Turning 40

I have had a great time turning 40. I've celebrated as much as possible. I went to Portland with two dear friends. We visited the Rose Garden, had lovely meals, hiked near the Columbia Gorge. I had a housewarming/ birthday party with the neighbors who endured our endless construction project. My mom threw a lovely party for me at her house with my sister and brother in attendance. I went to Spokane with two other college friends and we rode the Lake Coeur D'Alene trail and swam in the lake. I dined with my local friends. I went to yoga. All fun. It's great to be 40.

Alki

I've been to Alki Beach a few times this year and each time it was wet and cold. I passed the little store that rents Surreys and dreamed of cruising down the beach with the kids in the sun. A few weeks ago, my dreams came true. We were in West Seattle trying to renew my driver's license (unsuccessfully). We then visited a park near Alki that has a boat and a whale tail in the sand. Jack rode his bike and watched an older boy fly his model airplane. He loved that. We played in the sun then headed to Slices for some delicious pizza. Afterwards, I noticed the Surrey's so we rented one and tootled around.. stopping to play in the water. Jack then decided he wanted to rent a kayak so we did that too. You never know when you'll get another warm, sunny day in Seattle.

Blueberries and swimming

We've had a great time this summer. It's been fun to be able to hang around outside and have nowhere to go. We've had a few adventures. We picked blueberries in Carnation. The kids enjoyed this for about 15 minutes and because I had driven 45 minutes to get there, I had to continue picking berries. I picked about 9 pounds and the kids probably ate a pound.

We've taken swimming lessons for the last 2 weeks at our little pool. Jack's swimming has improved a great deal. He now swims under water for 10 feet or so -- can lift his head up to get a breath and keep going. He loves, loves swimming. I have to pull them out of the pool after 2-3 hours because I have turned into a prune. We also played T-ball with Jack's preschool class. Jack is less excited about T-ball. At least he doesn't lay down on the field anymore. He's not a big runner.. never has been. It's been fun to socialize with the parents. Jack loves seeing his friend Hayden. Hayden introduced Jack to star wars and when they're not playing t-ball, they are on the field have pretend star wars battles. They like to be the bad guys and kill Luke Skywalker. We've also had lots of fun playing with our neighbors. Jack and Sonia are endlessly entertained by pretend games and just running around with them.