Highlights of the kid's "Vacation"

Up here in the great city of Seattle, they give the kids one week off for President's Day. If you do the math, they get about nine days off school. They call it "Winter Break", but I would not describe the nine days I just spent with my children as a "break". To add insult to injury, my normal part-time babysitter whom I lovingly call my sanity savesitter, was not able to come at all these past nine days to give me a 'break'. So I tried to give the kids something fun and interesting to do each day. here are some highlights:
Because i was sick of Costco food court food, I took the kids to a sushi place where you sit at a counter in front a conveyor belt that holds the sushi. Jackson LOVED this and upon eating his first two plates of sushi literally exclaimed, "MOM, isn't trying new things fun?" Blake promptly responded by exclaiming, "I hate Sushi".
We met Aunt Michelle at the KidsQuest musuem in Bellevue and my children ran around like chickens with their heads cut off. Jackson and Blake figured out the intercom system where they can talk to each other from opposite points in the room. I turn around to hear Blake's distored voice booming from the intercom, "POOPY! POOPY! POOPY!" When will this potty talk phase end???
Wednesday and Thursday: Dad's days off - Jackson said, "I think I like spending every day in my pajamas".
Friday - we met my friend kim for a nice hike in the woods - battling 39 degrees and hailstorms, but dammit we were going to get those kids outside if it killed us.
Saturday and Sunday - I spent most of these days letting the kids play whatever game they wanted, whatever TV show they wanted. Blake learned how to draw airplanes and Jackson created several new airplane designs which were promptly named, Jackson 232's. jackson also discovered his new favorite movie where the plot summary is: kid flying on a major airline airplane, pilot falls sick, kid lands the plane and saves the day.

But I'VE MADE IT! Nine days! And once again I know that I will never homeschool.
Jeremy talks to his boss tomorrow about the move. Details to follow...

You people are killing me here (Utah trip part deux)

Nana and Poppy took us all out to eat at the Gateway right after our Trax trip and before the Children's Museum. Perhaps hanging out with all of us is driving the boys to drink.

Utah trip

This is the beginning of our trip pictures of visiting Utah last week. This is the Trax ride to go downtown. BTW trax is the communter rail system in Salt Lake that is the best entertainment $1.25 can buy for my boys!

My most favorite show is BAAAAACK - better than ever

It's back, it's back, it's back. Oh how I love this show. I've been watching this from the very beginning and boy do i get attached to the people on this show. Seriously, if i had one wish in the whole world, it would be to be on the Amazing Race. The thing is, I know that Jeremy and I would make the best Rob and Amber-type team, but he refuses to even let me send in audition tapes. And there really is no other person i know that I think we could work together successfully. Anyway, that is for another lifetime. So often I employ Amazing Race mentality to my everyday traveling adventures. Like when we drove up to Whistler in Canada and we were searching the streets of Vancouver for Costco. Or when Jeremy and i were trying to find the Costco in Idaho and we got lost. Hey, why are we always searching for foreign Costcos? Anyway...

But the newest season just started tonight and it is the all-stars. I love "the blondes" (my mom can't stand them) and the team from Kentucky (she had 'the cho brothers' on her tee shirt tonight). The gay teams are always a riot and Uchenna and joyce - the infertile couple who won the race are back on too. And I am one of those people who actually like Rob and Amber - they are fun to watch. Well, off to finish watching the show.

To go to Utah or not, that is the question.

Here's the deal, I'm sick of Jeremy's schedule, jeremy is sick of jeremy's schedule - we need a change. Nothing happening in the way of promotions at Issaquah costco, so we decided to just "put it out there" that we would be willing to move in order to get the ball rolling in the promotions department. Within one day, jeremy's boss told him that if he is willing to move to Utah (because five Costcos are slated to open there in the next few years) - he could make it happen "like tomorrow". So now it is out there, there is a serious chance that we could be moving back to my old stomping grounds. And I'm not quite sure how i feel about it. Good to be super close to my whole family, yet uprooting an entire family is a big choice. Well, i guess we'll see what the gods (aka Jeremy's bosses) have in store for us. Stay tuned...

It will be spring soon, right?

more pictures of my yard - to help me make it through these hazy, rainy, lazy days of late winter. PS - my bulbs are coming up. Now if i could just get the dog to STOP stepping all over them, that would be good.

New author found!!! Recommend, recommend.

Quickly, I wanted to add another post that I have discovered a new author that I like very much. If you read my most favorite or recently read books column in this blog, you will notice that I have books by Anne Lamott - whom I would consider my favorite author. Lately, I found a bestselling author name David Sedaris that is quite famous and writes humor-based essays and novels and I find many similarities between Lamott and Sedaris. I enjoy their no holds barred, candid, and honest narratives. Just recently, I discovered that they are represented by the same agency. So far, I've only read Dress your family in corduroy and denim and it was a great read and page turner. Recommend!

I'm not dead, but sick and on vacation

No pictures to share, no stories at the moment...but a quick note to my friends and family to tell you that I've had the misfortune of getting the flu, then a stomach bug, then another bad sinus cold. I also squeezed in a short vacation to visit my mom in Utah. I promise to post more very soon. XOXOXO