New Aquarium/Zoo

It took us a while, but we finally (compliments of my friend and her zoo pass) made it to the new aquarium.  It didn't disappoint. 

Though, the pictures probably will.  Old camera and no flash.  :(

Sharks are always a hit.

Every time the turtle would nibble at the yellow floaty, it would get a treat - lettuce.

They've expanded the jellyfish exhibits which are a favorite of mine.

There were lots of opportunities to get up close and personal.

And an expanded touch table.

We even found a pair of bunny ears for Ben.

A partial group photo.

Michael got a little cheek to belly with a walrus.

And finally a group photo of all the kids after the zoo kicked us out (we may have accidentally overstayed our welcome by about an hour).

Schilter....again

Another year, another collection of photos with my boys being super silly in front of the camera at the farm.

Also, kittens.  Again with the cute, cute kittens.

Also, also Ben will never be a farmer.  Or, at least, not a good one.

Also, also, also lots of jumping.

First Painting Project

When we bought this house in June, we knew there was going to be some painting involved.  We just didn't know that our first painting project would be on the outside of the house.  The HOA kind of forced the situation with an email about our faded garage door and a 30-day deadline.  The garage door has been faded since we moved in, so why they waited until October when it is cold and wet to tell us we had to paint it, I don't know.

Anyway.  We knew we had an HOA when we moved in.

However, we didn't know how much drama this would cause.  First of all, NO ONE KNOWS what color the garage door is.  The HOA sent me a document from the builder that has 14 color palettes and it was our job to figure out which one matched our house.  Sounds simple, no? Not so much.  Jason and I disagreed about which one matched our house (I said 12, he thought 8).  And then the HOA told us that we had to pick from either the 6th or 7th color in our palette and if we wanted to switch we would have to submit a request.  

Ok. Fine.

Except the palette doesn't match the house that way.  And how the colors are distributed on the houses in our neighborhood varies from street to street.  And someone on the community FB page told me that they have changed the color palettes since the houses were built.  And our house is the only one on our street in this color and the only one of its size and the only one with shutters.

For. The. Love. People.

I bought what I thought was closest and brought it home.  Jason pointed out that it isn't actually the same color as the garage and went back to the store to buy one in his color palette.  He painted a little bit of the garage with each and neither one of them matched it.

Seriously.

Now time and good weather is running out (Hello! October in the PNW!).  The paint store guy told me that once the temp drops to 50 and below, the paint will stay in whatever condition (ie wet) it is in until it warms up again.

I think Jason may end up with an ulcer.  I figured we should just paint it and tell them that we did exactly what they told us...their bad if it didn't work out.  My paint matched the door and shutters, so we busted out the paint brushes and went to work.  Hopefully they are more concerned about the door just not being faded and are happy that it matches the house.  I guess we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

Before

During (we enlisted the help of Josh's BFF)

After

Wedding Weekend

Last weekend, my cousin and his fiancee were married.  

In Michigan.  

Which is not quite close by to us anymore.  

No problem.

Of course, though, if one is going to travel across the country, one should go all out.  So, I did.  What's better than flying to Michigan from Washington State?  Flying to Washington, D.C. from Washington State! What is better than flying 3000 miles? Flying 3000 miles on a red-eye!

What started out as a trip to go to the wedding turned into a trip that involved getting to visit with family in three different states.  I don't have strong memories of the first 24 hours or so after I got off the plane on Thursday morning, but after Mom picked me up at the airport we headed straight over to Dad and Diane's house.

Dad and Diane bought a house with a bit of land and a barn after we had made our epic move West.  They also bought a pony who, unbeknownst to them, came with a bonus born a few months later.  I finally had the opportunity to see them in person.

This may be true love.

Still kicking myself for not getting a picture of Dad AND Diane (we'll chalk that up to jet lag), but I am in negotiations with them so I can add one here.

After a brief, but lovely, visit and shortly before I passed out, we got back in the car and drove to PA.  I am told that we drove through the edges of Hurricane Michael, but I slept through all of that.  We finally arrived at our destination and got to spend some quality time with Maggie (my first cousin twice removed....I think) and her son, Keith (my second cousin once removed, or so I am told). Again, no picture. Again, blaming the jet lag (I think I passed out on the couch while they were all talking), but I got them later.

Finally, I made it into a bed and slipped quickly into a deep sleep.  Which was super helpful as I could actually help with the drive the next day without putting our lives at risk.  Friday we drove to Michigan.  We went straight to a mall to meet up with Rachel, who had taken a red-eye directly to Detroit, to go shopping for a dress.  Rachel really enjoys doing things last minute.  Also, she hates dresses.

Then on to an evening event where we had some time to chat with family.  And then headed over to Mindy (second cousin once removed) and Joel's house for another great night of catching up and sleep.  Also, no pictures.

Kicking. My. Self.

Saturday evening was the wedding, but that left us to our own devices during the day.  Luckily, Aunt Dorian and Uncle Dennis had some tickets to Greenfield Village, a place I haven't been to since I was quite a bit younger (10ish?), so we took the opportunity to wander around and relive some memories.

Greenfield Village was put together by a man named Ford.  You may have heard of him.  Turns out, he had some extra cash and decided to collect historic houses that were due to be destroyed.  A little bit like Williamsburg, but not necessarily from the exact period of time or the same area of the world.

Sadly they don't do hats anymore at weddings, because Rachel was rocking this hat.

And this one.

I thought this sign was probably the best example of both product and marketing....ever.  The price is right, too.

She hates this picture, but it is LITERALLY the only one of the three of us from this trip.

Eventually we had to head back to the current century and get all gussied up for the wedding.  Turns out you can get Rachel and I all dressed up fancy, but you can make us behave fancy.

And, of course, the stars of the show.  It was a beautiful ceremony and reception.  We didn't actually get to spend very much time with them (I may not have gotten to talk with Hannah at all), but I was glad to be there.

Alas, all good adventures must come to a close.  After another lovely evening at Mindy and Joel's we said goodbye to them and Rachel and headed back to Pennsylvania.  And while the Ohio and Pennsylvania turnpikes left me a little bit poorer, they also gave back in ways I could scarcely imagine.  Yes, this is a real thing.  Maple. Bacon. Potato. Chips.

Alas, they tasted just about as good as you would imagine, so we brought them to *share* with Maggie and Keith (and co).

This time around, I remembered (finally!) and got a picture before we left.

Then it was back to DC and back on a plane.  It was lovely seeing all these wonderful people.  However, over the period of 5 days I did two 5 hour flights and four 5 hour drives.  It was exhausting.  Also, holy gluten batman.  I consumed some gluten (at Chick-fil-A no less) right before my flight and that was not pretty. I am sure the people next to me were concerned that they were being exposed to some horrible illness.  Ugh.

Overall, good times and great people.  Now just waiting for someone else to get married.

Funny Faces