Road Trippin'

D: The only thing I hate about my life is that when I try to go to sleep, I keep getting distracted!

C received $11 in his birthday card from Oma & Opa ~ 

C: I wonder if I'll get get $100 when I turn 100! 

Sure, buddy! But you might have to pay yourself.

C: Oh, I can make it. I'm young and flexible; I don't know about you!

J: It's just really hard to be a human.

(6/29) I worked from home today because Dad, C, and the teenager left for the Jalopy Journey.  They will be driving 1,000ish miles in the next 3 days, in $500 (or less) cars. The twins stayed home with me, and requested dinner with a playground tonight, so McDonald's it was.  I sat and read my book while they played.  It wasn't fancy, but sometimes, it just works.


(6/30) We hit the gym this morning, and then the twins and I picked up our car, which has been in the shop, and then went for lunch at Jersey Mike's. I painted the powder room after the twins went down this evening. I've only been meaning to do that for the last two years. Dad, C, and S ended up in Hoquiam tonight, instead of camping out because it was raining so hard. Bummer.


(7/1) The twins and I puttered around home today.  The twins played video games, and I touched up the paint in the powder room. I like it!  The twins begged for beta fish when we were at the pet store yesterday, so we trekked out to the store and picked out a couple.  We already had the fish bowls and gravel, so it was a small purchase. I've been missing our big tank, so this was a nice substitute.  G, C, & S got back this evening.  Everybody was tired and glad to be back!


(7/2) I worked from home today.  The teenager caught a ride home this morning, and the boys played a lot of screen time so they stayed (mostly) out of my hair. We sat around the fire this evening, and were going to have s'mores, but discovered we had no chocolate.  Ice cream cones it was!  Cass cracked me up trying to catch all the sparks.


(7/3) Work day for Dad & me, and the twins were with Amanda.  She took them bowling.  They bowl about as well as I do! J wanted to score at least one more point than D because he's 1" taller.  LOL!  My work closed early, which was a good thing, as I was home to pick up a melting-down D.  I put him in his room when we got home, and he crashed hard for two hours. Must have been exhausted!


(7/4) Happy Fourth!  Dad worked today, so we waited to do fireworks until he got home. I went to a Zumba party this morning, and brought J with me.  There were three different instructors which was really fun!  I dropped J off at home after and went for lunch and dinner fixins, so we were set to party this evening too.  We did fireworks until about 10:30p, and then came in.  I stayed up until it started to die down enough to potty the dogs. Moose is terrified of the noise, so we had the fans and music on inside.


(7/5) I had today off because yesterday was a holiday that fell on my regular day off.  We took the boys to a u-pick farm, and picked raspberries.  We also picked peas for salads too.  Sarah invited us swimming at McCollum's outdoor pool this afternoon, and while we were out, Dad made raspberry butter bars. Om nom nom!


(7/6) Work day for me, and Dad had the kiddos.  It was dead at work, but it allowed me to get all caught up before vacation next week!


(7/7) Dad and C left to go to the West Coast Subaru Show's 20th anniversary ~ Dad started the show way back when, and was thrilled it has kept going. The twins and I went to the gym once I finally coaxed D to get up (he is the blue lump in the picture above). We went over to Sarah's house this afternoon so the kiddos could play and/or swim. It's so nice to have them close by. We went out for teriyaki this evening, since I didn't feel much like cooking, and had lots of leftovers.

(7/8) Happy Birthday C!  11 today!  Dad and C headed home and were back a little after noon.  C caught up on lost video game time, and I made us dessert of lemon brownies. We went out to Red Robin tonight for birthday dinner, and hit the park this evening to run some of it off.


(7/9) The boys video gamed the morning away, and I hit the gym.  C went to a friend's house this afternoon, and the twins chose the lake as their destination for the day.  I ended up chatting with a mom of four there, while the twinsies played and played with her kiddos.  Lovely day for it!


(7/10) I blew it today. I wrote down D's appointment time for 10a, instead of 11, so we were an hour early.  I took him to McDonald's for some play time, but he was bored because there weren't any other kids there.  Sorry, dude!  He wanted to bring the whole fam back to McD's for lunch.  Yeaaaah, no.  I made the kiddos lunch later, and we all did our own thing, and had a chill afternoon. Nanan came this evening and took C to see Solo for his birthday treat.  They seemed to enjoy it!


(7/11) After spilling the last of the coffee all over the floor, I had to make an emergency run out to the stand with Sarah. Had to. Once properly caffeinated, I threw all our stuff in the car and we headed out to Grandma & Granddad's for the next few days.  We spent the day hanging out, and took a walk down to the marina after dinner.  The boys used a small dip net that we found at the store, and one of the nearby boaters lent us another with a long handle.  The boys were so excited!  They caught tiny fishies and jellies ("jelly blobs"), and D poked as many anemones as he could reach. We wandered back home around bedtime, and sugared up the boys with dessert, resulting in nobody going to bed at a reasonable time.  Oh well; we're on vacation.


(7/12) Grandma and I went for a hike this morning. We saw a few deer, and a bunch of frogs. Once we got back, we fixed up some breakfast for the boys, and got set up to make J's pick for cooking this go-round.  He chose mini cherry pies ~ super easy, and pretty darn tasty!  We left the pies to cool, and piled in the car to head to Fort Worden. We visited the Marine Science Center, then the Orca Project, and then broke out a picnic lunch.  After eating, we walked down to the beach, where the water was perfectly calm, and just right for swimming. We headed home with tired and wet kiddos.  Grandma & Granddad took D out to the marina to paddle around the marina in the kayak after dinner tonight, and he again closed up all the anemones that he could reach.


(7/13) Grandma and I got in a quick walk out to the marina this morning before she and Granddad took C out whale watching.  Granddad got some awesome photos!  The twins and I bummed around for a bit, and then headed to Fort Flagler.  The tide was waaaay out, and it was fun to check out the tide pools. We stayed for a few hours, and headed back once we'd had enough sun.  Once everybody got back home, we had nachos for dinner, and sat out back enjoying the evening.  We caught a ferry home today. We had a great time, but it was good to be home!


(7/14) Sarah and I walked to Zumba and back this morning.  This afternoon, we're being invaded by a bunch of boys to officially celebrate C's birthday.  Wish us luck!

Summer Feels

D took extra care to add Dad's "pokies"

D: The sun is made up of a bunch of gasses.
J: Like Arco, right Mom?

C is singing "Makin' my way downtown, runnin' fast..." while Xboxing.

Cheese!

Sissy did his makeup 💕

J: You really should marry me, Mom.
Me: Why's that?
J: Cuz of the love that's inside of my heart.

Melt.

Radio: Boop, and the boop, and another thing, BOOOP!
Kids: LANGUAGE!
I switch stations.
Radio: Happy Father's Day, Jackass!
C: Even more language!

Me (on the way to Amanda's): Is this starting to feel familiar? 

J: Yeah. My cheeks feel familiar! The inside part is feeling familiar.

D: Why are you wearing those clothes? Oh, treadnill?
Me: Yeah.
D: Do your work people give you some time to get some wiggles out on the treadnill?

C: It's such a dry heat.

Me: Better than it being humid and sweaty!

C: I want it to be sweaty out!
Me: BLEH!

D: S, next time you come, you need to bring ALL your makeup!
S: Will do!

D asked me today if I brought my phone to his appointment so I could make deals. I wonder what he thinks I do... he also thinks I'll continue working at his school on Wednesdays. Yeah, no. I'm on vacation too, bub!

J: I love you so much, Mom! Don't ever forget how much!
Me: I won't ever forget.
J: Even if you're dead?
Me: I won't be thinking anything if I'm dead.
J: Yeah, cuz we'll last longer than you. We're shorter.

(6/15) Work day for me, and Dad had the kiddos today. Dad took the boys to Donuts with Dad at their school this morning.  I see D wore most of his, as usual.  After I got home today, the boys wanted to ride bikes. J requested that his training wheels be removed, and our neighbor came by to "coach" him on how to balance.  Now every time, before he gets on, he stands on one foot, and puts his arms out to practice.


(6/16) Sarah and I walked early this morning.  We celebrated Father's Day with Dad today because he'll be working tomorrow. C made breakfast for Dad in bed today all on his own.  The twins were supposed to help, but C said they got distracted and complained that they ran off.  Ha! I may have muttered something about pots and kettles. We grabbed the teenager this afternoon and went out to B-Dubs for an early dinner.  We ended up taking the teen home afterwards. It's been a bit since we'd seen her, and it was lovely to catch up!


(6/17) Happy Father's Day! The boys and I got on a ferry this morning to go over to Granddad's and spend the day at the beach.  We went to Fort Flagler and had a blast.  It was a beautiful day, and it was so great to get the cousins together for some fun. Back at home, Dad had an eventful start to his work day.  The fire alarms went off, and his building had to be evacuated.  Thankfully, it was just a little thing (equipment fan burned out), and was easily remedied.  But I told him to come hop a boat and join us if he was cut loose today.  Aw, well.


(6/18) Work day for Dad & me.  D was a full-on disaster this afternoon, and the boys and I ended up staying at school well past the dismissal bell picking up the pieces.  Out with a bang, that one... Sigh. One more day.

(6/19) Work day for us parentals, and the last day of school for the boys!  They had a half day of school and Nanan took them out to Dairy Queen to celebrate.


(6/20) Huzzah!  First day of summer vacay!  I went walking and coffeeing with Sarah this morning while the boys hung out at home. After lunch, we trekked down to the lake.  Love, love, love summer!


(6/21) Work day for me, and Dad had the boys. C went over to a friend's house to hang for the day, and I picked him up after work.


(6/22) Work day for me, and Dad had the kiddos.  I had a dentist appointment this morning, so got to sleep in, and go in late.  Dad took the boys up the Mountain Loop Hwy today, and they stopped at Zeke's for lunch.  Yum!  He made us steak and artichokes for dinner tonight. We had to laugh that maybe chokes were not the best food for the twinsies with front teeth still growing in.


(6/23) Sarah & I walked to & from Zumba this morning, and coffee'd on the way home.  Dad and I went for a Groupon date day this afternoon. We went for sushi, and then to a distillery in Woodinville (Schnapsleiche Spirits).  We then went a few doors down to a winery we hadn't tried before (Gard Vintners), and tasted there. And finally hit one more distillery (Pacific Distillery) on the way home. Woodinville is a dangerous place. Once we got home, Sarah invited the boys to come over to swim.  We were just climbing into the car to head to the lake, but a pool all to ourselves? Uhm, yes! 


(6/24) Nanan came over this afternoon, and we took her and all the puppers out to our dog beach.  The boys went swimming, and the dogs seemed to have a good time too.  Gorgeous day today!


(6/25) Work day for Dad & me, and the boys had a lazy day at home.  It was pretty chilly today, so I didn't mind them loafing about most of the day.  I did kick us all outside this afternoon though.  Because we all needed it.


(6/26) Work day for Dad & me, and the twins went to Amanda's. They got to go play at Forest Park all day, and it sure sounded like they had fun!  My office had a World Cup viewing party, and one of my coworkers brought in a feast of homemade Russian dishes. We all sampled and chatted about our ignorance of soccer, but it was still very fun!  Our building had a blood drive in honor of a woman that had passed too soon from cancer.  I was due to donate, so happily gave today.


(6/27) Ahh... I love summer!  I left the boys gaming and walked to and from Zumba with Sarah, stopping for coffee along the way.  We went to her house for a pool party this afternoon.  It wasn't the warmest out (64°F & overcast), and I actually popped home to grab a sweatshirt. The kiddos had a great time playing in the pool and on the slip-n-slide.


(6/28) Work day for me, and Dad has the kiddos.  The teenager is coming down for a road trip tomorrow with Dad & C.  The twinadoes and I will find something to do this weekend too, I'm sure.