A simple day at the park

A Saturday with nothing to do
A nice day to visit the park
Then we let Bub go and be free at the park.
And what does he do after about 5 minutes of having freedom....
Falls face first into a mud puddle. (these pictures don't show his shirt, but trust me it was caked with mud pies.)
The only mud puddle at the entire park.
And what did his parents do? Ran after him but arrived 1/2 a second too late.
And after we helped him up and realized he was ok. We all laughed so hard we almost started crying.
A nice day to strip my child down to his diaper and put him in a mismatch shirt.
A quiet Saturday to bring my filthy child back home for an afternoon tub.
And I thought this would be an uneventful day.

Crackin me Up!

When Thing one and Thing Two need to go outside, Bub likes to stand at the window and do raspberries and blow fishes on the window. It seriously has me laughing outside while he is doing it. And the sound is all him. If you need a laugh today this will do it for you!

Something happy to watch

Instead of lingering on the sad/frustrating lets focus on something happier, mainly Baby. He has started to dance and it is funny because he actually has songs that he enjoys and others that he doesn't. I know it is long, but who doesn't love a:Justin Bieber and b: a baby entertaining himself.

Mommy and me swim classes

This morning was our third Mommy and Me swim classes. While the classes aren't promising to teach my 10 month old how to swim, it is meant to introduce them to the water at an early age and teach some safety techniques. (teaching them to wait to enter a pool and how to float on their back until you tell them to sit up are just a few things they have taught us.)

Today, we got to teach them to go under water. Well, maybe 'teach' is too strong of a word, more like dunk our children at the count of three. Baby did a great job and no tears were shed. He didn't even pull any odd faces or anything. I was very impressed. It is an odd feeling to know that you are doing the right thing, but it feels so wrong because they don't understand what the heck is happening. (similar feeling when your baby gets their immunizations.)

While the guilt has subsided, the best reward for all involved is a nice nap when we get home. And while my guilt won't let me lay down, my little tadpole is sound asleep in a fleecy warm outfit covered with his favorite blanket. In my book that is a well spent $50 for classes.

No place to go

On Sunday, Soder has been taking an art class. It happens to be in Seattle and this week, since I was a good girl and finished all my work before Sunday we went along with him. After a long discussion between baby and I, we decided that we would go and hang out at Gas Works Park, one of our favorites. It was so great to get out of the house and actually be in the city. This has been a long, long winter (so far) with many days filled with rainy goodness that has kept us trapped in our house (that and the fact that there isn't very much extra in the bank account to go and wander around aimlessly. I find when I wander I spend, and when there isn't any to spend it is better to stay home.) It was cloudy and thankfully didn't rain on us. We were able to take a few pictures and wander around, through the tons of goose poop and mud. It was a great time. We still had time to kill before we had to pick Soder up, so we took a little drive up Queen Anne Hill. It is seriously such a great area. I loved all the stores and neighborhoods. I was scouting for a park up there (for when we have some visitors this spring), but didn't find it and ended up driving around longer than I had expected because I got a little lost. My partner fell asleep on the way back to where we were picking up Soder so I didn't do any more fun exploring, like get a cup of coffee. So our exciting adventure ended up with Baby asleep in the back, and me reading my magazines in the car while we for class to get out. Regardless, it was a great time to be out from these four walls. I really needed that, and I think the cabin fever has left for at least a few more weeks.

Long overdue Starbucks 'date'

On Saturday morning, we took a short little break and enjoyed a quick cup at our favorite 'date' spot, Starbucks. It was a far cry from the last time we really hung out there when Baby was a mere 3 weeks old and it was hot and sunny. It was fun because Baby has started eating dry cereal so he kept snacking on those while we were people watching. (our favorite past time) Great break from our normal Saturday routine. I wish we could do it every weekend.

They are called Gomoku no Moto

Last week, like a good little Japanese girl I had to eat my mochi. It brings good luck for the new year and it is a family tradition. The only thing problem was that I didn't have any homemade mochi (which I have always had when I was in Utah or if my parents come and visit) so off to the Asian market I went. I quickly found the mochi, (I could tell it was the display because of all the other unprepared Asians swarming around it.) As I was walking around the store, I decided I wanted some other Asian comfort food. During the holidays, my dad usually will make 'gunny sacks'. They are seasoned fried bean curd that looks like a little sack that you can stuff with rice and prepared veggies (from a can) I walked down the aisle that it should have been on and looked all over. I could find the gunny sacks, but not the veggies. This is where I do not represent the Japanese people very well. I had no idea what the veggies were called, or what they actually were. So I decided to phone my dad and ask him. (he knows everything right?) Wrong. We both sat there trying to remember what it was called while I wandered aimlessly through out the rest of the store. By the end of the conversation, I was no closer to finding the missing veggies and my dad had displayed that he is no better of a Japanese person either! (but it was nice because we could laugh about it and give each other a hard time) My dad had decided that he would bring me a couple of cans (he knew where they were located in his local Asian Market in Utah) up in March when they visit next and I was happy with that.
But what came in the mail today? A sweet little care package filled with all sorts of delicious Japanese goodies, including Gunny sacks (which for future reference are called Inarizushi no Moto, seasoned fried bean curd) and veggies (called Gomoku no Moto, prepared vegatables)! Also in the pack are some ginger cookies, wafers, Mochi, some Botan rice candy and, of course, fortune cookies (my favorite. Where else can you get a great bit of advice from a dessert!) Thanks, Dad and Mom for the wonderful care pack. It just makes smile to see all the great treats! It also makes me hungry, off to cook....

Post #2

I never post more than one update because they always seem to get lost in the shuffle, but this one deserves a little bit of acknowledgment. Last week, Travis got a REAL job. No more night shifts, and grumpy hubby. (is that a Ben and Jerry Flavor, if not it should be. It could be sold as a pair with chubby hubby.) We will ACTUALLY be able to go and see Seattle. We can actually have fun days off instead of me sitting in my house while my husband is asleep all day. Yeah! Everything is coming together and just in time. :)

Topsy Turvy week

This week has helped me to look on the bright side. It started out like any other week until I caught the flu from some mysterious means. (I had not gone anywhere public, no one else I know is sick, but somehow the virus found me.) Yes, it was horrible. I hate, I mean HATE to throw up. As I was throwing up every ounce of solid in me, I realized how lucky I was that I did not have morning sickness. I know I would have survived and would have gotten over the whole barfing thing, but seriously, I am glad I did not have to "learn" that lesson the hard way.
Secondly, my husband came home from work and realized that he had lost one of his wedding rings. Let me clarify a bit, we were married in Vegas in a civil ceremony and also in the Greek Orthodox Church as well. In the civil ceremony you wear your ring on the left hand while in the Church wedding you wear it on your right. (I have since combined mine to just the left hand, while he had 2 bands.) It was a bummer that he lost his ring, except for the fact that that means he has lost weight. He has put on the traditional marriage weight after we hooked up, but it is a good thing that he has shrunk a bit since working his horrible graveyard shifts at the old F.M. (The other good thing is that it was the cheaper of the two rings that he lost as well. )
While I am usually not the most optimistic person in the world, I am very happy that I was able to find the silver lining of this week during some very different 'zen' moments and can actually look back and say this was an ok week. Weird, I know!

Oh to be a dog....

Every weekend we try to make some special "Kimi" time. We try to find something good to for her to do.  (Yes, we are one of THOSE couples that likes to pamper our pet.) We figure that she is such a good dog during the week, (ie she didn't rip apart anything or eaten anything that she wasn't suppose to (like drawing pencils or sharpies)) that she should be rewarded.  I love to take her to the dog park.  It is a such a fun place to go and experience society.  There are always the "social butterflies", the "recluse", the "low-self esteem", the "bully", the "follower".  All of these groups are the dogs, not their owners. (although most of owners do reflect what their dog is.)  I love to see how Kimi fits into the scheme of things. She is always hesitant at first (Travis says she needs to warm up a bit.) It is a overwhelming when you first enter because all the other dogs rush over to see you and sniff you. (although Kimi gets all the  cold noses in her bum so I understand how she could need a little time to warm up.) After the initial "warm-up" is over, she runs around and (I would like to think) is the social butterfly. You can just picture in your head Kimi running and checking in with everyone making sure they are alright and happy with what is going on.  She is pretty mellow once she settles in, then we can watch all the other dogs. It is so funny to watch all the different personalities work out their differences and still have a good time. There is no bitterness and hatred toward anyone (and the backbiting only happens for a sec then they realize that isn't going to accomplish anything!), they work it out and move on.  If only the world were more like a dog park, minus the sniffing and cold noses.