Week 1

Summer break started with an epic cold taking up residence in my head and lungs.  

#winning

MONDAY

Since the breathing wasn't my forte, my friend left me but took Ben with her to hike at Lena Lake.  I still have high hopes that I will do this hike this summer, but it wasn't in the first week. 

And Michael started Jazz Band camp.

TUESDAY

I made the executive decision to be better on Tuesday.  It wasn't as effective as I had hoped, but I did drag everyone out to Mima Mounds for a sunny stroll.

And I do mean everyone.  She's not a hiker, but we've dragged her along a few times.

I find the mounds to be not that interesting actually, but the wildflowers were pretty.

After getting our daily dose of vitamin D, Josh, Isaac and I spent three hours negotiating the intercity transit system so Josh could have an idea of how to get to summer school ($20 bus pass means that I don't have to play chauffeur this summer....well, for him at least).

This is Josh's happy face.  I know it's difficult to see underneath the teenage face.  But if you look deep, deep inside you can see how thrilled he is to be working on his public transit skills.

You don't have to look too deeply to see that this is Isaac's happy face.

WEDNESDAY
Josh started his summer class (video game design - he isn't sad to be going to summer school for a few weeks).  After tai chi, I took the younger three to Pioneer Park to throw rocks in the water and play in the sand.  Oh, and get caught hiking in the rain.

FRIDAY
We were sad to learn that Diane's mom passed away last week.  But we were excited by the chance to see some family we don't see very often.  Everyone else had other commitments, but Isaac, Ben and I were able to take an ::ahem:: little drive to Oregon for the funeral.  I'd only met Marie a couple of times, but she was a lovely woman and it was a beautiful service with many people sharing their experiences and love with Diane's family.  As a bonus, we brought Dad back to WA with us.

SATURDAY

An activity called Berry Festival drew us to the Farmer's Market in the morning.  Among other things, Michael had the chance to see his arch nemeses trapped in glass.

Isaac got a balloon dog that came to a sad and deflated ending in the car on the way home.

Ben consumed about $7 worth of Rainier cherries and Josh sucked down a lemonade.

Then we took Dad over to the Landing.

 Statues by local artists are on display along the boardwalk.  I don't know if Josh was just not impressed or if this is his resting teenager face.

A quick stop at the playground finished the morning.

No pictures, but we spent some of the afternoon at the open house for the MakerSpace.  It is a building full of all sorts of tools for working with metal, wood, plastic, vinyl and what have you.  Josh and our tour guide soon discovered that they are kindred spirits and by the time we left, Josh had filled out a volunteer application.

All in all, I think summer 2019 is off to a running start.

Preschool Photo Fest

Brace yourself for a cuteness overload.  

To the max.

Because I can't imagine anything cuter than a preschooler who wants to grow up to be a frog one day.

At the end of the school year, Isaac's teachers sent home a CD with pictures on it.  I don't think the images are exactly chronological in order, but it is fun to see some of the activities they have done this year.  His teachers clearly put a lot of time and effort into working with these little people.  I am glad that he had the opportunity to go to school this year.  However, since I just got the photos at the end of the school year, I am going to dump them into one very long photo post so we have them to remember this time by.

Rollercoaster

Ben's school year ended on a twisty and curvy note.

Saturday Morning Hike

Funny story.  I took the younger three on a hike this morning at a nature preserve.  Isaac was running his hands along the plants at one point and I asked him to stop.  I tried to explain to him that some of the plants are prickly (blackberries and stinging nettle) and will hurt him.  He took that admonition to heart and then took it up a notch.  After that he kept asking me which plants were going to kill him.  Then I spent a lot of time explaining that none of the plants were going to kill him, just possibly hurt him.  

Of course, as I looked at the pictures later and thought about it, I realized that these are foxglove and can actually kill him.  I mean, he'd actually have to eat it, but still.

Parenting fail.

But they sure are pretty.

Potentially deathly plants not withstanding or perhaps because of, it was a lovely hike.

Behold, the ecstatic faces of our teen and preteen.

Don't let those grimaces fool you, they had a good time.

It's been a while since we checked out a new path, so I am glad we could have a little adventure.

Larry the Bari Saxophone

Sometimes it pays to chat with people in your tai chi class about your kids.  Especially if one of your kids wants a bari sax and the person you chat with is a member of the jazz society who knows a former band teacher who knows a family selling a baritone saxophone.

An unlikely set of circumstances, but they all happened and one sunny afternoon we surprised Michael with the thing that he has dreamed of owning for his whole life.  Okay, not that long, but I think it felt that way to him.

We told him that we had something special for him.  First we had him sit down, close his eyes, and put out his hands (cuz we're tricky).

So he was especially surprised when he opened his eyes to find his hands were empty but there was a huge case on the floor.

Not just any case.

Because, yes, the case was cool.

But it was the item inside that was awesome.

It was like all the Christmases combined.  He kept saying that he couldn't believe that he wasn't dreaming.

Luckily, it came with a harness because the baritone sax is HUGE.

He played for the next few days almost nonstop.

Isaac was an excited spectator to the whole process.  And while he wasn't allowed to play or hold the sax, we did have him stand up next to it so we could see who was taller.

Isaac isn't quite there yet.

The gentleman who sold us the sax told us that it needed a name, so Michael dubbed it "Larry".