Memorial Day Poetry Slam

Rainy weekend with the whole family at the beach house. We did have a lot of fun reading, cooking and just hanging out. We finished decorating a pinata and then broke it. We went to the Taste of Kitsap in Port Orchard although it was a little disappointing. The highlight of the weekend was the 2nd annual Poetry Slam. Everyone could either read a favorite poem or write a new one. Many prizes were given out and Meg got the blue ribbon for her original and I (Bill) came in 2nd for my original poems. here they are below

Nana's hair by Meg Nyland

Nana's hair gets everywhere
After a weekend at the beach
Long strands cling like a leach
A fond reminder of time together
A family bond that will last forever

Long, shimmering silvery white
It won't give up without a fight
Whipers filament, strong but light
It's so strong, you could fly a kite

Nana loves all her boys
She gives them kisses, cookies and toys
But what we bring home after a week with her
Sticks to us stronger than any burr
Her love of family is strong but not coy

Nana's hair gets everywhere


Memorial Day 2010 by Bill Nyland

A rainy Memorial Day for two thousand ten
That doesn't mean we won't do it again
Our family as usual gathered on Stretch Island
Friends and Grandmas and many a Nyland

Grandpa led the effort to get firewood
We stacked it and helped as much as we could

King Max spent Saturday designing his new crown
The subjects of his kingdom would not be let down

Lois cleaned kitchens and did a big puzzle
Genny knitted something that wasn't a muzzle

Megs' new Kindle took most of her time
She worried about Sunday because she can't rhyme

Saturday brought a visit from Seth, Bello and Achem
Bello's mischeivious smile will not be forgotten

Bob and Janet joined us for dinner on Saturday
The good food and wine meant a return on Sunday

Video Games almost captured Henry and Jess
A trip to Port Orchard made them miss them much less

Gerrit led the effort on a big clam dig
He also made Sushi and Bill ate like a pig

Henry loved the pancakes at the firehouse
Friendly the clown's balloons made him not quiet as a mouse

A campfire and smores were desired by Malik
The racy conversation was not for the meek

Our star of the stage this week was Joe
The Wizard of Oz did not eat his clams slow

Sarah and her parents arrived a little late
Opening of the wine bottles would not wait

Nana's poetry contest was just before dinner
The contest was rigged if I am not the winner

Overall we have mastered fun on the island
Another great weekend to be a Nyland

Wizard of Oz

In addition to Jess being the rock star today, Joe was our acting star. He played Oz in the Wizard of Oz and did a great job. He spent months preparing for this and we are very proud of his hard work

Innocent Bystander

Jess' band played today at the Kilo Middle School Talent Show. They did a pretty good rendition of "Rock you like a Hurricane" by the Scorpions. They are all excited want to play another show. Maybe at the 8th grade graduation...

Arrow of Light

On Friday night, Joe received his Arrow of Light and crossed over from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts. We had the ceremony at Camp Kilworth and Jess was part of the Indian Ceremonies team. It went really well and we escaped without getting rained on. We are very excited to finally be done with Cub Scouts and now we just have 1 night per week of scouts. Joe will now be in Troop 366 with Jess.

Stupid Snake Tricks

It was really hot on Saturday and at the Ancient Lakes, there isn't many places to get away from the heat. After dinner it cooled down quite a bit and the scouts wanted to play Capture the Flag. The adults were exhausted from the heat so we stayed in camp. That was mistake #1.

A couple of years ago, we had seen rattlesnakes in this area. When it cools down, the snakes come out. The boys knew this but they found a field to play on that didn't have many rocks so they thought they wouldn't see many snakes. Half way through the game, one of the boys found a snake. Instead of running away, he decides to use it as armour so he can go get the other guys flag without anyone getting near him. Mistake #2.

Luckily the rest of the boys yelled that it was a bad idea to run with a "diamondback". Unfortunately, another boy decides that this snake must die and pounds it with a stick. Mistake #3.

The snake is stunned and the boys think it is dead. They then pick it up with a stick and decide to bring it back to camp and show the adults. Mistake #4.

About this time, I head over to the field to check up on the guys. They show me the "dead" snake that they "found dead". After taking a couple of pictures, it looks to me like it is alive. They set it on the ground and it tries to slither away. One of the scout masters says it is a bull snake AKA gopher snake which isn't venemous but that doesn't mean it isn't the stupidist stunt that I have seen this troop involved in.

Worn out

I am now up to 160 miles of biking for the month. I also just got back from a scout backpack trip to the ancient lakes. My body is feeling a little sore and I got some sort of eye infection that I think was from too much heat and sun in Eastern Washington last weekend. I get a little break this week because of dentist appts on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons that will make me skip a couple of days of riding. I should still be able to make my goal of 250 miles this month.

This weekend, Joe will be graduating into Boy Scouts on Saturday night at Camp Kilworth. He did a great job on his first Boy Scout backpack last weekend. I will download the pictures tonight.

Biking in the Wind

I signed up to do the Group Health Cycling Challenge. I am on a team with some of the Propulsion guys at Boeing and we are competing to see how many miles we can ride to work in a month. I am not actually riding from home....I drive to the park and ride in Kent and ride from there. It is about 10 miles 1 way so I am doing around 22 miles a day if you count the riding I do at work between buildings. It was really tough getting home today because of the wind. I ride about 15mph on the way to work but I struggle to get 10 mph on the way home because of the wind. I hope the weather improves soon....