Slacker blogger

So it seems we continue to be busy with life...and just not so into posting these days. Ebb and flow, right?

But for a quick update of what we've been up to...


Playing at the school playground that's up the street from our house...


Sabine's still been into creating outfits for me (might not be able to see it here, but there is jewelery placed to go with it too -- a necklace and bracelet and earrings)...


We finished the Dealing with Dragons series by Patricia Wrede -- mostly read by Bret to Sabine at bedtime, but sometimes throughout the day when we're on a roll! It has a very feisty heroine -- reminds me of some girls I know! Just started the Inkheart series...


We had a really fun trip to the coast a few weeks back when we were having mock spring here. Vivian's posing with the skim board. Bret pulled both girls along the water to let them experience the fun, then Vivian proceeded to take an hour-long nap, snuggled up on our blankets. Sabine and Bret explored the driftwood, and Sabine made friends with another little girl. We each brought a bag of Catalina ashes to sprinkle -- on the path, and around the beach where she loved to dig.

We also had a fun trip to Great Wolf Lodge in WA -- a local homeschooling parent set up a trip with great group rates, so we jumped on it. Aside from the flat tire we got on the I-5 on the way up there it was an amazing trip (thank goodness Bret was a speedy tire changer -- we were no where near an exit, and fortunately the flat was on the passenger side, 'cause it was scary having all those big rigs speed by!).

Road trip

Ok...just asked Bret what the title for this post should be and we both simultaneously said..."Road Trip" so there it is...we're on our way to Cedar Beach Resort on Salt Spring Island, BC.

We left Jackson at 7:40 after attending book release party for good friend Shawn Klomparens most excellent novel Jessica Z (available here). Bret and I enjoyed the delicious food, chatting with friends, chasing children and talking in half-finished sentences. Not sure we remember how to finish a sentence, actually...now where was I...?

One big hit of the party was Vivian's new Dollar Store baby (almost as strange looking as her other baby...) in his shirt pocket (could that be considered attachment parenting?)...it is, of couse made in China, and flops over at the waist, so you can imagine how that looks...well...you'll have to imagine because the camera was buried in the car, under Bret's upright bass.

I know, not many people take their upright bass on vacation, but there we are. We do after all, have a mini van, so why not. BTW, said minivan (2000 Toyota Sienna) got 24 MPG on our way here...and the bass is only a small part of our cargo...

We're in Dillon, MT, heading to Mt. Vernon, WA tomorrow night...

Good road trip juju...findinging a playground in Roberts, Idaho. Sabine had been asking to get out of the car for a few miles, and we couldn't find a good spot...I was voting for the vacant weed-filled lot between the Mint Bar and the rail road tracks, but Bret kept on driving. We pulled over in a spot with grass and a fence, and then saw the old school playgroud with merry-go-round, steel 12" wide slide (not to be confused with those static-generating-shock-your-child-when-you-catch-them-plastic-things), and monkey bars with fireman poles 9' tall. Yes. Also lots of bushes for the female bathroom breaks...Very fun.