Donkey Days

The day before Ignite Your Torch, Joseph hung out at the cousins' place and helped with the farm chores.

Without intending to do so, I managed to make a real donkey of myself on several (back to back) occasions lately involving travel plans and coordinating slightly complicated schedules and routes.  In each instance, I was reminded of the importance of proper research and effective communication for an orderly and peaceful existence.

Cousin Sawyer hangs out with Boomer and Buster.

Donkey move #1:
Nearly botched an evening highway rendezvous with Tim, Joseph and Peter, after failing to properly communicate the exact location of our intended meet-up.
Back-story:
In order for Zachary to be properly prepared to volunteer as an Ignite Your Torch 'green shirt' we had to visit St. Mary's in Anacortes for a Safe Environment training a few hours before departure for the conference.  Unfortunately, this mandatory training conflicted with the weekly Boy Scout meeting, and so in order to include Joseph and Peter in the trip, we had to arrange for Tim to drive them to us before our hurry down Interstate 5 to the ferry in Edmonds.  However, I forgot to tell my husband that we would meet him right near I5 & Hwy 20, to save him driving the extra twenty minutes to Anacortes. So as Zachary and I were speeding along toward the (can't you read my mind) meet-up location, I happened to spot Tim and his unsuspecting passengers speeding along Highway 20 in the opposite direction.  Oops.  Thank goodness for cell phones and patient husbands.

Godson Samuel and Aileen spend a sunny summer day with us at the cousins' house.

Donkey move #2: 
Drove many miles and about half an hour out of our way to avoid a road closure and ended up driving directly TO the closed road (at about midnight).
Back-story:
About an hour before our departure for Zac's training at St. Mary's (with our final destination that night being Uncle Craig's house in Silverdale for a combined 2-night visit and Ignite Your Torch carpool destination from the nearby Our Lady Star of the Sea Church in Bremerton early the next morning), I received a text message from Aunt Bethany advising us to "take the C.C. Road" route to their house, due to a road closure on the 'other side.'  Rather than pulling up a map to identify the correct route, I assumed that my sister in law was sending me around to the 'other side', not the side from which we always approach. WRONG-O.  At nearly midnight, after the three hour journey, we pulled right up to the closed road.  Nice driving, huh?  Thank goodness for cell phones and patient relatives.

See the resemblance?

Donkey move #3:
Missed the Southworth ferry bound for West Seattle by mere minutes, forcing us to rearrange our plans to visit Grandma to wish her a happy 96th birthday, and adding another night to our journey.
Back-story:
On the Feast of Saint Dominic, after our stay with the cousins (having sent both Zachary and Joseph off to the conference via Star of the Sea carpool and bus respectively), Peter and I headed toward Seattle, excited to join the annual Dominican Extraordinary Form Mass at Blessed Sacrament in Seattle.  With many different ferry routes from which to choose, we opted to take the Southworth-Fauntleroy to allow for a stop-over at my Grandma's house for an early dinner celebrating her upcoming 96th birthday.  Unfortunately, I did not take the time to properly plan our approach to Southworth, and consquently took the VERY long way to the ferry.  This also happened to be the VERY beautiful way, with the windy road hugging the coast line through Port Orchard and on and on an on to the little ferry passage.  When we arrived at the dock, the boat was still in sight, but the next one wouldn't be seen for an hour.  We called Tim first to consult, then asked Grandma if we could stay the night after attending Mass and visit with her the next day before driving home to Bellingham.  Grandma, a consummate hostess, put out quite the breakfast spread for us the next day, and we did enjoy a leisurely visit without any time constraints.  (And the Dominican Mass was truly Extraordinary!  There is something indescribably beautiful about Sacred Music...)  Thank goodness for cell phones and understanding Grandmas and husbands.

Samuel and Weston enjoy the fine sport of downhill rock running.

Peter reads to Saywer.

Donkey move #4:
Gave Grandpa Pete a nightmare of a commute, collecting Joseph and Zachary from the conference.
Back-story:
My dad recently expressed his hope of a northern-area gathering before Zachary returns to Notre Dame in a few weeks.  Enlisting him to collect the boys from Olympia and meet up with us and the other relatives in Anacortes had the potential to make his dream a reality.  However, the dream became a nightmare when their departure from the conference was delayed by over an hour and the traffic through the Tacoma-Seattle-Everett area resembled a horrific rush hour rather than a sunny Sunday. 

Cousins Violet, Sawyer and Weston feed Boomer and Buster.

Donkey move #5:
Drove straight to the wrong grocery store in Anacortes to meet up with the cousins coming from the San Juan Islands ferry to the family gathering.
Back-story:
On speaker phone receiving the news of the disastrous Olympia to Anacortes drive and subsequent hour+ delay to the restaurant in Anacortes, I missed Tim's subtle suggestion to exit the highway to reach the meet-up spot at Safeway from where we would lead the California cousins to dinner.  I drove DIRECTLY to a different grocery store, having assumed I knew right where we were going.  Thankfully, Tim DID know exactly where we were supposed to meet, and kindly re-directed me to the correct spot, where we did rendezvous with the California cousins and we did (eventually) find the hidden away restaurant and enjoy a wonderful seaside meal together with a host of wonderful relatives, enjoying stories from the conference and being reunited with our boys.  The End.

Exteneded Family Blessings {Day 12-13: Oregon to Home}

Cousins Brendan, Peter, Lilly, Kati, MacKenzie, Jake; Joseph, Mike and Niko (all but Zac).

The route home, the final miles of our two week trek to and from Notre Dame, was dictated by the veterinary needs of our dog, Charlie, who had not one, but two tail surgeries due to injury and infection. Thanks to Charlie, our itinerary landed us in Tacoma on the evening of a family birthday celebration which enabled us to spend time with every single member of my whole immediate family (except Zac, of course).   Hot tubbing, bubble blowing, feasting and fellowship with a herd of cousins culminated with the anticipated candle-top cake and special song for Uncle Clark on his 45th birthday.  An impish teen 'five starred' his older brother in the midst of their father's birthday song, adding a 'touch' of violence to the festivities.  I guess there is something to be said for wearing a shirt at the table after all!  An indoor wrestling match after dessert helped work off a few calories and provided another opportunity for the cousins to bond.

Ouch!

As a special bonus, we were housed in University Place by our Godson, Sam, and his family, great (life-long) friends and exceptional hosts who spoiled us with fresh blackberry cobbler, eggs, bacon and sausage for breakfast, plus REAL coffee made to order throughout our stay.  Sam stole the show, with his great joy and exuberance for life, while the older boys shared a wee bit of screen time between rounds of hide and seek and tag outdoors in the summer sun.  A short visit to Aileen's childhood home, now vacated but still furnished after the passing of her beloved parents, was a sentimental walk down memory lane, and great reminder of what an impact her family's faith life had (and still has) on me.  Visiting with Aileen's siblings, spouses, and their growing families also brought great joy (and a late night!) during our slightly spontaneous lay-over.

Rob and Aileen's boys: Ryan, Peter and Sam

Final stop: Silverdale, where our surgically altered black lab had been cared for in our absence by Tim's brother's veterinarilly skilled family.   Visitors for Sunday worship at Our Lady Star of the Sea in Bremerton, we delighted to hear the beauty of Gregorian Chant from the choir loft and the sound, thoughtful preaching by Father Lappe.  Uplifting, challenging, faithful teaching combined with a solemn, reverent Mass puts this fervent parish on our home-away-from home list and is a must-experience for anyone traveling on the Kitsap Peninsula; a true gem.  I eagerly await the upcoming Frassati Conference happening there in November.

Drugged and wearing the cone of shame, Charlie recovers from a second tail surgery.

Kettle Corn for Sunday breakfast's dessert and a pizza party for lunch, we thoroughly enjoyed our sleep-over with Craig and Bethany and family and the added company of Grandma Billie and Grandpa Cliff who journeyed across the Puget Sound after their booth closed at the Saturday Edmonds Market.  Hearing the details of Charlie's tail surgeries and the drama and trauma he provided in his drugged recuperation brought home the realities of 

• just how blessed we were to have been out of town during this stage of Charlie's care, and 
• just how blessed we were to have had Craig and Bethany's veterinary expertise in the family and their willingness to dog-sit such a tough customer for those intense weeks.

Feeding the donkeys and grilling marshmallows for s'mores highlighted the boys' visit with their younger cousins, but being allowed to drive the van (slowly) up and down the long rural driveway also got high marks.  Bountiful ripe blackberries on their property kept us busy picking and snacking as well.

Violet shows Joseph how to feed Buster and Boomer.

A several ferry wait in Kingston on Sunday afternoon inspired us to take the Narrows Bridge instead, adding miles but subtracting time on the final stretch home.  One stop along the way for a super-duper inflatable neck collar to help prevent Charlie's ceaseless licking of the surgical site, and we finally arrived at home safe and sound and mostly sane.

Sort of strange to pull up at the house and see Zac's car parked out front, as if he was home awaiting our return...