Seize the Weekend - Part I

When the weatherman began predicting that the temperature was supposed to be in the high 90s, I started making plans to make the most of our weekend. We headed out early, stopping first at Saltwater State Park in Federal Way. I am a conesuir of beaches, and I have never been to such a cool beach before. Its definately not the kind of beach that I would want to bring my bathing suit and lay out, but it was really fascinating. The entire beach was covered in small tide pools, fresh water streams, and millions of shells, seaweed and barnacles. We hopped along the rocks, picking up shells along the way, as we walked towards the water. Previous experiences made me surprised that when we got to the water edge, Hank just charged it! We had to race after him to keep him from taking a full plunge! He's usually a bit of a fraidy-cat so I was surprised to see his adventurous side poke out. He loved walking along the beach and letting the tide sweep over his feet. As we headed back up the beach, Aaron tipped over some boulders and we watched dozens of tiny crab scurry out.

Part II

After the beach, we headed to the Pike Place Market to take part in Seattle's annual Cheese Festival. The streets were jammed with vendors from all over the Northwest offering samples of delicious cheeses. We got to see up close how cheese is made at Beecher's, the maker's of the country's best cheddar cheese, located right across from the market. All the cheese-snacking made us hungry so we grabbed lunch (Aaron enjoyed his favorite, fish and chips from Ivar's) and ate it on the pier. By this time, we were all ready to beat the heat, so we splashed around in the fountain at the pier.

Part III

After a full day of fun in the sun, Hank fell asleep in the car on the way home.

Part IV

This evening, after the weather had cooled off a litte (only mid-80s now), we played out in our yard and worked on our garden. We planted some flowers in the bed near our front porch, sprayed the backyard with weed-killer, and scoured the garden for weeds. I'm sure its all going to be worth the effort, but at the rate our plants are growing, we'll get to enjoy a carrot sometime next Christmas. We're definately not master gardeners, but we make up for inexperience with attention. Aaron watches the garden vigilantly, we water regularly, the weeds don't have a chance, and last night we even spread orange peels in the dirt to repell the neighbor's cat from "fertilizing" the veggies. If we're lucky, we'll get to enjoy the fruits of our labors later this summer: basil, cilantro, carrots, three kinds of peppers, three kinds of tomatos, broccoli, mesclum, artichokes, onions, cucumbers, beans, peas, and corn.

Mother's Day

As a Mother's Day tradition, I always make my mom a homemade rhubarb pie. I was pleased with how the pie turned out this year. I really enjoy Mother's Day. Not so much because I get to be celebrated as a mother, but because I enjoy reflecting on my appreciation for my own mother and my gratitude for the child(ren) I have been given. I love being a mom! I truly believe that motherhood is a sacred calling and I am overwhelmed by the powerful responsibility I hold as a mother. I can't believe how lucky I am to be chosen to be the mother to my child(ren).

Da Mariners

Highlight #1:

Aaron's boss had given him the company's tickets to the Mariner's game on Friday night so we called up my brother, Adam, and his wife, Brittany, and invited them to come with us. They drove up after work from Portland to meet us at the game and were really excited because they'd never been to a Mariner's game before and we'd scored some pretty good seats behind homeplate. We had just settled into our seats, our dinners in our laps, anxious for the game to start, when Aaron notices a persistent drip coming from somewhere above. Interestingly, the drip is only above Aaron's seat. Every other seat in the entire stadium is enjoying perfectly clear, dry climate and yet there seems to be a raincloud just over Aaron's individual seat. He tried to ignore the dripping, and even tried putting on his hat to deflect the water, but he finally started to get drenched and got fed up with it and spoke with a hostess. Apparently, there was some condensation caused by one of the scoreboards overhead that caused some major dripping. I could not stop laughing when, out of 25,000 other fans, Aaron was the only one who got stuck under his own little personal storm.

Highlight #2:

The happy ending to the story is that the hostess was able to reseat us and it turned out to be an upgrade. We got to watch the game from 10 rows behind first base.

Highlight #3:

We got some primetime on the Jumbotron! During the break in the 9th inning, a cameraman filmed the four of us dancing to the music and we all got on the jumbotron for a solid ten seconds of fame!

TGIF

Technically, its Tuesday night, but, for me, its Friday night because I'm done with work for the week! Each Tuesday morning Aaron gives me a kiss goodbye on his way to work and wishes me a happy Friday. Oh what a happy girl I am when I'm done with work! This week has been especially hectic as it seemed that all of my cases converged into chaos simultaneously and I got to battle in court all day, slapping people with restraining orders. Despite the fact that I feel physically and mentally drained from dealing with other people's drama all day, it is actually really rewarding to help people resolve their disputes. On a good day, I can honestly say that I feel like I've made a difference, in a small way, in someone's life.

Children's Museum

Last Friday I took Hank to the Children's Museum in Tacoma. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the museum wasn't just stuffy exhibits and artifacts, it was actually just a great big playhouse made for toddlers. They had a farmer's market, a delivery truck, a garden, a deli counter, and a kitchen complete with plastic fruits and vegetables, appliances, and tableware. Hank had fun filling his grocery basket with the pretend food and ringing up his transactions with the cash register. He also really enjoyed mowing people down with the vacuum cleaner and broom in a pretend "clean up" area. I enjoyed helping Hank paint a watercolor masterpeice and the best part was that I didn't have to worry about the messy paint!