Blackberries on Bainbridge

Linus starts preschool next week.  Now that we are back from vacation, I feel a need to cram in every last little bit of fun and cross a few things off my summer to do list.  Growing up, the week of the August 20s meant two things, my Aunt Mary Fran's birthday and the requisite trip to Bainbridge Island to pick blackberries.  I was eager to share the prickly experience with my children.

Dressed in our farmer best, jeans and long sleeved shirts, the kids and I took the ferry over to Bainbridge Island. Linus wore his cowboy hat, just like a real farmer, although I don't think most farmers' hats have a sheriff sticker on them...

I navigated my way across Bainbridge Island by feel to my Aunt Eileen's house.  I haven't driven on the island regularly in 12 years and never really knew street names to begin with.  I got a little confused by all the new housing developments by Fort Ward.  It used to be wetlands and somewhat paved roads, but I managed to eventually find my aunt and uncle's house.  I love it there.  It very old school island with lots of yard, garden, an enormous gnome collection, tons of blackberries.  The whole property just has a great vibe.

After some coffee, my aunt, Eileen, cousin, Emily, the kids, and I headed out across the street to the massive amounts of blackberry bushes.

Eileen preferred to eat the blackberries she picked.

She found it more effective to steal from my bucket and put them in her own.

In addition to devouring massive amounts of blackberries, Eileen kept adding gravel to the buckets.  I am hoping she didn't swallow too many rocks.  Linus discovered that if you jump with an open bucket of blackberries, the berries will scatter all over the ground.  Luckily, he solved his own problem and just picked some more.

Great Grand Eileen (as Linus calls her) and Emily were kind enough to give us the blackberries they picked along side us.  My uncle, Duane, meanwhile picked a large bucket of strawberries from their garden for us.  Done berry picking, we headed to the backyard to eat lunch.  Not surprisingly, Eileen was too full from berries to eat much.

farmer lunch break (thanks Linus for the photo)

playing on the swing set with Uncle Duane (head not shown)

More than picking blackberries, the kids loved playing at my aunt and uncles' house.  There was a real tractor to ride, a dog to play with, a swing set with an incredibly fast slide to play on, a horse made of tires, and a sand box to dig in.  By the time we were ready to leave, those kids were dirty. I enjoyed the adult conversation.   

My aunt is a very talented lady and gifted wood worker.  I am in awe of her abilities, especially since I can't use a screw driver and can barely wield a hammer.  As a parting gift, she loaned the kids two horses she had made Emily when she was young.  The kids are pretty excited.

The kids played hard today and were both asleep by 7:15 pm. The berries are washed.  I put some in the freezer.  I plan to make good use of my mini pie maker.  My aunt also gifted me with a large zucchini.  It will be made into muffins tomorrow.  

I had so much fun.  After a day on Bainbridge with my family, my heart is singing.  Nothing makes me happier than simple days and sharing the best parts of my childhood with my kids.

San Diego

We just got back from a week in San Diego.  This post will serve as a hi-tech old-fashioned slide show of our trip.  So go ahead and pretend you are sitting in our house, a large sheet has been hung, and we are just getting the projector going....I'll warn you, the teacher in my never goes away so this will also read like a travel guide.

When we go on vacation, Dave and I like to go some place warm, ideally with a beach.  After telling Linus we weren't "those people" who go to Hawaii every year and our plan to rent a beach house on the Washington coast fell through, we thought San Diego sounded like the perfect solution.

Using VRBO.com, I found a great condo in Mission Beach across the street from the beach.

The view from our condo.  The best part of waking up and going to bed every day.

The condo was a few minutes from SeaWorld so we were treated to a fireworks show every night.  We were in a more residential area, about a half mile from the more touristy strip.  It was a pretty great condo.  It was totally set up for toddlers, had lots of books, movies, and games, a washer/dryer, and pool.  It was not only across the street from the beach, but a playground as well.  The downside--no A/C, only fans.  It probably wouldn't have been a big deal, but San Diego was experiencing an unusual wave of humidity.  We spent a lot of time with limited clothing.

The kids, especially Eileen, battled heat rash.  We tried to keep them shirtless as much as possible.

Day 1
The trip down wasn't bad, but I would give a major thumbs down to Dollar Rent a Car.  I don't think I will ever willing use them again.  We had a couple hours to kill before we could check in to the condo, so we went to Old Town.  Old Town is very touristy and reminiscent of Sedona.  There was a really great artisan fair going on that day and we found ourselves having to use restraint not to buy everything.  We came away with two t-shirts, a print, and a glow in the dark spider bracelet.  I'd also like to give a shout out to the staff of Cold Stone.  We didn't have enough cash and they gave us the ice cream anyway.  Of course we went back later, thanked them again, and left a massive tip.

Days 2 and 7  San Diego Zoo
The San Diego Zoo is HUGE.  Despite spending two days there, we didn't come close to seeing everything.  It's also built in a canyon, so the hills are tremendous.  There are moving walkways in a few parts, but it was still a serious hike around the zoo.  I wouldn't be surprised if they forgot about certain animals.  We would find exhibits we had somehow missed walking back through.  The humidity was hard and we found ourselves willing spending $10 for a lemonade (it did have free refills).  The pandas were cool.  Linus is convinced he saw a baby panda (he didn't, it was behind the scenes with its mom).

Linus was very excited about the bug zoo.  The reptile walk was also a big hit.  I saw a large bird eating tarantula and ran out of the building.

baby cheetah stalking its prey

baby cheetah is ready to enjoy the kill

play area by the elephants.  We spent a lot of time there because it was shady and had a place to sit.

photo by Linus

hitching a ride on a giant tortoise

After going to the San Diego Zoo, Linus decided he was going to be a safari guide.  Good thing I brought a button shirt to wear!  He begged us to buy him an official safari outfit and pith helmet at the gift shop.

The zoo also has a safari park further away but we decided to leave that for a future trip. The zoo is inside Balboa Park which has tons of museums.  With only a week in San Diego, we only had time to drive through Balboa Park.

Day 3  La Jolla

This was probably Dave's and my favorite day.  We drove up to La Jolla Cove, about 15 minutes away.  We saw lots of sea lions and pelicans.  Dave and Linus went snorkeling. Linus LOVES snorkeling.  The swim lessons have really paid off and given him more confidence in the water. We had him wear water wings while snorkeling to just make it a little easier to stay afloat while snorkeling. The kids and I played on the beach.

Linus snorkeling.

After lunch in town, we were getting ready to leave the restaurant when we noticed Eileen had a blow out.  It was bad.  Very bad.  We ended up hurrying back to the car.  As we walked, poop dropped out of Eileen's shorts and onto the sidewalk. It smelled like horse manure.  I pray nobody wrote down our license plate number.  We wiped her down in front of a lawyer's office (insert joke here).

Days 4 and 6  LEGOLAND!

I was so excited for Legoland that I could barely sleep the night before.  It's not quite as magical as Disneyland and it is definitely pales in comparison restaurant-wise.  Nonetheless, we had a great time.  We all loved the water park.  We did a full day the first day.  The second day was actually better because we had a better sense of the park.  Linus loved roller coasters and water slides.  He went on almost every ride that he was tall enough.  I think he recently had a growth spurt because Dave and I were both surprised that he made it on ride requiring you to be 40 inches.  Eileen was too short for most rides, but she was tall enough for this one airplane ride and rode it more than ten times.

helicopter ride

Eileen liked riding the boat at Fairy Brook.

She takes boating and fairy tales seriously.

Eileen passed out in the stroller both days at Legoland which was great.  We sent Linus on rides she would want to go on but was too short while she slept.  She never knew.

fraternizing with another tourist

meeting a lego guy

unimpressed by the Diving Beetle ride

Eileen climbed this cargo net with no help.

Star Wars Miniland is pretty darn cool even if you hate Episodes 1-3.  Don't worry, there is no Jar Jar Binks.

Little bit of love on the Duploland train.

Being in Legoland, we felt obligated to buy Legos.  Eileen got a duplo set to add to our collection (no pink legos here).  Linus got his first little Legos, Batman and the Joker. 

If you want to go to Legoland, here's what you should know:

• it's not as much fun if you are under 34 inches.  Lots of rides require you to be 36 inches, some even taller.  
• lines are much shorter after 5 pm
• they have lego play areas for kids to play with while parents wait in line
• one kid kit from a restaurant/food stand will feed two kids although you might add an extra drink.
• there are lots of opportunities to get wet even if you don't go to the water park.  We found it way easier the second day when we just came with our bathing suits already on.  There are large family dryers.
• they allow a parent swap on rides, ie. I could go on a ride with Linus, and then Dave could go on the same ride without waiting in line again. Pretty sweet.
• the sweet spot for kids going to Legoland is probaby ages 4-9.

Day 5 

I planned day 5 to be a rest day, secretly hoping we might make it to SeaWorld.  Eileen puked all over herself in the car.  It was a day of rest, vomiting, heat rash, and legos.

I love being on the beach with my family.  We all got really into road building. Our condo provided beach toys, beach blankets, umbrella, kick boards, and chairs.  We were set.

Eating in San Diego

Eating in San Diego was sometimes a little tricky.  By staying in a condo, we saved a lot of money making our own food.  Of course, we had to go to a few restaurants.  It was vacation after all.  It was tricky because Linus hates Mexican food and it proliferates throughout San Diego.  

A few of our favorite places were: Fred's Mexican Cafe (I LOVED their San Diego salad), Porkyland (cheap, delicious, large portion Mexican food), Mission Coffee Cup in La Jolla, and Mission in Mission Bay.  I really enjoyed the San Diego influence on food--black beans, brown rice, avocado, steamed broccoli.  It was soooooo good.  We went out to The Counter one night even though it was a bit of a drive.  I still mourn the loss of the Ballard location.  It was worth driving to Del Mar.

Eileen

Eileen did great on the trip.  She really went with the flow despite having us mess with naps.  She was a real trooper despite having a horrible heat rash the entire time.  Even puking and crazy poop didn't seem to shake her too much.  Her vocabulary exploded while we were there. Not knowing local radio stations, we didn't bother to turn on the radio in the car.  Eileen used the opportunity to provide the music.  Her top 5 songs:  Hush Hush Mommy Charlotte (her take on the old song, hush hush sweet charlotte), Twinkle Twinkle, Lullaby and Goodnight, Butterfly Driving a Truck, and Sailor Nonsense.

Final Thoughts

It was a fun trip and really relaxing. Linus threw a few tantrums, but it was significantly less than last year's trip to Hawaii.  Is this what happens as you near age four?  I can no longer go on vacation without the assistance of Google maps on my smartphone.  I like San Diego, but I don't think I want to live there.  I would miss the evergreen trees and mountains.  Linus didn't want to leave, but seems relieved to be home.  I'm glad we were fortunate enough to be able to go on vacation.  I feel renewed and ready to greet fall.  If you're wondering where all the cute family shots are, they just didn't happen.  Instead, we did find the time to have some fun in the photobooth at the San Diego Zoo. I think they turned out pretty well :)

From the Mouths of Babes in July

Linus:  When is Jesus going to come back? I keep waiting for him every day and he never comes.

Eileen:  I love my brother.

Eileen: Eileen. Ride. Pony.

While eating pomegranate seeds....
Linus:  I'm eating (something indecipherable).
Dave: You're eating what?
Linus: Pieces of a broken heart.

While playing soccer with Uncle Tim and bragging about how good he is...
Linus: My skills are mad at you!  (We think Linus meant he had mad skills)

Mercury in Retrograde

Recently life has been one big stressball.  From home break-ins to car accidents to other stuff, I am ready to throw in the towel.  I am so anxious at this point that my stomach is in knots.

I wrote about the break-in this past weekend in my last post.  I called a guy, Eric, who did some work on our house a few years ago.  He came out Wednesday afternoon, fixed it in 45 minutes, and then said, "Merry Christmas, no charge."  I thought life was looking up and felt grateful for the goodness of humanity.  I was singing a different tune one hour later.

Wednesday night after dinner I decided to take the kids over to the Ballard Commons Spray Park.  It was 78 degrees and Dave was working late.  I loaded the kids in the car and proceeded down the street.  As I neared the end of the block, a white sedan pulled onto the street.  Seeing me, he pulled to the side so I could continue through.  Right as I was moving forward two cars of teenage boys came rearing around the corner, cut in front of the car that was pulled a little to the side and tried to drive through.  I attempted to move out of the way and in the process hit a parked car.  The boys stopped, called me a few names, laughed, said, "Sorry, we tried to leave you some room," and then drove off.  Luckily, two witnesses were there, including the owner of the car I hit.  No one was hurt and I barely did any damage to the other car.  Not so lucky was my car, I dented and scraped the side of my car and tore off half the bumper.  Awesome.

Thursday.  Driving back from swim lessons (we were able to remount the bumper), a semi drove by me on the freeway.  My bumper fell back off and started dragging on the ground.  I pulled to the side of the freeway.  I tried calling Dave.  No answer.  I call my insurance company, they say call 911.  911 puts me in touch with the highway patrol who says they'll send an incident response vehicle.  Call insurance company back.  They say I don't have towing coverage, can't help me call a tow but can give me some numbers.  At this point, my cell phone decides to de-activate itself.  I burst into tears.  Linus from the backseat tries to comfort me.  "It's okay Mommy.  Take a deep breath.  It will help.  Just take a deep breath.  You'll feel better.  It's going to be okay."  A few deep breaths later, my cell phone decides to turn back on, I google towing companies.  The first doesn't answer, the second says they'll send a tow in 3 minutes.  At this point, incident response shows up and he is really nice.  He tells me to cancel the tow. He's got some duct tape and thinks it'll hold.  Ten minutes later I'm back on the road and headed home, where my parents are waiting because I had a hair appointment and they were going to babysit.  Luckily, the hair people didn't charge me for the last minute cancellation and let me reschedule.

The car is going to cost $5200 to fix.  The witnesses back up my story so we just have to pay a deductible.  The insurance companies are considering it a case of phantom driver.  The body shop has to order parts (5 working days) and then it will take 12 business days to fix.  In the meantime, my swagger wagon has a little more swagger as a result of the large amounts of duct tape holding it together.

There are other stressors going on in my life right now.  As someone who likes to be in control, I don't do well fuctioning in the unknown.  My older sister told me that Mercury is in retrograde right now.  I don't follow astrology, but decided to look it up. Here's what astrologyzone.com had to say:

What happens when Mercury retrogrades? You miss appointments, your computer equipment crashes, checks get lost, you find the car you just purchased during Mercury retrograde is a lemon. (Or, you hate your haircut, the lamp you bought shorts out, your sister hates her birthday gift.) There will be countless delays, cancellations and postponements--but know these will benefit you in the long run. Don't fight them, although your frustration level and feeling of restlessness will be hard to cope with at times.

All machinery and things with moving parts--such as computers, VCRs, camera equipment, garbage disposals, and so forth, will reveal any weak links now. It is critical that you back up your data system and be more careful and vigilant than ever. Projects will demand more time and money than anticipated this month.

In matters of the heart, if your boyfriend or girlfriend breaks up with you or says something hurtful, take a wait-and-see attitude. Since Mercury rules speech, they may not mean what you think they are saying now. Let them have some space, and wait to see if they mean in October what they said in September.

When traveling, leave early and allow for extra travel time. Have all bags double-taped closed, count your belongings, double-check addresses and reconfirm appointments. Things get lost when Mercury messes us up. Take NOTHING for granted. The sector of your chart that Mercury happens to be skating through will be effected most dramatically, so check your forecast!

Why would the Universe give us Mercury retrograde? Because to move forward it is sometimes necessary to backtrack and reconfigure our paths in life. It is important to reconsider, repair, reflect, and reconnect. Mercury forces us to slow down and fix what's broken, and in so doing, rethink things. It also gives us time to get to projects we have put on the back-burner. 

Yup.  That sounds about right.  Life is CRAZY right now.  I just need a break.  We are taking a vacation to San Diego soon.  Hopefully, Mercury will be out of retrograde by then.  In the meantime, here is a brief note to the Universe.

Dear Universe,

      Thank you helping me to reconsider, repair, reflect, and reconnect.  I recognize the benefit that this can bring from time to time and I am trying to listen to what you are telling me.  However, I would appreciate you giving some extra special attention to someone else.  I am anxious to move forward with my life path and would greatly appreciate your cooperation in this matter.  Thank you.

Sincerely,

Charlotte

Family Genetics in Play

Those who knew me when I was small may recall I had a horrible speech impediment.  I could not pronounce my R's, S's, L's, or Th's.  I was incoherent.  Six years of speech therapy and you would never know unless you are with me and I am under the influence.  My speech problems were due to recurrent ear infections.
I knew there was a chance that one of my children would inherit compromised Eustachian tubes.  Dave's ears were fine as a kid, but unfortunately his siblings and parents were not so lucky.  My mother-in-law made sure to inform me about what I was getting myself into by marrying Dave.  So far two cousins have gotten tubes. In perhaps a strange case of sibling rivalry and trying to prove she could handle surgery better than her brother, Eileen had surgery this morning to get ear tubes.

Eileen went to the doctor seven times for ear infections between Christmas and mid-June.  The June ear infection also turned up an allergy to amoxicillin.  Fun times.  Tell tales signs of ear infection for Eileen include waking up screaming during nap multiple times, muffled crying during nighttime sleep, and putting things in her ears.

I wasn't too worried about Eileen getting tubes.  I know they have come a long way since the early 1980s.  The kids' ENT told me that most kids only get tubes once and that my two times are a rare exception.  I feel special.  Our ENT is definitely a surgeon--not warm and fuzzy and likes to cut.  I'm pretty sure that if I told her I had a cough, she would offer to take out my lung next week.  With both Linus and Eileen, they had surgery scheduled for than less than two weeks after their initial consults.  In a way I guess it's nice we don't ever seem to do a wait and see....

Surgery was a breeze.  Eileen and I arrived at the day surgery center at 7 am.  Linus spent the night at Uncle Tim's house. 

Waiting to be taken into the operating room.

 I got to go in with Eileen.  She didn't shed a single tear or fuss when I put her on the table.  I sang her "Eileen Goodnight" (Goodnight Irene with name changed) until she fell asleep.  The anesthesiologist complimented me on my singing.  Ten minutes later she was out of surgery.  Fourteen minutes later I was being taken back to recovery to get her.

Watching Linus come out of anesthesia after tonsils and adenoids was hard.  He was so miserable and it took a long time for him to wake up completely.  The nurses told me that they turned on the tv in the recovery room and there was a McDonalds commercial. As soon as Eileen saw the coffee cup on the tv she said, "Coffee. Mama."  Again, there were no tears.  She gladly accepted apple juice and animal crackers.  There was no IV to take out and we were walking out the door in ten minutes.

Having just had her first surgery, I couldn't deny her coffee (apple juice in her cup). We celebrated at Starbucks.

It's been a simple day.  She took a 2.5 hour nap this morning and another 2.5 hour nap in the afternoon.  In between we ate lunch and went for a walk to the new park by our house.  Should my children ever need surgery again, I hope they go as smoothly as this one.  I'm looking forward to fewer trips to the doctor, but I think Eileen is going to miss taking all those antibiotics.  She really loves taking them. Seriously.

Family Camp

I worked for 7 summers and 1 spring as a camp counselor for the CYO.  I always loved working family camp.  Dave and I started dating at family camp.  As much as I enjoyed working at family camp, I never thought I would be an attendee.  I mean, who wants to go to camp with their family!?!  Besides, who wants to ride horses, swim in the pool, do arts and crafts, and other program activities?  Apparently, becoming a parent changes you in more ways than one because now all those things sound great.

We spent the weekend at Camp Don Bosco.  Linus was the one who talked me into going.  It's kind of like going to a very rustic all-inclusive resort with almost all programming geared towards kids.  I dragged my feet registering because recently it just feels like we have constant new expenses popping up and the idea of forking over another $200 was less than appealing.  Luckily, it was money well spent.

Words cannot describe how much fun the kids had (Dave and I had fun too).  They only thing we didn't seem to get a lot of was sleep.  I convinced another staff alum family to go which definitely added to the fun.

Outside Starbucks.  The goal was to hike along the Snoqualmie trail to Starbucks and then berry pick at Remlinger.  We were a bit overly optimistic in terms of time and never quite made it to Remlinger.

The highlight of the weekend for both kids was riding horses.  They each got to ride around the arena. You have to be at least eight to go on a trail ride.

so excited

Linus rode Ghost.

Eileen rode Hi-Jack.  She repeatedly said pretty pony as she road.  When she saw Sam the Wrangler (pictured) the next day, Eileen exclaimed, "Ride Pony!!"

Heading to the pool

I refused to swim after getting in up to my knees.  I don't do cold.

Linus and another little boy created a game that involved setting up lots of large orange cones and then competing to knock them over with paddles as fast as possible.  Linus had excellent form.

Eileen and Ben Hutchinson performing a balancing act.

Making a strong fashion statement for campfire.

Campfire was another favorite part for the kids.  Linus led Jimmy Brown both nights, as well as Boogie Woogie Washer Woman the second night.  Both kids beamed from ear to ear.  As we walked back to the cabin the second night, Eileen unprompted stated, "Campfire fun." 

We tried out those new OFF! bug repellent fans.  They definitely worked and we were all glad to not smell like bug spray.

We made s'mores, played with other kids and families, did arts and crafts.  It was fun.  Everything flowed so nicely time-wise and the staff was really accommodating to special requests.  I loved sharing camp with my kids.  Despite a lack of sleep, the kids were really well behaved which I think just improved everyone's experience.

Sporting our new CYO summer camp knit hats.

Neither kid wanted to leave.  As we tried to load Eileen in her carseat, she screamed, "CAMPFIRE!" 

Family Camp was great and we are already looking forward to going again next year. Hopefully, we will get the chance to visit camp again this summer.

Epilogue:  We arrived home dirty and tired.  As I brought bags into the house I thought it was funny that the cabinet doors in the dining room were open.  Then Linus brought Dave a piece of metal.  Dave asked him where he got it and Linus took him to the back door.  It was then that we discovered that while we were away, someone kicked in our back door and rummaged through the house.  Every door, cabinet, and closet was opened.  Our file cabinet was open.  It doesn't look like they took anything.  It took a long time for the police to show up to take our report (a little over 7 hours).  We found out our next door neighbors got hit too.  They weren't so lucky and had jewelery and a passport taken. Hearing what they lost makes me feel a little better that we only lost our sense of security.  The whole ordeal definitely put a damper on the weekend.  Tomorrow I need to find someone to fix the door ASAP.

Swimming

"Swimming, swimming in my swimming-pool. 

When days are hot when days are cold, in my swimming pool  

Breast-stroke, side-stroke, fancy diving too.  

Don't you wish you never had anything else to do, but..."

I hate to admit it, but I have found myself going back on my word.  When this summer started, I proudly stated that the kids were not enrolled in any classes or camps, it was going to be a summer of adventure.  Then Linus started telling everyone that he was taking swimming classes.  

I tried to ignore him, but I found myself looking into it.  At first we got wait listed and then at the last minute we got the call, Linus was officially enrolled in daily swim classes in the tadpoles group.  Did I mention that class starts at 9:10 am so we leave the house at 8:40 every morning? 

I can swim to save my life.  I hate putting my face in the water.  I have taken not one, but two, adult swim classes and still cannot master the whole blowing bubbles skill.  It is important to me that my kids can swim proficiently. 

It has been pretty cool watching Linus progress.  Three weeks ago he didn't know how to blow bubbles,couldn't float, and definitely couldn't swim.  Now he swims underwater and floats on his back.  Linus' first instructor was not very good and didn't appear to enjoy his job very much.  One day with his current instructor and Linus was improving leaps and bounds.  There are only 3 kids in the class so he gets lots of one on one attention.

Today I got the exciting news that Linus is being promoted to Seahorses.  I am so proud of him.  When all is said and done, after 6 weeks of daily swim class this summer, he will have had as many lessons as if we tried to do Saturday morning lessons for the entire school year.  I'm pretty sure we are seeing so much growth due to the daily aspect.

All in all, Linus LOVES swim class.  Eileen doesn't mind hanging out at the side of the pool every day for 30 minutes.  I am enjoying the long naps in the afternoon that Linus takes as a result of swim class.  Nothing like a child asking to go to bed :) We still have daily adventures.  They just don't start until 10 am.

so happy to be in the pool