TOS Love Part II: 4th of July

We heard big things about our neighborhood 4th of July festivities, so we decided to stick around. Saturday morning we woke up to the sounds of the party setting up at the park. By 11:00, the hotdog and snow cone stands were running, the bounce houses were up and running, and the park was full of kids. We spent the afternoon doing face painting, bounce houses, and old fashioned games like tug o'war and 3-legged races.





Then all the kids lined up with their decorated bikes and golf carts and cruised around the neighborhood for the bicycle parade.

We all headed home to escape the heat for a few hours in the afternoon. We BBQ'd with some friends in the evening and then at dusk we walked (the girls ran) to the golf course for fireworks. Everyone had blankets and beach chairs set up and the kids were running around with glow bracelets and necklaces. It was so much fun to watch the fireworks with the kids running around among friends and neighbors.

TOS Love Part I: Resort Living

A year ago we were staying in corporate housing trying to decide where to live in our new city. Most days I would research a good school, and then the girls and I would drive around different neighborhoods for that school, then play at the parks to get a feel for the energy of the neighborhood. More often than not, we had the parks to ourselves. Occasionally there was a nanny there with a couple kids. I started thinking every kid in Seattle went to daycare.

And then we drove thru TOS. (My blog is not private, so I'm exercising a smidgeon of restraint here.) There were kids walking and riding scooters and bikes through the neighborhood. With tennis rackets! Lots of kids! When we passed the tennis courts they were all hanging around waiting for tennis camp to start. And there was a pool! My girls were as excited as I was.

We lucked out and found a rental house in that neighborhood when our house in Portland sold. And every day we grow to love this neighborhood more. Despite having a "country club" (swimming, tennis, and golf are all free for residents--part of the HOA dues), TOS is anything but fancy or pretentious. It is a community of modest sized homes built in the 60's and 70's, which means there are plenty of ugly and tiny homes. But a lot of the land was too soggy and hilly to develop, so they built a golf course on it. The pool and tennis courts followed, and these things created a gathering place for the community.

Tonight we walked over to the pool when Kolby got home from work. The girls swam with friends. We swam a little, read the newspaper, ordered some dinner. And it hit me. This feels like vacationing at Sweetwater, the resort at Bear Lake where we vacationed every summer while I was growing up. Our days consist of going to the pool, playing tennis, golfing (we just went for the first time!), and going to the beach. The kids ride their scooters and bikes around. Sometimes we go days at a time only getting in the car to take the kids to the beach, which is five minutes from our house. I've even considered grocery delivery because we have no other reason to leave the neighborhood.

I feel incredibly lucky to have stumbled upon this neighborhood. The people are great, the kids are sweet, and every day feels like Summer Camp.

Coldplay at the Gorge

Two weekends ago we went camping with some of our Portland friends (Nelsons and Burrells) in the Columbia River Gorge.   We were going out there for the Coldplay concert, and there was a lot of discussion ahead of time about whether to camp at the concert site, which I'd heard resembles this:

And this:

Since we were camping with the kiddos, that didn't seem like the best plan.  The other option I'd read about, but couldn't find much information on because I guess they don't have the World Wide Internets out there in rural Washington, is a camping place called Vantage.  What I did hear was that it was beautiful and a better place to camp if you are taking kids.  So we booked there. The Nelsons arrived first, and when I texted Kristin about how beautiful the campsite was, I believe her text said "A really beautiful view.  Of the Texaco."  She was right, except for the beautiful part.  It wasn't.  But if we crossed the street, we found the beautiful.

We spent the entire day on Saturday beside the river, and it was LOVELY.  What I did not realize is that Western Washington is as hot and dry as Utah.  And as we all know, dry heat is a fantastic thing when you have a river or lake nearby.  

Late afternoon we packed up and headed for the concert.  Dry heat is not so great without the river.  We got into the concert venue around 5:00, but the concert didn't start until 9:00, and it was 90 something degrees with no shade.  My face melted off.  I promise, it did.

But the Nelsons came prepared.  They brought several waterbottles, and the kids became our personal air conditioners.  We'd wave them over, and two or three kids would spray us in the face, which felt great for us, and fantastic for them.  How often are you allowed to spray your parents in the face with water?  

After a while, one of the people sitting next to us asked them to spray him.  And then someone else did.  And then someone waived a dollar in the air to coax them over.  And then the kids started working the crowd. $45 later, they returned and asked Nellie to divide up the earnings.  Aren't concerts great?  If we'd sent the kids out earlier they probably could have paid for their tickets.  Next time we'll think ahead.

The Coldplay concert was fantastic.  The Gorge is a gorgeous venue, and even though we were far from the stage, it was still a fantastic show.  One of my favorite bands, and some of my favorite friends in what has to be the most beautiful amphitheater I've ever been to.  Overall, a fantastic weekend.

The best part of the weekend by far was the friends.  How I miss these people!

What's the most important thing? Breakfast. Oh, I mean Family.

The thing is, the hard drive on my laptop (my precious) is full.   A full hard drive is a real catastrophe.  I have to upload all my pics or videos to our other computer, which makes updating my blog a real pain in the butt because I have to, you know, get up out of my chair and go to the other computer.

But for you, I'm going to do it.

The best part about living in a new place is that people want to come visit under the illusion that they are visiting me, but really they just want a free place to stay when they visit Seattle.  I'll take what I can get.

So my family came!  In May, the week after we returned from Florida, my parents and my sister Michelle came to visit.  Mom and Dad were going on a cruise with my uncles, so the night before they left we went out to Salty's in West Seattle for dinner with everyone.  My girls discovered they LOVE crab legs.  Unfortunately, I did not order them crab legs.   (Thanks to my aunts for sharing.)

Then we spent the weekend with Michelle, Zach, and Caidence.  It was so fun to see Caid's personality over a few days. She's such an easy going kid, but whooooooeeeee can she throw a tantrum when she wants to.   

And also?  She has a drinking problem.  

We ventured out to Alki Beach, which feels a little like SoCal.  Except you have to wear sweatshirts there.  Good thing we still had the sweatshirt Mom and Dad bought for Jodi in the car.  Sorry about that mustard stain, Jodi.  That hot dog was real good. 

Unfortunately, my mom contracted Swine Flu on the cruise. (They say it wasn't, I say it was.) so she wasn't much fun when we got home from NY.  Yes, I let her watch my kids while she had Swine Flu so I could go to NY.  That's what a good daughter I am.  Anyhoo.  Mom wasn't much of a guest.  But she's been here before.  And dad was quite a good guest--he mowed my lawn several times a day, with a broken foot.  (Are you keeping track?  Mom with Swine Flu, dad with broken foot, watching my children and obsessively mowing my lawn while I'm in NY).  So he is invited back.  And I guess he can bring her with him again if she promises to improve her attitude.  She did help me find a good plant nursery right before she fell ill. 

A few weeks later Jodi and Don made the loooong drive up with their brood.   After a 15 hour drive, the last thing any of them wanted to do was get back in the car to go sightseeing.  We spent a lot of time in the neighborhood--at the park and the pool, and  short drives to the beach and downtown Bellevue.  One day we decided the kids needed a picture of the Space Needle and Pike's Place to prove they'd actually been to Seattle, so we dragged them into the city kicking and screaming.  They were temporarily quieted by the gum wall.  And then they resumed the whining to go back home so they could swim.  And so we did.  

A very nice boy at the park let the kids drive his remote control boat around the fountain.  

Thanks to everyone for coming to visit!  The rest of you are bums.

I have nothing for you.

Nothing.  And so I offer up the best blog post I've read in a good long time.   Tears streaming down my face as I read this post from my good friend  Finslippy.  (I've actually never met her.  I just like to think she'd want to be my BFF if we stumbled upon each other in Brooklyn, NY).

(See original post here.)

UNCLEAN!

My friend Irene was here last week, visiting from her exotic homeland of London, England. We were at lunch, and then I confessed something, Somethinghorrible.

Me: I have to say, I feel a little gross. I didn't shower for a few days, and then this morning I went to the gym and when I got back home, the water was shut off because they're doing some kind of plumbing work. 
Irene: [Horrified stare]
Me: So then there wasn’t enough time to go back to the gym and shower and still meet you for lunch, but we have this kind of large Brita container, which holds a lot of water, but it was in the refrigerator, so I basically gave myself an icy sponge-bath. And then dumped the rest of the water over my head. Which was bracing, to say the least. It was like an ice-cream headache, only more so. 

[Irene stares at me as if I had told her that I like to poop in the sink.]

Irene: But…why didn't you shower in—how many days, did you say? 
Me: Um. A few? Maybe a couple. I kind of can't remember. 
Irene: You can't remember the last time you showered? 
Me: I can't say my showers are all that memorable. Don't look at me like that. You live in Europe! You should be comfortable with the unwashed! 
Irene: You used to shower every day, in college! 
Me: Are you saying you still shower every day? 
Irene: … 
Me: ! 

Then we agreed never to talk again.

Or rather, we made fun of each other for a while, then changed the topic. I may have made her smell me, at some point. (For the record, I smelled fine.Ice water and baby wipes can accomplish quite a bit.) 

It should be said that Irene does not have kids. (And no disparaging Irene, please; she's one of my best friends and I will have to come to your house and give you a noogie if you do.) (Don't think I won't.) So I could say that she has all the time in the world to take daily showers. But my son is six. It's not like he's an infant. I have time. And yet I find myself forgetting to shower. Forgetting, or deciding there are better things to do, like, I don't know, read? You can't read in the shower, after all. Someone needs to fix that. 

I ran into my other friend (I have more than one!) Jennifer today, and we were talking about this not-showering habit of the children-having. Jennifer has two kids, so she has more reason to not shower. "Not only do I not shower, but I forget to brush my hair," she said. 
"I don't own a brush," I countered. 
"I never look in the mirror," she said. "One day I got my hair wet in the outdoor sprinkler, and my hair was all plastered down on one side and it was like that all day. And I had no idea." 
"Oh, I have to look in the mirror," I said, "because I usually have something crazy stuck in my hair. Like a cat toy, or a pack of gum. Seriously. Did I tell you about the time I walked around with a hanger hanging from the back of my coat? I never leave home without giving myself a once-over." 
"I'm going to shower now," Jennifer said, "Since I just went to the gym. So that’s good, right?" 
"I hope your water is on, but if it's not, may I recommend ice water and baby wipes?" 

Somewhere in England, a glamorous, freshly showered woman wept for all of us.

Why I Run

On a bad day, my Mizunos are full of cement.  I am conscious of every step I take because I have to force myself to take each step.  My knees hurt.  I can't fill my lungs.  My music sucks.   I come home defeated.  (And yet I've still accomplished something.)

On a good day, I hit the zone in minutes and forget I'm running.  I create.  I solve.  I organize.  And then I'm home.

Then there are days like today.  My feet have wings.  My whole body tingles.  Every hill is a victory.  The combination of music and scenery floods my brain with endorphins.  It is effortless.  It is exhilarating.  It is Bliss.

Proof