Fun at the Zoo

To start off Jason's week off, we took the bookends (aka 1 and 4) to the zoo with us. The weather turned out to be nice and cool so the animals were fairly active. 

Isaac, shockingly, still isn't as tall as male polar bear. Gotta work on that.

 It is always fun to touch the wildlife.

Sadly, Isaac's favorite exhibit is no longer there, but he and Josh did spend a few minutes in the Hurricane Simulator. It was hair raising.

As usual, Isaac took a spin on the carousel. He is the only one who wants to and will do this, but based on his facial expressions it may not be his thing much longer.

We ended with a trip to the gift shop where we spent more than we should have. Then a final pic with the gorilla and our time at the zoo was done.

Fathers' Day

 

I don't know how many more of these we'll get all together, but all the boys were here for Fathers' Day! 

Isaac is Moving UP

Isaac is moving up to middle school! We weren't too worried about this, but we do like to celebrate an accomplishment. Isaac got to walk across the stage at a ceremony that lasted less than 45 minutes (WIN!!!). Weird to think this is our last leaving elementary school. 

Of course we had to take a picture of Isaac and his amazing teacher. Ali has been wonderful teacher and has encouraged Isaac to participate in leadership activities and Battle of the Books. He has grown a lot this year in many ways under her care.

Jason and Nana (not seen here) were able to come as well so we were able to make a bit of noise when he walked across the stage and take pictures after.

We're proud of this kid and excited to see what comes next!

There's a Ginger in Town

A little over 10 years ago, I called my Dad to tell that Josh had been hit by a car. Josh was fine. After I recounted the entire story to my Dad, he asked me if I would please, in the future, lead with "Josh is fine" before breaking the rest of the news.

That was fair. 

That memory came to me early in the morning on June 1st when Michael texted me "mom something crazy happened."

See, that particular phrase could go so so so so so many ways. And it was 6am which would seem to indicate that "crazy" probably wasn't a good thing.  

Turns out:  

"Crazy" is code for adorable ginger kitten that Michael dubbed "Calvin".

Calvin was an early birthday present from his girlfriend and since that slightly worrisome text early that morning, I have been getting videos and pictures of Calvin in texts. The anticipation has been intense, but Michael brought Calvin down with him when he came home for the weekend.

No matter how darling this bundle of fur is, he could not stay at our house. Josh kindly allowed Calvin to stay at his apartment.

Annie was not pleased.

We all think Calvin is adorable, but we're all Team Annie when it comes to being sympathetic to having her home turf invaded by another cat.

During the times when there were no human referees, Calvin lived in Josh's bedroom and Annie had run of the apartment. But when people were there, Calvin and Annie had the opportunity to hiss and watch each other closely.

Calvin is tiny and we found his hissing adorable. Annie was not amused.

Isaac was also a little unsure of Calvin as an animal with claws and little self control.

But he enjoyed playing with Calvin.

Eventually, Isaac was confident enough to hold Calvin. Though, I don't think that Calvin was confident about being held by Isaac.

Michael and Calvin are back home but we enjoyed seeing them both.

Rainier to Ruston

Ben was invited to run. In a relay. By people who have run more recently than their freshman year. 

Of course, he said yes. Peer pressure is real.

It was hours and hours and involved a minivan supporting the group. Not really a spectator event, but I did manage to grab some photos from Instagram so here they are:

He came home with aching legs and some pretty sweet swag.

Terrariums R Us

It was a lovely Saturday afternoon when Mom and I hauled ourselves to Tacoma to learn how to make a terrarium (aka a way to kill plants more slowly). She looked happy at first.

And yet, when they started handing out the plants, she seemed less confident. The instructor was helpful and entertaining so we began making our terrariums with confidence, warranted or not. 

The finished product!

Well, products!

The instructor informed us that plants want to live. Which seems to imply that all the plants I have had either were suicidal or trying to live Irene-adjacent was enough to drain them of their will to live. We'll have to see how this terrarium survives...or not.

May on FB

The difference a year makes?

If this doesn't alarm or infuriate you...

This makes no sense to me 😆