Ghostsailor's Monthly Update

December in the PNW means one thing.....storms! So far we have a bit of wind here and there. Nothing much to worry about, say 20-30 with maybe a gust to 40. But this week we were visited by ol'e man winter and he was in a nasty mood.

Even though the huge storm was headed our way, we still needed to function. We had school to go to...swim lessons to attend....and life to live. I bundled the kids up prepaired for anything, and we headed up the dock at the beginning of the storm. Ang was busy at work sending out more packages tha even old St. Nick himself could ever carry.

As we walked back down to the boat it realy started to blow. By the end of the night we would see gust over 60! Ghost handled it well. Because of the power outages, school was cancelled the next day.

Some places got hit realy hard. Seattle will be awhile recovering from this storm I am sure.

Posted by ghostsailor at 05:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Well, we put our Christmas tree up the other day and it's really feeling like Christmas around here.  There are quite a few boats in the marina with lights up.  It makes me smile when I walk down the dock.  I love it!  Zak & Ellie are so excited.  They keep asking me if Christmas is tomorrow.  It's amazing how kids make the holidays so much fun.

Last weekend Scott took the kids to his brother's house to play with their cousins in the snow.  They all had a blast even though most of the snow had melted.

Not much else happening around here.  We are all getting excited to go to Idaho for Christmas.  There should be plenty of snow for us to play in there.  Best wishes to everyone!

Posted by sailormomma at 09:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I can't believe November is gone!  It flew by.  Other than our trip to Florida, not much else happened.  We spent a nice, quiet Thanksgiving, just the four of us, aboard Ghost.  It was the first attempt at making a Turkey in our small oven and it worked great.

We just survived a month of record-breaking rain, horrible flooding, wind storms, snow storms, you name it.  It was a little crazy, but we all managed.  Of course, we forgot about taking pictures, so I guess you just need to imagine!  Hope everyone is safe and sound.  Take care. 

Posted by sailormomma at 10:42 PM | Permalink

Pictures for November 2006:  http://www.ghostsailorphotos.com/November2006/

A couple months ago, Ellie (who loves anything to do with princesses, castles, etc.) saw a commercial for Disneyland.  Everyday she would ask us about it and we decided that we would try to take the kids in the fall.  We started tentatively planning to take them around Ellie's birthday the first part of November.  Just before booking the trip, we found out a little tidbit of information.  On the weekend of Ellie's birthday, there is a Strictly Sail boat show and Latitudes and Attitudes Cruiser's Party in St. Petersburg, FL.  Hmmm, we could do one day at Disneyworld and then drive to St. Pete to partake in the more adult festivities!  Woo Hoo!,  We booked it!

We flew into Orlando on a red-eye flight arriving around 8am.  We had all day to really do nothing.  Check-in for the hotel was around 3pm, but luckily they let us use the pool all day.  That was perfect.  Laying by the pool, kids having a blast.  Day #1 is looking pretty o.k.  That night we headed to Universal Studios, because we wanted to eat at Margaritaville.  Food was great and we loved the atmosphere.  We walked around the Citywalk at Universal and it was nice. 

We decided to make it an early night and head to Disneyworld Magic Kingdom the next morning.  The kids were extremely excited.  We woke up the next morning and headed to Magic Kingdom.  The kids had no idea what to expect.  We checked out some rides, ate food, and finally, Ellie was able to meet a princess!

Princess Ellie with Princess Aurora and Prince Phillip:

We headed on some more rides and I have to admit the kids were scared of quite a few of them.  They loved Pirates of the Caribbean, but anything that was dark scared them.  By the time 6pm came around this is what our little princess looked like:

We headed back to the hotel a little early.  I think one day was enough for them at this age. 

The next morning we woke up and headed to St Pete.  Our goal was to make it there before the boat show ended at 6:00 p.m.  It was a nice drive and we arrived with time to spare.  Time to hit the beach.

Afterwards we headed back to check into the hotel and get ready for the boat show and party.  With the kids along, we weren't able to spend much time browsing through all the cool boat stuff (probably better for us).  It was great to see all the Lats and Atts crew, especially Darren, the L&A TV producer, Captain Woody, Jody, and Bob.  We headed to the little beach that was just down from where the party would be.  The kids played and had a blast.  At 6:00pm the boat show closed and the party started.  Eric Stone was playing great music and there was free beer and pizza. 

This is what Ellie and I were doing the rest of the night:

And Zak wanted to dance the night away.  He was even pretty brave when he asked Jody to dance with him.  I think she was a little too busy, but I was proud.

It was a fun party!  A little hard to let loose with the kids in tow, but it's always great seeing everyone from Lats and Atts.

The next day we set aside for hanging at the beach.  And that's exactly what we did:

What a wonderful day.  I could get used to this.  The next morning was Ellie's 4th birthday and our last day in Florida.  We decided that we wanted to see the Atlantic Ocean, so we headed out early to drive across the state.  We ended up at Cocoa Beach and it's amazing the difference between it and the Gulf of Mexico beaches.  The kids and I had a blast playing in the surf:

After this we only had a couple hours before we had to head to the airport for our flight.  We decided to go to the Kennedy Space Center. 

Of course, we didn't go in.  We decided it wouldn't be worth it to only spend an hour in there and decided to plan another trip so we could spend a whole day there.  So, off to the airport and the long flight home.  It was a great trip, and I'm looking forward to exploring Florida more in the future.

Posted by sailormomma at 10:33 PM | Permalink

Hello everyone!

Pictures from October 2006 : http://www.ghostsailorphotos.com/October2006/

Well, we are trying to get caught up on our updates, and not having much luck.  October was a busy month, but not in much of a fun way.  Scott was busy this month getting trained in a new airplane.  He had quite a bit of training in Portland, so we didn't see him much.  The kids were busy in school, and I was busy working whenever they were in school.  We had some exceptionally nice weather during the first part of the month and the kids loved hanging out on the boat after getting home from school.

Halloween was great!  Ellie dressed up as a princess (suprise, suprise!) and Zak as Luke Skywalker:

We did our usual trick or treating on the dock.  We usually put a sign-up sheet at the front of the dock.  This year we had 9 boats sign-up and Zak & Ellie came home with 2 grocery size bags of candy, toys, and other fun stuff.  They get so spoiled!  I have to admit, I think the adults giving the candy are having as much fun as Zak & Ellie.  Most say they haven't had trick or treaters for almost 20 years.  It's such a great time!

That's it for October.  I promise next month we will have more pictures.  Best wishes Everyone!

Posted by sailormomma at 09:22 PM | Permalink