Mark and I had an amazing time on our jaunt to the Seattle area. We stayed with our friend David, who has a beautiful condo in Edmonds and treated us like royalty while we were there. It was like being in a four-star hotel! Thanks David. We saw 2 great concerts at the White River Ampitheater, Journey and the Counting Crows, did a little scrapbook shopping (of course), hung out at Pike Place Market and ate at Ivar's, and saw the movie "Burn After Reading" which was phenomenal. Thanks to the grandparents who selflessly watched our kids for 4 days while we galavanted. Our next adventure is this Saturday when we will meet our family from the Tri-Cities for a day at Silverwood Theme Park. Can't wait to try out their new roller coaster, but I'm staying away from that thing that drops you out of the sky this year!!
I had a small taste of how great my kids are while I was away: we allow them to watch television if they promise to mute the commercials. And they did this on their own while staying with the grandparents. I am so proud of them and relieved that the lessons I'm trying to teach are not falling on deaf ears.
Ben has discovered the joy of playdates. He had one yesterday with his new friend Max and was quite pissed at me when I came to take him home. He did not want to leave. He asked me how I knew where Max lived and I told him that Max's mom had told me. He said "Then it's all her fault!" Funny boy. I know he's going to continue to move away from my parental grasp, but it still pains me. He and I have been buddies for so long and I so enjoy his company that it's hard to share him sometimes!
Fall is here. The pumpkins took a little frost hit and we had to break down and turn the heat on yesterday. I'm not looking forward to the dollars I'll have to shell out to put oil in our furnace tank this year. I am a staunch, left-wing liberal Democrat, but the Republican National Convention chant "Drill, Baby, Drill" keeps ringing in my ears!
Claire: Grade 4
Ben: Kindergarten
It happens every fall, thousands and thousands of blue aphids, like little blue fairies or tiny puffs of cotton, swarm over our yard in the early evening. Caught in your hair, stuck in your teeth, breathed up your nose; it's crazily annoying and deliciously amazing at the same time.
That means it's going to get cold here real soon. Mark and the dog have both been turning their noses into the recent cool morning air, anticipating the hunting season that's just around the corner.
Beautiful fall weather, time with family and friends, lots of excitement and junk food!
This is the new roller coaster, After Shock. Mark and Brian were in the first car, Jen and John in the second. 178 foot drop at 65 mph; I was in line for this one, but I chickened out when I witnessed the speed of the car as it came screaming back through the loading point. It took Mark quite a while to regain his composure from this ride, but Brian and John went back for another whoop and holler!
Everyone one loves the log ride, although it was a tad bit chilly for getting wet.
The scrambler, one of my personal favorites, also appears to be one of the girl's favorites too. They rode it over and over.
The harsh possibility of chattering teeth and uncontrollable shaking could not deter Brian and Ben from trying out the battle boats. When they weren't in the boats, they were on the platform squirting the drivers with water guns.
Mark and I had an amazing time on our jaunt to the Seattle area. We stayed with our friend David, who has a beautiful condo in Edmonds and treated us like royalty while we were there. It was like being in a four-star hotel! Thanks David. We saw 2 great concerts at the White River Ampitheater, Journey and the Counting Crows, did a little scrapbook shopping (of course), hung out at Pike Place Market and ate at Ivar's, and saw the movie "Burn After Reading" which was phenomenal. Thanks to the grandparents who selflessly watched our kids for 4 days while we galavanted. Our next adventure is this Saturday when we will meet our family from the Tri-Cities for a day at Silverwood Theme Park. Can't wait to try out their new roller coaster, but I'm staying away from that thing that drops you out of the sky this year!!
A compilation of some random pictures of Claire over the last year. Love bringing lots of photos together from different times to tell a story.
These freakin' bugs are driving us all insane. This is some sort of beetle that appeared in our area from Utah a few years ago and has taken up residence here for the past two summers. They hatched at the end of July and I seriously think we have had a couple hundred thousand tooling around since then. They are crawling everywhere. I don't usually have much of a problem with bugs; living in the country has made me somewhat immune to little critters, but these guys are getting obnoxious. We will not bug bomb the house because of our pet toad who lives in the basement, but if anyone could pass us some voodoo, it would be much appreciated!
This coming Sunday is the 25th anniversary of Mark's and my first "real" date, so we're celebrating with a trip to Seattle to see 2 concerts. The first is Journey, Heart, and Cheap Trick on Friday night, and then Sunday we'll have the pleasure of listening to Maroon Five and the Counting Crows, one of my all-time favorite groups. Nana and Paul are taking care of the kids for us and we are westward bound. It's sure to be a fabulous weekend.
Our soccer girl. The fall season has started, so I thought I'd better get a move on last spring's layout!