The Kitchen Sink Blog Post

This covers just about everything from Fourth of July to mom hiking adventures, to boo-boos...and everything in between.

Without going into a ton of detail on anything in particular, I'll hit some of the important points. We've had great weather, meaning I've been out hiking as much as possible. I don't post many of those pics here, but I'm too lazy to keep 2 blogs running, so I haven't been updating my hiking blog. I did finish June with 52 miles hiked and somewhere over 20,000 feet of elevation (I haven't worked it out yet). I want to see what that looks like on a graph in terms of grade, but I'm no math wiz, so I have to put some effort into it. I started July strong with a short but killer hike with great views at the end. I can't help but post a few pics of that great afternoon.

A big part of the week was spent getting Shawn ready for his trip to Roatan, Honduras for a long awaited diving trip with his brother, Matt. For those wondering, Roatan is far away from the tension in mainland Honduras and there is absolutely no danger there. Cruise ships are still porting there, and that wouldn't be happening if there was even a hint of trouble.

So anyway, I was getting ready to be a single mom for a week and Shawn was preparing about 200 pounds of photography and dive gear for a trip around the world. He left Friday night. My heart goes to single and military moms. It's only a week for me and I can't imagine what weeks (plural), months, years...and lifetimes of solo parenting must feel like. For all the times I think to myself that it would be nice to just have my way and do it all on my own, I really don't mean it. I know that now for sure.

Another big event was Ian's move to a big boy bed yesterday. It's just his crib converting to a toddler bed, so it feels much the same without the front bars. He picked out special pillows and a sleeping bag, and even wanted Polli to play on the bed with him. As it turns out, he doesn't need a step stool to get in and out and I can easily lay with him (eventhough it's a crib mattress) to sing songs before saying goodnight. It was GREAT. He took to it immediately and has yet to really figure out that he has the ability to get up and move around the house. I fear the day he figures that out!

The Fourth was a huge day. We watched the parade in our neighborhood and then spent a couple of hours at the big carnival party put on my the ROA and nearby businesses. They had bouncy houses and slides for all ages and Ian, who was petrified of them last year (and just a few months ago) couldn't be kept away from the bouncy houses. Try telling a 3 year old that he has to wait in line each time, but never the less, it was fun to watch. He also got to meet a "real live" firefighter and sat in a fire truck. There were things we had to skip due to long lines, but we shared a piece of pizza (Ian ended up just eating the toppings and I got the crust...gross). For this, I was sad that Shawn was gone. After a couple of hours, and already getting hot out, we left and headed home for a nap.

After nap, we got our stuff together and made our way toward Grandma Trish & Grandpa Tom's house for a Fourth get together and fireworks. It was great to see everyone, including Shannon's brother Ricky and their mom Nancy. Both haven't seen Ian for a year or more. He was going strong well toward dark, so we decided to stay for fireworks. It took one to go off and he was scrambling to get in the house. He went into a panic over the sudden noise and didn't like it one bit. He seems to be fine with noise that he can prepare for (like a motorcycle coming from down the road) but loud bangs are mood killers. We watched from inside and he did fine after that... In the end, he wasn't home and in bed until after midnight. A new record for him! He did great until about 10 miles from home when he started screaming that he didn't want to be in the car anymore. He was just delirious with fatigue. Poor little guy.

Today, we hit the mall and Target, then later went grocery shopping. He did great. Not one accident and not a single meltdown. It was all errands, but he was as close to the perfect little buddy as possible. I loved today.

Thank goodness for a cool breeze coming in to give us a break from very humid 80's. Ian and I both woke up this morning congested and tired, so a change in the weather will be welcome for a day or two before I'll be complaining about the cold again.

Enjoy some pics from the weekend! Hope everyone had a great 4th and did the right thing by letting the pro's light the fuses...and giving a designated driver the keys!

Oh man, I left out a whole story about our trip to the zoo on Friday. Sigh. I'm too tired to go back and add it in...There are a few pics below.

One of the things I love most about Ian's new school is that, when the weather is nice enough, I can walk him to school. It's only a few minutes even at Ian's pace...and he loves it. It's a nice refreshing walk back for me, which is always welcome first thing in the AM.

I say goodbye to him at the window every morning. Some days are easier than others. This was a good day.

From about 1.5 miles up on the Chirico Trail in Issaquah. The summit is where paragliders launch and slowly sail down to the field below. As you can see, there is also an unobstructed view of the North side of Mt. Rainier. Always taunting me.

Watching paragliders launch. I absolutely want to do this... although I would also absolutely pee my pants in the process. There's no describing what it's like to watch them step off the side, so I'm sure the feeling of doing it is incomparable.

At the zoo with cousins Cade (12) and Taylor (14) from Fairbanks.

Getting up close and personal with a monkey. As it turned out, it was one of the busiest days of the year for the zoo and also one of the hottest, meaning we fought crowds at every exhibit and most of the animals were sleeping far away from where we could see them. It was still a great day...and Ian held up better than anyone. Cade threw a tantrum before Ian did!

You can see the fatigue setting in.

Random, but I loved this shot. Emerald Python..or Boa. Ian knows. I'll ask him tomorrow.

One last burst of energy in the tropical rainforest (it was SOOO humid in here!)

Fist bump to the diamond back Gorilla. One day I hope he can see one of these in the wild.

Helping me convert his crib to a big boy bed. Cribs are for babies!

Loving his new sleeping bag and truck & bus pillows. His music player stays. I think he might have that thing when he's in high school. It is by far one of the reasons why I can count on ONE HAND the number of nights he's woken up needing us.

Fine tuning his music... while Polli makes herself at home.

Showing off some of our Lego creations. He actually asked me to take a picture for daddy. He was so proud.

Having fun in a bouncy house. Just a month or two ago, he was petrified to go in these things.

Sitting in a real live fire truck. He was a little overwhelmed by it, but liked all the dials and buttons.

Checking out the first fire truck in Snoqualmie. It still runs (although it had a cup holder with Starbucks cups in it, which killed the effect a bit). We saw this fireman today at Trader Joes and I could see Ian's mind ticking... like, why is a fireman wearing a tee shirt and sweats?

As you can see, Ian and I completely forgot to wear red white and blue on the 4th. Oops! At least I could find him in a crowd!

Getting a dart lesson from Ricky.

Hey, wait a second....

Nice Taylor... really attractive! :)

Sitting by a waterfall and Chihouly sculpture in Bellevue Square (Lincoln Tower) today. We had just come from Tully's, which he thought was Tollie's...the Koala in Ni Hao Kai Lan. He was a little disappointed when there were no Tollie items to be had.

When he woke from his nap, he had gouged a scratch on his nose and it was bleeding pretty badly. I put a band-aid on it, and while it looks like he's crying, he's actually laughing about having a band-aid on his nose. He was trying to look at it, which made his eyes cross... and that made him laugh. Thought I needed to clarify that I was not ignoring my child's distress to get a Kodak moment!

Just a silly pic with his band aid and glasses. He actually wore the band aid all day. If anything, it might have helped his congestion some.

Casually playing in his big boy bed after nap with his new passion: GeoTrax trains. He has already examined the back of the package and noticed the pieces he doesn't have. I'm OK with it since these are half the cost of Thomas trains, which he likes but isn't married to. Thank goodness he isn't a brand junkie just yet.