Easter Brunch at the Flaherty's

We were invited to an Easter brunch at the Flaherty's house again this year and I had been looking forward to it all week!


Tracie made yummy cupcakes.


Jamie hid the eggs for the kids. We *think* we started with 80 eggs and we *think* we found 79 of them.


Jamie told me I couldn't help hide the eggs, so I took pictures of Dylona's flowers instead. (Fine with me...)


Then the egg hunt was on...and it's serious business you know.


Jamie tried to be tricky and color-coordinate the egg hiding. It fooled the kids more than once.


Telling the egg hider that you love him will get you extra eggs.

We had a wonderful Easter! We ate so much food, and couldn't wait to get home to our pj's.

Spring Break '11 - Finale

This is the last picture I have to share from our trip. (Wheewww...that seemed to take forever!)

It was a long drive, we had our ups & downs, but I think the girls had a good time. I know I did! We were all hoping for some sunshine, but we didn't let that ruin the entire trip. Unfortunately, the girls both came home sick...but that's just another part of the story to tell right?!?

And Spring Break '11 sure had some good stories!

Spring Break '11 - Back to San Fran

Our last day in San Francisco was spent sightseeing.

First, we got the experience the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit). The girls and I liked the ticket system.


Then we headed back down to Pier 39 so that we could ride an open-top bus around the city.


This is where Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio were married.


Something was done in this hotel, but for the life of me I can't remember what it was.


I wasn't going to post this picture, but it makes me laugh. I kept calling Hailee's name and when she finally turned around, this is the face I got. She did smile the rest of the day though, and in her defense, she wasn't feeling well.


And I won't even go in to how much this building cost to build and where the materials came from because that will just piss me off all over again. It is a nice Capitol Building.


Haight Street is where we wanted to stop and walk around, but we were running out of time. This street felt most like Portland and had a lot of character.


See what I mean...character...


We drove over the Golden Gate Bridge. (It was very, very windy.)


And this is the Exploratorium that we were at the day before.


A quick stop for lunch and then back on the bus.


We were able to leave the rv at the rv park for most of the day without charge, but had to be back by 4pm so we ran out of time to do everything we wanted. But we were still able to enjoy a day in San Francisco without rain and it was beautiful.

We got back to the rv and cleaned everything up for our long drive back home. And then there was a serious game of Uno going before bedtime.

Getting ready for Earth Day!

I've spent the last few days stocking up on my "green" items for around the house and for gifts. The week before Earth Day always has some great deals online for reusable, sustainable and natural products. And...free shipping helps too!

Reuseit.com is one of my favorite sites. They had something that I thought I'd share(maybe again). Scary, but true facts.

Fast Facts on Plastic Bags

• 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are used every year, worldwide.


• About 1 million plastic bags are used every minute.


• A single plastic bag can take up to 1,000 years to degrade.


• More than 3.5 million tons of plastic bags, sacks and wraps were discarded in 2008.


• The U.S. goes through 100 billion single-use plastic bags. This costs retailers about $4 billion a year.


• Plastic bags are the second-most common type of ocean refuse, after cigarette butts.


• Plastic bags remain toxic even after they break down.


• Every square mile of ocean has about 46,000 pieces of plastic floating in it.

The Problem

• It is estimated that worldwide plastic bag consumption falls between 500 billion and 1 trillion bags annually. That breaks down to almost 1 million every minute.


• The average family accumulates 60 plastic bags in only four trips to the grocery store.


• In good circumstances, high-density polyethylene will take more than 20 years to degrade. In less ideal circumstances (land fills or as general refuse), a bag will take more than 1,000 years to degrade.


• An estimated 3,960,000 tons of plastic bags, sack and wraps were produced in 2008. Of those, 3,570,000 tons (90%) were discarded. This is almost triple the amount discarded the first year plastic bag numbers were tracked (1,230,000 tons in 1980). (EPA)


• Ten percent of the plastic produced every year worldwide winds up in the ocean. 70% of which finds its way to the ocean floor, where it will likely never degrade. (UN, 2006)
  

The Impact

• The U.S. goes through 100 billion plastic shopping bags annually at an estimated cost to retailers of $4 billion. (The Wall Street Journal)


• The extremely slow decomposition rate of plastic bags leaves them to drift on the ocean for untold years. According to Algalita Marine Research Foundation, these plastic bags cause the death of many marine animals (fish, sea turtles, etc.), every year when animals mistake them for food.


• Numbers were kept on 43 different types of refuse. Cigarette butts were the most common. Plastic bags came in second. (Ocean Conservency, 2008)


• When plastics break down, they don't biodegrade; they photodegrade. This means the materials break down to smaller fragments which readily soak up toxins. They then contaminate soil, waterways, and animals upon digestion.
  

The Solution

• The solution is not a plastic bag ban, which is an emotional response which fails to strike at the heart of the issue; instead of a market-based solution, a ban shifts production to paper bags and compostable bags, both of which have heavy environmental consequences.


• The solution is not switching to paper bags or compostable plastic bags. A study on the life cycle of three types of disposable bags (single-use plastic, paper, and compostable plastic) showed that both compostable plastic and paper bags require more material per bag in the manufacturing process. This means "higher consumption of raw materials in the manufacture of the bags...[and] greater energy in bag manufacturing and greater fuel use in the transport of the finished product. ...The added requirements of manufacturing energy and transport for the compostable and paper bag systems far exceed the raw material use in the standard plastic bag system." (from a peer reviewed Boustead Consulting & Associates report)

Spring Break '11 - Sunset in San Fran

The sun was just starting to set when we got back to the rv, so Jamie and I went for a short walk.

Then we each enjoyed a chowder bowl that I had picked up before we left the pier.