Tiri and Pipps

Sitting in the library, I heard these sounds,
"Squish, squish, splash, gurgle, flush. It was not until I heard this that I thought something bad might be happening.

"Hooray. We made it go down!"

I ran to investigate, and Kateri informed me they were making the garbagecan items go down. I have no idea what was in there. Obviously things that were not flushable. So far the toilet has not backed up due to the force feeding. I don't think taking the toilet off was on Shane's things I'd like to do this weekend list. Earlier in the day I heard some stirring in the living room. Actual spoon and bowl stirring. As soon as Kateri saw me she said, quite convincingly,
"No, Pippin. I told you that's a bad idea."

Recipe: grass, leaves, dirt, water, gravy mix.

I decided we needed to get out of the house. So the 5 of us headed to the garden store to get things for our garden. Which is another story.

Second, longer Palau Slideshow

Palau Slideshow

Palau Pictures- just a few

There are so many to choose from and with the incredible scenery, every picture is gorgeous. Here we are swimming at the Milky Way after kayaking all day. We had another adventure there after we got on the Discovery. I'll post that video later. When I can find it.

We stayed at the Palau Pacific Resort for two nights before we got on the boat. I was curious to see how it was after reading lots of mixed reviews. We loved it! Its the only hotel with a sand beach and after breakfast we'd always go for a snorkel. It was nice just snorkeling off the beach. There were also trails to hike. This one ended at nice lookout. The food was also very good. Huge breakfast buffets with tons of choices. More about that later.

We snorkeled around an underwater Japanese Zero. It wasn't very deep. There was one funny little black fish who was very protective of the plane, hanging out inside the cockpit. Whenever you swam close he would dart out at your face. Not that he could do anything to you, but it was startling. And fun to tease him.

WE played lots of poker and dirty clubs. I didn't usually make it too long in Texas Hold'Em but it was fun to play. And I only lost dirty clubs once.

Sailing on to next incredible spot and watching the flying fish.

Shane the great hunter. He said the fish could tell he was not just sight seeing and kept their distance.

My forfeit for dirty clubs was to take the stand up- which I had never tried- and paddle it around the boat. As it was getting dark. Ian was coming in second to losing and offered to swim underneath to stabilize it. I was all prepared to go swimming but we made it around with only Ian getting wet.

Shane and Martin hike for a long. long, time and finally found the cave with ancient writings. I was glad I had not joined them for the journey but they had a good adventure and came back looking like Indian Jones.

We had some time before our flight left so four of us went out to dinner where we ran into the chef, Sole. We all had a good time playing Foosbal, and Charles and Ian taught us some dart games.

After disembarking, we all went out to the Taj for lunch. Its a very tasty Indian restaurant. We had lunch there our first day in Palau, and after playing darts and dinner at the other restaurant, ended at the Taj again for drinks and live music. It was fun sitting at the bar listening to well done renditions of Love Me Tender and My Brown Eyed Girl savoring every last minute of being in Palau until we figure out how to get back.

We're Home!

So much to catch up on. We haven't even looked at all the pictures and videos yet. It was an incredible trip and definitely gave me an appetite for more travel. Here is a little video Shane put together. Definitely Epic. Oh, and the kids had a great time too. In fact they wondering if we could leave again. It definitely made it more enjoyable knowing they were happy and having a good time- thanks to Grandma and Grandpa and Tirzah and Aaron. And being able to keep in touch with email was very comforting.

There will be more stories and pictures and lots of pining for Palau in the coming weeks, but now there is lots to do here. Just a couple weeks of school and we're finished. At least with the book learning part.

http://laketorture.com/PalauMovie_Draft1.wmv

Two Weeks

I woke to the sound of Kateri doing dishes this morning. At 7am. Knowing she had everything under control, I lay in a bed a few more minutes and then showered and came down to find the dishwasher unloaded- not a small feat for a 5 year old in a kitchen designed by a 6ft builder-and the dishes left over from last night, rinsed and loaded.

I watched and saw how she moved the chairs around to get into the cupboards. And was amazed there was not a single broken dish. As she was scrubbing the cookie sheet, she paused to re-load her sponge with bubbles and said,

"Thank you, mom, for getting this new soap. Because I needed some."

Kateri always gets up early when she is excited about some event that day. Which is really nice because she gets excited about a lot of things and its nice to have at least one chipper kid in the early mornings. Sometimes its Sunday school, or a new recipe we are going to make for breakfast, or a play date with Jack and Matteas. This morning, it was a dentist appointment. Seriously. She counts down the days to her visits. She loves the glasses and the movies and getting to pick out a prize with her coins.

It is the William Sonoma Grapefruit soap. I only get it to help me feel inspired to do the dishes. And it makes the kitchen smell nice too.

Kateri has also been working on her phone skills lately. She tried to call Jack and brought me the phone to check the number she had dialed. She was only off by one, a 6 for a 9. I showed her the right number and apparently she has been calling him quite often. Tirzah asked if I was aware how often Kateri used the phone. I told her if it gets out of hand she might want to change her number. The funny thing is Kateri does not know the numbers. If you ask her a phone number she can't tell you. But giver her a phone and she knows the dialing pattern. She currently knows how to call Jack and Grandma. I haven't taught her Shane's number. He'd never get any work done.

Here she is the other night. Waiting in the rain for Jack to come for dinner. Luckily they weren't too late.

But she will soon have her fill. Shane and I are leaving Friday morning and the kids will be taken care of by Grandma and Grandpa and Tirzah and Aaron. We all figured it was best to do the visits in shifts so everyone can have breaks and Tiri and Jack can still miss each other.

I'm starting to get a little nervous and worrying about the kids already. Because if I'm here they wont' get hurt and nothing will go wrong but if I'm out of the country who knows what will happen. Yes, I know. I need to get over it. But I know the kids will have fun- they have been counting down the days and are so excited it is only two more days until mama and papa leave. But I'd rather have them shooing us out the door than being sad and clingy.

So, unless Kateri gets on the computer this will be the last post for a couple weeks. And hopefully we'll have some fantastic stories and pictures when we get back, and Shane has made me promise to swim with the sharks if we get the opportunity. But hopefully that will be a good story. I hope everyone has a peaceful Holy Week and a Blessed Easter.

Our Days

My mom went to Gettysburg a couple weeks ago and brought back bonnets for the girls. They were pretty excited to "Laura and Mary hats". Cyprian thought one was for him, but not too sad when I told him the hidden object cylinder was for him. But he still wore Kateri's hat all the way home.

I've been fighting off a cold for a couple days. With the aid of Zicam and chicken soup, I am doing well. And so far my efforts to keep it from the kids is working. I am so relieved and determined to stay vigilant in the war on bugs. We are leaving for Palau in a little over a week and I hate thought of the kids being sick, and I am sure Shane and I will be able to enjoy the wind and sun much better without head colds.

This soup was courtesy of Cooks Illustrated. It was very tasty, especially with some french bread and butter, no we are obviously not doing the strict fast this lent. With little kids and Shane's exercise regimen, it just wasn't feasible this year. I am actually enjoying, and thinking of making more permanent, the no treats, no movies, no computer-for the kids-fast. Although i admit when I was first feeling coldish, the thought of resting on the couch while the kids watched Ratatouille sounded very tempting. But we persevered and got through it.

The recipe actually called for sauteing ground chicken, extracting all the flavor from the meat and vegetables for the stock, and then straining it and adding fresh chicken pieces and more vegetables. QFC was out of ground chicken so I just chopped up chicken legs and used those. Besides that way you can get some of the marrow and cartilage in the stock.

Kateri had to make something new and there just happened to be a recipe for blueberry muffins in Cooks Illustrated. Very Best Blueberry Muffins, to be exact. And as I had some frozen berries we picked out that recipe for Saturday morning. She was so excited she woke up early and got dressed by herself because of it.

She zested the lemon herself. We all thought they were yummy. She, apparently, liked the process more than the eating them. We haven't picked out our next recipe. I sort of stuck on the chicken soup.



The other day, I was doing something with the little kids, and I realized I had not seen or heard the big kids for over an hour. If it had been Pippin and Kateri I would have been worried. But I went upstairs just to see and found Audrey and Cyril in the middle of creating a doll house, complete with furniture,

a garbage can,

a desk with laptop and documents
,

a chandelier, bookshelves and books, and even stairs. The room on the left is Audrey's the one on the right, Cyril's. For some reason his room also has the stove and little frying pan cut out of cardboard and covered in duct tape. Audrey made a little safe and hid it in the underpart of her chair.

I'm thinking some of the financial states are getting through to them. Several of their books have titles like "Boom, Bills Are Dead" and "Bills, too Much Money". I didn't tell them the current news of the government aka taxpayers propping up the automotive industry. I wasn't sure if they could handle it.

I was really pleased they were being so creative and co-operative. This was a book I had when I was young. It was from the 'Bookshelf for Boys and Girls'. I actually found and bought my own set when I was 12 or 13, thinking someday I hope my kids can enjoy these. volume 5, I think, "Things to make and do" was my favorite. My brother Damien and I spend hours doing the art projects. But I loved making the doll furniture out of cupcake holders and match boxes. And cardborad boxes. It was satisfying to see the kids using boxes, ductape, sticks, and even champagne nets- on the chandlier. Who needs Plastics R Us.