Summer Recap 1.0

We left T-town in great spirits...

But oh, how things did deteriorate.  We all felt how she looks
here, on that never ending car ride.

In mid June, over father's day weekend we went to Portland for the Disaster Relief Trials. The drive down there was a bear but once we arrived, Portland greeted us with open arms.  (Really the drive would have been fine if not for stopping in the wrong tiny town for a snack break.  The town we were led to via divine luck just so happened to be having a parade at the very moment that we pulled off the freeway.  Before we knew any better we were locked into that town for over an hour. UGH.) Once back on the road we all were ready for the big bridge and the welcome to Oregon sign.  Once over the bridge we headed straight to OMSI where we spent a lovely afternoon after that awful car ride.  We hit up the HUB brewery for dinner which was fantastic.  Matt had a great time doing the ride on sunday, while we ladies got ourselves lost trying to find the zoo. Not to worry, though we are very skilled at getting lost we are even better at eventually finding our way.  Once we made it there, we had a surprisingly uneventful and pleasant time at the Oregon Zoo.  

Moods improved when we got to OMSI.  Here Tula is
checking out somebody else's ride.

Fantastic Pizza dinner at the HUB brewery.

Food Truck breakfast before the zoo. Delish.

This may be the only time they stopped
moving.

Obviously Tula didn't stop moving
for long.

Hubs looking ever-so homeless after the Disaster Relief Trials.
To his credit, it was hot outside and he had just biked 100lbs of
cargo all over PDX. So, I guess there's that. 

Ya get it?

On our way home from a recent road trip, we made an emergency stop at a craft store.  Yes, it was an emergency.  Sanity was on the line.  We picked up 200 pipe cleaners and two tiny styrofoam parakeets from the clearance bin. This $5 purchase enabled us to drive from Yakima to Tacoma without anyone losing their mind.  They made birdcages and bird beds and bird blankets and all things bird related with the pipe cleaners and brainstormed good bird names for their new pets.  Tula was struggling with a name for her bird and in trying to help her I rattled off a few names...

Me: "George, Sophie, Roberta?"
Tula: "No, that's not it."
Gwen: "Very funny, Mom."  
Me: "What?"
Gwen: "Roberta?"
Me: "I don't get it."
Gwen: "Ra-bird-a. Gah, mom really."  
Tula: "Ra-BIRD-a! Ya get it?" Laughter on top of laughter. 
Gwen: Eye rolling and laughing in a car full of laughter.

I wasn't even trying, but man am I glad these kids get our jokes.

Bargain

I used to go to garage sales with my Grandma.  I remember her sorting through her giant leather purse full of tissues and lipstick, and finding her coin purse so that I could buy some useless toy or a ring or a book.  She always bought little stuffed animals for her dog to play with or old shoes that she would later seed with plants and place around her yard.  I remember she had an old pair of roller skates that had pretty little flowers climbing out of them.  Such an odd thing to do, but surprisingly endearing.  I still love garage sales.  Gwen has learned to love them, too.  But she's getting almost too good at them.

A couple days ago on our way home from grocery shopping, she spotted a Garage Sale sign.  She talked me into stopping, bargaining that she'd "just look really really fast!"  She has a good eye, that one, and she quickly spotted the jewelry, she loves jewelry.  Four rings in all, marked $10 and she asked the lady if she'd take $7. However, she then realized that she left her purse in the car (yes, she always takes her purse to the grocery store, lest she miss out on an awesome deal on Squinkies).  She looked at me in a bit of a panic and I said, "It's fine, you can pay me back." and I handed the lady $7.  She was super pleased with her purchase and as we made it back to our house I reminded her that she owed me $7.  She said, "For real? How about $6?"  

Ride

In preparation for my sister's annual visit out west with her kids, my mom and I discussed things we could all go do together.  I made note of the fact that my sister's kids had never been to the desert.  Mom and I discussed this a bit, finally deciding it's just too hot to go play in the Washington desertlands.  Meanwhile, Gwen and Tula were listening in and chattering amongst themselves.  Mom and I eventually clued into the fact that Tula was trying to tell us something.  Shouting from the back seat was Tula: "I want to ride the camels!!"  "What?" said Grandma. "I WANT to RIDE the CAMELS!!" Mom looked at me, confused.  "In the desert." was all I had to say.  A couple days later I took the girls to the zoo and let them ride the camel.

Swing and a Miss

Gwendo has been playing some coach pitch this year, and I must say she's been doing pretty well.  She really likes to play outfield, mostly because she gets to back-up her fellow players and throw the ball in.  I speculate that she may not like it that much once the kids start popping up fly balls in her direction, but we probably have a couple years before that's an issue.

Tonight at dinner we were discussing our weekend plans and this is the conversation that revealed itself...

Gwen: "So, I have a baseball game on Saturday?"
Me: "Yep. It's at 9."
Gwen: "Ok. (pause) *sigh*... I just hope I don't have to play catcher."
Me: "Why don't you want to play catcher?"
Gwen: Half whispered, with her teenager-esque eyebrows pointed at her dumb mom, "Because they have to wear that weird costume!"

I almost choked on my dinner.  Maybe baseball isn't her gig.

Refreshed

And in the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures.  For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.   -Kahlil Gibran

We spent last week at Pacific Beach.  A full week with giggling kids and visiting grown-ups.  We were very fortunate in that our only measurable rain was during sleeping hours and the clouds frequently parted revealing the blue sky that so rarely shows itself to the Washington Coast.  The house we rented was filled with thoughtful amenities, like a giant bucket full of rain boots of all sizes.  It was a week filled with sand, sunshine, friends and wine.  I returned home refreshed and very ready to send the kids back to school! 

Zzzzzz....

There may be some common traits in the fam... and I'm not just talking about the snoring...