Tillicum Village

Tillicum Village is located on Blake Island in Seattle. The main building is an old longhouse which is where they cook the salmon, serve the meal (buffet style) and put on the show. Our trip started out in the school bus on our way to Seattle. Once we got to Seattle we waited at Pier 55 to board the Argosy. There were quite a few different schools that were also going. So the boat was loaded with children (age ranging from 6 to about 14). The Captain was so much fun and kept the whole boat entertained. The weather wasn't what we were hoping for on the way there, but after the low clouds lifted it was amazing. Unfortunately that wasn't until our ride back from Blake Island to Seattle.

Mrs. Saxton and Mrs. Smith have been taking their students to Tillicum Village for years. The classes spend a good majority of the school year learning about the Native Americans and raising money to go. Only 8 parents are able to go... I was one of the lucky ones!!

After only about 20 minutes of being on the boat, Alyssa started getting anxious to get to the island. She asked Captain Loose Lips, "Are we there yet?" He told her no, but because she was the fist one to ask that question, she gets to drive the boat. Keep in mind that everything that he says goes throughout this 3 story boat so everyone can hear him. Shortly before that he had mentioned that he was going to tell one of his new jokes… then he looked at me and said "Katie Lawrence if you start laughing at my joke, I'll know it's a keeper!" After Alyssa got to drive the boat, she wanted to go around and brag to her classmates. As we're walking around all three stories I start hearing the captain calling out my name on the speaker. He was about to do his joke and I had to miss the whole thing. Mrs. Saxton (Alyssa's Teacher) said that out of the 13 years that they have gone on this trip, none of her students have been able to drive. The boat ride back was great. The kids were able to participate in trivia and dance contests… “dance like your parents”

It was quite the experience for the children and the adults. If you ever get a chance to go, Do it! You can see the picture in our Picasa album. Unfortunately the room during the show was completely black so the pictures didn't turn out very well. I was able to copy some from the website though. You can also check out the website: http://www.tillicumvilliage.com/

Words of Wisdom from Alyssa

So much to tell... so little time. I haven't had a chance to write about our Tillicum Village experience. There was no way I was going to sit inside on Friday to write about it! It was way too nice outside. So, Instead I left work about an hour early and met up with my sister (who just got into town from Kettle Falls) and some friends. There's so much to tell about the whole weekend, but it will all have to wait.

I did want to share Alyssa's latest bathroom crayon message. This morning I went into the bathroom after her shower and got annoyed at the mess of clothes she had left on the floor and the fact that she didn't close the shower curtain. When I looked up to close it, I noticed another note, which said: "It is important to chose your own lifestyle and not let others chose it for you... love Alyssa" I couldn't believe my eyes!! It's amazing the things we can learn from children. I asked her where she got it from. She said it was in the book I had gotten her for Valentine's Day. It's a book of poems from a mother to a daughter. I am so glad that she's taking the time to read it, learn it and clearly live by it.

Money grows on the tree of patience

Monday afternoon I took Alyssa to get her own savings account. It’s only been a couple of days, but she’s already been working very hard on her chores to earn her allowance. She wants to save up for a turtle and a cell phone. We are proud of her for setting goals, but also explained to her that we need to agree to it also. So I told her to think about possibly working towards something else that is less smelly and not a cell phone. She is 8 after all.
I told her I wanted to take a picture of her signing her “Fist Official Document” she looked at me crazy and said “What’s an official document?”

Tomorrow Alyssa and I get to go on our field trip to Tillicum Village with her class. We have been looking forward to it since last fall!!! Of course, I will blog an update on how things went on Friday (hopefully)

Mother's Day Weekend

I have finally found time to write about my Mother’s Day weekend!!

It started out Friday night. Dan and I went and had an AMAZING dinner with Breck & Carrie Ivy. As Breck put it, “we hadn’t seen each other for ¼ of a year”. Unacceptable!! The dinner was great, drinks… well they were a little too good and the company was unbeatable! Needless to say a lot had happened since then, so the four of us (after they laid Astrid & June down for the night) sat around the fire pit catching up.
As I have mentioned before, the winter days and miles south have really gotten in the way of us keeping in touch with a lot of our friends. We look forward to getting the chance to catch up with everyone!!

Saturday was a productive day with a relaxing afternoon. Alyssa’s dad had taken her to a wedding so I spent the day doing some spring cleaning until Dan got home. As we waited for Alyssa to come home, we relaxed and watched some Smallville followed by dinner at the Ram.

Sunday morning we all got up and made chicken fried steak and eggs for breakfast. Dan got me a gift certificate to Gene Juarez for a mani and pedi and whatever else I chose!! Alyssa got me a huge hanging fuchsia basket. During the spring and summer months, Downtown Puyallup has a really nice Farmer’s Market. So after we all got cleaned up, we decided to check it out. Unfortunately it was a little early in the year still so there wasn’t a whole lot to see. Downtown Puyallup also has a lot of really neat shops; most of them were closed except for one. It was full of amazing antiques. Alyssa and I found these silly chicken hats!!
Then we took Alyssa to Toys R Us to finally spend her Gift Certificate that Missy got her for her Birthday in December!! She was having such a hard time finding anything, so after about an hour of going down isle after isle she decided on CLUE – Simpson Version, How to be the Best at Everything (for Girls) book and some candy. Monday night Dan and I tried teaching her how to play Clue and be sneaky about it. She hasn’t quite grasped the “poker face” but she’s getting there.

We finished the night off with some BBQ’d turkey burgers and of course… More Smallville ;)

The only thing that would have made this weekend any more perfect was if we had been able to spend it with our mothers. Hope you all had a great Mother’s Day!

Last week we went and bought a bunch of craft supplies to start making our cards of encouragement!! We are making cards for the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. Basically we hand make cards to encourage the patients to keep up the good work. These patients (both children & adults) spend day after day in physical therapy due to head injury, spinal cord injury, stroke, orthopedic surgery, or loss of limb. It’s a good feeling to know that we can brighten their day by making them a card. Alyssa is so excited about it! As soon as she gets home and finishes her homework, she works hard until bedtime making the cards. (I will get some pictures of them when we are finished)

Friday night we went out to dinner and a movie with Chris and Sarah. We saw Ironman. Dan’s choice! We really enjoyed it. It was opening night so the whole theatre was packed.

Saturday morning we went to the gym and then headed out to Chris’s house to help him with yard work. He has big plans this summer to build a new driveway and shop. So, we spent the afternoon cutting down trees and then burning them. We’re still pretty sore and just now drying off, thanks to the rain all afternoon.

Sunday we got up and went to Dan’s Dad’s house; washed the truck and dialed in the hot tub. He wasn’t around so we decided to meet Aaron and Nicole at Red Robin for lunch. Then we headed over to Kevin’s house to see the progress of his car. I got my first sunburn of the year. Wasn’t expecting that!! Then we finished our weekend with dinner, cuddles and Smallville (the usual!!).

Dan has been helping Dion and Candy move the last couple of nights, so to save on time and gas he’s been spending the night at his dad’s house. We’re very happy that he’s able to help them out, but we really miss him at home. He called Alyssa last night to wish her a good night and say goodbye before she left for her dads. This morning, as I pulled the curtain back to take my shower, there was a nice big note for him on the shower wall written with a bath crayon (and love) that read “I’ll miss you!! See you next week! Love Alyssa P.S. I LOVE YOU!!!” I tried to take a picture but it didn’t really turn out. She is always leaving little notes for us. What a great surprise to wake up to. I can’t wait until Dan sees it. We are so blessed to have each other. Such a strong love that the three of us share.

We also found out that we will be taking Dan’s niece and nephew for a few weeks this summer!! We all look forward to them coming to visit.