Me: Oh, I don't know why, but I've always loved the idea of summer, and the sun, and all things hot!
Any Phoenician: Really? I'm guessing you don't have much experience with heat?
Me: Nope! But sometimes, I like to close my eyes and imagine what it'd be like when summer does come...a drink in my hand...my snow (-colored skin) up against the burning sand, probably getting gorgeously tan in summer.
You may recognize this dialogue from the particularly popular children's movie Frozen.
It's the convo between a Christof, a Nordic ice gatherer, and Olaf the snowman. It's the snowman who hasn't ever experienced real heat.
Guys, I'm like the snowman! I thought growing up in eastern Washington, where temps would reach the low 100s on occasion, had prepared me. I thought spending some time in Australia, where summer had started to settle in by the time it was for me to leave, had prepared me even more.
Friends of mine will even tell you I've said, "I like it hot. I like to know my bones are warm!"
It's true. I prefer heat to cold.
However.
It's hot here. Like, really hot. All. The. Time. At 1 a.m. it's 90F. At 5 p.m. it's 109F. It's been this way for more than a month and it's only going to get hotter.
You know when you're outside and it's hot, but then you feel a breeze start up and you think, "Oh, good! A breeze!" You'll think the same here, but then you'll start crying when you realize the breeze is blowing hotter air.
I'm so grateful we live in a home with AC. There are also pools (aka luke warm community baths) in our neighborhood, which have helped to un-swell my feet a couple times.
Don't get me wrong, I really do like it here in Arizona, I'm just done telling myself it's not too hot. It's hot. And being pregnant makes me feel even hotter. We're also in monsoon season, which makes for significant and state-wide thunderstorms. These storms cause humidity, as well as dust storms, called haboobs. They're pretty intense!
Like I said, I'm glad we've found a few ways to (sorta) beat the heat!
This video is from more than a month ago, when I filled up an inflatable baby bathtub so Rolin could splash around outside:
Sharing the tub this time, and enjoying popsicles.
Oh, how I love the sunny days in Arizona. I'm sure at some point we'll long for snow, or even a foggy morning, but, for now, Rolly and I really enjoy the weather and our (almost) daily trips to the park.
Here are a few vids of him at the park doing what little boys do best...running, playing and hurting himself.
This was the first time he went down a slide by himself, and on his tummy, no less. You don't actually get to see him go down because I freaked and jumped off the toy to meet him at the bottom. I'll tell you what happened instead -- his shirt came up on the way down, resulting in a wicked slide burn on his belly. He shook it off in a few seconds, but did not like when I busted out the hydrogen peroxide to clean it off at home. Doing so produced a nasty scab and what looks to be a scar he'll have for life. He wears onesie shirts to the park now. This video is from mid-October:
This was a sleepy day at the park...most of the time was spent sitting in the rocks, looking at and saying "moon," and watching airplanes. I can't help but laugh every time he starts putting that rock up to his lips. This was taken the day before Halloween:
This next video is a barrel full of laughs. He's on a steep hill (much steeper than it looks in the video). I recommend you bookmark this one, in case you have a day when you need a good laugh:
Rolin LOVES to wear this monkey on his back. He'll wear it for the better part of a day, if we let him. Sometimes he'll wear it at a store, sometimes to the park. Other times it's just around the house while he rides his truck in the kitchen or plays blocks in the living room. He likes to check out his reflection in the oven when he wears it. This monkey is actually one of those child leashes, but we don't use it as a leash. Right now it's just a source of entertainment for our little boy who has a growing imagination and personality. This video was taken in early November, the day before his eye surgery:
Shortly after I took this video, Rolin fell. He fell hard. He fell flat on his face on the sidewalk. There was blood. Lots (ok, not that much) of blood. I couldn't tell if he put a tooth through his lip, chopped a tooth or lost a tooth...all I knew was I'd never before seen that much blood come pouring out of my baby. I scooped him up and power walked home where I called my dad while I waited for the doctor to call back. Daddy-o suggested a popsicle, which seemed to heal and cheer Rolly right up. In the end, it turned out he just bit his lip pretty good. He was completely healed in a few days. Whew!
If you look closely, you can see his puffy lips. Poor buggy. He was a champ, though. I would have cried harder and longer if it'd been me!
No, the blood didn't come out of my shirt. But that's ok.
He wasn't too happy about it. I can't imagine anyone really is when it comes down to it. He was a good sport, though, and took it like a champ. Well, until I hung the "Celebrating 30" sign (pictured above) on the front door. He asked that I take it down until later in the afternoon.
As we have a backyard now, I decided to have a s'mores party for Justin's birthday. With [surprise] fire pit in hand, I checked the forecast and sent out e-invites for a supposedly rain-free S'mores Smorgasbord at the Thompsons.
My friend, Heather, helped come up with a few snazzy s'mores suggestions, as did our friend Google.com, and we went to work on the line-up:
The menu. Click the picture to get a better view. Layout and drawing by the talented Heather Brackett. If I'd tried to draw marshmallows, they'd be stick marshmallows, and that wouldn't look good.
We decorated the back yard and I also stocked up on Duraflame logs, only to find out later that those logs aren't meant for cooking, but we'll get to that in a bit.
Heather came over early to help get the s'mores smorgasbord set up. By that time, bigger, dark clouds were rolling in and looking ominous. I shrugged them off, remembering my weather.com app had shown no warning of rain. Heather's hubs and daughter came over for pre-s'mores hotdogs...
Clouds, smhouds. Those couldn't possibly have rain in them, right Bracketts?
...and as we were eating, it started to rain.
We shrugged it off and tried to pretend it wasn't really raining...because the weather.com app told us it wouldn't.
Then it started to rain more. Then folks started calling to see if we were still going to have a s'mores party.
I was determined to have that party...afterall, it's not every day your husband turns 30!
So, Heather and I stood watch over the s'mores spread while we waited for the rain to pass. It finally did and peeps started coming over for roasting and toasting.
It was also around this time we learned Duraflame logs aren't meant for cooking food. Thank goodness for Dan who ran to the store to get real wood. The last thing I wanted to do was poison my guests...more than we'd already poisoned ourselves by eating hotdogs cooked over Duraflames...oops.
But that's when the real fun began. We took out the flaming Duraflames and tried to get them to stop burning. Those suckers burn, I'll tell ya. I also thought I'd help by sprinkling them with my watering can.
But then they called in the big guns.
And we tried to smoke out the neighborhood. I'm surprised the fire department didn't show up! Here's a video of all the excitement:
The rest of the night was great fun. Eventually some worked up the courage to try the Elvis s'more, bacon and all.
If you learn anything from this post, aside from not using Duraflame logs to cook food, know this: the Elvis s'more ain't that bad! If have bacon in your freezer, I'll forgive you for abandoning the rest of this post to go make yourself an Elvis.
Justin was also a good sport and wore the silly "Celebrating 30" hat I got him to wear for all the pictures with our guests. It really is a silly hat, isn't it? Sorry, dear, but thank you for going along with my birthday excitement!
Top left: Justin, Rich, Jen; (top right): Matt, Justin, his dip, Amanda; (bottom left): Justin, his dip, Dan, Laura; (bottom right): Christine, Justin, Mike, Liz (& soon-to-be baby Olivia)
Sunday, Justin's actual birthday, was exciting again. We opened gifts in the morning, went out for donuts with the Bracketts in the afternoon and headed out to a secret location for dinner in the evening.
Click the picture for a bigger image.
Justin was so excited about his new shirt, he couldn't keep his eyes open!
Now...I'd heard of this secret location from ads on the radio. It's called Grill 'Em -- a steakhouse where you can grill your own steak. Now, if there is anyone who loves a steak prepared a certain way (rare...well, raw), it's my husband. I thought it'd be the perfect place.
We walked up the restaurant only to hear "Pour some sugar on me!" coming from behind the doors. Not quietly, either. From the sound and the smell of the place, I thought I was going into Shakers (or the Crazy Squirrel or whatever Shakers is called now. We'll just call it Shakers, ok?). There was indeed a big grill, but no one was using it.
The next song that came blaring, and I mean blaring, through the speakers was "Living Dead Girl." While this place would be awesome with a group of friends while watching a football game or something, it wasn't what I thought it would be and felt bad...see...I'd made a big deal about this place, expecting it to be a nice place for a nice steak dinner for my dearest. I started laughing. Almost uncontrollably. I looked at him, he started laughing. We couldn't hear over the music to speak to each other. They brought us the beers we ordered, we gulped them down and then both pulled out our phones to look for a new venue.
We ended up at what I suspect was the most expensive restaurant on Santana Row and kept chuckling about the events of the day well into the night.
Justin and I like hiking. Hiking is something Justin did often during his childhood. It's something I never did during mine. I wouldn't say we're hardcore hikers, but maybe we will be someday! If we keep it up this summer, we're thinking of trying an overnight hike where you walk into your campsite.
We have experienced those so called "walk-in campgrounds" around these parts...but this time we're talking a real walk-all-day-to-the-site type walk-in campground...something we're prepared for going into it.
Last weekend we headed up to the hills west of Palo Alto for a quick hike. It was sunny and warm in San Jose so we were surprised to find fog and the weather to be about 20 degrees cooler in Palo Alto...that's the Peninsula for ya! I'm glad I grabbed my sweatshirt on the way out the door.
Our friend, Cory, and his girlfriend Nicole ventured down to San Francisco in early December so we met up with them for a day of playing tourist.
Cory and Justin met at WSU and became fast friends. They were roommates in Stimson Hall, Cougar Crest apartments and in the Halfway House on California Street near Greek row, and have been buddies ever since. The three of us actually spent a lot of time together back in the day at WSU and it's fun to get together and talk about old times every now and again.
We met Cory and Nicole at their hotel and then made our way down to the piers to catch a ride to Alcatraz on Alcatraz Cruises. We've viewed Alcatraz from afar, from the piers and from the telescopes before...we've even been within a stone's throw from it on a different boat tour, but we've never been on The Rock. Here are some pics to enjoy:
Cory and Nicole on The Rock
The cell block upon The Rock
Yours Truly
So many cells
Not a lot of space in the wee cells
Nicole and Cory take in the commentary Don't drop the soap! The former warden's pad. The dude in the middle on the bottom row was so excited to have presumably escaped Alcatraz, he couldn't keep his eyes open! Cory standing out in what was the inmate's privileged outdoor recreation area...playground, if you will. It's singalong time, folks: "This used to be my playground..."
The inmates said the worst thing was being able to hear the noises of the city, especially on New Year's Eve because the wind would carry the sounds of the parties right to their cells. San Fran is less than a mile from Alcatraz.
After Alcatraz we ventured down past Pier 39 to the Boudin Sourdough Bakery & Cafe for bread bowls of clam chowder before we walked over to The Buena Vista Cafe for Irish coffees. It was a blustery, chilly day (when isn't it??!) so we were very thankful for the Irish coffees! The Buena Vista is always crowded -- so crowded that you often share a table with strangers. The strangers we shared a table with suggested we drive up to Christmas Tree Point at Twin Peaks to see the lights. Because it was close to Christmas and this point just happens to be referred to as Christmas Tree Point, we figured we'd find streets of homes decorated with Christmas lights.
I was testing out some different photo options on my phone...thus the funky borders on some pics.
Nope! Instead Christmas Tree Point provides interested persons with a magnificent view of the entire city of San Francisco!
We had a fun day with Cory and Nicole. We hope to see you two again soon!
Summer is half way over, can you believe it? This is probably the first year of my adult life I've felt I didn't have a summer and I've been trying to figure out why. I think it's because we haven't had a good streak of hot, summer-like weather...I love it when it's hot (most of the time) and just thinking about it makes me miss Washington and home sooo much. I'm sure it's also because of the "June gloom" that has stretched itself all the way to August, bringing us dreary, foggy mornings. Oh, and I sit in a building all day with no windows. OK, so there are plenty of reasons now that I've taken time to think about them. However, this also got me thinking about all particulars I miss about summers in Washington.
So, just so I could make you all miss Washington summers, particularly summers in eastern WA, I've put together a list of things I miss most. The majority are from my youth - seeing as that still lays claim to more than half of my years on earth - but some are more recent. Either way, I miss them all.
The heat. I've been so cold lately and I realized it's because we haven't had a good streak of hot weather to warm my bones.
Hearing Nanny say, "Oh! Look at the sunset!"
The dry Horse Heaven and Rattlesnake Hills and the way they'd almost reflect the colors of the sunset
Hot summer nights
The smell of a freshly mowed orchard
BBQs in my parents' backyard with all the family
Trail walks with Erin
Bike rides with Jeff
The smell of Aunt Looie and Uncle Francis' house, swimmin' in their pool and drinking the cream soda and eating the cheese & crackers Nanny would pack for us to snack on during our swim
Laying out on the roof or sidewalk to get a little color
Lounging around the Rohde's pool during the day
Lounging in the Rohde's hot tub at night
Water fights in Steven's pool
Eating a cherry, peach or pear right off the tree
Driving down Frazer and honking at the Olmsteads
Hanging out with the little peeps
Timing or playing "runner" at Grandview Rotary swim meets
Hosing off the patio and chairs before guests arrive for dinner on the patio at my parents house
My mom's homemade salsa
The "States' Day" parade and fair (on Labor Day) in Prosser
Watching the Prosser fireworks from Nanny's backyard on the 4th of July
Cherry harvest
Working at Homestretch Espresso, not having a care in the world (at the time, I didn't realize how awesome it was to be 17...I had my license, I had a boyfriend -- sorry, dearest -- I had a sweet job at a sweet coffee shop where I got to drink coffee, make coffee and watch movies, I didn't have rent, I owned the car I drove, my mom made me dinner, I didn't have to worry about college applications (yet), I was going to be a senior in high school, I could drive to my friends' houses anytime, I worked at a coffee shop (I know I already said that, but damn I wish I still worked at that coffee shop...that was the life), I had friends with pools...I could go on and on, but I'll stop there and let you trace the trail back to your 17 year-old-life and ponder it's greatness. Sorry if it leaves you depressed).
Riding in the 1-ton truck with dad when he takes a load of cherries to town
Washing my car in the shade
Mowing the lawn (I know it sounds crazy, but I like(d?) to do that)
Orchard burn piles, hot dogs and s'mores
Family vacations to Eagle Crest in Bend, Ore. or Neskowin, Ore.
The Prosser Wine & Food Fair
Sunsets in Pullman
Thunder storms
Seeing a weather report with highs in the upper 90s all week
Mom's homemade ice cream (which reminds me I have an ice cream maker I should get out of the storage unit)
The Grandview parade and fair - especially working the Rotary corn booth
Starting the irrigation pump so we could turn on the yard and orchard sprinklers
Outdoor movies at Redhook in Woodinville
Walks around Greenlake
Driving to Ellensburg to hang out with Sarah
Roof top parties at our apartment overlooking Lake Union
I'm sure I'll think of more. I'll leave you to your reminiscing about how awesome it was to be 17.
