Heritage Day in Duvall Washington

Saturday we headed out to Duvall Washington for their Heritage days. I am finding that as I get older I really love learning about the history of places. It is amazing the amount of work and hardship that went into all these pioneer/colonial towns and what these places have become today! 

I find it important to learn from the past and all it has to offer. 

Fall City Far Tours

Today some of the farms in Fall City and Carnation opened up for visitors toady and we were more than happy to visit! 

Our first stop was to an Alpaca farm with the cutest Alpaca's and so soft! Gladys was very friendly.

 They had a felting demonstration and even though we know how that works , RYan felted an alpaca.

 RYan really wants to get an Alpaca now. THey are pretty darn cute!

 Oh he also loved their dog! He was very friendly.

 The next stop was the Baxter barn where we spent about an hour and a half on this old family farm. THe original Baxter started this farm in 1875! I love seeing family farms that have been around for soooo long- it always intrigues me.

 Tractor ride

 Love the donkeys. We also found out that the Rooster Valley farm school where Adeline will be going got their bunnies from this farm. We got to meet the mom and dad rabbits!

A very fun day! We also ran into the only other mom that I have met here in Snoqualmie. I bought her bike pull behind a couple weeks ago - too funny.

Oh and a side note - they had some great chicken coops at great prices. My birthday is coming up soon - hint , hint : )

The Return of the Salmon

Yesterday we headed over to the Issaquah Fish Hatchery for their welcome back Salmon Days. The Salmon in this area are very important and are celebrated every year as they return to their spawning ground. We learned how far they have to travel to reach the rivers here. From the ocean through Lake Washington, past the locks and into the correct river each year. I also did not realize how many different types of Salmon there are.
Come October we will be having a more in depth study of the Salmon as we celebrate their return and perhaps catch a few.


Also there was the Snoqualmie Tribe Master Carver. He demonstrated how he hand carves canoes using tools that he made. He told us that his shop is open for the kids to come by on Friday's from 3- 5 to learn to carve. We will be there! 

So now all I need is an really old Cedar , some tools and we can have a new canoe by the time Adeline goes off to college! 

 Inside the educational center they had fish print painting with a real salmon! Yuck , but it does make for a nice print.

Ryan made this one for Grandpa : ) 

a hands on demonstration of how run off dirty water effects the water and the salmon.

Adeline spent 30 min catching these tiny bugs in the bin that are on display to show what the salmon eat. She must of caught 10 of them. She was so focused and determined!

Yeah some of the first salmon to return to the river! 

Sage's first Cross Country race

Sage had his first cross country race this morning with his Mt Si High School team. He had to get up at 6 am this morning and luckily the school is only 5 min away where I had to drop him off at 7:15 to catch the bus. 

We were all amazed at how many teams were there. When we finally got there and found a spot to park Sage was just getting ready to run in the relay races. For those (like me who just found out today) A relay race in XC is made up of 5 teams who each run the entire 2 mile course before tagging the next team. At this course the also run through the lake in thigh high water!! do I need to mention how cold the water is here compared to FL! 

He did awesome and we are so proud of him. I have such admiration for all these high school students running these races - its not easy!  

THe first team ready to go - Sage is in there somewhere

taking the plunge

almost to the finish line

tired yet happy!!! Go Sage Go

Our New house from the outside

lavender growing

part of the side porch

looking of the porch - i love the calm of this space

a little mushroom I added  :)

the porch

porch and hot tub

shed

Adeline and I made a little fairy house

our blueberry bushes with a few blueberries on them

rasberry bushes

Bamboo - the previous owner planted alot of bamboo around the property!

A pear tree - there are 2 of these!

Apple tree - we are not sure what kind of apples there are though

view from the top of the driveway looking at the garden area

looking down the driveway

view from right at the top of our driveway as you head out

the front of the house

blackberries grow everywhere here!

a boardwalk in the back going over a little stream.

the middle yard that will become a large garden next year!

down by the river

mole holes!!! they are everywhere!!

So we have been here in Washington state in our new for about 3 weeks now!! Time sure does fly! It is beautiful here although I do miss our family and friends. We are settling in slowly as it will take some time to unpack , clean and organize plus find our way around and get kids ready for fall activities. So for now I have pictures to show of the outside of the house since I am just not ready to show you the inside until it is tidied up some more : )