Spring Forward

Spring time is quickly approaching here in the Pacific Northwest! When we start seeing beautiful flowers and having lovely sunshine-filled days, we know it is quickly approaching. And, now that we have our new house and property, spring doesn't only mean warmer, longer days....it means CHICKS!!! 

The last few weeks (yes, even here in western WA), we have been having a some beautiful days that tease us of the coming months. The boys and I have been enjoying a few more ventures to local parks and soaking up the sun when it comes. This southern born and raised girl LOVES her sunshine! 

Daffodils bringing the promise of warmer days!

One of the first signs around here that the warmer days are on the way are the daffodils that begin to pop up everywhere. On the side of the road, in fields, yards, and even in the woods. My favorite flowers are still tulips, but I sure do love when these little rays of sunshine start showing themselves! 

This year, as winter is winding down, we got to enjoy a long weekend visit from my brother. Although, we didn't spend a lot of time here at Peck Place, we explored the area with him and enjoyed a few little sunbreaks. We had about 3.5 days to explore with him while he was here.

The first day, we did the "expected" thing and went to Seattle. However, we went beyond the typical Space Needle and Pike's Place outings and visited spots like the Fremont Troll, the Starbucks Reserve Roastery & Tasting Room and took him to Evo's distribution center south of the city in Auburn.

We started the day by stopping at Evo in Auburn so that Uncle A could look for some ski gloves. They have a small storefront where you can find great deals on snowboarding and skiing gear. It is also where we have picked up your online orders when we needed an item quicker. Our next stop was lunch at 8 Ounce Burger Bar in Capitol Hill. Do not miss the garlic fries when you are there!! They are right up there with the garlic fries at the Mariner's games...hot, crispy, delicious and will make you breathe garlic for a week. You can thank me later.

The kids with Uncle A at the Fremont Troll

Let me just tell you, the Starbucks Roastery is a place you should definitely visit on your next trip to Seattle. You will pay a little more for your coffee than at your normal coffee shop, but you will get to see coffee roasting in action, try special drinks that are not on their normal menu, and there are many unique roasts to choose from that you won't find in every Starbucks on the corner. Even the boys found it interesting because they could watch the entire roasting process and learn about how coffee is made (ahem, homeschool field trip for the day - check!)

Our last stop of the day was at the Fremont Troll. The kids had fun running up and hiding behind the troll and then posing for silly pictures. We then completed the day with a lovely 3 hour ride home (normally about an hour) in the rain on Friday afternoon...no idea what that was about, but lets just say it was NOT the highlight of our day.

The next day we took a the ferry from Point Defiance to Vashon Island. We had beautiful sunshine on the ride and could even (briefly) catch a glimpse of Mt. Rainier.

We explored a few spots on the island and saw a few sights, including the bicycle tree, which has seen better days. In recent years, vandals have messed with the bike so it isn't in the best condition anymore. Apparently, the story goes that a little boy left his bike in the woods and the tree grew around it....we may have used the story as a lesson for why you should pick up your toys. Anyone think that it will actually sink in?!?

Little Farmer G and Farmer T in front of the Bicycle Tree on Vashon Island

For our return ferry, we returned from the other end of the island to the Fauntleroy terminal to make a stop for dinner at Sunset Cafe - a great little Ethiopian restaurant off Rainier Ave. The food is AMAZING, the prices are great and the kids thought it was pretty awesome that they got to eat with their hands. Plus, no peanuts in the cuisine to worry about for Little Farmer G!!

Sunday of our weekend found us at White Pass Ski Area, enjoying a snow day. Thank goodness, spring coming doesn't mean the snow season is over yet! It was overcast and snowy throughout most of the day, but the clouds did lift enough a few times for Uncle A to enjoy some beautiful views....and some sunshine to squint through.

Farmer John took one for the team and stayed with the kids so that I could spend the day on the mountain with Uncle A. We had a great time, the snow was coming down lightly though the day so almost every run was perfect!

Little Farmer T advanced from the carpet to the platter and did great at his second snowboarding lesson - so proud of him! Little Farmer G even went up the carpet a few times on his snowboard!

It was also Winter Carnival weekend at White Pass, so there was an awesome snow castle for the kids to check out and sled down (for FREE!) Mom and dad even got in on the action!  

Our last morning with Uncle A in town was spent touring one of the new Amazon towers in Seattle, complements of one of our friends who works for them. It was right up his alley, since he works in programming. It was also pretty neat for us to see how some of the rest of the world works. Let's just say that I don't think hospitals would ever let us take our dogs to work or have a room just for playing video games to decompress, haha! We had a lot of fun! However, Little Farmer G was a little perplexed on the way home. "Um, where were the kindles at Amazon? Our kindles came from Amazon, but we didn't see them there." Hmmmm....how to explain the intricacies of Amazon to a 3 year old? Lol!

Saying goodbye until next time at the airport.

We had a blast spending the weekend exploring some old favorites and new adventures with Uncle A at the end of the Winter...now, it's time to Spring Forward!! Remember those chicks I mentioned at the beginning? Well, we welcomed our first batch of chicks from our own flock this past week...and, as expected, they are adorable little fluff balls! I can't wait to share the process of our first hatch with you next time!

Here are a couple of sneak peeks into our next blog post:

The first two hatchlings!!

In Little Farmer G's words "Awwww, it's so fluffy! It's so cuuuuutttteeee!"