Flip Flop

Spring?  What spring?  Several mornings a week I awake to this--FROST!  Mt. Si usually has a fresh covering of snow; today is no exception.  Of course, the rain rolls in and washes all of it away (except for the snow at the top of Mt. Si), but we are having a looooong wait for spring to arrive.

In fact, the snow level was so low this morning that Rattlesnake Ledge even had snow on it.  And May starts in just a few days....

 But---I did get a few hours of sun last Saturday, and made the most of it, mowing the yard, edging, doing some weeding and garden clean-up (de-mossing, for those who don't live in the Pacific NW.  Every winter a lovely carpet of moss grows over the gardens, and you need to peel it off every spring).  While I was cleaning, this little guy popped out from the middle of a clump of emerging daylilies.  Of course, I had to run back inside and grab my camera.  He was enjoying the sun so much he was still in the same position.  He eventually headed for my pond---which is full of frog eggs and tadpoles.  The frogs have definitely been doing more than singing!  I need to get some chemicals in the pond and kill off the tadpoles or I will be afflicted, like Pharoah of old, with a plague of frogs!!

It's on it's way

We have actually had a couple of dry semi-days, with one full one thrown in.  Today it is raining like crazy and there is a driver's warning for the Pass because of new snow--20 minutes from my place.  What a difference a few hundred feet make.  I'll settle for the (ugh) rain; I couldn't handle snow this late in the year.

But, when it has been dry, I've been out with my camera, stalking anything colorful...

 or not so colorful--I love hydrangea petal skeletons.  Amazing that all that structure is hiding beneath those gorgeous shades of blue.

This year the elk have overlooked my poor pathetic heather, so it is blooming.  Most years it is sheared off before it has a chance to show its colors.  

And of course, a rain drop or two.  They're there; might as well take advantage!!



Weather changes

The saying goes that if you don't like the weather in Seattle, just wait a minute or two.  That's certainly been somewhat the case lately.  We have had a LOT of days like this:

 ...and like this

 ...leading to mornings like this

 ...and tucked-away treasures like this.

 We're even starting to see some color in the neighborhood, which is a nice change!

 And, we even had a DRY day yesterday, with that bright shiny thing in the sky.  I love the pop of a yellow forsythia against the blue sky...and the resulting refractions.

 My favorite puddle aka Magic Window shows the changing seasons--the spring blossoms on the trees, while Mt. Si has a fresh mantle of snow. 



Color Break

It has been so grey and gloomy and rainy and wet that I finally had to take a color break and go nursery crawling---just had to find something blooming that wasn't drenched and sopped and beaten down to the ground.

Unfortunately, the tulips at the nursery were already spent and past their prime, but even fading tulips have a beauty about them, revealing the hidden inner structure.

 I found a split-trumpet daffodil, which I think are the glamour queens of the daffy world.  They look like they wear fancy layered ballgowns.

 A two-tone grape hyacinth, larger than the solid dark blue variety, boldly holding forth against the gloom.

 Some sweet little double jonquils with tiny little buttery blooms.  The buds not yet opened were about the size of the end of your thumb, but what these lack in size they make up for in fragrance.  I could've stood and sniffed here all day!

 And, of, course, water refractions.  It was pouring rain while I was at the nursery, but I stood under cover and caught this before it was knocked off by the downpour.

 A bonus on the tip of a calla lily (my favorite to photograph).

Trekking at Animal Kingdom

When we were at WDW, I went on an extra-curricular excursion that I had signed up for several months in advance.  Animal Kingdom now offers (for an additional fee, of course) a 3-hour guided hike/jeep safari through some of the back areas of the wild animal park.  The groups are limited to 12, and the guides are very knowledgeable and you can ask questions until you can't think of any more.  We hiked along the river, past the hippo pool and then over the Nile crocs, and ended up in our own safari jeep.  We would scoot in and out of the tour groups, pull over on the side of the road to observe the animals, take little side roads that the tour didn't take, and stopped at a boma (a safari camp) for a lunch break.  After that, more jeep touring and animal watching.  I took the tour for the hike and for the opportunity to take photos, and I was not disappointed.  Great experience.  I would do it again in a heartbeat!

We had to cross two rope suspension bridges during the hike--they went over the hippo pool and the croc pool.  I am NOT a fan of heights, but we were outfitted with vests that had a safety line on the back, which attached to the overhead cables.  Plus, the sides of the bridges were quite high, and there was netting on the sides and below.  You could NOT fall--it just looked and felt that way.  The strategically missing slats, and the "broken" slats made it tricky for someone like me who has short legs--some of those gaps were quite a stretch.  It was scary going directly over the crocs, especially with the bridge bouncing because someone was coming behind me, but it was still a lot of fun.

 What a ham, smiling for the camera.  Did you know that a group of hippos is a bloat....as in a bloat of hippos?  How appropriate!!!

 At the croc pool we hooked our safety lines up to a metal track, and were able to lean out over the edge of the cliff to look down on the crocs.  Yes, I did.

 Two species of giraffe--the 2 smaller ones are reticulated giraffes, and the larger one is a Masai giraffe.  They were all really curious and got quite close to our jeep.

 From his expression, I don't think he particularly liked breakfast.....

 Lunch at the boma came in a 2-layer tin.  Each layer contained food.  We had melon balls and brie, yogurt with cranberries, smoked salmon with dilled cream cheese, proscuitto, air-dried beef, pita rounds, jicama and cucumber salad, and a delicious apricot nut bar.  Add to that a mango-passion fruit drink and it was a delicious meal.  Even the orchid was edible (slight grassy aftertaste...)  It was really fun to sit in the shade at the boma, eat this delicious meal and watch the animals out on the "veldt". 



Disney Princess Half-Marathon

We had a great family trip last week down to DisneyWorld. R had wanted us all to go to DW, and had set aside the funds to do so, and told us to go with or without him.  So, we had the RF Memorial Tour and had a blast, knowing that he was watching us and enjoying it as well.

L decided early on that she was going to run the Disney Princess Half-Marathon...a significant undertaking for her because she is not a runner, and training in the snowy cold MidWest this time of year made it doubly difficult.  But she perservered and she and her friend D signed up and ran the marathon.  I am so proud of both of them--they had to get up at 4am (D even earlier, since she lives in Orlando and had to drive to DW) and be ready to race even before the sun rose.

Evidently there is a woman who runs the race who has balloons tied to her.  She follows the pack of runners, and if you fall behind her, you are picked up and taken to the Finish Line because your time isn't good enough.  L's goal was not to set records; her goal was to stay ahead of the Balloon Lady and to finish.  She did well--she actually would've finished sooner but she had her camera and had to stop for photo ops with the Disney characters who were stationed along the route.  Way to go, L!  You CAN do hard things!

B and I got up, got the girls up, and caught the 4:45 AM bus (yes, you read that right) to the starting line.  We saw all 3 groups start, but it was pitch dark and there were several thousand runners.  L and D were not expecting to see us at the Start, so they weren't even looking for us.  We went to a couple of the mile posts along the race to wait to cheer L and D on.  The girls weren't in to watching the runners--thank goodness for B's iPhone and the game apps....

G gave up.  It was too early for her and all the walking wore her out.

By the time we had seen them at the 8.1 milepost, we were all pretty tired.  We tried to get to the finish line, but the crowds at the Transportation Center were so thick, we couldn't get there.  We were standing in line when L texted us that she had finished.  We took a roundabout route getting back to the hotel, and everyone (except me) crashed during the bus ride.

I think one of my favorite things about the half-marathon was that a large percentage of the runners dressed up. (Note L's sparkly headband and skirt---one MUST look good while running!)  I loved that the women dressed like princesses and Disney characters, and managed to run well.  My favorite was a woman dressed as Princess Leia---completely unexpected--but hey, Leia IS a princess! 

We saw fairies,

Woody and Jessie,

Snow White,

Jasmine and Cinderella,

and 2 more versions of Cinderella, in long ball gowns.

We saw more tutus than one could count.  BUT----my favorites were the men.  There were a lot of guys running the race along with their runners, supporting them.   We saw a bevy of Beauty and her beast, several Princess Tiana and her Frog (in fact, one guy was dressed in a head-to-foot frog costume).  I loved the fact that the guys had a sense of humor and were willing to embrace the hidden princess within.

This guy was one of my favorites.  Head-to-toe full Fairy Godmother, complete with ballgown, white wig and tiara, long white gloves, and the bippity-boppity-boo wand.

I mean, how can you not like a guy who can wear a tutu with such flair?  Besides, he looked better in his tutu than a lot of the women runners....

This guy even managed to wear the pink mouse ears complete with bridal veil, and a tutu.

This guy was soooo funny.  Love the fuzzy headpiece.  He had one of the prettiest tutus out there.

All in all, it was a great experience.  I am so proud of L for all the time and effort she put into training for this, and for finishing the race!  It wasn't easy, but she did it.  Yea, L!