on a log on the beach looking out at the sun setting behind Vashon Island. The sky was a pretty golden pink color.
I can sit next to the water for hours. I love it! It just fills you with a sense of calmness.

We saw several seals poking their heads out of the water. Jacob was pointing at one so Riley could see.

Riley is so photogenic. He definitely got that from his father. It takes about twenty tries to get a decent picture of me.

We headed over to the pier and notice quite a bit of people fishing. Fishing for what I wondered? So late in the afternoon? Once we got close enough Jacob asked one of the guys what they were fishing for and the guy said that every evening they come out here to fish for squid. The squid weren't big at all but they were easy to catch ... getting one after the other.

These little escapes are wonderful. I love that Sydna and Nathan are old enough to watch over each other ... and responsible enough to watch Riley if we need them to.

Once home and cozy Jacob and the kids played Yahtzee. Even Riley gets in on the action. It's so nice that they have the patience to have Riley play the game with them ... and he loves it so much. {ignore Jacob's face, lol.}

The kids love to play board games. I must admit that I don't like to play any. I just sit and watch and capture these moments in pictures. I may play a few card games but hardly ever. I could read you a book for hours, go on a hike, sit with you through several movies or take you sightseeing but board games are just not my thing. I think that's more of an American tradition and not really a Mexican tradition ... at least it wasn't in my family growing up.
I'm just happy that Jacob is always ready to play games with the kids. I'm just happy that I get to be part of their fun even though I'm not actually playing the game. I'm just happy that I get to capture these moments in pictures that way they have all these wonderful memories to look back to.

There is a calmness to a life lived in gratitude, a quiet joy.

A Sunset By The Water

A couple of weeks ago we spent an evening out by the water ... again. I brought a blanket for us to sit on while Riley found a perfect spot on the sand and immediately began to fill his little pail with different sizes of rocky sand. It felt pleasant when we arrived.

Natural light is always the best when taking pictures. The golden hour is my favorite!

Hanging out by the water is my favorite thing to do just before sunset or during the late afternoon. It not only provides me peace and perspective about my life but being out by the water is also calming to the ones I love. Whether the water is still, rippling or crashing waves, warm, cold or breezy ... God is in everything.

Whatever it is that you treasure and brings you pleasure, soak yourself in it ... of course, as long as we honor Him. Always remember -Philippians 4:8.

For me it's a lot of things:
Fall and its vibrant colors, Christmas, the smell of coffee, bacon, chimney, bonfire, ocean, pine trees, rain and hay. The mountains and the ocean. Cats, outings, reading, writing, crafts, and being surrounded by loved ones, the feeling of togetherness. The cozy feeling we have at home, my bed. Wearing sweats, sweaters, cozy socks, blankets. Christmas and country music and jazz. Living simply, the country, a single candle on the windowsill. Movies that are touching to the heart. Falling asleep to rain and waking up to rain ... and much more.

God wants us to have pleasure. He was the One who created all things beautiful for us to enjoy in the first place.
Do things that makes you happy, that brings you joy. It is written in Matthew 6:21: For where your treasure is, there your heart {your love} will be also  ... and in Psalm 16:11: In your presence is fullness of joy, and at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Simple Pleasures // Funny Moments

Riley played in his pool a couple of times last week.
Jacob would squirt him with the hose, which made him scream and shake uncontrollably. He would turn away every time. I felt so bad and had to tell Jacob to stop getting him wet. He looks so little in this picture.

When it comes to electronics ... especially when it comes to my kids using them ... it is both a nuisance and a delight. Obviously there are some great educational apps out there and fun games to play but the bad part of it is when Nathan doesn't want to share, or claims to want to use it just so he wont let no one else use his things. Nathan has an iPad, iPod and a laptop. Sometimes though, he can be very stingy and that makes my blood boil. Guess what happens when big brother doesn't share with baby brother. Big brother gets grounded for the day which means no electronic usage for the rest of the day and if he complains another day gets added.
And there's times when Riley gets denied to use brothers electronics and has no choice but to play with his own toys. Boy, does he cry ... and whine ... for as much as half an hour. Fun times.

Daddy's home!

Last Wednesday I drove to the area where Jacob works because we had dinner at a teriyaki restaurant that's near. I wanted stop at a bookstore first so we left the house a little early. I had told the kids that they could get one book each. They didn't find anything that caught their eye but I found a couple. I love to read you know. Always have.
Riley was being a bit loud and kept grabbing books. We were set to leave and I told him, "let's go" then he said, "wait a minute. let me read this real quick." LOL! This kid is just too funny and so full of it. I constantly have to look away so he wont see me laugh.

This is Jacob's favorite teriyaki restaurant. There's just as many teriyaki restaurants around the Seattle area as there are coffee houses. It's ridiculous. But, we still drive to this location because Jacob prefers it. Anyway, apparently they also have some pretty good stir fry. So, we had that for dinner this time. It was good but I wasn't able to finish it. Huge portions.

And this girl. That look on her face I know all too well. It may look like she placed her paw on my hand all lovingly, nope! I was reaching over to pet her head and she smacked my hand. Oh, but she loves us ... even if its on her own terms. That's alright by me.

I have no idea who he was pretending to be but he still looks cute though.

... and another. I'm gonna have so much fun showing these pictures to his high school friends and girlfriend/wife. Looking forward to that.

The following evening, Thursday, we spent it out in W Seattle. There was a light breeze making it very comfortable.

We noticed that the tide was high.

Jacob gave Riley a lesson on how to skip rocks ... how to hold the rock and throw it.

He threw it high and made a big kerplunk. At least he tried, lol. He still got a high five though.

Sunset.
That guy fishing gave my picture a nice touch. I may have this one printed in a 8 x 10 and framed.

Just before I took this picture I was telling Jacob about how odd the water was moving. It looked like if a big boat had sailed by causing it to move vigorously but no big boats were around then next thing we know there were small waves then all of a sudden big rushing waves that almost got us wet. The tide came in fast, I mean in less than a minute. We had to move back with haste. Sydna even got her foot stuck between two pieces of large driftwood, lol. She blames me and says that she felt rushed since I was behind her trying to get away from the water. That's SO not true. {ohmygosh! I'm laughing as I'm typing this. My kids and Jacob always make up false stories about me}

Riley was climbing all over the driftwood and all of a sudden when I looked over I saw him sitting all quiet next to Sydna. I just knew that something had happened to him. I asked him what happened and he said, "NOTHING!" so I walked over to him and glanced at his legs and sure enough I noticed he had several splinters on his right knee. Oh boy! That'll be fun taking those out.

I waited until Riley was in deep sleep that night to take out the splinters. I got my tweezers and thankfully I was able to get them all out. I counted about twelve. That must have felt uncomfortable.

Watching the ferry come and go hasn't gotten old and I don't think it ever will. I think it's time we take one to Bainbridge Island.

And what a nice surprise we got Friday afternoon. The kids and I were in the living room when I began to hear some thuds, then I asked Sydna if it was raining. We all walked to the front and sure enough it was raining. Big old rain drops. You could see the quarter size drops on the concrete and the smell of rain was wonderful.

Later that evening, after dinner we watched Noah. Jacob and I went to see it at the theatre and thought it was pretty good even though most of it is fiction. We see most of these big hollywood "Christian" movies as pure entertainment, nothing more.
The kids are looking forward to Godzilla to come out on video. They said it was super cool. I'm actually excited to see that one. I remember my dad watching the original when I was little. The noise that Godzilla makes is still very vivid to me.
Oh, and there's going to be a third "Night at the Museum". Coming on Christmas day. I hope its good.

Kind Of Fantastic

Memorial Day weekend was a fun one. Mostly stress free and no bad attitudes. Not bad at all given that the kids had a five day weekend, Tuesday and Wednesday were bad weather days but since they didn't need to use them it accounted for a mini vacation. Jacob also took Tuesday off which we spent at an awesome park {will post in a few days}.

I am so glad that Riley no longer wakes up around 6:00 am like he used to. He can most definitely sleep in until 8:00 am sometimes ... definitely my child. Also, given that he no longer wakes up in the middle of the night I wake up feeling rested, in a better mood and ready to start my day ... at least on most days.


Just before taking a shower on Friday morning I glanced back at Riley and caught this little snot picking his snots. Ew! I just don't want to know what he did with them.

Did I mention that he recently {well, like two weeks ago or so} began eating string cheese? That was such a pleasant surprise. I am THRILLED that he likes it ... more calcium for his growing little bones. The other day I was eating crackers with string cheese but see, I don't like to string it apart like everyone else does. I like to take small bites. Well, apparently that's the wrong way of eating it. Riley said, "don't bite it, eat like this" {he shows me how by pulling it apart}. So in order to please him I did just that ... but I didn't enjoy it as much.

I cannot begin to tell you how awesome it is that my husband knows how to cook. So so thankful that he can do more than just grill burgers, dogs, and steaks. This is really a blessing because I get to have a day off from cooking! But not only that, we get to have a wide variety of dishes at home and not just stick with the same menu week after week.
I know I've mentioned that he's made Filipino food before but that's a dish we don't eat often at home and that's one of Sydna's favorite. So, since we hadn't had it in months that's what Jacob made for dinner on Friday.
While Jacob was cooking the chicken to add to the pancit Riley tried the siopao. He ate some of the bread but once he got to the chicken he decided he no longer wanted it, lol. Geez! This child of mine still wont eat any chicken or red meat. But I'm not going to give up.

Whenever Jacob cooks I sometimes help him prepare certain things. I'm the sous chef. I helped with cutting up some carrots and cabbage. I cooked the pork and ground beef for the lumpia. Some people add shrimp on their pancit. I've had it like that before and it was good too but we didn't buy any shrimp this time.

I decided to separate the spring roll wrappers after Jacob had made a couple of the lumpia. He was just taking too long. Those wrappers are a bit challenging to separate without tearing any part of it as you're pulling them apart. I only messed up two so I guess I did pretty good.

The entire meal was delicious. We all had two lumpia and that was more than enough, we were stuffed. We don't use soy sauce for dipping, we use Mae Ploy sweet chilli sauce. So good!

We had a lot of lumpia and pancit left over. Good, that way we didn't have to make anything for lunch the next day.

It had been a bit cloudy on Friday and when the sun was finally shining in the late afternoon I let Riley play in the front porch. I wish I had a gate up just before the steps. I guess that's something I would need to ask our HOA about.

On Saturday we dropped Sydna and Nathan off at the movies. They watched Godzilla. The previews look good. I remember watching the original Godzilla as a child along with my dad. My dad has always been into Sci-Fi movies and I also have a love for them.
While they were at the movie Jacob, Riley and I drove around the area to a park and then to a book store.
My boy looking dashingly handsome as ever! He makes sure to bring his sunglasses with him whenever we leave the house. He's so funny!!!

We also made a stop at a grocery store and bought a baguette and some black forest ham. I felt like making baguette sandwiches for dinner. Oh, and some sweet white corn. I love to eat good sweet corn on the cob.


After we got the kids from the movies we went back home. They wanted to so badly tell us about the movie but before they even started I told them not to because we also want to see it and I don't want them to spoil the fun for us. They hated that they couldn't share the details, lol.
We had lunch and rested for a bit. I wanted to go back to the water for the evening so, I packed us our baguette sandwiches, chips and drinks and we left. Oh, I sure wished I could have drank some sweet Riesling while enjoying my food by the water. Darn!

The kids enjoyed our outing a lot. I kept noticing that Sydna's attention would drift to the water and the islands across the Puget and then she would gaze to her right and admire the houses along the shore. I can't wait to see what the future holds for her. Nathan is pretty much a kid still. He was just looking at people walking by and looking after his baby brother playing with his truck on the rocky sandy beach.

It's funny how Sydna and Nathan enjoy each others company whenever we're out and about. They are pretty good with each other at home too but they tend to get on each others nerves a bit more. But when we're out they treat each other like best friends. That is awesome! If you ask Sydna if she's overprotective towards her brothers she will make a silly face and say no but her behavior towards them proves different. It just comes naturally to her I suppose, given she's the oldest.

And this little guy was in his own little world. Having fun sprinkling grains of sand on his sweat pants.

There's quite a bit of baby crab carcasses all over the shore and that is what these two were looking for.

It was such a pleasant evening by the water. Nice way to end our Saturday. 

Completely content.

We went to church .. and the one thing our pastor said that stood out to me was; "Have joy in the midst of a broken world". I will strive to be joyful ... always! Even with my quiet personality. I already live in a state that has the perfect weather balance to what my soul needs to make me happy in that respect. I have more than I could have ever imagined in life. Truly truly grateful!

It was a bit of a bummer that our grocery shopping day happen to fall on Memorial Day weekend. The last place I wanted to be and the last thing I wanted to do was to go grocery shopping. Like I was telling my sister: it is not fun going to the grocery store with kids, no matter what age. At least not for me. I don't want to have to stress about anything while I'm out shopping. That's one thing Jacob and I are looking forward to once the kids stop going to the grocery store with us. We're gonna shop at those fine foods grocery stores and take our time walking up and down isles and treat ourselves to whatever we fancy.

Once we got home from spending almost two hours at the store and after stopping by The Rock to pick up some pizza dough and sauce, I had Jacob start on the pizzas. Throughout the years I've found myself liking more and more vegetables. I used to be an even worse eater than I am now. Before, I would only eat a pepperoni pizza but now I like bell pepper, pineapple, jalapenos, olives, mushrooms, pepperoni, and one or two strips of onion on each slice. 

This time I did have a glass and a half of sweet Riesling. Totally hit the spot!

And to my surprise Riley had one and a half slices of pizza. I was beside myself. So happy he's eating more and adding new foods/snacks to his very limited menu. You would only understand my excitement if you also happen to be a mother of a child that's extremely picky when it comes to food.

It hadn't rained for a few days but it began raining Sunday afternoon. Hard at times too. We left the house around 5:30 pm and we made our way to West Seattle.

We stopped at Starbucks. We all got out because I wanted Riley to drink his hot chocolate here rather than in the car where he could have spilled it. It seems like he always does and ends up staining his shirt in the process. That's not cool. So to avoid him staining his shirt or jacket we waited patiently for him to finish his drink.

This time we didn't go to our usual spot in W Seattle. One time, when we were driving through here I noticed this long open scenic area. There's hardly any people around since it's not near any tourist attractions. One only sees locals on their afternoon walks. It is definitely a great place where one can admire the scenery while taking a walk.
It had stopped raining once we got out of the car. That was a nice thing for God to do for us. So we could spend a little time out here enjoying one of His many wonders.

Riley has been trying to learn how to whistle. That's why his tongue is rolled up like that, lol.

A lonely sailboat.
I imagined that it was a man, a writer, spending an entire day in his sailboat alone writing a book. Listening to jazzy music while drinking a glass of wine. Looking out the small window into the low clouds over Vashon Island. Ah!! That's grand!

We kept seeing these small fish jumping out of the water. Lots and lots of them. I don't know what they're called but it looked neat seeing them all jump out of the water at once. We also spotted otters. At first we thought it was a seal but we noticed that it wasn't moving, just floating in the same area and seals don't really do that. It wasn't until it moved a bit closer that Sydna realized it was an otter. It was laying on its back, probably eating a clam or a crab. Then several minutes later we spotted two more.

If you've ever been to the grand canyon you know that pictures don't do it justice. Sometimes, some places you just have to see for yourself in order to appreciate the beauty. Well, this place, the Pacific Northwest is no different. You actually have to be here to see how beautiful this all is. It is gorgeous out here!!!

It began raining right at the same time I was thinking it was time to leave. Good thing we came prepared this time. We all had our jackets on and we put on our hoods.

We saw a rainbow. Riley noticed it. He said, "wook, a rainbow". I acknowledged him and told him that God made it. Then he began to name all the colors. Always learning.

Our weekend was a pretty cool one. A fantastic one at that. 

Isn't nature the best?!

Simple pleasures are usually the most memorable ones.