5/22: Weekend Condo: As always, still busy! Happy Weekend L&LL!

Good Morning LL!! (YUM! Vanessa outdid herself this morning: PRIMO!) HAPPY Sunday to everyone!

LL! It's is I, Vanessa, president and CEO of The Coffee Cat! Life is GOOD! GUESS WHAT! GUESS WHAT! Today is Catmint Caturday!! Paw Prints Pizza is open and ready for business! They are running a Weekend Catnip special today, in honor of Catmint Sunday - lots of nip in those pies! They have even used their signature nip cheese. Best order early! Also available: their cimmamum and catmint pizza! So.... gives it a try, I kinda liked it! YUM! They ask for a little patience this morning, as the are still recovering from one awesome full moon party in Mannie's treehouse. Was that ever so FUN! SO.... Coffee time! For today, I proudly offer Vanessa's special 10 hour energy coffee, and triple shot espressos, with beans from Starbucks Pike Place Market, their original blend, AND.... for all 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! And donut holes!! And Croissants and Baguettes! And blueberry and raspberry jams. I mades them myself!




The original Blue Mannie group... live, from the Bridge. I hear they put on quite the performance at the Full Moon Party, with Rusty orchestrating it all. It is nice that the veil allowed our kitties to hear them.




I hope everyone has had a great week. We have been.... well, busy again! As I say every week: 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! I know I write this every week, but it really was the same this past week. We have had a week of adventure, and fun, and crazy as we all deal with pending summer, and somewhat warmer days. And some wet days. We have been swimming, and to parks, and to science centers It has been a good week...



Normalcy in Three Musketeerville! The kitties are all doing well, and have recovered from their trip to the vetty last weekend. Weather has been a mix of everything, and this morning we have overcast skies and the telltale remnants of some overnight rains. For all of them that means catnaps rule this morning. They are all curled up in kitties beds, one of them snoring rather loudly. Hmmmmm... think it is Vanessa. Who knew she was a snorer. Lola continues to try and escape. Every day this week! We are all getting very good, once again, at making sure she doesn't. Haha, we try, we failed a few times this week too. Ah Lola... what will we do with you? Yes, I know.... make you a catio! I will, I swear! We had a couple of days last week where Vanessa decided that Bug was evil reborn, and spent alot of time hissing, growling and being downright obnoxious with him. I am clueless as to why. Perhaps he did something that really annoyed her. It seems to be over and done with now, and we hope that it doesn't return. Other than that: Normalcy rules in Three MusketeerVille!

Vanessa


Bug, chillin'


Lola



Our adventures continue. It has indeed been a busy week. Weather has been ok, little rains, and somewhat on the warm side, with temps in the high 60's. We were outside when we could, indoors when we couldn't. We did get a few nice sunny days too. We made trips to the pools, parks and playgrounds, and were able to return on Thursday to one of the boys favorite places, the Pacific Science Center. We even caught an IMAX movie while there, on the Galapagos Islands and the animals that live there. That was great, boys really enjoyed it. Weather was so so when we started out to the Science Center, but by noon on that day we had sunshine, and were able to spend time after science exploring the Center Grounds. Friday afternoon we were able to spend what ended up being a somewhat sunny afternoon at Wilcox Park. It was great to be outdoors, let the boys play on some great playground equipment and then go exploring at the park Salmonberry season is back here, and we found a patch there that was on overload, a good 100 yards long patch. Wednesday after swimming and school we went to the trail by the pool, as there are tons of berries on that trail too. YaHOO! Nicholas and William went armed with berry collecting containers and picked what had to be a hundred berries. They ate some, and decided to take the rest home to mom and dad. YUM! Fun days! What a great week it was. It has been so fun! It has indeed been a good week for the boys, and their grammie!


William and Nicholas: flowers and tall grasses, Wilcox Park


Nicholas & William: salmonberries RULE!


Nicholas & William: in the giant red sculpture, Pacific Science Center



AWESOME WEEK in the pool! Nicholas and William continue to swim on the same designated days, with swim lessons for Nicholas on Mondays and Wednesdays. Lessons continue to go well for Nicholas. They continue to focus on having the kids swim the length of the pool, not an easy task for a 5 year old, but he makes it! He is becoming quite the little swimmer. New session started this week. They both still love going, so we do. William is beginning to express interest in lessons, so maybe soon for him too, probably in September. Nicholas continues to be out underwater energizer fishie, and I often think he spends as much down below the surface as he does on top. William has really taken off with his efforts in the pool. He is now jumping in on his own, and trying to swim for a couple of yards. He has such fun with it, says that he loves being under water No surprise! He has Nicholas's example to follow. Now I have two energizer fishies! They still both have their joint "Brothers Swim" on Wednesday afternoon, a time together that is so fun for them both. Last week we had a first: they both swim together the Snohomish Pool on Friday night. This week Nicholas asked William to come again, as he really liked having him there, and William just loves that pool. so... a new tradition has been born: Friday Night Brothers Swim! I had held off on that for sometime for William, as it is a very challenging pool for those that are not strong swimmers, and after all, that has always been Nicholas's special night, and his alone. With his permission, and with William's new confidence we decided to give it a try, WOW! He did wonderfully, and kept up with his brother! We have also been able to continue those post swim, before lessons pool picnics on Monday and Wednesday afternoons. Weather has been good then, so why not? It was fun: grilled cheese sandwiches and chicken with fries on the menu. YUM! Friday night, the traditional burger feast was on! Nicholas and I have been doing that for the longest time. It was awesome that William was there to join us. Even better that it was a warm sunny day, and we could truly have a picnic, on the grass, on blankets, under blue skies. Way cool! SWIMMING RULES!!! As always, we are grateful for our time in the pool. It has all enabled to boys to explore another 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.
GO NICHOLAS! GO WILLIAM !!


William & Nicholas: Fun times rule! Snohomish Aquatic Center


William & Nicholas: Down Under together, Snohomish Aquatic Center




For my own personal time, I continue to hike the local trails here when I can: Meadowdale, Picnic Point, Mesika, and wherever else I can find nearby. It is great to have such good places to go to when time permits. After an early morning dentist appointment for me on Tuesday I headed on up the the Bellingham area, to hike Whatcom Falls and the trails there. It is a very nice urban park, with several miles of trials to explore. I also visited the Bloedel Donovan Park on Whatcom lake, just to see if it still was a good place to bring William and Nicholas, which it is. We have been to the falls several times, and I really hope to get them back there this summer. The Falls are so nice, trails good, and the lower falls trail has lots of exploration possibilities. Monday I was also able to continue my Monday get together in DT Seattle with a friend I used to work with. WooHOO! A social outing! I hope to resume hiking in Eastern Washington this coming week.


Whatcom Falls


DH update! He is doing well. He has been walking daily, doing his exercise to strengthen muscle weakness caused by his one month stint in the ICU. That is slowly, very slowly returning. Home PT has also started, and that seems to be going well too. Monday he has a return visit with his oncologist to see what, if any, treatment is now needed for the cancer. We hope the surgery took care of that issue. We shall see what the DR has to say, but we hope he will tell him that all is good to go, see you in 4 months for another scan, just to be sure. The paws are crossed.

Have a great Sunday everyone! It is rather low-key here... I hope to make it outside on a local hike today, once this is posted. I was able to get a short walk in this morning, a local neighborhood one, after an early morning drizzle had run its curse. it should be a semi-sunny afternoon here. I hope they are right on that one, as a woods hike would be nice. We shall see!

KITTIES!! Remember: BLUE, think GREEN

 

I'm glad the kitties are doing well and Vanessa settled down about Bug. It's nice the boys can swim together. They look like they're having so much fun in their pictures. I'm glad your DH is doing well and getting the home PT. Sending prayers for tomorrow's doctor visit.

 

@carfurby Morning Carla THx on the kitties,and me too on Vanessa. Things are back to normal between her and Bug. YAY! I am so glad that those two boys play well together. They both love the pool, so we go as often as time will allow. It is fun! We had such a great time exploring new parts of the park, finding those berries as such an added bonus. Many thx on DH too. We so hope for a good DR/oncologist visit today.

 

Great news all the way around! Kitties sound like they are all settled after the vet visit. Always a stressful time.

The boys look like they had another great week in the pool and everywhere else. I don't know how you do it. Keeps you young for sure.

Great news on DH. Lots of good doc vines and looking forward to great news!

Have a wonderful busy week.

 

Hi Michelle,

Another busy week here so I'm just getting to your condo (actually I read it several days ago!). Your week was typically busy. I'm sorry that Vanessa decided that Bug offended in some way and glad that the issue seems to be resolved. You never know what they might be thinking. Maybe Bug didn't like the coffee one day.

So happy that your DH is doing well. And very glad he's over his cold. Keeping good thoughts for the appointment with the oncologist.

Hope you have gotten out for a long hike this week.

Hugs and scritches,

Ella & Rusty

p.s. to Vanessa: great coffee this week!

 

good that DH continues to improve......

neat waterfall... where's my notebook of places to see some time?

 

Hi Michelle.

Just got around to reading this week's condo. Same old, same old - mega busy!! Glad the spat between Vanessa and Bug is over.

I hope you got good news at the oncologists today. I know we've all got our paws crossed and have been sending lots of vines his way.

 

morning everyone! Happy weekend to everyone. My apologies for not getting back to this condo as well as I should have... time just was never on my side this week. A new condo in a few.



@Tricia Cinco(GA) & Harvey , @rhiannon and shadow (GA) , @Ella & Rusty & Stu(GA) , @Melissa & Tarragon ~~ THX all for the DH wishes! He had a great oncologist visit. The DR has decided that no more treatment is needed, and they will re-scan in a couple of months to be sure that all is well, he remains cancer free. What a relief! YAY! We may have won the war, and time will tell. His PT continues, slowly, but he keeps plugging away at that. His cold is better, just has that remains of that left now, no treatment for it, just let it run its course. THX too on the kitty well wishes, they continue to do great!

@Melissa & Tarragon , THX, and yes I hope the boys had a good week. I believe they did. Love the smiles I always see on their faces, it was the same this week too. and yupp, all that busy does keep that "young spirit" alive. There is truth there!

@Tricia Cinco(GA) & Harvey - I like that: same old, same old, mega busy! That is something I say her all the time. Mega busy rules. And it really ends up being alot of fun for me too. I really enjoy the time spent, even when it is mega busy.

@rhiannon and shadow (GA) - funny you should mention that notebook.... I actually started doing that, keeping tract of places I wanted to visit, hikes in the state etc. I've used it too, when the question always come up: Where to go today? Let's see if I can find something new, and out comes the book.

@Ella & Rusty & Stu(GA) ` ah yes on Vanessa and Bug. it was weird, and seems to have been resolved now, for sure. I have no clue what he did, maybe just a simple thing as sleeping in her bed... They are all one happy family again now, with only an occasional "GRRRRR!" LOL, maybe so on the coffee! and YES (!!!) on the hike! I made it to E Wa, Selah area, and hiked one of my fave canyons: Black Canyon, after a three year absense. It was awesome! Photos in today new condo, once i get that out together.


HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND EVERYONE! Bring on the BBQ's!