Saturday Part 1

Good Gawd this day took a long time to blog about! Thank goodness the rest of this week has been mostly uneventful.

Saturday was an absolutely beautiful day, so we headed to Snohomish for the Easter parade. We thought it started at 10, so we got there around 9:15, got a great parking spot, and even had plenty of time to scope out the perfect spot. Then we realized that the parade started at 11:00. But we weren't worried, the weather was perfect, the riverfront was nearby, and the tow truck was busy hauling off the poor responsible people who probably drank too much the night before and got a ride home instead of driving.

The parade was LONG and the geniuses that call themselves Snohomish P.D. decided that instead of actually directing traffic they were just going to stop it for the entire 2 hours of the parade. And there's pretty much only one road in and out of town. Then when the parade was over, did they manage the mess that was waiting? Nope. They hopped in their car 10 feet away from the intersection and watched. Watched the 2 hours of standing traffic, the thousands of pedestrians crossing the intersection on their way back to their cars to then join the 2 hours of standing traffic. It was fan-frigging-tastic.

Brady was in heaven watching Steve drive Mack's truck that was actually a Chevy...

Killing time on the river front. Snohomish is also a very popular place for skydivers, so we got to watch the planes taking off and the parachuters coming down.

Although Saturday was beautiful, it was still chilly. But this fancy fella was in the spring spirit. No shirt, No Shoes, No Problem!


My favorite fella and our little ladies.

Natalie testing her pirate gold. It's real.

This is the pirate that gave Natalie her gold. And upon closer look, Mike shouted "Shane!" It was our old high school classmate! It was funny but fitting to see him as a Seafair pirate.

And is not the cutest thing? He lives right here in Snohomish!

Saturday Part 2

But first, what's this? A couple of fella's photos tried to hide and not make it onto the blog. They belong on part 3 and are just too pretty to ignore.
Shortly after our friends Rob and Tracy (aka Mongo and Morti) left the BBQ, Tracy texted me this picture and I {heart} it. He looks pretty pretty badass on my piglet, no?

My "little" brother, Dickard, and a tasty chick cakepop.

I offered to make Makenzie's cupcakes for her birthday. I even offered up my gourmet cupcake gift certificates for her party. But both offers were rejected and instead a ladybug cupcake cake was presented covered in gobs and gobs of black and red frosting. Do you know what black and red frosting looks like on children? Like this:

And this (no, she's not sticking her tongue out):

Make a wish!

Boo liked her gift from her daddy, a ladybug itouch.

Ashi gives the camera his grouchy face. Look out!

Mike snapped this super-cute pic of Brady. Man, he's a good lookin kid ;)

And then he turned around and snapped this gem... notice I'm subconsciously giving him the finger.

Saturday Part 3

I uploaded the most recent pictures first, so Part 1 of this 3 part-blog post is actually the third activity of the day.
We did all of our celebratin' on Saturday since our children spent Easter at their respective parents houses (Mike and I celebrated Zombie-Jesus day by running 3 times around Greenlake totalling 9.85 miles, lunch at Dick's, and a long soak in the hot tub... by the way I didn't come up with the zombie jesus line, but it made me giggle when someone wished it to me...)
We had Mikes family, my brother and a old high school friend and his family over for a BBQ and egg hunt on the nicest day of the year. The weather was so great, and all the kids said it was the best day ever and all the adults were sad when the sun went down. We got a pinata for the kids to beat (for Boo's birthday and because Natalie got jipped out of her pinata when it snowed 4 inches on her birthday). It was a great cap to a great day.


All the kids waiting to be released to hunt: Sabra, Angelina, Natalie Sue, Brady, Fritter, Jaylee, Boo, and Chandra.

I just love this action shot of Little Miss in her pink tutu and camo boots.



Boo showing off her pink-camo egg while Fritter spots another egg.

Natalie beheaded the unicorn pinata and then paraded it around like a prize... very barbaric.

It happened on hump day...

As most of you know, Mike and I are NSO's (non-skating officials) for Jet City Rollergirls. We attended a class on Wednesday to become certified (whatever that means in the realm of volunteer work).
Anyway, we were part way through the lecture when we took a dinner break. While everyone was milling around eating and chatting; a particular official (like THE official) who happens to be on the slightly arrogant side and while respected, isn't loved and adored by his peers, opened up his laptop to do I-don't-know-what.
As soon as he opened it (and mind you he is sitting directly in front and slightly right of me so I have a prime view of his every move) a loud and very graphic porno was playing! He closed his laptop quickly but the audio kept blaring away so he had to open it again (where we all got another eyeful) and he frantically tried to close the program and it took an agonizingly long time!
He finally got it shut, said "well, then" and told the fella next to him "I have a virus." During all of this, I'm turning beet red from hysterics, there are a couple of slack jaws, another friend is just enjoying the moment of pure torture for the guy at the helm, and Mike shouts "THAT is awesome!"
It's probably a good thing for him that he is in charge of the rest of us, or else his life would be sooooo miserable. Oh, the jokes he would endure.

The first hunt

We headed north last weekend (3 days in a row) to Bellingham for all sorts of things like taxes, derby, and hunting eggs.

The Boyle/McKinley families host an awesome hunt every year and it didn't disappoint once again. The weather cooperated (read: didn't rain) and we even had a little dirt devil come through the playground which was super exciting.

Little Miss in hot pursuit of the golden egg.

Boo didn't waste anytime filling her basket.

Not the best pic, but it had the most kids in it... Nat, B, Christian, and Claire. Brady, Christian, and Claire have been friends since they were just a couple of months old (well B and C are buddies before birth).

This is the look I've been getting a lot lately. "I'm not happy and I'm blaming you for it"

Reunited and it feels so good... Nat and Amelia have always had a mutual adoration for each other... I don't think Natalie was too impressed when Amelia laid a big smooch on the worm she had been toting around, but loves her just the same.

Coming up: The funniest thing I've ever witnessed happened last night. The stuff of urban legends, or bad dream sequences in sit-coms. It happened in real life last night and it was awesome.

I don't wanna but I will

That's how I've felt for the past few days... I didn't want to run, but I did. I didn't want to want to clean the cat box, but I did. I didn't want to go to spinning class today, but I did. I didn't want to fight for 3 days with my please-for-effs-sakes-soon-to-be-ex-husband over crap I can't make him understand or be accountable for, but I did. I didn't want to feel like I let myself down by pacifying him, but I did. I didn't want to take it out on my wonderful if not similarly frustrated boyfriend. But I did. I did want to go for a long walk this evening to work out my bad attitude, but I didn't. The trails around here are a little too secluded (yes, in the city) and I got scared so I came back and circled the block a few times.

So I'm not feeling up to blogging, but I figured that it's like exercise... I might not want to do it before, but always feel better and am glad I did it after.

Freckles (my moms cat) peed on the rugs one too many times so I had her stuffed and made into a nice little throw. She really ties the room together (she's laying on an afghan that my Grandma Alice made about 30 years ago).

Socks for five, anyone?


"These are our chicken butts!"

My hottie honey at his softball game.

Too much of a good thing?

***I have tried three times to enter my paragraph breaks in this post and they are not working for some reason, so I apologize for the one big lump of words below!*** I got myself a membership at the local YMCA a couple of months ago. And it's been great; there's a rooftop track I can run on, loads of cardio equipment, and two pools if I so wish. And the girls love the "adventure zone" where they get to play while I work out. As I've gotten more comfortable, I started participating in some of the classes they offer. Two of my favorites are the Reebok Core Board and the Interval classes. I have been supplementing my running with these two classes. That is until I bumped into a couple of friends one day while I was on the treadmill. "How come you don't come to the spinning class?" he asked. His wife says "I hate that class, I can't feel my crotch afterwards!" I kind of felt like I was being called out, so the next week I joined the class. And the instructor wiped the floor with me. I did awful. But the next day in the Interval class a few more of the ladies were engaging me in conversation... I think I'm earning some street cred with them. I had to miss the next weeks class because I had to drive to Bellingham that morning. I heard that there were inquiries about my whereabouts. I didn't want anyone to think that this class had beaten me (which it had, but why am I concerned about what these people think?) so I ensured my friend that I would be there the following week ready to try again. I brought my cycling shoes this time and holy moly that made a world of difference in my performance! I still got pummeled, but I felt a whole lot better about it. Then I got conned into joining the instructors next class, a quick 30 minute core conditioning class, because she asked me in her overly-charming Scottish accent to join her. My friend who talked me into the spinning class in the first place says "you're taking Gael's next class? Have fun with that." Gulp. Flash forward to today, where I am staying home to do laundry and nurse my rump and right hamstring that is still sore from the horrible charlie horse I gave my self in my feeble attempt at holding my body upright on the exercise ball. But I can't stop. Even though I'm in pain I want to go back for more. I think I believe that A.) It's working and I'm getting stronger and B.) The only solution to the lactic acid and pain I feel is more exercise so that it'll go away faster and C.) I see all the same people there every day I'm there so if they can do it, then so can I.

Some...

I was trying to be a better blogger and actually edit my photos before posting them (100% of my photos have been off my iPhone in case you couldn't tell) but Picnik isn't cooperating with me tonight. Here's a few unedited pictures from our Spring Break Staycation: Pickles the hellcat has gotten lazy in his teen years; he's taken to hanging his tail on our laundry hamper hook. Loitering on the side of a rock wall on the way to lunch after attending our new local hardware store's grand opening.

Bleeding hearts at the nursery inside the new hardware store. Not a shabby pic for a phone.

The kids creating chalk mosaic art out of the cracks in our driveway. Thanks for accentuating them, kids!

Free dum-dums at the boat launch coffee shop. Mama got coffee.

Trying to con the 2 ducks at the marina into licking their dum-dums... Swim Lessons started... Natalie is a Polliwog.

Makenzie is a Pike. With a rad hairdo.

Brady is a Guppy. With straight-up style. One leg tucked into is sock with his shirt inside out? Tha's right.

It's hard to tell, but those aren't pink sprinkle donuts; they're piggy noses.

April Fools

That's what Mike and I were on Friday when we came up with the brilliant idea of taking the kids to the Rainforest cafe. Not only was the crappy weather a serious traffic impediment, they are doing "road improvement" around the Southcenter mall which created what? Yep, more traffic. So our patience was a little strained when we parked (though the kids were in great spirits) and of course we assumed that a place like this did not take reservations (especially on weekends) and when we walk up, of course we see a "Reservations Welcome!" sign hanging above the hostess elephant. Awesome. So after a nearly 2 hour drive, we still have another half hour wait. Cuz that's what happens when you assume! You might notice that there isn't a picture of Makenzie with Cha!Cha! the Tree Frog... She is still of the mindset of 'I'll wait outside of the restaurant until Cha!Cha! (if that is indeed your name) has finished with it's cameo appearance, thankyouverymuch' We brought one of Brady's new friends along for dinner, he's a nice boy and provided a nice balance to the boy:girl ratio to our evening. We had a fun time and the kids were very happy and so that made us very happy.

This past weekend, Mike had to work so I decided to take the kids to the pool for the afternoon. I decided to take them to the Y for their open swim rather than pay to take them to Forest Park's open swim figuring that the shallower pool would be warmer and the kids could play more independently. We got their and the shallow pool was closed (they drained it for spring break... smart idea? So instead we were corralled into a 15 square foot roped off area of the big COLD pool, so we bagged out after 45 minutes.

And in other news... Mike and I bought our first piece of furniture together! I think we're getting serious. (: It was a iffy picture on Craigslist and we decided to go check it out and we both saw it and both of us went "ooh" and then it came home with us. And it holds all of Mikes Harley Davidson Collectibles. It's old. It's cool. And it's ours.