Shore Excursion

Our closest beach at home is the Jersey shore. Compared with the North Carolina/South Carolina beaches of my upbringing, it leaves a little to be desired, however. I digress slightly. People often go to "the shore" for the weekend, the day, whatever.

This past weekend we went to our own version of "the shore" on one of the many lakes that surround us. Chilled water, perfect day, tasty sand, and a picnic lunch. Perfect combo. Notice there is no mention of lazily lounging on a beach chair while I catch up on my magazines or intently focus on my beach novel of choice. Those days are gone. For now.

Gotta try it - yuck

I love the beach

Now it's fun!

Busy at play

We wish she would just walk already! Her creeper crawl

"I'm going into the water!"

...and eating the sand and rocks

Today's Best of the Best

Best sight of the day: Watching Mr. A and his little friends squeal with delight as they madly dashed through all of the sprinklers that were on in the complex. One set would go off and it wasn't long before one of them had discovered the next set that had come on. His last comments to me: "Mom, this is so fun! I run through the water and whoosh!" Simple pleasures.

Best quote of the day (from the man behind me in line at 7-11 when it was his turn): "Hi, yes. I'd like to buy a winning lottery ticket." Well, wouldn't we all.

Best instruction from a 3 yr old stalling to get to bed: "Oh, Mom. We better turn on the fan. It's going to be hot tonight." Does 85 degrees inside the house count?

Best product of the day: Pina Colada and Wild Cherry Mixed Slurpee

Big Bite

The weekend before last we ventured into downtown Seattle to partake of the donut delicacies at Pike Place Market and then to further consume the best Seattle had to offer at the annual "Bite of Seattle" food festival. Everything you could want - roasted corn, frozen custard, red mango, crab and shrimp melt, chicken pad thai, corn dogs, etc. We jammed at the kids' stage and ate our way through the festival. De - lish!

Miss M and DH rockin' out

Miss M getting ready for the good eats

Miss M's first corn dog - strategizing her approach

I'll try this way and love it

Lest you think we play favorites, Mr. A came down with a yucky 48 hr bug as soon as we got to Pike Place and was down for the count - didn't even wake up for the frozen custard - poor guy. And, he gave it to Miss M to enjoy 2 days later. Aren't siblings so nice?!

Things I Never Thought I'd Hear Myself Say

"Your quesadilla goes in your mouth - not your ears."

"You need to ask me before you climb up on the dresser and put all the gum in your mouth." (because it's highly likely I'd say yes, right?! duh.)

"Please give my cell phone back to your sister. She was playing with it first."

And, there you have it. My cell phone goes to the shop tomorrow morning, in case you're wondering.

Roasting

Seattle is experiencing a heat wave of epic proportions. 92 today. Supposed to be 96 tomorrow. 101 on Wednesday. 95 on Thursday. 91 on Friday. A break on Saturday: 85. I know what you're thinking - it's summer, this is what it's supposed to be like. Well, not here. The Northwest is not equipped for this weather. There is NO air conditioning in our little summer abode (and a lot of other abodes). It's so sweltering. The ceiling fan might as well be ceiling decor. Feels like it's doing nothing.

I might have to resort to some tactics from my mission days in Rio - take a cold shower, go to bed sopping wet, crank the fan, leave the windows open, and repeat in the middle of the night just to make it through. Who would have thought?!

Welcome, Baby!

Baby Boy Kofford joined the extended family this evening at 8:56 EDT. (On his grandma's birthday! How fun is that?) All 10 POUNDS 3 OUNCES of him!! Look at those rolls ALREADY! He's been stocking up for a while apparently! It's a good thing Clint was practicing for the football catch at Christmas! :) That baby's just about ready to hit the gridiron.

He puts my babies to shame, that's for darn sure! They don't even weigh that at 1 month!

Nance - you're a rockstar for doing it with all heart and no drugs. We love all 3 of you and can't wait to squeeze those cheeks! May he sleep through the night since he's already crossed that magical 10 lb threshhold!

Proud Papa!

(ps - send more pictures, please)

Bat Wings

Legend has it that when I was a little girl (about Miss M's 13-month-old age) I began to sprout growth from the sides of my hair that wrapped themselves around the other hairs and formed what everyone lovingly called "Bat Wings." I still have my "bat wings" today actually - they come out after a nice long run or a perfectly humid day. I hated them for many years. Today I quite like them and the versatility they provide me with when it comes to hairstyle options.

Needless to say, I have always tried to share my best parts with my children. Who knows if they'll stay or go, but for now Miss M has some serious bat wings going on. They are so cute on her and so fun to watch take shape (I mean, flight), as she comes out of the bath each night. Now, if I could just get her to keep the cute clippy bows in her hair, she would be complete.

The side view

A smirky view

And from the "top" down

ps - Miss M finally took some faltering solo steps today - hooray!

Feelin' Good

I always enjoy a good run. Tonight my run came later than I normally like, but at least I got it in. Chalk it up to the sun that almost never sets here and a running partner who had also swapped her run for "Snooze" this AM.

Thanks, M, for getting me out the door and for the refreshing conversation. It felt like the fastest 5 miles I'd run in a long time!

Quotes of the Day

Mr. A in Nursery class upon finding out that the cupcakes he was being offered had neither frosting nor sprinkles on them (too messy, ya know?)...

- "Awww, man. I got jipped."

Who taught him that?

And my new favorite: "You rush a miracle, man, you get rotten miracles."

Amen to that. I don't want rotten anything - especially miracles.

The Falls

We're so lucky to have had visitors already! It probably helps that there are other grandkids nearby that enable some "kill two birds with one stone" type of action! We visited Snowqualmie Falls with Nana & Papa and our cousins last weekend. Beautiful! Unfortunately I left my camera in the car for the other festivities (a campfire complete with watermelon messes galore, roasting "Woof 'ems," and enjoying the gorgeous summer weather) so more to come whenever I figure out whose camera I hijacked!

The very wiggly Miss M and her papa

Miss M, Nana, and Papa

The 4th and Belated Birthday

We were still a little woozy from the traveling of a day or so before, but we managed to tag along with the right peops for the 4th of July festivities! Thanks, M&M, for letting us join your fun! We started with a "Fun" Run, pancake breakfast, and bike parade in the AM. Needless to say, our crew had been up for hours in what was, I'm sure, "anticipation" of the big day.

Mr. A thinking he's the next Lance Armstrong

Mr. A's dad making sure he's not the next ER visitor

Miss H making sure that Miss M doesn't get too far in her constant motion train

After we had sufficiently stuffed our faces (well, kind of - as stuffed as they get with Krusteaz mix - I'm married to a pancake snob who has rubbed off on the rest of us), we moved on with the rest of the day's activities. They involved naps, building sheds, trampolines, hot tubs, super burgers, watermelon-eating, birthday-celebrating, and a fireworks show!

A note about the cakes: these are what we lovingly call "white trash" cakes. I may have spoken of them last year, but this is what DH grew up with (I'm sure you're dying for the recipe)- it's Angel Food cake layered with your favorite kind of ice cream (Haagen Dazs PB Chocolate for DH), covered with Cool Whip, and drizzled w/Hershey's Syrup or Magic Shell. Even now that he has his choice of any kind of cake, this is what he asks for every year. This year, however, I tried to make it a bit more festive with the appropriately colored fruits (I don't think many appreciated my "tainting" of the cake - sorry!).

Trying to get all 3 of them to look my way (ps - can you see Miss M's cute curls? she's starting to get ringlets and, I have to admit, they are so adorable)


Impossible - Happy Birthday, DH!

Questions of Every Day

We hear each question at least 2 to 3 times a day --

Mr. A: "Mom, can I go to Aunt Michele's house and see S and W?"

"Mom, can I go to Uncle Mike's house and jump on the trampoline?"

"Mom, can I go to Uncle Mike's house and go in the hot tub?"

Apparently our house isn't so fun. I guess that's alright for now!

Made It!

One six-hour long plane ride

Two wiggly, tired, curious, kind of behaved children

Three hours of sleep the night before (note to self - try very hard not to do that again)

Four rental cars tried before getting the two that worked best

Five bags we started to walk out of baggage claim with

Six bags we actually checked

Seven new toiletry products I have to buy (the old ones got left in one of the two rental cars we DIDN't take - figures)

Eight great cousins and aunt and uncle we got to hang with this afternoon

Nine hours of sleep I hope to get (at least)

Ten weeks (at least) until I can psyche myself up for another 6 hour plane ride

Eleven times we heard Mr. A say "I can't believe it's Seattle!"

Twelve weeks of fun ahead!

To Seattle in the Summer.

The Wise One

A year older, but more importantly, a year wiser. Happy Birthday to a really great dad, a very supportive husband, and a really fun friend. I love to laugh with you. I love to celebrate you. I love YOU!