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 Day in the Life

She woke up about 7 yesterday morning. Right at about the same time Brother started asking if we could go get her. I ignored them both for about half an hour at which time Brother went into her room and yanked her out of her crib. "Tee-Tee, Jay-Jee," she says. And then the demands started: Bize Nook! AKA: Buzz Milk, AKA: Milk in her Buzz Lightyear sippy cup.

Breakfast was See-Yo, cereal, just cereal, because all the milk ended up in her hair. She spit up her medicine -- the pink antibiotic stuff that's been around for a hundred years -- and it ended up all over her clothes.

I changed her and we went to the park with the other moms from our church. She ate salami and cheese, rode somebody else's buggy, followed a five-year old boy around to the point of annoying him, climbed on the playground equipment, and crashed the boys' only club meeting going on underneath.

After nap she woke up hungry and asking for Ah-mas, hummus....she ate about half of the container. The other half, along with the crumbs of some Cheetos, ended up on her face:

And, of course, her hair.

It pairs nicely with the dried milk already there.

Next up was the track meet. And although it's Js event, she acts like she owns the place.
When we saw Js Kindergarten teacher she immediately ran up and waved hello.
Colleen has a very obvious afinity to M and was thrilled that she recognized her.
A short while later we saw another friend that hadn't seen her since she was a baby; she charmed her way into her heart as well.
She has a way of doing that, that M.



Once things got rolling she helped herself to his water bottle.

And never mind that he'd already clocked about two miles in the last 30 minutes,
she chased him around the field while he waited for the 400 to begin.


And he just complied.

He's a pretty fast kid who wants to win every race, but he slowed down enough
to let her trample all over him

until she declared herself victorious

and made her way over to the long jump area
that in her mind was a giant sandbox.

where she played and threw sand to her heart's content.

We got home about 8, gave her a much-needed bath, her Bize Nook,and put her to bed.

The wonderful life of a child!

My Fair Lady

This summer thing has really put a crimp on my blogging. I have several entries in the que just waiting to be written about. This is one that I've had in mind for a few weeks but was hoping to get a picture to go with it; something to make it more interesting. I'm so glad I waited.

Let's back up a couple of months. For some reason unbeknown to me, J has been really interested in marriage, kids, where he's going to live when he gets big; things that a six-year-old boy has no business worrying about.

He's inquired more than once who his kids are going to be and he's mentioned M as potential offspring. The other day we were having a conversation about when D and I got married and he asked if we got to pick our kids then or if they, whoever they are, picked them for us. After some probing, I realized that he thought once you were married you automatically got your kids ~ like some sort of package deal created in Married-with-Children Heaven.

He's informed us that, "Once I'm older and I don't live with you anymore, I'm still going to live in Washington." Since I've already decided that I'm going to follow him wherever he goes, this plan works for me. I like it here!

He's told us that he's going to be a teacher when he grows up. He "knows" he's going to get the truck when he turns 16, even scolded D the other day and said, "Hey, don't spill ice cream in my truck." And he also doesn't let D forget that he promised him the Omega on his wrist when he turns 21.

He's got it all planned out. The only thing missing is a wife. Again, he's asked who she may be. I've not elaborated much, simply told him we don't know yet. He's asked if he can marry me. And although it was more of an inquiry than a proposal, the kid is truly interested in his future union. Then one day he decided that he was going to marry M!

Now we need to elaborate. First things first, J, unless you plan on leaving your beloved Washington and moving to West Virginia, this is NOT acceptable. We explained that you can't marry your sister; that he has to find a girl that he's not related to, that's nice, smart, and treats him well. Good looking was also on Daddy's list but he kept that between the adults.

And today, after spending the day at the fair with her, it's like his eyes were opened and he saw what had been there all along -- or at least the last 18 months: The perfect girl; the one that met all the requirements Mommy rambled off, and even the one that Daddy said that he wasn't supposed to hear:

Meet Ms. B!

He came downstairs and announced that he knew who he wanted to marry.

Daddy warned him to not bombard her with this newfound revelation so as to not scare her away. He's trying to teach him young that girls like a say in these things too. I'm more concerned about HER daddy finding out. He's a big, fit, Army guy who may not share Js enthusiasm about all of this. Daddy also told him that he's still a kid and that he may meet another girl or girls between now and the time he's old enough to actually engage in a real engagement.

In typical guy fashion he caught on to the underlying message quickly and said, "Okay. For now I want to marry her, but I can change my mind and then I'll tell you."

Uh-oh. We really can't let her daddy get wind of this ~ he'll most certainly put a halt to any future playdates with us.

Are You Talking to Me?

We did nothing today. By that I mean that we did nothing. We didn't go anywhere. We got up, had breakfast, the kids went upstairs to do whatever it is that they do, I put a load of laundry in the washing machine, and worked on Rebe's scrapbook. When the clock struck noon we had lunch. M went down for a nap, J watched a movie, and I finally got out of my PJs.

And the rest of the afternoon went much the same. I prepped dinner, folded clothes, washed dishes, and finally, around 4pm we walked over to the neighbor's house for a little bit of playtime before dinner.

Once we got home, Daddy announced that his buddies from out of town were going to be in Olympia and he was going to meet them for a drink. Wonderful. I had planned to take J to Target to get a birthday present for our little neighbor's party tomorrow afternoon. I had no plans to take M.

In spite of all the arguments I had in my mind about why he should not go, I said nothing and packed them in the car. Once in the toy department they touched everything they could get their hands on, pushed every button, lit up every gadget, placed as many items as they could in the middle of the aisle so as to not let anybody get through. I probably said, "come here; don't do that; pick that up; no, no, no; get out of the way," oh, I would guess 189 times. But we accomplished our mission and left with gift in hand -- well, half gift. We still had to go over to Borders to get something else.

Our trip there was uneventful. We went in, found what we wanted, and walked over to the cashier with the store still in decent shape.

That's when he walked up. A gentleman, probably in his 50s, nicely dressed, and he says to me, "Thank you for showing your kids how to use their inside voices." I looked around and there was nobody else there except the kids who as far as I know don't have any offspring as of yet. So I responded, "Really?"

There are a couple of reasons for my response. First of all, my kids are never quiet. And especially at Borders. As a matter of fact, they have actually been reprimanded by one of the workers there. And second, "Use your inside voice" is not a phrase I use very often. My version is more direct: Shut up! So, I said, "Did I say that? I don't remember, but it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility since I'm always saying something to them." He then chuckled and replied, "No, but look at them. They're so well-behaved. I can tell you try. Unlike some parents."


And then I looked. Like really looked. And they were behaving. J was standing a little behind me waiting for the cashier to hand me the book so we can be on your way. And although M was touching some books -- the temptation is just too much for her --they weren't off the shelf and sprawled on the floor with pages ripped out -- yet.

He really was talking to me. For that second anyway.