SilverWould

SilverWould be in the State of Idaho; its patrons in a State of confusion bordering on frustration.

SilverWould have several great roller coasters. With long lines and one operating car.

SilverWould and does call itself a theme park. SilverWould be better serving its visitors if they informed them that the theme of their park is "Inefficiency."

SilverWould have a wait of almost 45 minutes to get what one would normally call "fast food."

SilverWould employ a kid that made a mistake at said fast food joint giving a certain customer too much food and a side of redemption for the long wait.

SilverWould also employ filthy Garfield as its mascot; a great choice given the lazy nature

of both the cat and the establishment.

On a positive note,

SilverWould have a great water park...

at which SilverWould make you wait in yet another long line to pay $5 for a locker when similar places charge about half that much for a self-serve deal.

I'm thinking that SilverWould be doing Garfield a big favor if it made the ammenities, along with a bar of soap, part of his benefits package. Just a thought.

Other than all of that, SilverWould make some cute little kids pretty happy.

And wet!




But unless we just happen to be driving through Northern Idaho without air conditioning
on a very, very hot day,
SilverWon't be seeing the Koongs again any time soon.

Lessons Learned

The weather today called for rain in Olympia so we decided to go somewhere where the sun would shine. Multnomah Falls outside of Portland is about a two-hour drive. Our master plan consisted of getting up early, checking out the falls, and going to Costco to buy both our headboard and the dual DVD player for the kids -- Tax Free. We'd then head over to AK's house to pick up some shoes he had bought for us.

Once my in-laws got wind of this they decided to join us. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little annoyed, and I'd be lying if I said I was surprised. I was just hoping that they would prove me wrong.

Multnomah Falls are the second highest year-round falls in the United States second only to Yosemite Falls back in my neck of the woods. When D was relaying this piece of information to me he said that although they are very popular, they aren't very secluded; that they're kind of there for the world to see -- even if you're just driving down the highway on your way to Target.

Once I saw them for myself I understood. While they are beautiful, I wouldn't call them breathtaking.We hiked a little ways all the while J was bugging about going to the gift shop one minute and AK's house the next. M was just happy to be out of the car.

Up next was Kenny's Noodle House. We'd been there once before back in December and D had been talking about going back ever since. This time, however, both D and I decided that it wasn't as good as we remembered.

J was a little out of sorts today, not unusual when he's around his grandparents. On our way out of Kenny's establishment, he leaned on a table and knocked down all the stuff atop it which caused a loud ruckus that had everybody turning our way. He managed to embarrass my MIL and I'm sure she was glad to say goodbye to us a few minutes later. My FIL, being the educator that he is, saw this as a lesson, one he wasn't going to let go untouched. He was overheard asking J what he learned from the incident. Js answer was simple: "Not to play around on the tables again."

With all of that behind us we were ready to embark on our Costco shopping spree. "The more you spend the more you save," was D's quote as we pulled into the parking lot. We weren't there more than five minutes before we found out they were all sold out of portable DVD players. Another five minutes after that we realized that they didn't have our headboard either. Also missing: D's keys.

I was sure that once he retraced his steps he would come back with them in hand. But he came back with nothing. He didn't find them and nobody had turned them in. And so it went. Costco closed 2 hours later and still no keys.

In the meantime, D called the dealer who said they would be able to make another key, on Monday. He called a locksmith that showed up and unlocked the door but couldn't make another key because only the dealer could. He finally called his parents who luckily were still in the area. J and my MIL stayed at AK's while my FIL drove D, M, and me to Oly and turned right around after picking up the key. It is now 10:50 and they just picked up the truck. What a relief. I was starting to worry that the person that found the key was going to go back and take it.

I think that like J back at the restaurant, we all learned a lesson or two today. Among them:

1) Don't inform in-laws about any upcoming trips to Portland unless you want company.

2) Any "nature" site close to a highway where cars zooming by can be heard is not really relaxing.

3) Just because a restaurant was good the first time doesn't mean it always will be.

4) My set of keys should always join us on long trips from now on.

5) Being greedy doesn't always deem you goods -- you'll probably walk out empty-handed.

6) Don't try to cheat your home state out of its due revenue. Buy your stuff there no matter what the taxes will be.

7) Make sure to inform in-laws of all upcoming trips to Portland in case you need them to rescue you.

A Pretty Awesome Gig

I didn't think today's little outing would be "blogworthy."

I'm not real sure what inspires the topics I blog about, but I'm really sure that the,

"Hi, my name is Pati and we went to Gig Harbor today," variety is not it.

But, nevertheless, here I am.

D had gone for a business meeting a couple of weeks ago

and mentioned in passing that we ought to take a drive out there one of these day. So today after the sun came out in mid-afternoon we did just that.

It turned out to be a charming little town with your garden variety waterfront shops: ice cream and pizza parlors, candy stores, souvenir shops.

I had my camera with me so I snapped a few shots.

We weren't there very long before J decided he was thirsty. All of our water supply was gone so D walked over to get him something to drink.

As the kids and I waited for him to return, I looked over to a planter that I was standing by and noticed a square-shaped something in a plastic bag that I thought was a package of cocktail napkins somebody had "taken" from the adjacent shop and then thought better of it and discarded of them there.


When I picked it up I noticed it was a little canvas. I turned it around and it read:



Congratulations !!!!

To you: FREE



We hope you will enjoy your free piece of art!

This piece of Feel Good Free Art is given to you by the signed artist; just to

make your day a little brighter.





It then went on to give a web address and asked that you let them know how you felt
about your find.

I did so right when I got home and wrote that, frankly, it made my day and that I talked my husband's ear off about it most of our drive back to Oly.



I called it "A Great Gig in Gig Harbor!"

And I'm sticking to it.

Happy New Year

After almost two fabulous weeks of exploring the world, playing wii, and living like rock stars;

(J and M with their gifts on Christmas morning)

tons of quality family time;

(The cousins @ AKs on Christmas Day)

(D and his bros with the kids)

(Tacoma Zoo)

(Mt. Ranier)

plenty of fun;

the obligatory drinking,

eating,


and being merry;

not to mention loads of undone laundry;

and the occasional breaking of the law,

D went back to work, J went back to school, M went back to BabyGym, and all of us went back to reality today. It's always bittersweet; for the last three years D has taken the week between Christmas and New Years off. It's a fun-filled time with lots of lazy days sprinkled in. This year included a trip to Portland with a stay at the Embassy Suites on Christmas Day; a trip to Seattle, if only for M's allergist appointment and dim sum, but punctuated with Zoolights that evening; and a snowy-filled day at Mt. Ranier National Park.

While many people are into their fourth day of resolutions, done with those 72 hours that rid their bodies of whatever toxins were invading them or just getting rid of the soreness the weights inflicted, today is the first day of mine. I'm taking a trip to South Beach for the next couple of weeks and hope to come back with a little less weight in my luggage.

I have a good feeling about this year. Between the 1st and the 3rd we managed to clean out the garage, the front closet, and I put a big dent in the reorganization of the bonus room. And today, after a slow and rocky start, has been great.

For D, today was his first day back to tending to the business of farmers, but his work as a husband and daddy is never-ending.

And we love him for it.

Here's to 2010!