We are cyclist...

Our friends Dave and Karmin just returned from two weeks in Japan. They brought back all sorts of interesting treasures...including the following shirt for Bret:


[In case it's not legible, the tiny words on the bottom say "we can run without gasoline"]

Karmin also got to dress up like a Maiko (an apprentice Geisha) and they brought back darling cotton kimonos, socks and shoes for both girls (Vivian had a melt down and thus is not pictured here...) but I think Sabine looks pretty darn cute!



Karmin said she was told to not show her teeth while posing...



Not the best photo, but sabine's "toe socks" have a picture of a dragon on them, with the word DORAON. Might be a special Japanese lizard???

We're Back!

It's been a long time since posting...I know...it's been about equally long since I went to Jazzercize (stop laughing...it's a good work out! They've even sent me 2 postcards to entice me to come back...which I plan on doing once I get rid of this pesky, lingering cough).

So...what have we been doing?

May was a whirlwind of fun with visits from Kristin, Al and Acacia (from Jackson, WY), Margareta, Hamish and Fenna from BC, Canada, traveling across the river to Vancouver, WA for the wonderful Life is Good conference, then welcoming Bret's dad (Grandpa Jack) for a visit to Portland, and finally a trip to Murray, KY to visit Grannie Jean and Boopy (my parents)...the girls and I actually flew there on Sat, May 30...so that was only 2 days in May...but it still capped off a busy month! Bret joined us in St Louis to see 2 of my brothers/sister-in-laws for the second week of June, but more about that later.

This is the puzzle Kristin and I completed during their visit...Al was re-reading the Harry Potter series (in reverse -- which inspired us to start reading it (not in reverse) to Sabine, who's loving it).





And some random kid creations that I found on the camera.

Halloween, Corvallis Non-Con

Bret preparing to take the girls trick-or-treating


In the wagon (they went to a neighborhood a few blocks away)


At the Lugo's in Corvallis...this is what happens when the mommies go out for an hour or so...swinging on a hill above a creek and dart-throwing. Can't see anything wrong with that, can you?

Somehow we forgot to take our camera out of the bag at the Gold gathering (too much fun playing music and talking with the great folks there...), but we had a great time!

Google Maps rules...

...but they don't travel with kids. Ten hours 16 minutes I was told to get from our hotel in Dillon, MT to our hotel in Mt. Vernon, WA. My plan was to drive to Spokane, WA (approx. 5 hours from Dillon), go to the children's museum or waterfront area (arrive around 1 pm) and spend 1.5 hours there, and then 5 more hours and arrive at said hotel.

Sabine and Vivian's plan was a little different. We made it almost 2 hours when they requested a stop...so we ended up at a rest stop where Bret took the girls "fishing" while I made sandwiches...(OK, so we didn't leave Dillon till 10:45 am...minus one really cool bedrail, which coincidentally used to belong to the friends who are house sitting in Jackson for us right now...they moved to CA last December...) but hey, I didn't have to carry it up to the hotel tonight! (My glass is half full...of G&T).

After that stop, we found several interesting things to look at during our drive, including the sprawling ranch type place that had MANY giant statues of various animals (giant bull, eagle with spread wings, etc. you get the idea, right?) and then...something else...Bret and I both saw it, so it must have happened. It was an alien spaceship statue with an alien exiting the ship. Really. OK then. Toto, we really aren't in Kansas anymore.

After that, at mile 242 (yes, we took notes...) we saw that we were leaving the "Apple Maggot Quarantine Area"...thank goodness all went well...

So, we made it to our destination...14 hours later...and oh so GRATEFUL for the time change...love gaining an hour...

Trust me on this...

Dillon, MT is a lovely two-stoplight town...but not where you want to go shopping for a swimsuit. (Guess what I forgot to pack for myself?)

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.

More pre conference...

...at Dave and Karmin's in Portland. They put us up for 5 nights...we had a great time visiting with them, learning to pay KOOB, and hanging out with their kitties.

Sabine and Vivian's favorite part was...the Otter Pops. In case you were wondering, 2 young girls can eat almost 100 Otter Pops in 5 days. Burp.