Hulda Klager Lilac Gardens

Woodland, WA - Hulda Klager was a remarkable woman who had an eye for plants and flowers. She had a vision for what could be, and, inspired by the work of Luther Burbank and others, she began hybridizing the flowers in her yard, including lilacs and even a bigger, tastier, easier to peel apple. She created many new varieties of lilacs and became known in her community as the "Lilac Lady".

Hulda overcame a number of obstacles throughout her career, including the death of her husband Frank, and a flood which wiped out all of her plants and shrubs when she was 83. Fortunately, a lifetime of generosity in sharing her plantings was rewarded when members of the community were able to help her recover and rebuild her beautiful garden.

Moskvy (Krasavistsa)

After Hulda's death in 1960, the people who owned the 4.5 acre property weren't able to maintain it. It was sold and marked to be bulldozed to make room for an industrial site. The Woodland Federated Garden Club sprang into action, forming the Hulda Klager Lilac Society, a non-profit organization, and obtaining the deed to the property and raising money to purchase the house. The gardens and home are now a national landmark.*

Nadezhda

Water Tower Under Repair

We had a wonderful visit to the gardens. They are maintained by volunteers and charge a small fee for admission. They also sell lilac plants. Sofia is interested in hybridizing and she would like to create her own variety of fruit, so I was not surprised to find her walking through the gardens with one of the gardeners, learning about how lilacs are grown.

Beauty around every corner!

There are trees, bushes and plants of many different kinds around the property. Many of the flower beds just look like a fairy could be found nearby.

Photo by Joanna Fenner.

*I found the information for this post in Where Lilas Still Bloom by Jane Kirkpatrick and on the Hulda Klager Lilac Gardens website: www.lilacgardens.com

"The key to immortality is first living a life worth remembering." - Bruce Lee

Lakeview Cemetery, Seattle, WA:

"Don't fear failure. - Not failure, but low aim, is the crime. In great attempts it is glorious even to fail."

42 years after his death, he is still remembered.

My friend Tana and I visited Bruce Lee's grave with five kids in tow, including two martial arts students. It was a quiet moment in the midst of a crazy, laughter filled day. I had worried the kids wouldn't know how to handle the cemetery with respect, or rather, wouldn't be able to contain their spontaneous energy. However, as we stood quietly around the grave, one of the kids, Josh, told us stories about Bruce Lee from his book and we took it all in: the sunshine on a brisk spring day, the stunning view of Lake Washington, the fresh flowers and candles surrounding the grave, the respect.

Lake Washington in the distance.

The pall bearers at Bruce Lee's funeral included Steve McQueen, James Coburn, George Lazenby and Chuck Norris. He was a truly exceptional person who has inspired so many with his wisdom and discipline and sheer determination. I'm glad we had the chance to pay our respects in person.

"I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once. I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times."

“The doubters said,
"Man can not fly,"
The doers said,
"Maybe, but we'll try,"
And finally soared
In the morning glow
While non-believers
Watched from below.”
-All quotes by Bruce Lee

Making Sushi - One Epic Cooking Lesson

Bonney Lake, WA - With Mr. Voelker away on a weekend with the guys, the rest of us packed up the car and headed north for fun with friends and what turned into an epic sushi making session.

Five kids who love sushi! They wiped this table out.

We made this sushi!

Making sushi was super fun. A big huge thank you to Tana Davis for the lesson!

Step One: Collecting Ingredients

We bought our ingredients at the HMart in Federal Way. An immense store, full of just about every kind of herb and produce you can imagine, they also carry a full selection of sushi grade fish. In case you were wondering, sushi grade fish has been frozen either cold enough or long enough to achieve "parasite destruction guarantee". That's what in theory makes it safe to eat raw. However, pickled ginger is usually served with sushi because eating that kills parasites as well.

Sushi Corner at HMart, just one part of their sushi section.

We brought some helpers with us.

Step Two: Prep and Assemble Ingredients

From bottom left: avocado, shrimp, seaweed salad, unagi (eel), salmon, rice, beverages, pickled ginger, lemons, imitation crab mixed with mayo, sweetened fish eggs, ground up dried shrimp, assorted nigiri sushi cuts, including squid and tuna, wasabi, more avocado, roasted seaweed wraps, pickled radish (yellow)

To make sushi rice, cook short grain white rice at a ratio of 1 cup rice to 1 and 1/4 cup water. Mix in rice vinegar, salt and sugar and let cool to room temperature. For 4 cups of rice, we use 4 T rice vinegar and 2 T each sugar and salt. You will need a bowl of water nearby because wet hands are necessary for working with the rice.

Step Three: Roll Em

Tana demonstrates.

Lay out the seaweed wrapper on the rolling mat and pat down the rice on it. Water on your hands makes this much easier.

Add center ingredients. Make sure they are laid out in the correct direction for the rolling mat.

Roll it up!

Cut from the center first. Keep your knife and cutting surface wet.

Finley paid close attention to the whole process.

To make the nigiri, form small rice loaves with wet hands and gently press fish on top.

Voila! A sushi feast!

March at Lan Su Chinese Garden

In Portland's historic Old Town Chinatown, one of Liz's favorite Oregon places:

Every month there is something new happening in the garden. Not only are the flowers and plants always changing, but there are sometimes animal visitors as well. In late January, you could watch hummingbirds flitting around the treetops from the upper level of the tea shop. In February, there were lions in the garden. This late March visit also included a wonderful surprise - a huge owl resting in one of the garden trees. We didn't catch any photos of the hummingbirds, but the lion and owl photos are displayed near the end of this post.

The US Bancorp Tower overlooks the garden and was a particularly glowing shade of pink Saturday morning.

Beautiful white blooms near entrance.

A rock garden? Artificial mountains and rock gardens are an important part of Classical Chinese gardens as mountain peaks represent virtue, stability and endurance in the philosophy of Confucious and in the I Ching. (According to Wikipedia)

If remembered correctly from a February tour, this plant will have a bloom with an extremely stinky smell. Ironically, it's located just outside the women's bathroom. Looks like it's getting close to blooming.

In the courtyard near the scholars study.

Near the scholars study. Have never noticed the writing on the pillars until the flowers bloomed by them.

Dappled sunlight on the tiles.

Can you see the owl sitting in the upper middle branches?

And from February:

Liz had an up close encounter with a "lion" during the Chinese New Year celebration.
(Photo by Elizabeth Goodman)

Also from the New Year celebration:

Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm

Tulip Fest Near Woodburn, OR:
A favorite spring tradition in Oregon is a visit to the tulip fields near Woodburn, about 40 minutes south of Portland. The Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm has put together quite a festival on their farm, complete with a large children's play area, a cow train, paintball, vendors selling food and trinkets,steam tractors, and best of all, 40 acres of beautiful flowers.

So many beautiful flowers!

You can order your fall bulbs on the farm, as well as buy buckets like this one:

Love these!!

Trams and hay rides connect the fields to the parking, store and activity area. You can also pay $3 for a bumpy cow ride or $5 for a longer, comfier tour of the fields.

The Gardens are a great place to have a picnic lunch away from the crowds.

Otis, in the tulips.

They had three of these running while we were there.

About the most scenic paintball practice you can get!

SOCAL Summary - Favorite Moments, Most Memorable, Lessons Learned, Most Dangerous

This rode most of the trip with us on the front dash.

After our last trip, a friend asked us to do a "best of" summary and we waited too long and never did it. So we'll do it right now while it's fresh in our minds. To start, here's everyone's top "five":

Sofia:
1. Going on Space Mountain in the front seat.
2. Toy Story Shooter Ride - Buzz Lightyear Astro Blastors.
3. Mickey's Fun Wheel.
4. Thunder Mountain.
5. Going to the Redwoods.
6. Delicious hotel breakfast, specifically the biscuits and gravy. (@ Modesto Super 8)
7. Going Home.
8. Getting caricature done.
9. Picture with Moving Statue Guy at Universal Studios.
10. Minion Mayhem ride at Universal Studios.
11. Universal Studios tour- including seeing Norman Bates stalk the tour bus.
12. California Poppy Fields.
13. Wildlife Safari - all of it.
14. Getting ice cream at the Olive Pit.
15. Watching Cinderella.
16. Oregon Vortex.

Getting caricature done, she loved every moment of this!

With Otis at the Redwoods.

Otis:
1. Transformers Ride at Universal Studios.
2. Rode Tower of Terror without screaming.
3. Rode California Screamin' twice.
4. Rode Space Mountain by myself.
5. Great Chandelier Tree.
6. House of Mystery Gravity Change.
7. Getting drenched by a whale, twice.
8. Going on studio tour at Universal Studio - the cool animation in the tunnel (he doesn't want to ruin it for you guys).
9. Playing the tablet at night.
10. Getting home to see my computer all sparkling.

Before the epically awesome Transformers ride at Universal Studios.

Fascination at Disneyland's Main Street Magic Shop.

Liz:
1. Driving through the Redwoods in the sunshine with the sunroof open.
2. The warm, sunny weather and all the beautiful flowers of southern California, including the poppy fields.
3. Adventuring together as a family and seeing the kids experience all these things for the first time.
4. Catching up with family we hadn't seen in a while.
5. Pirates of the Caribbean ride when you go over that first big drop.

With her favorite flowers!

These flowers were in a shopping center parking lot. Beautiful flowers everywhere!

Patrick:
1. Carne Asada burritos at Roberto's in Encinitas, CA.
2. Having new roller coaster buddies in the kids.
3. Watching Sofia delight in learning to swim and dive.
4. Visiting family.
5. Staying at a hotel across the street from Disneyland.

He found his own creek!

Ride Buddies - these guys had a total blast together.

Most Memorable Moments:
- Swimming in ice cold pool in Northern California.
- Talking to Dr. Jin about our brains.
- Riding Mickey's (not so) Fun Wheel.
- Seeing Cinderella movie together.
- How serendipitous the Alice and Wonderland ride was for our last ride at Disneyland.

Moments before the horror began, on Mickey's "Fun" Wheel.

What we learned:
Sofia - Don't judge a book by it's cover. Some of the rides that looked really scary were actually very fun. (Space Mountain, Thunder Railroad, California Screamin')
Otis - The Oregon Vortex is a crazy place full of anti-gravity stunts.
Liz - 4D means that either something will at some point spray or mist on you, a smell of some kind will be released, something under your chair will whip your ankles, snow or wind or bubbles will be released; either all or some combination of the above. In case you wondered.
Patrick - Sometimes a bucket of (boat) trash can be a good thing.

With Bubba Gump's Bucket of Boat Trash

Most Dangerous:
- The strollers at Disneyland. Seriously.
- Lane splitting: It's not illegal for motorcycles to ride in between lanes on the freeway in California, and they do it going 70+ mph.
- The price of food and drinks at all the theme parks.

And now to end with one of our favorites from the trip, a luscious In-N-Out Double Double meal (complete with a place mat for your lap.)

So tasty, and so easy to order!

We hope you've enjoyed this account of our southern California trip. We'll be back on-line blogging about some of our Oregon adventures soon. Until then, we wish you many happy travels and adventures of your own!