Family time is good... MYTH PROOVED!

Saturday morning Jack woke up, got his usual cup of coffee and sat down to the computer to see what was new in the world (since we had power and cable, which some people around here still don't have and it's MONDAY... but that is a whole different story). While zipping through facebook (MY facebook) he noticed a post from a friend with a picture of MYTHBUSTERS BEHIND THE MYTHS TOUR. Being the genius that he is, he looked the tour up and found out that low and behold, they were playing in Portland THAT VERY DAY!

Now, mind you, I was asleep while all this happened. I love to sleep in. Always have. Always will.

He came into our room, quietly telling me his internet find and also notifying me there are still tickets available for the 4PM show ... "Do you want to go?" he said with a grin. Well of course I want to go!!! Who doesn't want to see Jayme and Adam blow stuff up on stage?

We all got up, got fed, purchased the needed tickets and off we went. First a stop to everybody's favorite house of beverage...

This is what a tall drip with room, grande vanilla latte, chocolate chip mint frapuccino, steamed vanilla milk and a grande mocha look like

Just so you know, if you're ever relying on me for directions around Portland, get a different navigator. I'm horrible finding my way around that city. As much as I love being in Portland, I can never find anything there, including the way into the city. Once we actually did find Keller Auditorium, this is what it looked like inside:

SOOOO AWESOME!!!

Jayme and Adam

Audience participation demonstrating f=m(a) with a sledgehammer

Adam laying on a bed of nails while Jayme breaks a cinderblock with a sledgehammer on his stomach.

Photo Op where we were told to take pictures... I dunno. I just followed directions.

Final bows

If you ever get the chance to see this show, I think our whole family would recommend it. It was entertaining from beginning to end and was just what we needed as far as breaking out of all the snow and ice around here.

Dinner on the way home

  

Last Minute Plans

For the past few years we have spent the 4th with the Carlson Clan, but this year vacation plans differed so we had to figure out "something fun and memorable" without them! No easy task, because the Carlsons are lots of fun wherever fireworks are involved.

Procrastination swept over me (again) and no plans were ever made, until Facebook came to the rescue (it's a long story). After a little bit of texting and a few phone calls, a last minute plan was in place involving 3 families, a boat and teriyaki chicken. Could it get any better? We were so excited!

At 11ish...(really? Who can be so prompt on a holiday?) ... we met at Black Lake in Tumwater to spend the day riding on the Behrens' boat. I have done a fair amount of water skiing in my teens and early 20s and always thought nothing could beat it, but I gotta tell ya, this tube riding thing is so AWESOME! No dragging your face through the lake with water shooting into your nose and out of your eyes, ears and mouth, no arms being yanked out place, no worrying about where the water might go if you fall wrong (I'll just leave it at that... some of you will know what I mean and will not require any explanation and if you don't know, then it's probably better not to ask lest you embarrass yourself and me!).

We thought we'd spend a few hours on the lake, but it was so much fun that we spent all DAY there. Afterwards we met up at our house for teriyaki chicken dinner (American, right?) and Jenny's amazing angel food cake dessert. So sad I don't have a picture of it!

It was a great day with great people and I want to do it again!

The first group out, Thomas, Emily and Cole.

Let the splashing begin!

Group #2; Emily, John and Garret. All three showed their inner dare-devil this day.

John, Steve, Emily and Jen... so much fun to spend a day together!

I love this picture because of my Emily on the far left; mouth open and screaming/laughing all the way!

Lunch at the dock.

The only thing better than one Emily is TWO!

Best buds, Emily and Becca

Our trusty (?) skipper. Thanks for the ride Mr. Behrens, even when I almost fell in.

My handsome guys

Jack and Amanda

Emily is such a goof

The MOMS. Doesn't our hair look nice? This must be a "before the ride" picture.

"HIT IT!"

This is when Mr. Trusty Skipper stopped the boat because Jen was inches from falling into the drink and we were laughing so hard we couldn't hang on any longer. You might think it was to our advantage to have a physician along (just in case) but as I recall, she was doing just as much screaming and white-knuckle clenching as the other moms.

The DADS! This makes me laugh because Jack's eyes are closed, Steve's feet look caught in the tow rope and John is happily waving because it's his first ride on his new toy.

A nice ride with Melinda driving the boat... watch out for the wakes, guys!

Weekends in May

I'm catching up on the last TWO weekends.

(Yes, other stuff happened between the weekends, but that would require that I have memory cells dedicated to remembering those types of things.)

So, last weekend was baseball.

Baseball.

Baseball.

Oh, and some baseball.

Friday night started the Cal Ripken Minors Tournament. Thomas's team, the Angels, played one game and won. Saturday, they played again and lost, but it was double elimination so there were more games to be played. Sunday's games started at 9AM with a win. So on went the day with another game at 11AM (a win) and ANOTHER game at 1PM.

That one o'clock game was really a hoot because it was a team the Angel's had never beat and adrenaline was running high by this point in the day. (Good thing because the kids were starting to wear out after already playing 2 full games!) Parents paced while watching; partly because we were all nerves for the boys and partly because nobody could take sitting on those bleacher seats any longer! Well, the pacing, praying and cheering paid off with a third win that day, putting the boys in the final championship game at 3PM. Yes, games at 9, 11, 1 and 3. Exhausting! They didn't win the championship game, but they fought hard. It really was great fun to see them play so well.

This is Thomas, eating after the tournament. A double cheese burger and milkshake and fries at the Ram.

This weekend, Amanda was at her youth group's beach retreat, where it sounds like lots was learned and fun was plentiful. I'm so glad for her to have this time with a really solid youth group and those friends with whom she will stay connected with for life.

Amanda and her friend Maddie at Beach Retreat

Saturday I was home. Sick. With a stomach bug. Yuck. I haven't been that sick in I don't know how long. I hope it's that long before any virus hits me again like that. Sunday I was on the mend so we went to see the Mariners play in Seattle against the NY Yankees. Mariners had one the last 2 games against NY, so it seemed like a reasonable idea that they might win again, but no. Sigh.

I am a lucky girl to sit with these two fine people!

My good looking boy, Thomas. He takes after his Dad!

It would have been fun to see a win, but it's always fun just to be at Safeco and see the M's play. The field is so beautiful and there is no better people watching in the world than at a major league baseball game. It even beats airports and Walmart.

 Fun at Safeco... got to see some of the usual characters, like Ichiro and Moose.

Today the clouds kept their moisture to themselves and I was able to spray weeds, pull weeds, and with the help of Thomas and Emily, get our garden planted. I've never started a garden with so many actual plant starts, but it's been so cold out I haven't wanted to get out and put any seeds in the ground. This year it's beans and beets from seeds, and starts of zucchini, butternut squash, cucumber, cantaloupe (we'll see how that one does!), little pumpkins, 2 kinds of tomatoes, and basil and cilantro.


 So with all that, I think this last picture of Thomas sums up the past 2 weekends pretty well. I just took this about a half-hour ago, at 9:45. Zzzzzz. Blissful, hu?

Now, on with the week. Only about 3 more weeks of school for the kids. I'm ready for the school year to be done and greet the summer. I'm always excited to see what's next!

Picasso in Seattle

Tickets to the Picasso at the Seattle Art Museum. They were a present for Jack from SANTA. I'm not sure if Mr. Picasso would have been on the naughty or nice list though, because he was quite the Lady's Man, flitting from one woman to another. Often, he didn't bother ending one relationship before starting the next. What a winner.

In spite of his less-than-admirable ways in romance, he lived an amazing life. His paintings reflected his own life experiences including street scenes, carnivals, and of course, women. A few of my favorites from the exhibit are below.



Portrait of Dora Maar, 1937
I like this painting because of how it shows Dora in profile and front face at the same time. So cleverly done and breaking all the "rules" of how portraits are done.

Dora was a real-life beauty.

Portrait of Olga in an Armchair, Fall 1918
It was interesting to see Picasso's classical style paintings. Absolutely beautiful. 

Sacré-Coeur, Winter 1909–10

The Acrobat, January 30, 1918
This piece was HUGE, taking up the whole wall. Wouldn't you like a print of this in your living room?

The Matador, 1970

Death of Casagemas 1901
Strangly, this was one of my favorites. It is an oil painting of his friend who had commited suicide over the grief of his lover declining a marriage proposal. It was smaller than I expected, maybe 15x12" and the oil was very thickly applied. In classic Picasso fashion, soon after his friend's death he started a romance with the woman who had rejected Casagemas.

Of course, no cameras are allowed in the exhibit, so these are the only pictures of us at the museum.



This is the kids, all making their faces look "Picasso-ish"



A little Picasso trivia for you, just in case you ever need it for playing Jeopardy or Wits and Wagers.

Full Name

Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno Maria de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santisima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso

Birth Date
October 25, 1881

Birth Place
Malaga, Spain

Age at Death
91 (died April 8, 1973)

Number of artworks created
Estimated up to 50,000 (yup, he could crank it out!)

Three Word Thursday... Alissa and Emily

Alissa and Emily!!!