Evergreen State Fair

Today we went to the Evergreen State Fair in Monroe.  For years, Ed and I have had a tradition of going to both this fair and the Puyallup Fair.  So far, the only year we missed was the 2010 Puyallup Fair - and for a very good, little-bundle-of-joy-type reason!  :)

We always have a great time at the fair - pack some snacks, the stroller, some sunscreen and head out the door.  This year, Samantha was so enthralled with the animals.  We must have visited every single animal barn at the fair this year!  It's all worth it to see her smile and hear the giddiness in her voice as she imitates the animal sounds!

As is tradition, we also stopped at the Frontier Photo Booth - where we get dressed up in "old west" clothes with props and everything, and they take our picture in front of a saloon-type background and print it out in a sepia-tone.  If you're ever at our house, that last three years are on display! ;)

We also decided to take Samantha on a few rides this year.  Since she did so well and loved the ride at Remlinger Farms last week, we bought enough tickets for her to ride four rides.  Our first stop - the merry-go-round.  Samantha picked which animal she wanted to ride, first the zebra then the rabbit, and I got to go with her both times.

Look at that smile!

So glad I got to ride with her!

She also rode a car ride - although she was getting pretty sleepy toward the end of this one:

And then rode with a bunch of other kids on the train ride:

She's the cute one in the pig-tails on the end there!

We also some time (and money) over by the games.  Ed played a dart game and won Samantha a stuffed horse that we've since named Clyde (that was Ed's idea!). 

Some major concentration happening here!

The victor and her prize (darn that sun glare in the photo)!

The only low spot of the day was when some contract workers were setting up a booth and ran into Ed with a huge display.  Yeah, that didn't fare so well on his back.  They kind of apologized, then ran off.  The guy in charge of the booth wouldn't take any responsibility for it and at one point, got in Ed's face about it and started swearing.  Uh-oh mister, you just poked the momma bear.  That language is NOT ok in front of my daughter and I made it a very loud point to tell him so.  Even though Samantha was actually sleeping, there is no excuse for resorting to that kind of talk, especially at a family-oriented venue.  Needless to say, he backed away from me and rather sheepishly offered an apology!

Of course, at the end of the fair we continued with our tradition of buying some Fisher Scones for the ride home (and breakfast the next few days - yummmm!).  Great weather, great exhibits, great rides - all the makings of a great day!

Wenatchee

One of my bestest (yeah, I know it's not a word) friends, Sarah, and her family moved back to Washington and have settled in Wenatchee.  Needless to say, we are thrilled!  Wenatchee is so much closer than North Pole - so we've already taken the opportunity to go visit twice.  This last time, it was just me and Samantha, since Ed was out of town at a conference (can you believe he went to Nashville without me?!?!?).

Anyway, Samantha and I set out on our very first road trip together...that was more than 2 hours.  I had goldfish crackers, M&M's, movies, sippy cups - everything I would need to keep her entertained for the 2.5 hour drive.  She did really well!!  We did stop a couple of times when she either dropped a toy that she just had to have and another time for a bio break but in general, it was a pretty smooth trip.

While there, we splashed and played at a sprinkler park, went swimming, Samantha was thoroughly entertained by my friend's kids (and their toys), I helped Sarah can peaches, finally finished reading, "The Hunger Games," so we could buy the movie and watch it!  Sarah said I had to finish the book first though...  We finally "convinced" Sarah's husband to learn pinochle.  He was less than thrilled about it and I think was only a good sport about it because of the evil eye he was getting from his wife if he didn't cooperate!  Ha ha - it was fun though!  Oh, and Samantha slept in a toddler bed all night long - without falling out of it!

Here's a short video of Samantha playing at a water park.  Yes, the water is clean (chlorinated) - it's just the run off from the park.  It was also upwards of 90 degrees, so she is not cold by any means! :)

 

The temperature, per my car, as we rolled into town.

At the water park in Cashmere

Worked up an appetite after all that swimming!

At a sprinkler park in Wenatchee

Samantha's first time sleeping in a toddler bed

All in all, it was a very fun, very relaxing few days and we are looking forward to our next trip to visit.

Remlinger Farms and Tommy's Birthday

Today was a busy day!  We started out the morning heading off to Remlinger Farms in Carnation for a work-sponsored event.  It was a lot of fun - quite a drive, but a lot of fun.  They had a whole spread of food available and gave us each wrist bands that allowed us to ride any of the rides we wanted.

After visiting with some of Ed's co-workers, we rode the train over to the more "amusement park" section of the farm.  There, Samantha and I walked through one of the animal barns and then met up with Ed to let Samantha ride her first-ever amusement park ride.  She loved it!  Ed went with her and she had a blast!

Not so sure at first...she slid closer to daddy as the ride got into full swing.

One of the cute cutouts they had there

 

After the morning and early afternoon at Remlinger Farms, we high-tailed it back to my mom's house to celebrate our nephew, Tommy's, first birthday.  My sister rented a bouncy house.  Samantha wasn't so sure about it at first, but after some of the kids left and it was just her and Tommy with me and my sister inside, she warmed right up to it!

 

Finally having fun in the bouncy house

Ready to party

Samantha "helping" Tommy open his presents



Back Yard Camping

Believe it or not, we do like to camp.  We haven't done it in a while though because...well, I'm not quite sure why.  Anyway, we decided to get a new tent so that when the occasion for camping arises, we'd be ready. 

Of course with any new tent, you have to practice setting it up, make sure all the pieces are there, know how much room it takes, how long it takes to set up, etc.  So that's what we did!

Side view - supposedly sleeps EIGHT!  I don't know about that though,
I thought it was just right for the three of us!

 Samantha was so excited.  To her, this was a playhouse!  If nothing else, I think back yard camping is in our future!

Smiles all around!

New Car!!

Let me clarify - a new car for Samantha!

Yesterday was the annual clothing/household item swap at church.  It's like a big swap meet/garage sale...without money.  You bring items, you take items.  Simple.  I took some clothes and several household items and ended up bringing home some clothes for Samantha, new car booster seats, and a Samantha's very first own set of wheels!

Look out world - new driver coming through!

She hasn't quite got the hang of moving this little car under her own power.  She relies on someone else's foot power to push her along.  How can you resist that beautiful little face though?  Only problem, she never wants to get out of the car!  Looks like we just got a new workout machine for mommy!

Beep, beep!

Still Missing You, Dad!

I can't believe it's been 5 years since my dad passed away; since I received that call from my brother that my dad was being transported to the hospital; since I last saw him alive being lowered from the back of an ambulance and through the doors of the ER.

I was going through some of my grandparents' things a few weeks ago and stumbled upon some cassette tapes.  One of them was just labeled "T.A.S." - my father's initials.  Feeling strong enough, I popped it into the cassette player and heard my dad's voice again.  It's funny, though it was my dad's voice, it was before he was married so it was my dad, but not my dad.  I'm so glad though that I have these tapes and can listen to him and remember his voice. 

Samantha was downstairs with me at the time playing with her toys.  I told her that the voice on the tape was grandpa.  She sat and listened to his ramblings intently.  Every time she sees that CD/cassette player downstairs now, she asks to listen to grandpa.  It makes me smile every time!

Dad, I still miss you every day. I wish so badly that you could have known your granddaughter in this life. I know we'll meet again. I have faith in that promise.  Until then...

Tongs

I'm not quite sure why, but Samantha has developed a fascination with TONGS.  She goes and digs them out of the kitchen drawers and proceeds to use them to pick up her toys, blankets, shoes, whatever.  I'm not sure what's driving the sudden attachment to tongs, but it sure is cute.

Deciding which toy to pick up next!
(btw, that's a shadow on her back...)

Looks like the lion is the lucky winner!

Mindee's 2012 Voice Recital - "Norma"

Every year, I participate in a vocal recital alongside the rest of my voice teacher's students.  We don't perform normal recitals though - her tradition is to truly put on a show!

This year, my sister and I reprised our roles as Norma (Melissa) and Adalgisa (Me) in Bellini's, Norma.  Joining us this year was a very talented Tenor, Chris, playing the role of Pollione. 

Let me set the stage:

Norma is the high priestess in a druid society.  As such, she is unmarried and is to remain, pure.  Her friend and confidante, Adalgisa, is also a priestess, though younger and not as high ranking.  Both women are in love with a man.  Adalgisa is excited to tell Norma of her love, and this is when the two women discover that they are in love with the same man.  In fact, Norma has had two children by this man, in secret, of course.  During this particular scene, this man, Pollione, a high ranking Roman official, is trying to sway Adalgisa to be with him, though Norma is keen to protect her.  In the end, both women value their friendship above the love of a man and leave him and his two-timing ways.

Have a listen...warning, it's a 12-minute listen.

 

Now, even if you're not an opera fan or able to understand the words, you have to admit, this is pretty great (if I do say so myself!).  I have to say, singing opera is challenging and so much fun!

Walking on Sunshine!

It was abnormally warm today!!  No, that's an understatement, it was down right HOT out today.  We Washingtonians are heat wimps...and snow wimps, and ice wimps...but we're really good with rain (just not driving in it!).  Anyway, back to my point, it was uncomfortably warm today!  I know I shouldn't complain.  I really do love the sunshine!  I could do without the humidity though.  If only we could set the outdoor thermostat the same way we do inside our homes...

So, what do you do when it gets hot?  You set up a kiddie pool!  Ta da!!

After dinner, we set up this kiddie pool in the back yard for Samantha.  She had a blast.  I think she "swam" in it for almost two hours!  When you think about it, this was really just an outdoor bath while wearing a bathing suit.  I mean really, those are her bath toys with her in the pool!  BUT there's something to be said for the cool water from the hose, being outside in the water, and cooling off as the sunny day wanes.  Even after two hours she was not happy when it was time to go inside.  Had I realized the house was still upwards of 84 degrees, I probably would have let her linger a bit longer in the pool.

Oh little Samantha, you are my sunshine!

This one's for you, Bob!

A few years back, I met a cousin on my dad's side of the family.  Ok, I guess if you want to get technical, he's a second cousin twice removed - but who can keep track of it that way!?!  Through my dad's first cousin, information was exchanged and I was happy to receive an introduction.  The best part of it all, he lives right here in Washington!  Over the past couple of years, we've kept in touch, albeit somewhat irregularly - mostly because I'm not good at replying to mails or keeping up with him on Ancestry.com! ;)

My family met Bob and Kathy for the first time at Missi and Ryan's wedding reception in 2010 and though we've exchanged e-mails since, we hadn't seen each other since...until today!  We finally set a date on the calendar and Bob and Kathy again made the trek up from Olympia to visit us.  This was such a great day for a couple of reasons; one, August 4th is Bob's birthday and he decided to spend it with us :), and two, at the wedding reception, there really wasn't a lot of time to get to know Bob and Kathy, so getting together with them provided that opportunity to visit and get to know all about them!

Cousin Bob and Kathy

I hope they had as great a time as I did.  We chatted for a while, ate some fantastic food, and even took the opportunity to rummage through some old family pictures and other keepsake treasures from my dad and grandparents. 

We should do this more often!!

Blueberries

I've never been to a "U-Pick" blueberry farm before.  Though we have a couple of pitiful blueberry bushes in our back yard, for me, blueberries have always come from the grocery store. 

Well, not anymore!  Today, Samantha and I ventured to the Mountain View Blueberry Farm in Snohomish to pick blueberries.  Before I even parked the car, I asked one of the attendants there a few questions:

1. Do you take credit/debit?
2. Do you provide the containers in which to carry the picked berries?

And last, but most important:
3. I have an almost-two-year-old with me.  Most of the berries she picks will end up either in her mouth or on the ground.  Is that ok?

To my great relief and excitement, all of the answers were what I wanted to hear.  So we parked and headed into the fields.

At first, Samantha was really excited to pick berries.  As I thought, she really just picked and ate them.  After a while though, not even eating the berries was holding her attention.  She had fun running through the bushes, picking up berries off of the ground, and sitting at the base of the berry bushes playing in the dirt.  Oh what an amazing and hilarious little girl we have! 

Fill 'er up! :)

Though we only left having picked 2.5 pounds, we'll definitely be heading back before the season is over!