Summer so far

Wow where has the summer gone.  I can't believe it's almost August.

I started summer by falling in the lake on Memorial Day with my phone in my pocket. I hadn't gotten it into the waterproof case and into the Jet Ski compartment before the Jet Ski flipped sending Don and I into the lake.  Really was pretty funny, except for my cell phone. Accidents happen and thankfully I not only had insurance for a full replacement but I got upgraded as well so it worked out better than expected.

Google images

This summer our project has been gutting the master bath and redoing all the drywall, removing a build out and putting in a new shower/tub combo plus replacing the cabinets, counters, tile floor and toilet.  The plumbing was redone as well.  It looks great and took roughly 6 weeks to do.  We hired the plumber's, tiler's and drywall experts but did the rest ourselves.

We also tackled the garden boxes this year by not just weeding and planting but we also put down landscape fabric and mulch.  Everything is growing like crazy this year.  We have lots of tomatoes, peppers, and blueberries.  The grape plant is growing like crazy too but I'm not seeing any fruit yet. Soon it'll be time to make and can up salsa and homemade spaghetti sauce and roast up the peppers.

First harvest today

End of August we fly to Atlanta for Dragon Con.  I can't wait to see all our friends again. One of our friends who live in the area just finalized their adoption for their 2 boys.  I'm thrilled that when we see each other I can congratulate them all in person.  

There are a ton of celebrities and artists I'm excited to see this year so I'll be standing in a lot of lines for panels/photos this year and Stan Lee leading the parade is going to be awesome!

That’s our summer so far.

It's Summer

Wow it's July and I haven't posted in quite awhile.  Life has been crazy busy since our last post in May.

So after our trip to Florida we settled back into the daily life, Don going to work and me working on the adoption stuff, pretty much non-stop.  We did a bunch of things around the house to keep busy and Don helped me in the garden to weed the overgrowth.  Sadly I've been busy and the weather hasn't cooperated as much as I'd like so the weeds are back and I have a ton of work to finish up out there.

In June I flew to Nashville and met up with some friends I'd never met.  I know sounds strange but I've "known them" about 9 years thanks to World of Warcraft and we were finally able to meet up in real life.  Now, I've actually met one of their sons 2 years ago in Atlanta for Dragon Con and Don has met 2 of their sons who also played with us so I wasn't worried. Some of our best friends we met through our guild in game.  Of course it was over the course of years before we agreed to meet anyone but they have become some of our best friends and being able to see them is always great! I even drove to Knoxville for a few days to spend time with my best friend. Don was on a business trip but was able to drive from Ohio down to TN on Thursday and we stayed with our friends then left in the morning to catch flights out of Nashville.  It was really a great trip.

Summer upon us we planned for our friend and his son to come for a visit.  That is always a great time over the fourth having them here.  I really wish we saw them more than 2-3x a year but it's life and we all move to where we live and work.  We're lucky to still be in active (not just Facebook friends kind of contact) contact over the years we've known each other.  We had hoped to stay here for the fourth of July and then drive to Oregon with them but it didn't work out.  You see we'd won a weekend stay at the beach through a charity auction last year and we needed to use the time. Unfortunately, his Son is in swimming so they couldn't go due to his matches but we did the weekend following their return home.

 Cruising the lake on the boat

  Jack loves being on the boat - it wasn't warm enough to swim but still a fun day

 The 4th of July BBQ

One of the fireworks

The drive to the beach on the Oregon coast was interesting.  It's a part of Washington and Oregon we don't usually see.  In fact we've never been to the Oregon coast so it was fun to see and visit.  The beach was great albeit cold.  We unfortunately had a weekend where it poured cats n dogs 90% of the time.  We did get a respite on Saturday morning and took the opportunity to walk the dogs down the trail to the beach and then along it.  Two miles later we were back at the house just in time as the rain re-started with a fury about 30 minutes later. We decided to leave on Sunday instead of Monday so Don could get a full days work in and boy that was a drive home.  The roads in and out are two lanes so we get 30 minutes past Astoria and then we're at a stop.  Accident Road closed the vehicle says as it passes our parked vehicle.  Ah ya ok so how long to wait? Well we debated the wait and turned around. Needless to say our 3 hour drive turned into 6.  It was a long day and made me glad we'd come home a day early.

 Our view from the beach house

 I'd say they loved their beach walk

 The trail to the beach

 Little beach shrine on the trail

 When we said we were going home - ya they didn't want to go

As soon as the car was packed (mind you it had been raining) this was our last view from the house

Next month we are flying to visit friends in Atlanta and will hopefully hear that their foster daughter is their adopted daughter (meaning mom has signed in front of a lawyer so the adoption process can begin).  Things are in motion but it's Foster Care Adoption so anything can and has happened to them.  Crossing our fingers this one comes to pass.
Happy Summer to All!

The theme this weekend is walking for #WASO so I grabbed some photos of where we walk.

In our neighborhood there are a ton of parks, about 10 in a 3 mile radius.  This includes kid parks and dog parks as well as combo adult/kid parks.  We live on a lake (not literally its 2 blocks away from the road we live on but we have a private access dock for boats plus swimming, etc.). However most of our parks include a portion of the lake in which to swim plus play grounds and even skate parks or tennis courts.  Our local dog park is all fenced in Lake Front so your canine companions can swim and run, along with picnic tables for the family to hang out. . Our Lake is actually man made and generates some of our power.  They fill it in the spring from glacial run off from Mt. Rainier and then in the fall/winter it is slowly drained for power.  So the picture you see is the lake beginning to refill for late spring/summer boating/fishing season after a full draining this past winter (which is unusual they usually only drain it by 2/3rds)

The boat loading dock

Last summer with our friend's son swimming in the lake

Today was a beautifully warm day and I had to update our fingerprints for our adoption clearances.  Once done and mailed though I took the boys for a walk in the larger park on our way home.  It is across from the lake with a large double baseball field, Skate Park, Infant Park, kid play equipment, snack bar, and trails for the dogs.  With school still in session and a work day it wasn't packed like normal so it was a nice walk without distraction for them.

 baseball field looking towards the kid play ground

 It's grass and we love to roll in it

 the skater park

 On the trail today

Playing at one of the local neighborhood parks

We walked the baseball fields then headed down one of the trails on the opposite side of the park. It was so much fun for them and a picturesque view for me. The best part of living just outside the city is the closeness of community, parks, our Doctors and schools.  We are very lucky to have the Montessori about 6 lots down from us, our Doctor at most a ¼ mile, along with the elementary school next door and our coffee shop, gas station, Dentist, and dry cleaners exactly 1 mile from home.  What I love is its all walk able.  I don’t have to have a car to get where we need to be. The bonus is in the summer you can also pick blackberries along the main routes of the neighborhood.  We love fresh wild blackberries.  The dogs will get right in and pick and eat their own berries as we pick some for ourselves.

I truly love where we live and can’t wait to share it with a child as a family, yet we’re close to both Tacoma and Seattle (30 and 45 mins.) to give them all the museums, fresh market, and city experience. I miss living in Seattle but at the same time I wouldn't trade what we have here.  I think it’s a fairly unique but fading life for a child.

Yin and Yang - Order and Chaos

It’s human nature to want to be that perfect family.  I know we all strive for that but we are perfectly flawed too. In adoption we strive even more so as we try to express who we are in a few short pages. Maybe we have an online presence to show more about us but you never know if the expecting parents will see it. So in the grand scheme we describe ourselves through pictures and words in a brochure format sent to expecting parents to look at.  They get to see the great people you are but not the flaws of being a human being. We all have them and I thought I’d share ours and how we have adjusted to each other’s and make it work to our benefit.

Don and I are yin and yang.  He’s order and I’m chaos so to speak.  I’m perfectly fine with things just wherever I put them down and he is put it where it belongs the first time. We have over the years together learned to live in ordered chaos.

I know that he came to appreciate that I can’t find things if he moves them and same for me.  We have totally different desks outside that they both have computers.  Mine with books, mail, toys, and my trail mix and his is just his computer. This doesn't mean we live in a dirty house by any means so please don’t think we do (we wouldn't pass our home study if we did!).  I clean and he cleans but I’m not picky if the mail sits on my desk instead of going through the shredder right this second or being filed.

Dog toys litter the house and while I don’t care because they just drag them all back out the second I put them away (unless I’m vacuuming and then they aren't around), Don has to try putting them back in the toy box.  I always chuckle because the second he puts them back Parker and Tucker are digging out their favorite toys leaving a trail of other toys behind.  I think having pets and a wife who can live in chaos has helped him see that we all have our ways of keeping our stuff as we need to. It has also helped me to see the order side of him.  Everything in its place means he has what he needs when he needs it without having to ask me or getting frustrated that he can’t find it.

We found the perfect balance and know our child will benefit from both perspectives. They will have a mom who won’t mind the toys everywhere and a dad to reinforce putting your stuff away when you’re done playing with it. Both are valuable lessons. I know when my nephew visits I’m usually the one who says put your things away more than Don but I know if I didn't he would and knowing we will be on the same page with our child is a great beginning to build on.

A day with Friends who are like our extended Family

Today is another game day with friends.  When I say game people may think watching baseball or football but I mean actual board games.  We play with the family and a few other friends who drive up. This week I won't be playing but instead hanging out with my friend's wife and daughter(s).  They are playing a war game this week and I have no interest in war games (think super Risk).

I prefer games like Apple to Apples, Scrabble, or Talisman style games.  Our friend's daughters were both home and her two grand daughter's were there with us while dad played the game with the others (he's in the blue cap in the above picture).  We played a few board games, and played with the little girls and they loved playing catch the butterfly, run through the sprinkler and dress up. The dog even showed off her Batgirl costume for Halloween.

Playing with the butterfly net

playing dress up

I am Batgirl!

I ended the night at home with my baby in my lap eating his Antler while his brother, Parker, pouted because he wanted the one Tucker had instead of his own, which he was happily chewing on until Tucker started in on his.  

How pets, especially dogs, can prep you for parenthood.

A Tongue and Cheek look at the similarities :)

• Dogs and kids put everything they can into their mouths and need to be taught what is ok and what isn't
• Dogs have taught us how to seriously baby(dog) proof
• Dogs like some kids end up in the emergency room for illnesses
• Sleep is a luxury with young children/infants and puppies
• Cleaning is constant with dogs and kids
• Daily or almost daily outings to the park for walking/playing
• Dogs and kids love playing and learning
• Dogs and kids love music
• Dogs and kids both need to socialize
• Dogs need teething bones to chew while teething and kids need teething chews you freeze for them
• Both dogs and kids need to be potty trained
• Dogs have foods they can never have while kids shouldn't have honey or nuts until after 3 years of age
• Dogs will also be noise sensitive if not exposed to noises growing up as will kids.  Bring on the noise :)
• Dogs and kids can have explosive accidents at the worst time (guests visiting) but it all cleans up the same
• Dogs and kids leap without mind for consequences (at least the kids learn but our dogs really don't)
• Dogs and kids will drag out every toy they have and leave it all over the house
• Dogs and kids always want what you have versus what they have
• Dogs and kids always need you "Right Now" as soon as you're on the phone or in a conversation with someone
• Sleeping with dogs or toddlers is at best a three ring circus as they snuggle really close almost pushing you out of bed or you contort your body in attempts to sleep you can barely move in the morning
• Dogs and kids need routines

At the end of the day though dogs and kids are 200% worth it!  Our dogs and cats are family; our kids.  We can't wait to be parents and share our love of animals with our child(ren).