Mighty Mermaids win their first game!

The Mighty Mermaids won their first game, and S got a goal! She was incredibly aggressive, which we didn't expect. It is a disconcerting feeling to see your sweet little baby take a slice out of someone for the first time. The coaches were pleased with their first game, and if the point was to have fun, they did that and more. Good game girls!

Try to ignore my screaming on the video of S's goal...

Big Boy Haircut

We had our first haircut today for the little man (18 mos old). It has been a battle between V and I, V not wanting the haircut yet, and me being driven insane by the scraggly mess. So we went today and things went south as soon as we sat in the chair and put on the little cape. No amount of toys did the trick, so off came the cape. Still, not on board, so I turned to my old favorite, the lollipop. Worked like a charm!

Instantly, the tears begin to dry, the lollipop not to be removed for the duration of the haircut. This is his first lollipop, he will never let it loose.

Sure, shear me, do whatever you have to do, as long as I have my lollipop.

Uh-oh, the lollipop finished before the haircut, better chance of distraction with toys once the goodwill of the lollipop has been established.

What a cute little man! Dad is going to love it!

First Day of School!

The first day of 1st grade was a success! We walked to school with two kids on our street also starting first grade this year. She really likes her teacher(s) and one of our neighbors and a couple of girls from soccer are in her class. While her class this year ended up being a little unorthodox for the norm here (2 teachers:34 kids to keep the ratio to 1:17) she apparently loves it, so we're going with it (despite the morning scowl on her face in the pics.) Things are a little more slow paced here in general, and class hours are 8:30 to 3, except Wed when they are 8:30 to 1:30, and there are 3 recesses and a snack time (so far snacks and recess seem to be the most newsworthy each day.) I personally like the slower pace, but I miss the uniforms though. :-)

Kindergarten is still half day here, and Little S will start that next year. Hope everyone has a great school year! We miss all of our Dallas school friends, and are looking forward to making new ones!

Hike on Tiger Mountain

We went hiking on a good beginner's trail called Tiger Mountain. It's a slowly elevating and windy trail through the forest up a mountain that branches off to some more difficult trails. It was partly cloudy and 65 degrees, a beautiful and leisurely hike (and it's still so strange and wonderful to us that there are no mosquitos!) We came across something on the path that we thought was dog poop, but on closer inspection... was a huge slug! We went for about an hour, but we all could have gone longer if little bubby would have been game, which after an hour, he was not. He wanted to get out of the carrier and walk, but there were some cliff dropoffs along the way. Once we turned back and got on a more even ground, we let him walk and we picked wild blackberries. Afterwards, V remembered a well-touted rootbeer float place close by that we had been to a long time ago on a trip to Seattle when Big S was little bubby's age (picture to follow if I can get my hands on it). Naturally, you get rootbeer floats after a hike.

Soccer Begins

Here are a few pics and video of soccer practice for Big S and Coach V!

Fair Day

The WA state fair is called the Evergreen Fair, and it is in August each year, because that is when "fair-like" weather is here. It's smaller than the TX state fair, but still fun, and you can definitely do it all in a day - especially with three small kids in tow. We went with our good friends, thank goodness we have some good friends here to keep us up on all that is going on! The fair is in Monroe, WA which I immediately recognized as a town very similar to Mesquite, TX where I grew up, but more how it was about 20-25 years ago, when it was a true rodeo town. Lots of little boutique shops and restaurants, lots of rednecks, hunters, fishers, rodeos and monster truck events! The bumper stickers were hilarious (to me because I grew up in a redneck town - lots of gun, hunting, and republican sentiments displayed.. felt like home.) :-) If there was anywhere my parents would like to live here in WA, this place would be it! Even the little gazebo in the downtown city square!

Wish I would have gotten a close up pic of the second truck from the left below, the bumper stickers were HILARIOUS!

The food was good fair food, but not so many fried concoctions as TX (I am still a Texan, so tend to still compare everything to TX, who knows when/if this will ever end), but we way overindulged as usual. We had corn dogs, shared curly fries, cotton candy, popcorn, mini-donuts, and elephant ears (like funnel cakes)! Yummy, but ugh.

Blue Angels

Vic got to attend a Blue Angels show over Lake Washington aboard a lake cruiser as part of a company outing. Here's a little snippit.