Walter's Snohomish County Adventure!

I arrived in Snohomish County and was greeted with excitement by Tara, her teen-age sister and their two moms.  Tara ripped open the package eagerly hoping for a Walter or maybe even a Wen (she didn't know she would see us both, but that comes later in the story!).  Tara lives in a cohousing neighborhood in Snohomish County.  It was fun to see her neighborhood and meet all of the friendly people.

Fresh out of the box, I hung out in Tara's pocket while she was in her Moon Shoes.  It can be quite bouncy! She went really far and high, too!

I went online with Tara for a class of Literature.  I learned some about Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH.  I can't believe rats can be bigger than I am!  

It was Tara's mom's birthday so she and I made applesauce muffins with apples from their tree.  

I helped with the decorations.  In Tara's family, they decorate the whole lower level on birthdays.  I liked riding in the rainbow ball the best!

Tara is a Brownie Girl Scout.  I went to her troop meeting with her and we learned about selling Girl Scout cookies.  Yum!  Here I am with the cookie order sheet.

I went on a field trip with Tara and her mom to the Bellevue Art Museum.  We met Ms. Sloan there.  One of the best parts is that Ms. Britt was also there - with Wen!  

I had a lot of fun looking at different ceramic art, but I really liked playing around with pencils with Wen.  I think Ms. Britt took some pictures of our reunion too!

Important Fact: Even monsters need to brush their teeth!

Tara does a lot of fun things!  During the week, she not only took me to the art museum, but she took me to... 

a piano lesson...

swim class...

and even a jump rope class! 

Tara did double dutch while I watched.  I think I might like to try turning the rope, but I would need some help.  

I had fun in Tara's neighborhood in a snow chair (she said it was a snowball a couple of days earlier).  She also showed me what was left of an igloo that she had made before I got there.  Wow!

I had a great time with Tara and her family.  I wonder what further adventures I will have... I sure hope that I get to meet up with Wen again!

So long for now!

Wen in DeMo...

Wow, what a great time I’ve had in Des Moines – Washington, that is – not to be confused with Des Moines, Iowa. 

Who knew that my stay with Mrs. Britt and her family would lead to me finding a long lost relative – Uncle Willy!  It was great to reconnect and he loved hearing about the adventures I’ve had all over Washington state.  I invited him to join me on my upcoming trip to Marysville, but as you can see, he has a pretty strong bond with baby Margo and has decided to stay put for the time being.

Speaking of Margo.  She has been my BFF while I’m here.  I don’t even have to walk anywhere, she takes me wherever I want to go in this nifty stroller.

Margo has a dog, Lucy, who loves stuffed things.  Needless to say, I’m quite grateful to be walking out of this house with my ears, arms and legs still intact!

 

When I wasn’t reminiscing with Uncle Willy, going on a stroll with Margo, or running from Lucy I spent some time brushing up on my math skills.  Those K12 lessons are pretty cool!

I’ve really been missing Walter, lately.  Night times are the hardest, but Ms. Bunny was kind enough to read me bedtime stories from Margo’s books; it helped take my mind off Walter.

For my final adventure, Mrs. Britt invited me along on her outing to the Bellevue Art Museum.  She explained that I would get to meet some fabulous students from her class and from Mrs. Sloan’s class.  Seeing as I’m a fan of art, I decided to go along – and boy am I glad I did.  You’ll never guess who I ran into - WALTER!!!  He’s staying with a girl, Tara, and she was at the Bellevue Art Museum too.  What are the chances?  First Uncle Willy, then Walter – what luck.

It’s kind of hard to find me in this picture, but Tara (on the left) has me tucked away in a blanket and Karis (behind the stroller) is holding Walter.

I’ll miss Des Moines – staying in a little town right on the Puget Sound can be fun, but at times a little scary (lots of big seagulls flying around).  I’m ready for Marysville though…rumor has it there is a pretty cool outlet mall up there!

Walter's Enjoying Donuts in Auburn

November 12-18, 2010

Walter had a fun trip to the McNeill House.  It was cold in the mailbox, while he waited for us to get him.  We think he might have been in there a day or two, so when he came in, we warmed up with a hot chocolate party.  Walter decided to join us at the table, but he wasn't very thirsty.  One of the highlights of his stay with the McNeill's was the yummy doughnuts from the best doughnut shop ever (at least the best in Auburn, WA).  We took a picture of the sign, so Walter could remember it.   

He also got to make several trips to visit with Baba and Papa (Isaac's grandparents).  They live on the hill overlooking the valley.  They have a very nice view and can even see Mt. Rainier on a nice day.  The day we took the picture was a cloudy, grey day.   

Walter got to watch Isaac at his martial arts class.  He thought that looked like fun.  Walter also had lots of opportunities to sing and dance, do art projects, read, play Wii and just hang out with us.  I'm not sure what he would say is the highlight, but we suspect he liked the singing in the car the best.

And They're Off!

This was an exciting day for us! We were packed into our boxes and shipped. Our adventure has finally begun! Sixty, yes SIXTY families have offered to take us in for a few days. This is going to be an amazing trip! We can't wait to spend time with WAVA families, travel around their towns and see the sites. Each stop will be a new adventure!

Walter is on his way to Tacoma...

and Wen is making her way to Bellingham!

Thanks for dropping us off at the P.O. boys! Goodbye for now!

Check back soon to see what we are doing as we travel around Washington!

Your pals,

Walter and Wen go to school!

Today we visited an amazing classroom full of first and second graders! They showed us all of the fun things they are learning in school. They also asked a lot of questions! Here are a few pictures from our day. This may be our last outing before our big trip around Washington. We leave on 10/10/10!

 We love visiting kids and learning new things everywhere we go!

 

Wen really liked this chameleon watercolor! 

She thought the hearts were lovely.

 Walter thought this chameleon was brilliant!

 Walter and Wen on the Word Wall

(That's a lot of W's!)

 At school today, we learned about plants and...

VOWELS!

Thanks Ms. Guiley and students! Maybe we will stop by again after our Wild Washington Wanderings!

From your pals,

Our Library Visit

Today we went to the library! We were impressed by all of the books. We were also impressed with Mrs. Sol's class! We watched curiously as the students made super cool binders. They used scrapbook paper and view binders to create original History Notebooks, Science Journals and Writing Portfolios. They are going to fill them with stories, lessons, responses, thoughts, narrations, drawings, charts and notes from the whole year! At the end of the year, we'll all meet again and they will share what they have learned. Maybe we should make one to document our journey around Washington!

Here we are at the center of all of the excitement!

 Wen admiring a lovely writing portfolio.

 

Hey! These notebooks are comfortable too!

It was fun to see everyone. Maybe when we get back from our trip, we'll see our friends again. If you want to learn more about using Notebooks, Journals and Portfolios, you can download information here.

Thanks for another fun adventure!