So what have we been up to since the 4th of July? It’s been pretty hot here (90+ degrees), so we play indoors quite a bit. We do get some shade in the backyard starting in the late afternoon though.

  

The weekend after the 4th, Calie had a playdate with her friends Rachel and Alisha at our house. Alisha’s older brother also came to play with Zach.

 

 

Sunday, we went to Karen’s house for a swim/dinner/movie playdate. Kids had a blast in the pool, followed by a movie in the backyard via projector and shower curtain. Dinner was a delicious grilled rib eye, with sides of salad, vegetables, and salt/pepper calamari. It was great hanging out by the patio, laughing with my girlfriends while the kids and dads were entertained by the movie.

  

 

Mid-week, I went to see Magic Mike (2nd time was the charm) with Kathy. I had expected a rowdy comedy with lots of eye-candy, but it was actually a more serious movie – if anything a bit sad, as the underground strip industry felt depressing.  I was corrrect about the eye-candy though.  The day after,  I had my coworkers Bart and Tom over for grilled Sockeye Salmon, garlic broccoli, and pesto tortellini.

Last weekend, Saturday morning, I took the kids to the park with Alex and Nicole. The kids played on the structures, and we had an impromptu game of soccer in the muddy field before a picnic lunch.

  

Then James took the kids to the Children’s Museum while Karen and I painted our personal rendition of Monet’s Bridges at Painted Cork. It was such a fun experience – definitely on our list for a future girl’s night out. We brought wine, iced coffee, and appetizers to share … and the owner also put out strawberries, cookies, and a cheese/salami/cracker plate. The instructor took us through the painting, step by step. We drank and ate during intermissions, when the instructor replenished our palette with new paint. Karen and I were convinced our standards must be low, because we were so impressed with ourselves.

  

 

The 3-hour class ran over an hour over - yet it felt like the time went by pretty fast. I didn’t quite finish the edges (next time!), but had to rush home to take Calie to a birthday party at Trick’s gymnastics. Happy 4th Birthday Maylin! 

  

After the birthday party, since Melissa was out of town, we had Sam, Nicole, and Alex over for dinner. Costco orange chicken with broccoli – our standards for inviting people over have really dropped! The boys challenged each other with Pokemon and Wii games, while the girls played with chalk and on the swing set in the yard.

 

Sunday morning, we went berry picking with Tabitha’s family at 8am. Since they get up early all the time for swim meets, I figured I would invite them to join us – and we were really glad they could make it. Calie had been asking to see Evie, and Zach found out that Erik was another Pokemon fan. We picked a lot of blackberries …  a full bucket, 4 pounds! When we left at ~10am, it was starting to get unbearably hot in the fields, so I highly recommend going early (they open at 7:30am).

  

 

Zachary went to Alex C’s party, where the boys played baseball at a park, followed by swimming and a barbecue in Alex’s backyard. Happy 8th Birthday Alex! I dropped Zach off, ran some errands, and then came back to pick him up just in time to head to Rachel’s for a dinner pool party. The kids absolutely love pool parties – and this party included a big trampoline! While I enjoyed the traditional barbecue foods, the best part of the dinner was the authentic Chinese, homemade beef noodle soup and pan fried radish cakes. It reminded me of my mom’s cooking. Thank you both Rachel and Karen for inviting us to your pool parties this month!

  

 

Speaking of pools, after trying a trial group swim lesson, we’ve decided to go back to semi private classes at Steve Wallen. Given the effort it takes to get into swim gear and our limited free time, it really didn’t make sense to go with anything but the most effective. Since the kids are sleeping later and there’s no homework or sports practice, they’re going on weekdays – leaving our weekends open. Despite all the activities, I’ve kept up my workout regime with a mix of yoga, jogging, and cardio boxing/boot camp. Yay for not losing myself between family, friends, and work – and thank goodness for friends who exercise with me, as I am the queen of excuses if I have to exercise on my own! On the school front, Zach had a baseball camp, and 2 field trips (IMAX movie and Black Chasm Carverns.) Both kids missed a few days of school because of *gasp!* head lice. Horrible! We did 6+ loads of laundry and spent hours upon hours picking nits out of their hair. And while I’m usually all about natural, non-toxic materials, this was an exception (We used pyrethrin … technically natural, but a pesticide nonetheless.) So many kids in Zach’s class had it, we’re crossing fingers he doesn’t get re-infected. Thanks Bev for helping us get rid of lice/nits – what an awesome friend!

And this weekend? We just got back from camping! Two years ago, we camped in Tahoe at Camp Richardson. We had a smaller tent, a leaky air mattress, and a nursing toddler. What a difference 2 years make – we had a blast at Gerle Creek Campgrounds! Photos and summary next blog.

So the past week …

I hosted a tea party inspired by my visit to the Urban Tea Market a few months ago, and named my event “Kathy and the BFFs: Part Deux.” Melissa made 2 flavors of scones (blueberry and pumpkin) with Devonshire cream, and Kathy brought specialty chocolates from her recent trip to Ecuador, including salt, lemongrass, blueberry, and chili flavors. I made cheese spreads and egg salad right after work, and asked my friends to help with real-time assembly (not the language, although we do all work in high-tech). We had 4 different tea sandwiches,  pate over water crackers, and figs, grapes, Mediterranean olives for decoration. I have to admit, it looked (and tasted) pretty good!

 

It was also a photo trading party, as one of the goals was to share pictures we took on Kathy’s cruise. Of course, once we started copying those photos, we wondered what other event pictures we could copy … what a horrific and hilarious trip down memory lane! Kathy also shared her photos and videos from the Galapagos … it’s definitely on my list to visit, although from some cursory researching, it seems more like a Jennifer/James trip than a family one.  During the tea party, James and the kids had dinner at Sam’s, where Alex taught Zach how to play Pokemon.

 

Saturday, James and Zach went to hike Mt. Tallac in Tahoe. By the time Calie and I woke up, they had already left. So far this summer, they’ve done Bassi Falls (1.2 miles, negligible elevation gain), then Loch Leven (8 miles, 1250 elevation gain) , and now Mt Tallac (10 miles, 3250 elevation gain.) Training is on track for the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu (26 miles, 7000 ft elevation gain) next summer!

 

 

As Mt Tallac was an all-day hike, Calie and I decided to hit midtown. After wearing faded, cotton workout clothes with no support for the last 2-3 years, I decided to splurge on some more Lululemon. I finally now have jogging shorts with a pocket in the back for my iPhone and moisture/sweat wicking tank tops.  After shopping, Calie and I walked a few blocks to Tapa the World, where we shared a lunch special. Their homemade banana ice cream is yummy! Then we drove a few blocks to Art Beast, where we used our last 2 admissions on our punch card. We hadn’t been to Art Beast in quite some time – I still like the place, but it was looking pretty worn and the upstairs carpeted area smelled like urine. With a target clientele of toddlers, I’m not sure carpet was the best flooring choice. We left after a few hours, and got home about the same time as James and Zach … and just in time for dinner together.

  

 

Sunday, I tried to take Zach to a River Cats baseball game while James took Calie to The Children’s Museum and Jamba Juice. After missing my turn by 9 exits, turning back and finally finding a parking garage … I realized I only had $5 in cash and parking was $8! How frustrating. Since we were already 15 minutes late, we turned around and drove home. I picked up a set of trainer Pokemon cards for Zach on the way home, so that we’d have an evening activity since our plans for watching baseball fell through. Zach has been making his own cards (paper/pen) but the games don’t last very long because it takes such a long time to design the cards. While I appreciated the creativity, to play a real game, we needed more cards – maybe he can mix his homemade ones into the deck.

  

Monday after work, we tried again to go to the River Cats (vs Colorado Sky Sox) game. The biggest reason for success was change in driver, from me to James. I had 2 free tickets and a $30 gift card from work. I used the $30 to get James and Calie in ($10 tickets) and spent the rest on food. I was pretty impressed that the kids sat through a 3 hour game – the intermission games/entertainment between the innings definitely helped.

  

The following evening, our family met up with Bev and her boys at Red Robin before heading across the street to pick up fireworks. The same night, a few girlfriends and I planned to catch the 9:25pm showing of Magic Mike (a documentary.) I figured we’d have no problem getting seats since most people would be at Town Center for fireworks. Nope. The combination of  $5 Tuesdays and no work the following day, meant the movie was sold out when I got there 9am!  I ended up having “second dinner” at Blue Nami with Kathy and Bev. It was pretty crowded/bustling – the fish was fresher than my previous visits and the slabs of sashimi were substantial. Then bright and early the next morning, a few of my jogging buddies got together for a Fourth of July charity race.  Bev, Ahvni (Jaybal’s daughter), Andy, and I ran the 5k. Erjia and Jaybal did the 10k. I posted a picture of myself at the run on Facebook and both my sisters said I looked skinny. Given that I’m actually up 5 pounds according to my recent health check, that neon tank top is worth the price tag! After the race, Bev convinced me to join her for Vinyasa yoga. Seventy-one people packed into a  room for 75 minutes at ~90 degrees. Yowsers! It’s great to have a friend who pushes me to do more, as I am inherently lazy

 

  

 

Post lunch, I took the kids for a few hours of swimming at the Aquatic Center.  They had challenges to earn their afternoon snack: Zach swam a regulation lap, and Calie swam a few feet across a smaller pool. Bev’s boys and Zach played on the giant inflatables for an extra $3. Since it was July 4th, the aquatic center was less crowded than usual (according to Bev, who has a season pass and goes often.) I’m glad Zach got to play on the inflatables on a low attendance day – I have no patience for waiting in line under a beating sun.

  

 

I hosted a barbecue at my house in the evening for my weekend jogging group and their families (Sam, Er-jia, Jaybal, Bev). Since the attendees were my exercise friends, I made a healthy dinner … a big salad with strips of New York steak, grilled corn, and turkey burgers.  We also had fruit and dessert. When it got dark, we set off 6 (gasp!) fireworks on the street.  James said, “ Attention everyone. The firework show starts at 9pm. And ends at 9:05pm” Ha-ha. It took us longer to set up the lawn chairs, ladder, and the bucket of water. Not a bad show for $35 though, and there was no traffic jam on the way home for our guests.  I think next year, we will double our budget for double the fun. Happy Independence Day Everyone!