Upland Girls

After spending last week being pummeled and pestered by a bored Amber, I decided to make a daily effort to siphon off as much of Amber's boundless energy as possible. Usually I make sure to do something specific with her each day, but reading stories or pushing her on the rope swing don't even come close to tapping into her vast energy reserves. So on Monday morning after Jay and Rose got on the school bus, I quickly finished some housework, packed a picnic lunch (with much rejoicing from Amber), and headed for the hills. Using the All Trails app, I found a nice set of trails located a gentle 50 minute drive from our house: the Cowiche Uplands.  We've hiked the Cowiche Canyon before, but the trails up above the canyon were new territory for us: just the kind of adventure we were looking for.

Sunday will come

Last week Jeff had four track meets. It was exhausting for both of us, and I'm not even coaching! Jeff got home late on his track meet nights (between 7pm-10:30pm) so our evenings were in flux and I didn't sleep as much as I needed. I was able to run at sunrise on three of the mornings before Jeff left for work, which was peaceful and restorative, but also exhausting to be up and running that early. Maintaining our household and balancing other responsibilities in the midst of Jeff's absence and my fatigue made the week feel LONG. I sat down to write this post at least four times before actually accomplishing anything because the thought of reliving last week was just so exhausting I couldn't bring myself to write about it.

Amboots

In early April, I ordered Amber some new pink boots. They were the exact same color and brand (pink Crocs) as her last pair, but two sizes bigger. I had my eye on the adult version of those Croc brand boots because Crocs fit my picky feet nicely, but I didn't want to spend $50 on a pair of rubber boots. Suddenly the price conveniently dropped so I ordered myself a pair for the same price as Amber's boots. Wahoo! I have tried to put Amber in sneakers or even Keen sandals, but she always goes back to her pink boots. Even if they are a little hot in the summer, she loves them because no dirt, rocks, water, or mud get in when she's adventuring. I have struggled to keep my feet clean and my shoes dry on our various walks together for years, and I finally realized if you can't beat 'em, join 'em! Rubber boots for the win!

Lemonade

Sometimes I can be a lazy grocery shopper. While pushing my two ton cart around Costco at the beginning of April, I decided to skip going to WinCo and just get those items at Costco instead. That resulted in the purchase of a supersized bag of twenty large lemons when I only needed one. It was completely worth the extra $6. Fast forward a few days...

Hope after fire

My beloved, very most favorite cathedral Notre Dame de Paris caught fire on Monday (April 15th). Jeff sent me a text about it around mid-morning, and I was glued to the online news updates for most of that afternoon. I didn't even check the results of the Boston Marathon until Monday night! It was an accidental fire turning 2/3 of the oak roof and most of the interior below that into black rubble. I went through a rainbow of emotions as I watched the story unfold half a world away. I felt as though one of my closest friends had just been diagnosed with a terminal illness! After fifteen hours, les pompiers had finally doused the fire and saved the iconic front bell towers and rose windows. Before the flames were even completely quenched, donors had pledged millions of euros to rebuild what was lost. I have so many thoughts and feelings about this heart-wrenching event, and every time I have tried to write about it, I have felt incoherent and inadequate to even begin. But starting where I am is all I can do, even if it's not where I want to be.

Worth the wait

Two months late but worth the wait: at long last, after a two month and five day delay (Rose informed me of the exact lateness), we had Rose's birthday party on Friday night (April 12th). Rose chose the three P's for her party: pizza, pinata, and playtime. We decided that Friday evening was ideal for a kid party: low-key, easy and not taking away from people's Saturday plans. Plus, Jeff would be home to help police the pinata--we've done pinatas twice in the past, and Jeff is very helpful. So I texted all of the moms of the kids in Rose's church class: party, our house, Friday from 5:30-7pm.

The Talk

Saturday, April 13, 2019 journal: Jay, Rose, Amber, and I happened to all be sitting at the table eating lunch together today (Jeff was out running), so I took the opportunity to slip in our almost-daily Come Follow Me mini lesson. Teaching always works best in our family when it feels natural and is not forced or contrived. This time I was super sneaky and didn't even look at the book. I had already looked it over earlier this morning, so I was ready to teach gospel principles on the sly. Muahahahaa!

St. Louis Arch

Our last big outing during our spring break visit to Missouri was in to St. Louis. Washington, MO, where my sister and her family live, is about an hour from downtown St. Louis. We've visited downtown St. Louis several times in the past, but the kids were finally old enough to make a trip up the arch worthwhile. The museum at the base of the arch had just been rebuilt and reopened last year, and it was all new to me and very well done.

St. Louis Zoo

Friday morning (March 29th), we went to the St. Louis Zoo. It was fun, but kids always get so tired so fast! Amber didn't seem to slow down when she got tired though. Somehow she became more of a miscreant, running farther away and ignoring me more blatantly the more tired she got. But for most of the time, she was great and enjoyed seeing the animals.

MO'stalgia

I. Castle and mint brownies
In between our modest handful of outings during our Missouri visit, we stayed close to home. Em made delicious desserts and we watched lots of episodes of Castle while the kids played outside or Minecraft. Full disclosure: we finished off 1.9 pans of mint brownies and nearly half a lemon cake on our own, just the two of us. We bought some Oreos for the kids so we wouldn't have to share our homemade treats. Yep. I joke that the real reason I am able to maintain my body weight is due to our annual sister get together in springtime and our family reunion in the summer. I get most of my yearly calories in two weeks! Haha, and I enjoy it immensely. We also sped through FORTY episodes of Castle. We had to pause it regularly (the trick to pausing the show if a kid came into the room was not to pause it on a murder scene or any other less-G-rated shot).

Shaw Nature Reserve

Our first outing during our week in Missouri was to our favorite Shaw Nature Reserve, which is only ten minutes from my sister's house. We had a leisurely morning talking and hanging out (with a run for me), and ended up eating lunch before heading over to Shaw. Missouri is moody in the springtime, but we did not let that stop us!

MO travels

For spring break, the kids and I flew to Missouri to visit my sister Em and her family. We didn't think we were going to be able to get together this spring because I was not up for a 4,000 mile round trip drive alone with the kids (my sense of adventure seems to be waning as I progress through my 30's), and airplanes are so expensive. One day at the end of January, Em and I were talking/plotting on the phone and we hatched the plan to split the airfare between the two of us. I checked flight prices and ended up finding a smoking deal out of Pasco (only one hour from our house as opposed to the three hour drive to Seattle). We quickly made sure both of our husbands were on board with the arrangement, and then I booked four tickets. Em and I each paid $550. WORTH IT.