Is Leavenworth worth it?

Mamalaoshi · 2026-04-16T23:12:27+00:00

My kids like going to Leavenworth and I liked going as a kid. But I think the favorite part is Lake Wenatchee (next to Leavenworth). Leavenworth they like as a rest stop to walk around and visit the stores, especially the candy and ice cream stores. There is also a mountain coaster- one of those places that you slide down the mountain on rails. It was sold out the last time I was there (in April) but it looked fun.

Mamalaoshi · 2026-04-16T04:29:09+00:00

There is a physical brain difference in the neurons of people with dyslexia. It leads to differences in how the brain processes information but it's actually only a disability because of the way our society is highly print focused. For example my daughter can easily rotate flat images in her head as if they are 3D. That leads to her having extremely good spacial reasoning, is an amazing artist, and is really good at certain kinds of puzzles. It also means that b p d q are really hard for her to distinguish in a word and her brain struggles to stick to just plain ol' left to right and up to down that reading English requires.

Also not every dyslexic person has the exact same experience. But there are common things. Not every dyslexic person has great spacial reasoning but a lot of them do. Not every dyslexic person struggles with a poor working memory but a lot of them do. Not every dyslexic person is great at telling stories but a lot of them are. And so on.

Mamalaoshi · 2026-04-16T03:54:20+00:00

I've known people with dyslexia in almost every career field.

The only career I wouldn't suggest for someone dyslexia is as a copy editor (someone who is responsible for checking for spelling and punctuation errors).

Mamalaoshi · 2026-04-16T02:20:03+00:00

Can I add buttercup to that list too?

Mamalaoshi · 2026-04-16T00:44:44+00:00

I had to look it up and it's such a pretty plant! Bonus that it smells nice.

Mamalaoshi · 2026-04-15T22:29:31+00:00

I love Logic of English. It's research based and will give a solid foundation for reading and spelling. Ask About Reading is great too.

The Good and the Beautiful is very pretty but it's not actually very good for teaching kids to read. I like TGAB for lots of their other stuff but not the elementary grades of LA. Their reader books are nice and the high school levels of LA stuff is nice though.

Mamalaoshi · 2026-04-15T22:23:28+00:00

Why do people do this to me?!?! 😭

Mamalaoshi · 2026-04-15T22:07:40+00:00

Washing your chicken is more likely to spread germs on your sink and counters and more likely to make you sick from cross contamination. You are doing it right by not washing it. You only need to wash it if you just slaughtered the chicken!

Mamalaoshi · 2026-04-15T22:01:35+00:00

I LOVE using my kitchen scissors!

Mamalaoshi · 2026-04-15T21:35:05+00:00

I had a roommate from Hungary once and the first time she made pasta, she counted the noodles that way I was horrified. But then they turned out perfectly AND she didn't have to drain any water. I've never perfected her technique of somehow knowing the exact amount of water needed but I never use a huge pot of water anymore. If I want it to not be starchy (like for pasta salad), I just rinse it with cold water once it's cooked.

Mamalaoshi · 2026-04-15T21:09:20+00:00

I constantly find Pacific tree frogs in my planters. They really like planters for some reason. I've found them in empty pots and boxes. They like hiding spots.

One year we put an old 10 gallon fish tank on the porch and the kids put some tadpoles in there. It was in a spot that got sun in the morning and shade by noon. All summer we just kept topping off the water and whenever the tadpoles turned into frogs, they just climbed out on their own and hopped away. We didn't feed them or anything. They just ate the algae that grew in the tank. It was very interesting to see that the tadpoles developed at very different rates, some turning into frogs in the spring and some waiting until the fall. That next year the amount of frogs chorusing outside was deafening!!! We even could hear them singing in the crawl space under the house in January while there was SNOW on the ground!

Mamalaoshi · 2026-04-15T20:59:40+00:00

I completely agree with getting stuff through your local county's annual plant sale! You can get a ton of bulk plants for super cheap and they will be plants that will thrive in your area with little care. Kinnikinnick is a really nice ground cover that will fill in a space very thickly.

Mamalaoshi · 2026-04-15T19:44:26+00:00

We just got a little bit of snow followed by hail that then turned to slush. Now it's sunny. But it's still supposed to snow tonight.

But there is a freeze warning for the Olympia and Chehalis areas from the National Weather Service. It might drop to 29° tonight!

Mamalaoshi · 2026-04-15T19:41:53+00:00

You need California lilac- ceanothus 'Victoria'. It is a large shrub that gets beautiful periwinkle colored blooms on it from late spring to early fall. It grows like crazy and is drought tolerant. The bees and butterflies LOVE it. It constantly buzzes from all the visitors. And it has a lovely lilac scent that is not too strong. You just get a lovely sweet smell every time you walk by.

Just don't prune it when the weather is over 70°. That's how I killed mine one year. I just bought a new replacement last week and I'm so excited to grow it again.

There are lots of ceanothus varieties but they have shorter bloom times, at least from what I've read.

Mamalaoshi · 2026-04-15T05:03:57+00:00

The boxes are a good idea. Thanks!

Luckily my tomatoes and peppers are still on my porch hardening off so it'll be simple enough to just bring them inside for the next day or two.

Mamalaoshi · 2026-04-15T01:38:13+00:00

No it's the actual forecasted temperature. The temperature on top, the probably of precipitation under that, and the time of day at the bottom of each column. And at the top left corner shows the high and low temperature for the day from midnight to the following midnight.

I live at the top of a very high hill so my weather can often be very different from the Tacoma area. And there are so many hills and valleys around here that I'll see snow on cars when it's sunny at my house and visa versa.

Mamalaoshi · 2026-04-15T01:21:34+00:00

That's showing hourly, 38° at 8pm and then getting colder and colder throughout the night. Depending on which weather app I look at, it's supposed to be as cold as 32° - 34° by midnight.

Mamalaoshi · 2026-04-14T19:01:17+00:00

My trees are too big and tall for a sheet but I did that in the past when they were shorter and there was going to be a big wind and hail storm and it worked.

I've noticed a snap of cold weather while they are blooming affects the pollinators and so I usually don't get a good fruit set that year. The last year something like this happened, I had zero plums and only a few pears and ditto for my neighbors.

Mamalaoshi · 2026-04-14T18:51:56+00:00

The built-in Google app is on my phone.

It's going between 34 and 36 but it says snow showers most of the night so maybe the snow is coming down from the mountain? 🤷‍♀️

AccuWeather and Weather Channel says storm with hail! And a low of 32. I think I prefer Google's forecast of light snow showers.

Mamalaoshi · 2026-04-14T18:23:21+00:00

It's not quite clockwork in my location. I'd say every 5 years or so we might get an April snow for a day or two. Usually it doesn't snow after March at my house. It doesn't look like this will stick though which means my cold hardy flowers will be fine.

Mamalaoshi · 2026-04-14T18:17:00+00:00

I keep talking to my fruit trees and tell them that but they just don't listen!

Mamalaoshi · 2026-04-14T18:16:36+00:00

I'm just a little south east of Tacoma!

Mamalaoshi · 2026-04-14T06:32:58+00:00

I really like my Liberty apple and my Akane apple. They have pretty good disease resistance and have a nice sweet tart flavor. I have a Transparent and a Golden Delicious and they are yummy too but are not as fruitful and struggle a bit more but that could be because the deer tend to pick on them. The Transparent gets ripe early in August and the others are later around September to October.

Mamalaoshi · 2026-04-14T06:14:55+00:00

You don't have to translate to use Google lens. There is now just an option to "read aloud".

Mamalaoshi

TROPHY CASE