April 24th weekend

On Friday night Tim and went out on a Dinner Cruise, courtesy of our work. This is a first time in a while we got a change to go out and have a nice quiet dinner. I think it's called a "date" :-)


It was a little awkward at first, since we didn't know anyone, but had to share a table with two other couples, but once we got to know the other attendees at our table we had a great time. We talked away all night, to the point where pretty much everyone else (including the performing musicians) left the boat and the lights were turned back on, full strength, that's when we finally got up and left.

Kids did great too. two oldest watched scary movies and two youngest played games.

On Saturday we went to another LOWE's Kids' Build and made birdfeeders. I think we might do this weekly, as long as it's offered. Costs nothing and kids love it!

Then another swimming class, and off to Lacrosse game. Gabe's team still lost, but the game was much more exciting. Final score was something like 4:9.

(Gabe is in black shirt & black helmet)

Quck stp at Peet's Cooffe House for a hot treat and a newspaper read

Unfortunately, Saturday weather stayed too cool to truly enjoy it, especially when you are sitting on a cold metal bench watching a game and it starts raining...

On Sunday we had a few things to do. Jon had a birthday party to attend (Tarren's), so we made a quick stop at Target for a present, dropped him off, then Larisa and I went out for lunch at the Thai noodle place.

In the afternoon I had to take Gabe to the store to get the last of the needed items for his Outdoor School later this week. I am getting nervous already.

And, not to be outdone by his sister, Gabe lost another tooth this weekend.  Not sure if "lost" is a right word to use, because Gabe was determined to lose it before Monday, so he put his best effort into speeding up the process...

Almost weekend!

This morning felt a little different.  For one, I was woken up by a smell of a skunk spray.   Apparently, i am the only one in a house able to smell it without going outside...  Great, one more thing to worry about now!

Morning started with the anticipation of tonight's dinner cruise and the worry of not making there on time.

In all the rush I grabbed a wrong book for Jon's "Show and Tell", which we didn't realize till we got to school, so I had to quickly improvise.  Lucky for me, I keep a "pretty cool" (water-proof, crank) flash lightin the car, and Jon was more than happy to take that instead.

Lately he likes to wait for me by the classroom window and wave "good bye".  Today was no exception, but he found me taking picture of him extremely funny...

April 17th weekend

It finally started getting warmer and fells more like Spring!

On Saturday I woke up early (5:30am) and couldn't fall asleep, so I decided to do as much as I can in one day.

First thing was getting laundry and dishes, then getting Larissa to the lab for some tests. The doors open at 8am, so we got there a little before that, and already, there was a line! We were number 11. When we were done a little after 9am, we went straight to McDonald's. There wasn't going to be any time to make breakfast at that point.

I gathered the kids, got them fed, their sports' bags set, loaded them into a truck and went straight to LOWE's for a kids' build workshop. This week it was a small planter box. We had so much fun! It was much better than the experience we had at Home Depot years ago.

Tim picked Gabe at the parking lot and took him to the game and I took Larissa and Jon to their swimming class. The biggest challenge of not having Tim or Gabe with me was not being able to get Jon quickly showered and dressed after the class (in a boys’ room). After getting cut off in line to the Family Room a couple of times, I just gave up and had Larissa change in the girls' room and gave Jon a quick shower at the room by the sauna, then despite the sign asking not to change in the hallway, I made Jon get discretely (under the towel) change into dry clothes and we left.

When we got to Gabe's game we found out that they are, once again, playing against a Sunset team. Sigh... I think Tim lost score count a while back. It was something like "2 to a whole lot" in Sunset's favor.

It didn't seem to bother Gabe too much though, he just wanted to go home...

I still had things to take care of, like an oil change... I bribed Jon and Larissa with a lunch promise and they agreed to go with me. After we dropped my car off, we just went across the street. I heard there was a pretty nice Indian restaurant and wanted to check it out. I was not disappointed!

Great selection and great service!

By the time we were back home I just wanted to relax, but not so fast... Larissa asked to invite her friend for a sleepover and we agreed to let her. Kids played outside until it started getting dark, which turns out is a lot later than it used to be... so dinner time is now around 9pm!

Sunday was our "work in the yard" day.

I feel like we made so much progress! We tore out an old bench in the backyard and I got rid of all the blackberry bushes, and now we have a spot for my vegetable garden! I still got a lot of work to do though, like actually make the raised bed.

After much contemplating, Tim and I bought a new lawn mower. I don’t know if I have seen a grown man and a little boy more excited about a new toy!

Tim taught Gabe how to properly use it and Gabe mowed our front yard. He asked for a permission to do this weekly. I have no problem with that ;-)

We did run into some issues with our edger. I wouldn’t start, so we changed the oil, the air filter, the spark plug... nothing! It still won’t start! We left it to deal with next weekend!

The next thing I know, our weekend is all gone... oh, how fast the time flies when you having so much fun!

Oh, yes, let's not forget about Larissa's tooth!  Although, apparently, the toothfairy did forget...  oos!

Monday rainbow

Hanging out around Gabe's practice field paid off with a giant rainbow.

I didn't have my "good" camera on me, so I snapped it with my cell phone.

Gabe suggested we go to the end of the rainbow and search for a pot of Skittles...

April 12th performance

Larissa finished another theater session with an onstage performance.  In this show she played two roles.  One was a solder, and second was a robber.

Can't say that she memorized the lines as she should've or that she projected her voice enough, but I guess as long as she had fun, I am ok with it...

After the show Jon got onstage and performed his version of a break-dance...

Dad and Jon attended the show and recorded it for the rest of the family to see.  Later after dinner , we all gathered in front of the TV and watched it together.

April 10th weekend

What a great start to a great weekend!

On Friday night Tim and I went on a "date".  Dinner, then a Mandolin concert.  We had dinner at Syun and I never realized just how busy they get on a Friday night.  Even people with reservations had to wait 15-20 minutes to be seated.  Waitresses were flying around making customers happy.

There were so many dishes served and so many choices on the menu that we got a bit overwhelmed.  Everything we ordered was very good, especially the dessert.  Banana tempura.

Concert was great too.  This was an opening night and not only all the tickets were sold out, but there were about 30 more people hoping to get a seat.  They ended up letting extra attendees sit in the front foyer, with the concert hall doors' open.  Next performance is in June, better get tickets now if you want to go attend...

Saturday was a totally crazy day.  First, we had to get Jon and Larissa to their swimming classes, then drop Jon off at a birthday party, then head out to Gabe's lacrosse game, then pick Jon back up, etc.  If only it wasn't so darn cold at the game!..  Gabe's team lost again, but this time by a lesser score difference.  I think it was 2:5 (or may be 2:6, not sure)

(Gabe in action, #55, in gray pants on the right)

On the way home we stopped by Peete's Tea & Coffee House and everyone got a well deserved treat.
By the time we were home, all we wanted to do was relax.

Sunday started off slow.  I got up early and managed to do a long run.  This week I was up to 8.5 miles.  Not all running, but as a run/walk mix.  Never the less, I was feeling very accomplished for the rest of my day.
We also finally got around getting Tim's truck's maintenance up to date and Larissa's bike fixed.

The sun stayed out almost all day long and kids enjoyed playing outside all afternoon.

We went through a variety of sports/outdoor equipment.  Skating, dart guns, bikes, and finished with the bubble blowing.

Easter 2010 weekend.

Easter came on a cold and rainy weekend this year.

On Saturday Gabe had his first lacrosse game. 
It was freezing and rainy, so first thing I did was get a hot cup of coffee to hold on to.
Hillsboro (HALO) played against Beaverton Sunset team.  As soon as we saw Beaverton team, we knew that we didn't stand a chance.  This picture explains it all (Gabe is in the black shirt.  Other three players from the Sunset team):

I think final score was 1:6 but everyone had lots of fun playing, and that's all that matters.

Later in the day I found out that ducks are back in our backyard, and I learned that not only they can fly, but they also can perch on a tree brunch (there was another female duck sitting on top of a birdhouse, but I didn't get my camera out fast enough):

In less than an hour I see a blue heron join the party:

On Sunday I placed a bunch of clues from the Easter Bunny all over the house.  Kids had a blast following them to get to the final prize.
Here are all the collected clues, gathered together:

Jon loves his new Star Wars - Clone Wars helmet.  It stayed on most of the day.

After lunch I took Larissa out for hot Chai Tea latte.  We chose Pete's Coffee & Tea house.  It was great!

Then we decided that we didn't care if it is raining and all the kids should go to a playground.  At first Jon didn't want to come out of the car, but once he did, he had so much fun:

Once we got thoroughly wet with rain, we went back home for a cup of hot chocolate.