Tour Guide

I’m back in the roll I feel most comfortable.  Being a homeschool mom is not really my forte.  Although, there’s hope.  Last weekend I was at a graduation party for a few SPU students and one mom I met there said she homeschooled her daughter from K-12 and admitted she was “terrible” at it and never did know what she was doing.  Her daughter graduated Suma Cum Laude from SPU, and she was as surprised as anyone.  I can only hope I have such success with teaching and raising Kaleb, but the job I like best and in which I shine - is planning vacations – whether it’s mine or someone else’s.

Our friends the Johansen’s arrived Saturday night from Norway.  Tina and I became friends through a Bible study I attended when we lived there.  When we found out we both had boys the same age, we got them together and they hit it off and have been friends ever since.  Kaleb has been counting down the days until Daniel arrived and the two have been inseparable since then.  I’m so happy for Kaleb to have someone to hang with, but I’m also happy to be showing Tina and her husband, Are, around our neck of the woods.  They have never been to America before so this is a real treat for us all and is in the realm of “things I do well.”  Honestly, I try to stay away from the things I don’t do so well… who needs to spend time on that?

I have big plans and have spent all my spare time in the past weeks and months planning everything down to the T!  I even know the menus for each day they are here – breakfast, lunch and dinner.  I pre-made as many things as I could so I wouldn’t have to spend so much time in the kitchen and I’m proud to say I’m about as prepared as a person can be.  I keep telling Kory “it’s all about planning,” and thankfully, I love doing it.

Their flight arrived, right on schedule and we showed up at the airport about a minute before they got out of customs.  That was planned, too.  It’s always good to start off a three-week adventure – on time.  We took the weary travelers back to our place for grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup.  I am trying to expose them to as many unique American experiences as possible, and that meal just sounded so US of A, and not too heavy of a meal before they crashed for the night.  They were pretty weary eyed, having not slept for more than a day.

Sunday was Father’s Day but Kory didn’t get much attention, because of our guests.  We all went to church, then took them to Costco to prove to them the saying they have in Norway that “everything is bigger in America” is really true. 

The rain we’ve had the first three days wasn’t part of my plan, as we rented a cabin on Juniper Beach for a week, but I did figure they would want to spend time shopping when they first arrived, so shopping time was planned in there, and it made it easier to leave the beach behind.  They didn’t bring much with them, in anticipation of buying everything so cheap here, so I did my part to help the American economy by driving them to the mall each day.

Are is in love with Cabelas and has already spent enough money there to feed an entire village in Africa for a month.  Daniel is in love with Wal-Mart and all the cool action toys for sale for so cheap.  He and Kaleb are into swords and toys from the Avenger’s movie, but anything that gets them outdoors and off the computer is fine with me, even if they were meant for kids half their age.

We arrived at the cabin Sunday night and have walked the beach in the evenings when the rain has let up.  We searched for beach treasures – beautiful rocks and odd shaped driftwood.  Norway doesn’t really have either of those and Monday night Tina hit the jackpot finding a very cool piece of driftwood wrapped in an ivy vine.  She chipped away the wood inside and now has a very unusual piece of twisting and twirling art to take home. 

I’d already taken a carload full of rocks and sticks back to our house before they arrived, as we had the cabin to ourselves for a few days before they came.  Kaleb and I both suffer from a kind of rock hoarding disorder, which drives Kory nuts, but we use them in the yard as decorations, so he can’t complain because they aren’t really in the way.

Kory spent all day Monday and Tuesday working on his Avanti to get it ready for a car show in a few weeks, so we haven’t seen much of him.  The boys have been building a fort out of driftwood on the beach, or playing board games.  It’s funny to hear them switch between talking English and Norwegian.  Daniel is as good with English as Kaleb is with Norwegian and they are on the same page on many other levels as well, so it’s good to have them here.

Yesterday I was finally able to post some old blogs and write a few articles for the newspaper, as I never get this kind of uninterrupted time at home and it’s kind of funny I get it now in the midst of company being here.  Being the chauffer allows me time to just sit and wait for Are and Tina to do shopping, and because I’m away from the house, there are no other distractions.  It’s heaven.  And because I planned so well, I don’t even have to think about what’s for dinner – I just refer to my “Plans for Tina” file.  And Tine and Are are both insistent on cleaning up after the meals so I even get to sit down for a few minutes afterwards.  It’s heaven all the way around.

Tuesday night the sun peeked out from the clouds and the beach was calling our name but  Kaleb had his last fencing lesson in Bellingham so the boys all went north, while Tina and I headed south to Lynnwood to attend my Bible study with Grammy J and friends.  But when we all got home as the last of the twilight was fading, Kory built a big bonfire at the beach and we roasted marshmallows and we introduced them to S’mores.  That was a hit. 

We were all up until midnight, watching the satellites in the sky, the airplanes taking off from Sea-Tac and spotting the occasional falling star.  The beach was still with no wind or sounds of animals in the night.  The tide was retreating and no neighbors were outside chatting.  The fire kept us warm as we all overdosed on sugary snacks.   It was a pretty special way to end one of the last days of spring before summer arrives.  We are so blessed.

Yesterday was intended to be a beach day, but the morning started off with a tour of the Boeing plant so they could see where airplanes are made.  It took longer than anticipated as the gift store caught their attention.  We had a late lunch outside on the deck at the cabin before we all took off on a long strenuous walk through the mud flats that appear during low tide.

I’d never ventured out so far from shore and I didn’t like it one bit – sinking into the mud up to my ankles and knowing at any minute I could slip and fall and perhaps hurt another part of my aging body.  I’m still wearing a brace on my hand from a fall I took a few weeks ago and I didn’t want to injury any more of me as I need all parts up and running at full speed for at least the next two and a half weeks.  Kory held my arm on the way out – and at Juniper Beach it’s possible to walk miles out at low tide – and Tina held me steady on the way back in, as we had to go faster than I liked because of the incoming tide.

We all suffered from little cuts on our feet from clam shells hiding in the mud but it was an experience none of us will forget, as the boys disappeared from view and Tina and I started worrying they would get caught in the incoming tide and not able to make it back.  But Kory and Are went after them and everything ended up just fine.  Whew.

Kaleb and Daniel met a 4 year old on the beach that kept them entertained for a good long time – playing swords with that kid.  Too funny to watch that little guy attacking the bigger boys.  Then Kaleb’s pal Spencer came over around dinnertime, with his brother Lazlo and the sword fights continued.

I made a yummy BBQ dinner we enjoyed out on the deck – Copper River Salmon, fresh corn on the cob, garlic mashed potatoes and steamed cauliflower.  Kory had marinated portabella mushrooms instead of salmon, but I admit, I broke my vegan streak and went for a bite of that salmon and it was incredible.  The Johansens loved the salmon and were also impressed with the corn – how sweet it was and fresh.  They don’t get corn like that in Norway, and Are had never heard of putting garlic in potatoes but he said he loves garlic and he loves potatoes so it was a perfect combination.  It was pretty good. 

Kory built a fire down at the water’s edge on a large flat piece of wood so when the tide came in, the fire went out and everyone was chasing after it in kayaks and a row boat trying to roast their marshmallows out on the open sea.  It was pretty comical, especially with Tina remembering the S’mores of the night before, singing “I love you so much, I want s’more…” She was even cracking herself up.  What a night.

Kory and Are took all the boys home while Tina and I cleaned the cabin up until 11pm.  We had to sit and drink a glass of wine while we waited for the dishwasher to be done.  It was so peaceful, sitting in a quiet and clean house, sipping wine and and chatting about the blessings of the day.  And this is only day four of their 22 days in America.