Oh, A New Toy!

Yes, yes, that would be the one, the only, the original Thighmaster. You may remember them from the early 90's. Maybe I need to jog your memory... Suzanne Somers. Got it now?

Well the kids found it collecting dust under my bed, (where this piece of excerise equipment has resided since the early 90's), and now think it's the greatest toy ever. What a fabulous catapult it makes!

I have vowed that this machine will now be used to slim my thighs. Therefore, I am squatting, instead of merely bending at the waist, every night as I pick it up to put it away!

Our new tricks

This summer has been a whirlwind of lessons for the kids.

Bro is taking golf for the first time and absolutely adores it.



Sis enrolled in a week long princess dance camp, which I believed she got nothing from until she performed this for us the other night.

Veggies Galore!

Our little garden has taken off. It has been producing so much that I am giving away produce left and right. (This photo is from June. The garden does not look nearly as neat now but it's fully functioning. Hey looks aren't everything!)

This is a photo of what we picked on Sunday...
1 Zucchini, 3 Cucumbers, an Onion, 2 Bell Peppers, a bunch of Tomatoes

On Monday we picked a mass of Tomatoes and 3 more Cucumbers

And this is what was picked on Tuesday...1 Large Zucchini, 3 Cucumbers, a bunch of tomatoes

I gave away another cucumber today, along with a giant zucchini.

I had no idea such a small space could produce so much but it has been glorious! Maybe we have the heat to thank for this...at least something good is coming from it. It was still 83 when we went to bed at 11:30 last night, the night before beheld a similar heatwave and tonight it continues. Not that I'm complaining...at least not too much!

Another One Bites the Dust

Deuce destroyed another swimming pool last week,
the second one this summer.
Check out the damage. It's rather impressive.

Did I mention how much I dislike this dog right now?

To the West side

We took a little trip over to Seattle last weekend. It started with playing on the beach. Well, this is as "beachy" as it gets in Seattle. Not exactly the white sand, blue water but the kids had a GREAT time. Bro jumped right in the water...for a minute until the temperature hit him. It was dang cold. Sis was disappointed by not swimming, "I want to swim but that's crazy water"! Yet both kids had a wonderful time in the sand.

The next day we took a trip up the Space Needle, as the kids have been begging to see it from the top for a while now. Bro thought it was the coolest. He spent about an hour trying out all the telescopes and chatting about the mountains. Sis kept asking when the real ride was going to start, apparently the 45 second elevator ride just didn't do it for her!
We also got a chance to stop at Snoqualime Falls on the way home. Super cool. I'd like to stop and spend more time there next time. You can actually walk down to the river and wade a bit but after all the walking we did in Seattle our legs (and backs from carrying kids on and off) were just not up to it.
It was so much fun seeing all these sights through the eyes of children. We arrived home late and totally beat. But what an unforgettable trip full of good times and smiles we now have to share.

Montana Trip

I'm finally posting photos from our trip. As you can see we packed a lot of fun into that week. When we got back I asked the kids what their favorite part of the trip was. Sis piped right up "riding in the front seat of Papa's truck" and Bro's response was along the same lines "riding in Papa's truck to go golfing". Looks like we didn't need to work so hard to have fun. It seems like the most vivid memories come from the simplest things.

Although, personally, I loved that float trip!

To end a wild weekend

Sis spent last night puking. She woke at 11 pm and went pretty much hourly until 4:30 am. Then she woke up happy and healthy at 8:30 this morning. I have no idea what that was, maybe the cherry on top of this crazy weekend?

An absolutely CRAZY day

...and not in a good way!

The day began with a trip to the ER for Sis. Last evening Sis went to sit on the floor by rolling back on her feet, depending on her right hand to catch and guide her to the ground. It didn't work out so well. Instead she ended up falling onto her hand and rolling back onto her arm. Loud, painful cries erupted.

After feeling her arm up and down and having her move it a little, I determined that nothing was broke and that she was just being melodramatic in her tired state. But all through dinner and bath she held that arm next to her body not using it at all. "My bones are bent," was what she kept telling us. When she woke this morning with her arm in the same state we decided x-rays would be necessary.

She had a 4 hour visit to the ER where after x-rays and lots of waiting the doc determined she had not fractured her arm but had Nursemaid's Elbow. Apparently this is a fairly common injury in young children (though I had never heard of it before). It usually occurs when a child's arm is jerked or when they fall while trying to hold something for support. The ligament in the elbow is not fully developed so it can easily become dislodged. After a painful procedure of putting the ligament back where it belongs, Sis was as good as new.

The ER visit ended just in time to rush to a birthday party Bro's teacher was putting on for her sons. It was held in her backyard which has a swimming pool with a small water slide. Bro was so excited about that slide he quickly climbed up it and was in the water over his head before he knew what hit him. He is just beginning to learn how to swim and he panicked causing him to sink under the water further. Then he stopped kicking. At which point hubbie jumped into the pool fully clothed to rescue him. Scary but he is just fine.

Unfortunately I had just handed my cell phone to hubbie to keep dry while I helped Sis into the pool. So my phone is apart and drying (hopefully) out as is hubbie's along with his glucometer. His insulin pump also went for the swim but seems to have escaped any damage. Oh well, it's just stuff and it's replacable.

So tonight I'm just happy to report that we are all alive and in one piece!

I need more hours in the day

and more energy to fill those hours.

With school getting out I thought I would have a chance to catch up but I feel further behind now. I feel like a taxi as I'm constantly running the kids to swimming, golf, gymnastics and playdates. One more week...then I'm sure I will be able to magically clean the house, weed the garden and catch up on the blog. Maybe I will finally post the photos from this weekend's camping trip.

Gotta go, the taxi is leaving for the pool.

Weekend Summary

Friday afternoon Sis and I went together to get our hair cut. I let them cut bangs into her hair. She loves it. I hate it. It's not about the way it looks, it looks cute enough. It's more about the nightmares I remember as a child attempting to grow bangs back out. I think I'll start stocking up on barrettes and headbands now!
I went to a banquet on Friday night and ended up sick as a dog later that night, in fact I spent most of the night on the bathroom floor. I'm not sure if it was food poisoning or just some random flu I picked up. Considering that Bro is down to 2 1/2 days of school left I am hoping that it was some sort of food poisoning yet it doesn't seem like any of the other ladies there caught it. So I spent yesterday in bed and hubbie did a great job running my errands and keeping the kids entertained.

I felt better today and decided that some fresh air and exercise would do us all some good. So we took a hike this afternoon on a trail we hadn't used before. The kids did great keeping up and especially enjoyed throwing rocks into the stream.

Just wanted to post these photos real quick. Like I said we are in Bro's last week of school and things are crazy busy around here. I can't wait for next week when summer will set in for us.