Finally, a Beautiful Spring Day!

The last two days have been gorgeous with temperatures in the low 70s, sunshine, and not too much wind.  Dave and I went for a bike ride each day and it felt so good to be outside soaking up Vitamin D.  This was the first bike ride we've been able to go on since we got home from our trip to Wenatchee.

For seven days, I didn't do much because I came down with a bad cold.  All I was able to do was sleep, sleep, sleep.  But now I'm feeling much better, just in time for the sunshine.  Beginning on Saturday we're supposed to get some more rain, but at least we've had a dose of sun!

Because of my cold, I had to miss the big WHL hockey game between the Portland Winterhawks and the Kootenay Ice.  But Dave was able to attend, and was able to sell my ticket to a scalper.  Alas, the Winterhawks lost, so their championship season came to an end. 

I took a few pictures of some of the flowers in our yard.  What a difference a bit of sun makes!

Our very own lilac bush! 

A few lilies of the valley--they smell so good!

Our mini-rhody bush--the one that survived

Hockey, Lilacs, and Tulips--all for Mother's Day!

What a great weekend we have had.  On Friday night and Saturday night we watched the WHL Western Champions Portland Winterhawks play the Eastern Champions Kootenay Ice at Portland's Rose Garden arena.  Both teams won their conference championship and are now competing in a best of seven series.  Portland won in overtime Friday night, and Kootenay won on Saturday.  On Tuesday and Wednesday the teams will play each other in Kootenay, B.C., then next Friday, the 13th of May, they will meet again in Portland to play at the Rose Garden.  We are going to try and get tickets for that game.  Our 3-week old granddaughter, Sophie, slept contentedly in her mother's arms through both games. 

To celebrate Mother's Day, Tim and Kiersten (and Sophie) took Dave and me out for dinner at Stanford's at Lloyd Center before Saturday's game. 

Today was a mixed weather day--a bit of sun, lots of rain, and some hail.  Dave and I drove 20 miles north on I-5 to Woodland, WA and went to the Hulda Klager Lilac Gardens and the Holland America Tulip Festival.  Both the gardens and the festival had been extended for another week because of the wet, gloomy weather in April.

We took a tour of the inside of the Hulda Klager's  house and learned more about her and her lilac gardens.  She was born in 1863 and lived for 97 years. 

This house was built by Hulda Klager's father in 1903.

One of the many lilac bushes

Then, it was on to the Tulip Festival, which was a treat because we thought it had ended on 4-30-11.

These large yellow tulips were my favorites.

Who is this handsome, smiling gentleman?  If it weren't him, I wouldn't be celebrating Mother's Day today!

This picture was taken of the fields across from the festival.  Note the ominous sky over over the hills in the background.

You know I never miss a chance to take a picture of an American flag!

To cap off this fine day, after we got home our younger son, Jonathan, called to wish me a happy Mother's Day.  It's always good to hear from him!

 GO HAWKS!

Celebrating with the Winterhawks!

Thursday was our daughter-in-law's birthday.  To celebrate, Tim and Kiersten invited some people to attend the Portland Winterhawks ice hockey game at the Rose Garden on Friday night.  The night was rainy, the traffic was a mess, so Dave and I allowed plenty of time to drive into the city from Vancouver.

Kiersten and Tim 

Tim and Kiersten have season tickets to the Winterhawks, but Dave and I had only attended one other game several years ago.  What a difference a few years make.  The first time we went there were maybe 2-3000 people there.  This time, the arena was sold out, with almost 11,000 people attending.  The Winterhawks are members of the WHL,which feeds players into the NHL.  The Winterhawks slaughtered their arch-rivals, the Seattle Thunderbirds, 9 to 1. 

Winterhawks logo on the ice

It was "mascot" night, and between periods various mascots from around the city and state provided entertainment on the ice.

Happy 28th birthday, Kiersten and thank you to you and Tim for inviting us to celebrate with you at the Winterhawks game!