It was field trip day last week for Robert who is in third grade. He was particularly excited because it wasn't going to be the ordinary kind of field trip that schools make, you know, to a park, or the fire station, or a bakery. It was to the town o...
It was during this Summer vacation that my family and I came across the best toy shop that I have ever been to. It was in the town of Coeur d'Alene, in Idaho, the state that is to the east of Washington State, and next to Montana. As we were only on...
This past weekend was very special. We had friends to stay. What made the weekend special was that, at the beginning of their stay, we actually didn't even know them. This unusual situation started back in June. There was a knock at the door, and whe...
Summer has been and gone, can you believe it? For me, it has flown*. I suppose you have been wondering, Where on earth is Anna? Has she fallen off the planet? Has she given it all up*, moved to Nepal, and become a monk? Or is she just enjoying her Su...
I learned a few things this past weekend about the fruit industry. My husband has been involved in national and international export of fruit for over twenty years, and right now, he is *up to his neck in this season's fruit: the cherry. Washington s...
For those of you who are following the Tour de France, you will recognize the name Tyler Farrar. He is from the town where I live, Wenatchee. The fact that he is not only in the Tour, but also doing well, has really created a buzz of excitement here....
It's no secret that boys of a certain age like guns, even if they are *make-believe. I remember that before my boys ever had any plastic weapons, they would use other toys, or even sticks, and pretend that they were guns. Perhaps they were influenced...
Oh, I haven't been getting much sleep recently. It seems as though* the whole world is noisy. It's summer, and every living thing is feeling fully alive, and therefore, making lots of noise. I often have to put our two dogs in the garage in the early...
One of the things I like most about Summer is barbecuing. As a person who cooks all the time, it's so nice to have a break from the kitchen, and to do some rapid, easy clean-up cooking on the barby. Over here, it's often the men who are in charge of...
A routine is a habit, often one that gives us comfort, or some sort of benefit. We say in English that we are 'creatures of habit'. Humans like to have a routine, a familiar way of living. I've noticed that even my children have developed their own r...
