Cruzin to Colby

Memorial Day Weekend in Everett means all the cool cars come out to cruise Colby Avenue. And I got to drive a cool car!! There was no mini-van for me today, no sir! Today I got to cruise in my sweeties 1967 GTO. And it's loads more fun to drive. And let me tell ya: the cat calls, horn honks, and general slack-jaw looks I got (ok the car got) vs. what I get in the minivan (an occasional elderly gentleman or questionable labor workers in their panel vans may honk or leer, but that's about it) just made it more fun to be driving it.

Now the only reason I got to drive the car in the first place is because Mike's friend Earl stopped by to show off his new motorcycle (wow) and so they rode down to the event together.

And my found porn of the week: We were heading back home from a softball game when I looked up and exclaimed "Look at that dirty cloud!" Nothing says "welcome home" like a giant cloud penis in the sky...

Aviation Appreciation Day

One of the nice things about living in the "Greater Seattle area" is that when you're sitting around on a Saturday morning watching the news and having a cup of coffee and you see an event that's happening that day, you can simply get in the car and go!
We were doing just that when the news told us that there was an aviation event happening at Paine Field, a mere 10 minutes from our home. So we threw the kids in the truck and went.

Brady standing in front of one of the engines to Boeing's "Dream Lifter" a gigantic cargo plane.

Oops, random snail. I am used to slugs. Snails gross me out, and don't tell me that it's just a slug with a shell; slugs don't crunch.

Natalie in front of some propeller.

And after the air show, it was time to head to Bellingham, where Erin and I pre-funked before Book club. We each had a drink called a "Hot Mess" and it was delish.

Kid Stuff and Sunshine

The sun has finally arrived for more than an afternoon! People always ask how we live here with the constant rain, but I tell them it makes us so much more appreciative for the sun when it arrives, it's like a holiday where everyone around you is electric with excitement. And the rain is the price for the beauty, because when you wake to the sun rising over the Cascades and setting over the Puget Sound, you really can't argue that there is a more beautiful place to call home.

I think the only fault of the good weather is that it sparks a frenzy of activity, we want to try to cram as much as humanly possible into the sunny day before it slips away from us again. And it makes us daydream of gardening projects, camping, and in my childrens' case: running through the sprinkler.

Brady got a pair of "googly eye" glasses from the dentist for having a good check-up. The google eyes are long gone, and all that remains is the frame. Natalie has taken to wearing them quite often.

We all headed to Bellingham Saturday for Roller Derby, and arrived early enough to meet Erin and her crew at the Farmers Market. It is so overcrowded, but it has so much to offer! We left with some honey, kettle corn (my main objective to going), and a really cool "Bonfire Begonia" which I need to learn about (oops, and go water it too). I tried to get my annual picture of the kids on the goat... there are 11 photos of my attempt, and here are the top 3 (which should give you a clue as to how much cooperation I got).

Ok, so the only reason I posted this one is because Natalie reminds me of her when she was a little toddler with her big dimply smile. I swear she was just 2 years old. Now she's 57 pounds and 4+ feet tall!

As good as it gets.

Our boys.

Natalie, like most girls, spends a lot of her day writing and drawing and asking me how to spell things. She daydreams as she draws and writes and sometimes we get a little peek into her thoughts and imagination. I wonder what she was thinking of when she drew this?

"We need to buy some Mushrooms. If we buy mushrooms then we can go camping." Guess what we're doing next weekend? Yup, camping. Buying the mushrooms must've worked.

I let the kids hook up the sprinkler yesterday and run around in it, even though it was only in the mid-60's. And of course all of these children came out of the woodwork, and our front lawn had a handful of extra children. I think sprinklers are like ice cream trucks: they are beacons for children to gather.

Kwik Katch Up (spelled like that just for Jackie)

I just looked at my blog and realized it's been awhile since my last post! But with 3 sick kids and a sick mom (all staggered out so it lasted forever around here) and our regular life going on, I ran out of minutes in the day to post, and now I've got a huge backlog of photos that I just am not going to get to share now...
My best friend Jackie has been visiting and one of her pet peeves is business names that are spelled "creatively". Like 'Kindercare' or 'Doll Fin Daycare', so I thought I'd be creative and spell today's blog post in her honor.

Oh yeah... we ran a 1/2 Marathon for Mothers day! It was right here in Everett, and proceeds went to St. Jude's hospital. It was a great course and I ran a personal best, and of course my sweet boyfriend smoked the course and finished in the top 20 of his age group! And it was his first 1/2! His sister and our old classmate Jack (who we have become race partners with... he does a bazillion races and we try to keep up with a fraction of the ones he does) also ran it, and they all did equally awesome. The only downside of this race was when we arrived in Marysville they had us run around the city's retention pond which was nearly a mile loop on a gravel service road. At mile 7, the last thing you feel like doing is SEEING how far one mile is, run it on gravel, and then smell stagnant water (aka poo-pond) the whole time. My review of the race was "running around poo-pond didn't do Marysville tourism any favors".

While we were running, the kids were running wild on the island. They came home wet, smelly, and completely happy. I told Mike it makes me so happy that our kids get to spend time on the island being "island kids". His and my entire childhood was spent outside in the woods and on the beaches of Whidbey, and our kids are getting to have a little bit of the same experience. If it weren't for the $29 ferry ride to get there, we'd probably put real thought into living there again.


Makenzie and Natalie took Cisco for a ride...

On Monday's Mike has softball, and now that the weather is improving, the kids enjoy the games a lot more (read: there are more kids to run wild with at the playground and in the dirt of the adjoining soccer field).

The kids earn $1 for each ball they shag. There were a lot of home runs this night, but not from our team :( But a buck is a buck!

My best friend Jackie is visiting, and it was a beautiful afternoon, so we knocked back a few Blue Mountains. We rode the piglet down to the store, and came home with sore cheeks from laughing so hard. Two grown women riding a single seater scooter with a half-rack of beer between their legs gave us a serious case of the giggles.

The girls have loved having Auntie Jackie here... enjoying their bedtime story.

All things leading up to a KID FREE WEEKEND!

Mike and I were counting down the hours until this weekend. A kid free weekend (or day for that matter) is extremely rare for us and we were overdue for some time to recharge. And we couldn't have asked for a nicer weekend to enjoy each other.


Leading up to our weekend though, we squeezed in some fun stuff:


On the day Boo turned 5 we went to the YMCA (per her request, so I HAD to work out) and we brought donut holes for her to share with her Y pals. Boo and I also made ladybug cupcakes, went to swim lessons, and had ice cream cones at 31 Flavors (which was also 31cent night and was an epic failure).

The girls were hungry mid morning so I made them a bento box brunch. They enjoyed eating in miniature and trading one thing for another with each other.



Thursday was McTeacher night at our local mickey D's. It was a total zoo inside so we got our happy meals to go, but not without a picture with the man himself (the kids declined). And I have to say, my sweatshirt is not doing me any favors.

Friday was Cops on Shops which we've attended every year for I don't know how long. It's an annual fundraiser by local law enforcement as a fundraiser for the Special Olympics. They also have two other events: Tip a Cop at Red Robin and the Torch run. Our friend Janet is the organizer of the events so we make sure to support her efforts and I believe in supporting our local athletes.

Janet commented that she thinks her vehicle is getting smaller over the years. Brady used to need help to crawl into it!

We spent Saturday evening at the Fultons. A delicious dinner, lots of 'buckets', and then we all snuggled up to watch a movie in their theatre room (you get to have one of those when you have 2 incomes and no kids, haha!) Then Morti came out in her cozies and lo-and-behold! She was Mike's mini-me! So I made them pose prom-style (there are quite a few great pictures, but this one is our favorite, with Mike's head tilted in... classic!)

We woke up Sunday morning and went for a little run along the riverfront, it was such a beautiful day and the river was so nice to run beside. 4.71 miles didn't feel too shabby, and my time has improved a bit, we'll see how I do when I have to do 13.1 next Sunday though! After our run, we went for a late breakfast at Kate's Greek and American. Kate is a great lady and Mike has been having breakfast there every Friday there for a long time. She opens up an hour early on Fridays so that hard working folks can celebrate the end of the week. Mike also plays softball for her team. And just look at that bacon! We got to eat outside today in the sunshine and it made breakfast even more delicious.

Then this evening Mike took me out to Snohomish on the Harley (I've ALWAYS loved riding motorcycles, I lived on the back of one most summers in high school, be it my dads or a friends) It was an amazing ride along the river and I love getting to feel the wind and speed and take in all the beauty of where we live.

We found a Mexican restaurant with patio seating and got seated right before happy hour ended, so we ordered all of our drinks at once. A tasty margarita and delicious Sangria. Apparently there was a crew of brand new waitstaff and with the wonderful weather they were not quite prepared for the crowd, but once we got our food, it was fantastic.

From our table we could watch the lazy Snohomish river and all of the parachuters landing just on the other side of it. I'm really starting to like this little town.

Riding home I took a moment to take notice of how happy I am.