Sunday, July 24, 2016

Catching up from Sister's Week (so many pictures)

I set out to show my sister all the awesomeness of California, and I think I did a pretty good job. By yesterday, we were wiped and could barely muster the energy to throw cheese sticks at the babies. My ultimate goal is to get her to move here and I think I'm gaining ground. I took her and my niece to my dad's today and exchanged them for Sydney, and now I'm milking the last few hours of my vacation before it's back to the grind tomorrow. Also, I WILL be going to the gym and eating vegetables and not drinking slushie alcoholic drinks tomorrow. Internet accountability.

Working backwards because I don't have the cut and paste energy to be linear...

My sister hasn't gone out since my niece was born over a year ago. She requested a "Girls Night" with a friend from high school that we discovered lives literally less than 15 miles from my house now. We had C to watch the babies and a super cute romper she bought in SF, so off we went.
I opine that all bars should have free photo booths. This was the tamest strip we took. 

The aftermath and the swag mason jars

Drunk selfies are the best selfies

Shots. No further explanation needed.

My sister, the romper, and Abe Lincoln. And some guy who photobombed. 

Pinkies up cuz I'm classy

More shots. 
 Her friend introduced us to this awesome spot on the river that was about the most perfect spot ever. We spent ALL DAY there and it was lovely. I'm already making plans to play hooky and go back.

My sister took this and I kind of want to tattoo it on my chest. It may also be the first time I've ever loved a picture of myself in a swimsuit. 

This one missed the bigs, but I think she kind of loved having us to herself for a while




Averson got in on the (virgin) frozen drink selfie goodness too. It was a yes week for sure. 


My sister hadn't been to San Francisco since she was a kid, so we spent a day wandering the Haight and Fisherman's Wharf. It was awesome. Even more awesome? I found free parking ALL DAY. Basically it was a miracle. 


Avery tried to push her off this thing right after this shot.


Ghiradelli Square

The pants my sister bought off the street, from the woman who requested about 47 different pictures for her blog. Erin, if you're out there, you look lovely in this one :) 

The stoop on Haight and Ashbury where my sister tried on the pants, protected only by an insufficient swath of indigo-dyed tapestry. When in Rome...


My sister brought her dog, Slug. He's enormous and full of energy so Atticus was in heaven (except for that one time where he lunged at poor Slug and bit his face...) Now that they've left Atticus is clinically depressed and I'm on Petfinder looking for a brother or sister. Side note: Desperately need thoughts on the second dog thing. Especially as it relates to the random face biting thing. And the "dear God, please don't be an obnoxious dog" thing. 


I have no story except that this is the cutest thing ever

This too. I heart Sister's Week. 
Sydney is back and Eli will be back next week (super weird to have 2/3s here, BTW). I go back to work tomorrow and then the kids go back to school in three weeks. Where did summer go?!

Thursday, July 21, 2016

State Fair Shenanigans

The Bigs are at Grandparent's Camp this week, so my sister and baby niece are staying with us. We've crammed in all the awesome things and I've been woefully negligent in blogging them. BUT, I got up early to prep my class tonight which means I'm procrastinating, so I'll at least post about the fair yesterday. First, going anywhere with just one kid is SO different. I couldn't figure out why I didn't feel snappy and agitated, until I realized that I was only responsible for not losing one person.

Wine slushies are amazing

My gym was having a rope pull competition. I did it once for fun, and then C and my sister told me that there was a Leader Board on the other side of the machine. So then I had to do it for realz. Totally broke the record. Wish I'd looked before I raced though, because I think I should have tried to at least beat the kid's record...




We pet sturgeon! It was a big hit. When Avery was FaceTiming the bigs this morning she told them that she "pet big fish! And without any cheese!"
I may need a tiny pig
 My adorable niece is OBSESSED with animals and she loved the fair so much. She frantically chanted "donkey donkey donkey donkey!" at anything over four feet tall and "puppy puppy puppy!" at anything smaller. She's so cute and she wanted to pet all the things. Except the sturgeon, curiously.


Seriously. Could my sister get any cuter? 





More sturgeon. Less cheese. 

Friday, July 15, 2016

Musical chairs (beds)

We always run just a wee bit on the hippy side, but we never realize it because we lived in Portland and in the mountains of Colorado. So where we come from, we're downright establishment. However, here we're a lot crunchier than we realize and it often comes out in funny ways.

Last week we decided that it was finally time to get Stinky out of her crib/toddler bed. We knew we wanted to put up the IKEA loft bed that we had in Eli's room, but we weren't sure what to put in his room. It's the teeniest room ever and so he really needs something that leaves him a lot of floor space still. After throwing around a lot of options, including moving him to the guest room (which freaked him out), we sort of jokingly brought up a hammock. He loves his hanging chair and is the kind of kid that likes to be cocooned. A hammock seemed like not the most terrible option for him. Plus it has virtually no footprint, AND it was cheap. After reminding ourselves that lots of people sleep in hammocks and it didn't make us super weird, and assuring him that the chances of falling out were very small, we decided to try it out. We had a hammock (that I bought at the grocery store of all places) and the commitment was pretty negligible. Just a couple 2x4 supports in the wall and a couple lag bolts. We figured we'll try it for the summer and see how it works out.
Can you see him in there? 
It is awesome and now I kind of want one too, if I could figure out how married people sleep in hammocks. He sleeps SO much better now (and he hasn't fallen out once!) Plus the girls have the bunk beds which has opened up a lot of space to play in their room.
It basically always looks like this. Truth in advertising. 
 So... now we're the weird family with multiple recycling bins who puts their kid in a hammock. I'm thinking about making our own rice cakes to serve with our organic broccoli cereal. I'll eat it while wearing macrame and dousing myself in patchouli.

Thursday, July 14, 2016

The great outdoors

This year C bought a parks pass that gets him into all of our local state parks. And then we discovered that LITERALLY five minutes from our house was an amazing section of river/lake with a beach and hikes and slow moving water and areas where I could happily sit and tan while my kids didn't drown. There are areas to fish and then other areas that are actually staffed with lifeguards. And we can take the damn dog. I'm embarrassed by how long we've lived here without knowing this. For the last week we've been going down every night after work and it's basically the greatest thing ever. The pool was fun but this water is cool and doesn't smell like sweat.  Best. Find. EVER. Sadly, between this discovery and my newfound love of not getting up at 4:00, my gym membership is going to waste this month...









Thursday, July 7, 2016

Head Palm

This is why I shouldn't be allowed out in public. (Preface: There's a weird urban myth about drinking the water in a prison and a lot of employees won't. It's been that way at every prison. I have no idea why.) I ran into a woman in the bathroom filling up her water bottle. She said, "Don't worry! I'm not drinking this!" I laughed and said, "Oh no! I drink the water here all the time. In fact, I drank it through two pregnancies and both babies have all their eyes and fingers!" Ha ha. To which she replied, completely deadpan, "My daughter wasn't. She was born without thumbs and some muscles and the doctor said it was the water." And I recovered by saying, "Wait. Is she dead or alive?"

Turns out she wasn't joking. Her daughter really was born without thumbs and several muscles in her arms. Both she and her mother are lovely adults, which is basically the only thing that saved me from this horribly awkward exchange in a public bathroom.

Smack my damn head.

Tuesday, July 5, 2016

Horses, Scooters, and Fire!

We crammed A LOT of fun into the long weekend, starting with the rodeo, which also concluded Eli's Tenapalooza. It was super fun, especially after it cooled off a bit and I finished my second Coors Lite. Then I stopped caring so much about my kids' excessive use of the Mr. Misters and refusal to stay in their damn seats. 

Stinky does not love selfies

She was more than happy to snap a picture of the silver dollar she "found" in the arena though. Hundreds of kids digging in the arena dirt in 100+ weather and no actual sinks on site. It was as awesome as it sounds. 

'Merica!

Sydney does love a selfie!
I made caprese salad with fresh basil and tomatoes from the garden. How fancy are we?!

A friend invited us to their church's Fourth of July breakfast and bike parade. The kids decorated their scooters (with various degrees of investment, obvs). I really need to stop calling these kids heathens. Not to humblebrag, but they were phenomenally well-behaved and polite. Eli put a little girl on his scooter and Syd managed to speak when spoken to. 





Seriously. Cutest thing ever. 

We finished off the weekend with friends breaking in the new patio and barbecue. There are very few pictures because children + friends + beer-itas. 


My friend made this cake on a whim. The color is from fresh fruit puree. She also teaches barre, has an adorable house, and dresses perfectly. So, yeah. Unfortunately she's also super nice.


I grew up in the high desert, where all personal fireworks are illegal and the city show generally resulted in dozens of fires. They've always made me nervous, though I am getting better. However, this year I was NOT better. I tried to brave face it until Averson burned her hand on a sparkler and was more than happy to sit out with me. From there I just did a lot of deep breathing and trying to say "C! Watch them!" in as calm, controlled a manner as possible. Which wasn't very. 

And then it was back to work five hours later. Next year, remind me to take the day after the 4th off. It doesn't even get dark until 9:30 so I'm not really sure what I was thinking. Today was rough, to say the least. It was saved though by the lady at Starbucks when I folded and decided that an after-work caramel macchiato was needed. I asked her about a different drink and she said, "Do you want to try it?" Then handed me talls in both options. So three coffees after four today and I'm feeling pretty chipper!