For Heather

This post is for my sister who asked me to cough up more Oregon pictures. Well, Heather, here you go. Most of them were too fuzzy to even pass off as "art" but I have a few more to post.

Looking down on Manzanita.

Arlie giving me a rock.

Arlie loved the balcony. I loved that we were across the street from the beach. We did yoga out here to the sound of the crashing surf.

Bailey had himself a pretty good time on the beach.

Pretty similar to a picture I already posted but with a little more natural smile.

Manzanita, OR

Arlie and I travelled to the Oregon coast to meet up with my close friend Anna and her husband, Joel. We met in Manzanita which is a super-cute, super-friendly small town.

Anna, Arlie, and Joel walking back to our hotel from dinner. Our camera stopped focusing sometime on the trip which is why this is kind of blurry but that'll be our little secret. I'm going to tell everyone else that it's "arty".

Arlie and I on the rocks.

Hug's Point.

It was pretty windy on the beach on Friday. Not a cloud in the sky though.

Arlie is over her fear of sand. She loved playing in it, drawing in it, and giving you big handfuls.
She's also modelling my love of wearing clashing prints. My kid will be one of the few to rebel by wearing stuff that matches!

And speaking of windy beaches, I labelled this video "Invisible Nanny." For some reason it looks like the buggy stops at the end of the video but it's an illusion. The wind pushed her for a long ways before I got back behind it! Considering that I pushed the stroller against the wind for more than a mile (in sand!) I don't feel too bad letting mother nature help me out a little.

Flower Update

Our butterfly plants are going to bloom soon!

The mock orange has so many blooms it's sagging under the weight. And it smells soooo good.

Some kind of berries on a bush. Andrew will know what they are.

Girls Night!

Arlie and I went to Mercer Island last night to hang out - just us girls. Arlie loved playing with the dogs and I hadn't been to Icy and Jay's new home yet so it was fun to get a tour of their beautiful house!

Tricia, me, and Arlie enjoying the nice evening on the deck.
Pretty sunset!

Icy in her gorgeous kitchen.

Tricia's Bridal Shower and BBQ

Tricia and Arlie at the shower.

Me and Tricia at her house for the BBQ. I look so . . . dishevelled. I think I had just changed out of the outfit I wore to the shower.

Arlie Cart

Arlie's latest thing is to cram herself into her little cart. Then she kind of rocks back and forth to make it move a few inches. Or she pushes on the wheels kind of like you would in a wheelchair. Funny girl.

Chehalis Western Trail

My sister Heather is up visiting this week! Arlie and I went to Lacey to hang out with her and my mom. We took Arlie out for a walk in the new stroller grandma got for her for when she visits.

Flutterby

Hee hee. It seems lately I'm posting a bunch of pictures of the back of Arlie's head while she looks at something. It's hard to tell in the photos but the butterfly was about the size of my palm. Arlie was delighted with this "flying flower" and followed it from plant to plant.

Where's Daddy?

When I work out Arlie likes to get out the scrapbooking albums and look through them. I ask her, "Where's. . . ?" and she points them out. Here she is pointing to Andrew because I asked her where daddy was.

Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium

This is a long post but it was a full day. This wasn't Arlie's first time to the zoo but it certainly was the first where I think she really enjoyed being there as opposed to just having fun with mommy and daddy.

Arlie is no longer content to walk but must run and careen wherever she goes. Makes for a lot of skinned knees (and after today skinned forehead and nose)

She had fun feeding the goats. Some of the older children were super-aggressive and knocked her down trying to get to the pellets she accidentally dropped. The mama bear sure came out in me!!

Arlie loved, loved, loved the walruses and the tiger. I'm not sure what it was about those particular animals that she found so fascinating but they got barks and claps which is definitely her seal of approval!

There's a new exhibit at the zoo called Budgie Buddies. They had budgies of all colors flying free and you can buy these sticks that have food at one end. The objective is to stand still and hope there's a hungry budgie in the vicinity that will land on your stick and eat the food. This budgie had just gotten squealed at in his little bird ear by Arlie and was outta there.

Arlie rejecting Bishop's advances. Andrew will be so proud.

I was a little surprised how much Arlie liked the, uh, squirty fountain? Spraying water-feature?
Whatever you call it, she was having fun chasing the water around. Although. . .

. . . as you can see sometimes the water found her.

And we ended our trip to the zoo with a ride on the carousel. I hadn't been on one myself in over 20 years. Maybe in a few months we can try it on one of the actual horses (or frog or walrus). I had to buckle a very damp, happy, and exhausted girl into her carseat. What a great day!

Awards Ceremony

I got a plaque from the Chief for excellence in dispatching for an incident I handled involving a pursuit and trooper-involved shooting. Lori next to me also received a plaque because she's freakin' awesome and took care of EVERYTHING so that all I had to concentrate on was dispatching. I have another picture where I'm actually posing with my plaque and the Chief but I look possessed. Cross your fingers the official State Patrol photographer got a good one because awards like this don't happen very often.

P.S. Does that uniform accentuate that I have the shortest waist humanly possible or what?!

Tricia's Celebration Weekend

Normally I try to post more family stuff here and Jenn stuff on Facebook but someone refuses to get a Facebook account so I'm sharing a few of my weekend in Wenatchee/Leavenworth for Tricia's bridal shower/bachelorette party. Tricia, Nickey, and I got to Wenatchee Friday and spent the day by the pool and then met up with everyone else the next day for the bachelorette party in Leavenworth. We had so much fun!

Tricia, me, and Nickey chillaxing the first night in Wenatchee.

Cami, Tricia, me and Nickey at the bridal shower in Wenatchee.

Tricia, Nickey and I on the night of the bachelorette party

I didn't know I could move my eyes independently of each other until I met googly-eyed ornament man! It looks like it takes some neck strain though so I'd better be careful. Hahaha!

Where Did I Go Wrong?

Where did I go wrong? By not stripping the baby and then placing her outdoors before I gave her this watermelon wedge. Otherwise, not much. Nothing like cold watermelon slices on a hot summer day!

Flowers

It's our biggest and baddest rhodie.

Even the moss is in full-bloom.

We planted this clematis last year and weren't sure it was going to make it.

By posting these pictures I am by no means taking credit for their health and well-being. I'm an unenthusiastic gardener at best. I'd probably like it better if the weeding required wasn't a full-time job in and of itself. But I do enjoy the beauty of what's blooming in our yard and thought I'd share it.