Sleepless in Seattle

Scott and I had a great weekend in Seattle WA.  It has been a while since we have had the chance to have  a weekend without kids and a million activities that pull us in different directions so this was a long needed break from the real world.

We flew up on Friday and stayed until Monday evening.  Seattle was a beautiful city.  I understand why they call it the Emerald City.  It is a city full of hills and green trees everywhere as it is snuggled in-between the Olympus mountain range on the north the Puget Sound on the west and Mt. Rainer on the south-east it was amazing.

The weather was perfect to take in the sights.  The only rain we experienced was a little bit on Friday night and I suppose it just isn't a trip to Seattle unless there is a little rain.  We visited a fun attraction called the underground city where we learned that in the 1880's the city burned down and was rebuilt higher but the old walk ways were left for people to use so it was kind of like walking around in a deep trench.  We walked along the board walk and went window shopping.  We were able to see a Mariners VS Twins baseball game (probably my favorite activity).  We went to the Space Needle and had brunch at the top as it rotated around the city (takes 47 minutes to make one complete rotation) twice.  It was so beautiful!!  One of the best parts of the trip was that we were able to meet up with a couple of Minnesota friends and  as we spent time with them it felt like no time had passed since they sat  at our kitchen table and shared a pizza on a Friday night just like old times.  I miss my friends that grew to be family in Rochester.

The girls were on their own to fend for themselves.  They did a great job of helping one another and keeping the house somewhat clean  (Actually Emma did a great job, Elle not so good).  Emma also took Elle into SLC to the Hogle Zoo so she could start her training for her volunteer job this summer.  Emma made it to church Elle didn't.  Over all it was a good weekend because the girls were alive  (which is all I was really hoping for, after all Elle is only 14)...Emma on the other hand was annoyed that her sister was so lazy while we were gone.  I had to remind Emma that Elle was only 14 and when she was 18 like Emma I am sure she would become a very reliable person like Emma has become.

I now know that Scott and I can now take trips without the kids and come back to a house that is not a disaster and I know that the girls will treat each other kindly or at least not kill one another!!  I declare this trip a success :)

Scott doing his window shopping at his favorite store.

Kevin and Scott hanging out after the underground tour.

From a park up on a hill in the expensive part of town...oh I think every part of the city was expensive!

From the Space Needle, one view of a 360 degree view!

Another view from the Space Needle.

Take me out to the ball game!

LDS Temple.  It was beautiful :)

Princess Emma, Princess Elle, Princess Ava and Princess Aurora

Happy Birthday to Emma!!  My baby girl turned 18 today!!!!  Wow, I am so amazed at how fast time flies by when you are having fun.  Emma has been a gift in my life and I am so blessed to be her mom.  I love that girl.

Today  a friend of mine had to have surgery and she is new to the area.  She and I met at school.  She was a client of mine and we hit it off.  Her name is Anika and she is the one that helped us find our horse and then she has come down to work with Emma and Phillip a couple of times.  Because she doesn't know many people and I really like her I offered to watch her 3 year old Aurora while her husband took her into the hospital and stayed with her.  I took the day off of school to help her out and to celebrate Emma's birthday :)

Our trip to the Zoo was so much fun.  It always bring back many great memories when I go to the zoo.  Tanner LOVED LOVED LOVED the zoo and because Tanner loved the zoo that meant his sisters learned to love the zoo.  Who wouldn't love the zoo if you had a big brother who knew more about the animals then the zoo keepers knew about the animals.  We never made an outing to the zoo unless we could just sit and observe the animals, we never ever just walked through quickly, we would always have to map out how we were going to walk through and decide which animals we were going to observe before we even got to the parking lot.  Now I know this blog isn't about Tanner but just understand he has been a great influence on his sisters over the years.

The main reason we went to the zoo today was actually to teach Emma how to drive there by herself.  She has to take her sister into the zoo on Saturday so she can start her training for her zoo volunteering job this year, so we decided to make a day of it.

My niece Ava was at our house this morning and Aurora really enjoyed her so we invited Ava to join us at the zoo also.  Scott and I set out (with Emma driving) to take a 3 and 5 year old as well as a 14 and 18 year old to the zoo.  It was soooo much fun.  Elle and Emma enjoyed taking pictures of gorillas pooping into their hands and then eating it (it was like watching a train wreck...I just couldn't look away!) and seeing the tiger fake attack their mother as it leaped out of the pool and clawed at the glass while I was standing mere inches away from it and let out a terrifying scream, because after all it scared the crap out of me!  They also enjoyed as a bird pooped right on their mom's head and face as we walked into the stinky  bird house.  And finally I think both Emma and Elle enjoyed seeing their mom run two little girls to the bathroom like a bazillion times (really, seriously it was 10 times to the bathroom so the girls could tinkle in the potty).

 After spending a great day with the best two girls in the world (that would be Emma and Elle) and having two little girls wear me out we finally got home.  I bathed Aurora because she wanted to take a bath in my bathtub :) and then after two minutes of watching Spirit with Emma and Elle she fell sound asleep!  I wish I could sleep like that.

I am grateful for Emma and all the beautiful memories she has given me.

Attack of the Mosquitos by Emma

     At 2:00am Tuesday morning my little poodle Sandy decided he had to pee. I, of course, was very unhappy with this but I couldn't let the poor thing suffer....plus he'd just end up peeing up on my floor which would make my Mom and Dad very unhappy. So I got up, turned on the light by the back door, opened the back door, noticed a big mosquito on the door frame, grabbed a flip flop, killed it, went outside, and hooked the chain on Sandy. As I stood and turned around I saw a sight to behold. There, on the door and door frame were a bunch of mosquitos. A bunch of BIG mosquitos. There had to have been like 30 of them and they were all the size of a golf ball. It was a terrible sight, so I screamed (which I'm surprised didn't wake my mother seeing as her room is closest), ran inside, and tried to shut the door but it didn't shut all the way, staying about 2 inches open. In my room I contemplated my options. I could wake my Mom or my sister and tell them to let Sandy in, I could suck it up and walk into the swarm, or I could leave him out there for another six hours until Elle got up. I decided on option two, thinking I was old enough to handle a few bugs and not call for my Mommy. But I couldn't go out there without my battle outfit on. I put on  a pair of jeans, and a sweatshirt and put the hood up. Then I walked out of my room and towards the back door and realized there were tons of mosquitos flying around the computer room where I had turned the lights on before letting the dog out. I then ran outside, let Sandy of the chain, threw him through the door, ran inside, slammed the door (again surprised I didn't wake my Mom), screamed, made it half way to my room before I stopped, dropped, and rolled, terrified that I had bugs on me. Once I got into my room I stopped, dropped, and rolled again for good measure. I changed clothes and jumped under the covers afraid that some might have made it into my room. I then didn't let Sandy onto my bed for about 10 minutes fearing he had mosquitos attached to him, when I did finally let him up, I rubbed him down to make sure he was clean. Then I pulled the covers over my head, even though I was dying of heat  I didn't dare pull the covers off in case I was attacked again and stayed like that all night.
     And for the record, at least 6 mosquitos have been killed today. Ew.

     The End.


     (Good story, huh?)

I like to fail forward :)

Today I made a few mistakes in school.  I actually like making mistakes, it helps me learn by learning what not to do....

1.  I cut the biggest whole in a haircut (boys short taper) just as I was feeling so proud of my job and was finishing up with some clean up work.  Good thing this boy was 7 and he didn't know the difference as I was forced to cut his hair very, very short to cover up the bald spot.  :)  He loved his haircut at the end and I guess that is all that matters....also that I learned that little 7 year olds are very wiggly and don't get to proud of your work until the clippers are turned off!

2.  I waxed a woman's eyebrows, mustache, and inside of her nose today but as I pulled the stick out of her nose I didn't have a very good grip on the stick and the stick stuck as I half pulled.  Needless to say it cause this woman some pain....okay maybe a lot of pain.  She was very, very sweet about it all and even told me that she would love for me to do it again.  But still it was very embarrassing and I felt badly that  I  inflicted such pain on another human being.

I have decided to cut my hair short.  I won't be doing the cut until next week but I am very excited about it.  I will post pictures as soon as I get it done and I even think I might surprise you all with a new hair color!!

I am grateful for TaCO TUESDAYS!  I have decided that every Tuesday I will buy tacos from Cafe Rio for dinner.  It was fast, cheap and delicious.

These are my new sparkle finger nails.  I love them, even though some people have been shocked by my choice in color and asked me if I was going to be working on the corner of Main and Hale now. 

(the answer is NO)

My new sparkle toenails!!  Just as pretty but in pink :)