How is August almost done??

It doesn't seem possible that September is knocking on the door! We've had lots going on since my last post (sorry there was such a lull!); read on...

We spent a long weekend visiting our family in Kennewick, which was a lot of fun. We relaxed (hurray!) and enjoyed the slower pace of country life. Eric and his brother spent a good chunk of the weekend building a pulley system to hoist a big rafting frame up to the garage ceiling. All seemed to be going well until it came crashing down once the guys thought the project was done (oops); fortunately, no one was hurt! Annika had a great time doing laps in their raft while it was parked in the driveway. It basically doubled as a bouncy house for her; it was great! She also learned how to feed the horse carrots; she renamed the horse "Carl" (his name is Jarl).

Since my last blog post, I also started a new job as a writer/editor for a company that makes hand-held ultrasound equipment. I've put in just over a week there and really enjoy it. I've primarily focused on editing the content for their new website that will launch very shortly. I do have a bit of a drive, but I go the opposite way of rush hour traffic, so it isn't too bad.

Annika's Birthday Party

We had Annika's birthday party on the 1st and it was a roaring success. The weather was gorgeous, but we stayed in the shade thanks to my brother bringing his tent thingy. We had a very nice turn out and enjoyed a BBQ lunch. Annika woke up from her nap just as the guests arrived and was in a great mood for the festivities.

Annika had a wonderful time socializing with everyone and greatly enjoyed opening her presents. I helped her with the first one and once she got the idea, paper and ribbon went flying!

Thank you to everyone who participated in our little girl's celebration!

The birthday girl


Annika's cake


Feeding cake to her new doll


Opening presents


Reading her new Mother Goose book with Mommy


Playing with her new sidewalk chalk


Showing off some of her new dress up garb

P-day +1

Tomorrow is Annika's birthday party. It is 11 PM and I just finished cleaning the kitchen after my whirlwind cake decorating event. For some reason, I thought it would be a good idea to have 2 cakes instead of one larger cake. DUH! I didn't think about the fact that it would also mean twice the decorating. On top of that, I spent a good chunk of today cleaning in preparation for our party guests. I basically un-did the kitchen efforts by decorating the cakes. Powdered sugar and frosting were everywhere by the time I was done. Didn't think that one through. If I was smart, I wouldn't have touched the kitchen until after the cakes were done. OH well!

It was hot again today, but nothing like Wednesday's record-setting 104 degrees. I think we topped out right around 90. It amazes me that 90 seems cool now and the mid 80s seems down right mild. The heat has obviously melted my internal sensors a bit!

Annika is sleeping soundly. I'm going to follow her lead as soon as I brush my teeth, take out my contacts, wash my face, take my vitamins, and kick Eric and Robert off of the X-box in our room!

Yesterday was a real high

My brother, Troy, has a co-worker who moonlights as a pilot for Kenmore Air. Hearing that our nephew, Robert, is in town, Ken (Troy's co-worker) offered to take us up for a one-hour sightseeing flight. Who could refuse such an offer?? We had a FANTASTIC time. We took off from the north end of Lake Washington on one of the float planes. We toured over UW, downtown Seattle and the stadiums, Bellevue, went right over Troy and Staci's house and could see their car in the driveway, Snoqualmie Falls, and then over some of the local farm lands. It was incredible. The weather couldn't have been more ideal. Ken said it was 96 degrees at 1800 feet! (YUP - yesterday was another freakishly hot day in Seattle!)

Here are a few pictures from our adventure. Enjoy!

Ian, Robert, and Ken (our pilot)


Ian, Robert, Troy getting ready to take off


Huskie Stadium


Snoqualmie Falls

Downtown Seattle

Co-pilot Robert

Ian taking in the views

Lake Union, Downtown Seattle, Elliot Bay

It's HOT!

We Seattleites aren't exactly used to hot weather. Rain? Yes! We can handle that like nobody's business. The forecasters are predicting almost a steady week of 80-90+ degree weather. That's hot for around here. We have fans galore buzzing throughout the house and Annika's attire currently consists of a diaper... OK, she wore her ladybug rain coat earlier today, but that was her own doing and not something her parents recommended or advised. Our friends Dave and Nicola loaned their portable A/C to us today, which enables Eric to retain some sense of comfort. Our TV room is now comfy and cool. Ahhhh!! I promised Annika that I'd clean out her inflatable pool again so she can go "swimming" tomorrow.... I might just take her to the Greenlake wading pool. We'll see.

Today, I played with our new cherry pitter. That thing is a kick to play with. I pitted a container of cherries from Costco and now have them on a cookie sheet in our freezer. I see cherry jam in our future with those bad boys.

It seems odd that I'm knitting wool slippers for Eric, but his old ones (pair #2) gave up the ghost and are beyond needing to be replaced. It is ridiculously hot and I'm knitting with double strands of wool yarn. What's wrong with that picture?!?!?! Do I love my husband or what?!?!

July is FLYING by!!!

I can't believe July is zipping by so darned quickly!! We've been keeping quite busy as of late.


Annika and I have become involved in the play group that meets at our library on Wednesday mornings. The kids play for about 45 minutes and then the librarian leads a few songs and then reads a story to the kids. We really enjoy our time there and I love the fact we can walk to/from the library so easily.


We've also taken to spending time at our local parks and beaches, not to mention the Greenlake wading pool. Annika loves to throw rocks while we're at the beach and is quite interested in watching all of the other kids play and splash while at the wading pool.







Eric's sister stayed with us for a few days while she was in Seattle for a vet tech conference. She was here for 4 days, but we hardly saw her because of the conference. Talk about a low-maintenance guest!


Speaking of Eric's side of the family, Annika and I had a great time visiting Eric's mom (aka Bestemor, which is the Norwegian word for "grandmother") on Whidbey island a few weeks ago. We had lunch with Bestemor's lunch bunch and got to meet an artist who is mentoring her in water colors. Eric's mom is a very talented artist and I am incredibly impressed with her paintings!! While on Whidbey, we had a great time looking for fiddler crabs under all of the rocks. Annika was curious, but not enough to actually touch the crabs.... she left that up to Bestemor and me.





While I'm writing about family, our nephew Robert is currently visiting us. We have a tradition that we fly my sister's kids up to Seattle for their 13th birthday present. Robert arrived on Tuesday and, thus far, has had lunch on the Kirkland waterfront, visited the original Costco (he was so impressed with this that he texted 4 people during our shopping trip), and went to a beach on Lake Washington. He's going camping with my brother's family this weekend and will spend time with them until next Wednesday, when we'll have a big family outing to the Mariner's game. We were a bit surprised by the cold weather at the lake today; it's a good thing I had some blankets in the car (see the picture below of Kat bundled up!)!! A family near us had a b-day party and offered our kids the leftover cupcakes; Ian and Annika gladly accepted the offer! Robert is a real champ at playing with his little cousins and is an easy guest to have around; we're going to miss him when he returns to California.




Last but DEFINITELY not least, Annika and I had a girls' night out and went to a performance by The Wiggles. We had a marvelous time. The guys didn't fail to entertain. Annika was basically motionless the first half of the show. Around the halfway point, Murray came out of stage; Annika popped up, pointed, and screamed "MURRAY!!!!" She danced, clapped, and stared like the true Wiggles fan that she is.



I gueses that about wraps up things from around here. Until next time!

Today's Random Musings

I got a non-cavity filled today. I think my dentist is trying her best to ward off the recession. She said that I have deep grooves in my molars (true) and one was starting to stain and look like it would be a good home for a cavity, so let's get it before it becomes a problem. OK, on some levels that makes sense, but filling a non-cavity? Odd. This morning, they numbed me up and began drilling the non-cavity to get out any questionable gunk and make room for the filling. About 3 seconds into the drilling, I realized that I could feel the drilling. Not good. After about another 3 seconds, I blurt out, "OW! Am I supposed to feel that?" (Mind you, I had a dental dam in my mouth, so it came our more like, "OWB! Amb I subbobsed to phuel at???" My dentist confirmed that, in fact, I wasn't, so she stopped (gratefully) and added some more of her magical numbing potion. MUCH better!

I got a TON done today, which is a good feeling. My to-do list is still very much in existance, but it is shorter. I even got a few non-expected things done, like buy some t-shirts from TJ Maxx and take my brother's dog to the vet because he was breathing weird and it kind of freaked me out. (He's fine, by the way!)

A few minutes ago, I put our old coffee table out on the corner with a sign that reads "FREE" taped to it. I've tried to give it away on Craigslist, but both people who said they'd pick it up no-showed (slackers!). So, now I'm trying the trailer park "how to get rid of my crap" method. I'm quite curious to see how long it takes for someone to adopt it. I really hope that doesn't count as littering!

Today is our new crock pot's maiden voyage. I made more. When I was a kid, it was a favorite family joke to ask for more more. (Yes, we were that lame ... does this really surprise you??) I've never made more for my family and hope it is a hit. I'll know in about an hour. Not sure what to serve as a side dish, though. I'll have to sift through the fridge and see what veggies jump out at me.

It got surprisingly warm today. I feel a little guilty sending Annika to day care in overalls. She's now happily munching on "nummies" (aka M&Ms) in a t-shirt and diaper, so I know she's cool now. I'm still in jeans and feel a bit too warm. Off to swap out the longs for a pair of shorts.