WHY, WHY AND MORE WHY'S

5 years old is such a wonderful age. You don't much to worry about. You have a live in maid, nurse, cook, plus someone to entertain you. On the other hand you have the ablility to wear someone out and you know it so you do it. Lately Mimi has been wearing mama out with a gazillion questions. Why is the sky blue? Why is that building there? Why do we live in this house? Why is our house between the other two houses? Why does Wade (Blake's dad) go to work? Why does my dad go to work? Why can't I go to Sara's house? Ten minutes later: Why can't I go to Sara's house? Half hour later: Why can't I go to Sara's house? One hour later: Why can't I go to Sara's house? AAARRRGGGHHH!!!!

She's asking all these questions while mama is trying to get our things together for our camping trip tomorrow. In between asking all these questions Mimi is running here and there. This morning mama took Mimi over to the library for our usual date with Erin, Liam and their mom Janet and baby brother Patrick. When it was over they all went running on the grass. Mimi wore them all out too. Our Mimi definitely keeps everyone on their toes and I would not have any other way.

CONCERT PIANIST

Last night after Blake had gone home, Mimi, Liam and Erin decided to put on a concert for mama. Just so sorry there in no sound. When I find out how to do it I will put sound on. Starting next month mama will call the piano tuner to have the piano tuned and Mimi will be starting lessons. Not sure where she will go to music school. Mama still has quite a bit of research to do on that subject.

MIMI AND THE BFF's

Yesterday both mama and Mimi spent most of the day shopping for our upcoming camping trip. Mimi who has not seen her friends in one day was getting a bit ansy to see them again. So off to the park Mimi, mama and Blake went. It was such a nice evening that almost everyone was there. Next thing that happened, Erin came running over to the park saying her mom Janet wanted to see me. To make a long story short, her dad Sean was cutting the grass with the mower and somehow cut his finger deeply. When Derek, Jim and mama arrived at the house to see what we could do. Sean was near passing out. His finger was cleanned and wrapped and he was sitting at the kitchen table sweating profusely. While Janet got the baby ready, I took the other kids Erin and Liam home with me. Mimi who did not know what was going on was just happy to have Erin and Liam come over to the house and Blake who absolutely hates to miss out on anything just had to come too. They all had loads of fun at the house last night. At 8:30 it was time for Blake to go home and at 9:00 was when Janet came by to pick the kids up. According to Janet, Sean ended up having 10 stitches to his finger. On one hand this is an unfortunate accident that happened to Sean, on the other hand I feel so very fortunate to know that we have neighbors such as Derek and Jim plus a few more others that are there to help out in a crisis.

OLIVER HARDY

After our episode with the raccoons last week, our Ollie really scared the heck out of mama last night. She went downstairs to check on our provisions for our upcoming camping trip and it was dark in the garage as she opened the door and lo and behold who pops out of nowhere? Ollie, who is about the size of a raccoon. Mama's heart skipped a beat right then and there!

THE CAT DID IT

Don't really know quite what happened but we figured Mimi must have pissed ole' Stanley off some way. We didn't hear any crying or hissing though. Only thing we knew is that Mimi came downstairs with bandages on her face.

FISH FRY

Since becoming a stay at home mom, mama loves to try out new recipes. Her favorite shows are on the food network. The first is Paula's Party (Paula Deen) and Down Home With The Neeley's (Pat and Gina). Yesterday was the first time mama has ever fried any fish and roasted corn and boy howdy was it ever so good!!! Although mama's family is of Japanese ancestry, Mimi's Obachan (grandma) was a very picky eater and did not care to much for fish and so Obachan rarely cooked any. Obachan usually bought the fist already cooked. She always said that she could not stand the fishy smell.

SEA FAIR PARADE PICTURES

These are the pictures from last night's Sea Fair Parade. Unfortunately mama did not have the camera with her when she went walking down the sidewalk looking for our group. There were people there with a whole living room, kitchen and bedroom set up right on the sidewalk waiting for the parade to start. I kid you not. There was carpeting, sofa, love seat, coffee table, refrigerator, stove, kitchen table and chairs, bunkbed for the kids. It was definitelya sight to see.

SEAFAIR PARADE

This evening marked the beginning of Seattle's yearly Seafair Parade. Mimi had no idea that we were going there because mama wanted to make sure she would take a nap this afternoon.

We met with Sara and her mom Daphne at the Seattle Culture Center this evening before heading over to the parade site.

Mimi and Sara had a blast together along a several of their other friends. Unfortunately Ling Ling was not able to come. They had to take her grandma to the ER and fortunately it was nothing serious.

There were sooooo many groups participating in the parade. Mama became a little sentimental because of the Navy band. Mimi's other grandpa passed away one year ago and was a retired Naval soldier that fought many operations in the Asian Continent.

The highlight was the Chinese dancers and Chinese dragon and lion dance. Seattle is a made up of many diverse ethnic groups and each one was represented in the parade. The only ethnic group that we saw little of were the Japanese. This year there weren't any of the dancers however we saw the taiko drummers playing their hearts out way on the top of the pirate ship at the end of the parade. Not quite sure what to make of that. The pirates seem to be part of the theme of the parade.

Mimi and Sara were the hit of the parade. It seems that almost a great majority of the parade participants went out of their way to give them a high 5. They also received stickers and buttons to boot!

On the way home mama would ask Mimi if she if "fainting" which Mimi's word for getting tired. Mimi who has a funny sense of humor would fake a "zzzzzzzz" then start laughing but then a couple of minutes later she really did fall asleep in the car. Mimi is getting to big and heavy for mama to carry her upstairs to bed. When mama reached the stairs to go up and get ready for bed, she found Mimi already asleep on the stairs.

COMMUNITY GET TOGETHER

We are very fortunate to live in a very friendly, family oriented neighborhood. Derek started the ball rolling a couple of years back and made the empty lot into a very nice playground for the kids to play in. Last year before we moved up here we found out from the neighbors that they had a community bake sale and garage sale. With their proceeds a new playset was purchased. Earlier this year the men all got together and pulled out some of the stumps in the park and rented a wood chipper. Mama provided the breakfast for everyone.

This morning the men and a couple of the women got together to do more work in the park laying down the beauty bark and gravel for another new playset to be put in a couple of weeks from today. Mama did exactly the same thing as last year and made breakfast for everyone. The problem was she did not make enough food!!! Doggone it!!! There were soooooo many people that showed up from the adjoining neighborhood (different home owner association). We all could just not believe it. We probably had about 100-150 moms and dads there.

Mama thinks that she may have started something with the moms of the hood. When the other moms saw the breakfast food that mama had brought, they went back home to raid their pantries and bring food over to the park too. With the other moms helping out, we all had a nice BBQ to boot. Hot dogs, hamburgers and other goodies to eat and drink.

The weather cooperated with us also. It is overcast and cool. Just right for doing yard work.

Now at 1:00 p.m. mama is trying to get Mimi to take a nap. Normally she does not nap nowadays but today is special. It is the beginning of the Sea Fair festivities up here in Seattle and tonight is the Torchlight Parade in downtown Seattle. We are going to the parade with several of our friends. The festivities will end next Saturday with the hydroplane races but we will have to miss that one due to the fact that we will be up in Mount Rainier camping with our friend Tom and Eloise and their family.

SOUTH CENTER MALL

Today was the grand opening for the newly remodeled South Center Mall. King 5 news stated that it is the largest mall in our state of Washington. I think that next week Mimi and I will go check it out. It has a brand new AMC theater too and a lot of cool sounding places to eat. Must try out the Bahama Breeze, Rainforest, Blue C Sushi and Racha Thai Asian Kitchen just to name a few of the places.

Then of course there is the famous Nordstroms, Macy's, The Children's Place and a whole lot more! YIPPEEEE!!!!

MIMI AND HER GIRLS

Mimi still loves running and jumping and hanging out with her boys but for the past couple of months the feminine of her has started to emerge. She detests the boy sandals that Blake had given to her because they are "YUCK" as Mimi stated, on the other hand she loves wearing her Hawaiian sandals because they are "PRETTY". This afternoon mama caught her playing with her dolls and asked if she would rather play on the computer to which Mimi replied "Nope, I want to coffee (copy) Erin." Will wonders ever cease I ask?

MONKEY BARS

Last year June, Mimi could not reach the monkey bars without mama there to give her a boost up and carry her across the monkey bars. This year in June, Mimi is able to go all the way across by herself without any help. It's just taken mama 2 months to get it together and get a video of it, she's mov'in kinda slow these days and no I am not getting old. Unfortunetely the video camera is rather grainy and almost looks like the film that our parents used way back in the day.

LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD

Hey there little Miss Red Riding Hood, you sure are look'in good........

A HARD DAYS NIGHT

Our day started off with breakfast then a trip to the library for storytelling. This time we went by ourselves. For some reason Erin was not able to make it today. Then it was a trip for grocery shopping and home for lunch. Mama had just enough time to clean the house and make a quick trip to the grocery store again because due to her "senior moments" she forgot a couple of items needed to make dinner. As soon as we arrived home and got the dinner in the crock pot it was time to take Mimi to swim lessons. Next thing mama knew, the lessons were over and it was time to go home for dinner. Spencer and his family were coming over. Of course by the time Spencer, Zach and Katarina arrived, Mimi was way to excited to eat but she somehow managed it. After dinner,they all had loads of fun playing hide and seek till it was time to go to Sports Camp. When I asked Mimi if she enjoyed playing with Spencer, she replied "Yeah and he's so handsome too!" I take that as a yes. By the time all was said and done, it was time to come home from sports. Next thing mama knew, Mimi was out like a light. Next month will be even busier I think. Not only will Mimi have the same activities as she does now, we will have to get her school supplies and school clothes together. Unlike back home in So. Calif. where one could practically wear summer clothes almost all year round it gets super cold up here in the northwest during the fall and winter season. This past week the weather has already started cooling off.

MORE SPORTS CAMP

Sport Camp will last until this coming Friday. Mimi is having a blast. She and Spencer get along real good together. Of course what is a sport camp without a game of duck, duck, goose? Mimi and Spencer ALWAYS choose each other to be the goose when either one of them gets picked.

GRADUATION DAY

Well we're mov'in on uuupppp......this afternoon was Mimi's graduation day for her swimming lessons. She will be moving up to P-2 (P=pre-school) come this August. The next round of swimming lessons will consist of 10 lessons, 2 weeks straight. That will take her up to one week before school starts. Mimi is having one big busy, fun summer vacation. We have been busy with swimming lessons twice weekly, gynastics twice weekly, storytelling time once a week at the library and Sports Camp nightly this week and playdates in between. PHEW!!!

FUNNY FACES AND HULAS

We had already scheduled a date with Ling Ling prior to sighning up for Sports Camp. Whenever these girls get together it is like TNT they are just looney tunes. Mimi loves making silly faces in front of the camera. She is just one big ham and Ling Ling loves to copy anything that Mimi does.

SKINNY DIPP'IN

Maybe Mimi was a nudist in her past life, who knows? Now and then the weather is warm enough to use the pool. So before we went to Sports Camp Mimi went swimming. I must say that she is quite inovative too. She decided to take the frog wading pool to put into the bigger pool and lay in the sun butt naked or as she calls it "relaxing in Mexico".

SPORTS CAMP

For quite a while mama wanted to know how to post videos on Mimi blog and just by a fluke she did just that. I found out how to do it. Last Sunday night we had our good friends Jim and Michelle over to the house for dinner and Michelle had mentioned about the sportscamp that happens for one week every year here where we live. Since our Mimi is quite energetic, mama thought that it would be a good idea for her to go, plus it gives her a chance to get to know Spencer better. When we got there Spencer was no where to be seen so Mimi was a little apprehensive about joining due to the fact we did not know anyone there. Finally Spencer showed up and all was well again in her little world. I never saw soooooo many kids as I did last night. Seems like the whole town showed up. Of course mama wanted to take pictures and of course as usual did not check the camera for the correct setting. It was later in the game when she found out that the setting was on video. So therefore this morning she decided to do the blog the same way one would put up up the pictures (only hit the video button instead). Lo and behold it worked!!! So from now on I will post more videos along with the pictures.

MIMI'S NEW "BOYFRIEND"

Now that we are starting to feel a bit settled in, mama has started inviting neighbor/friends over to the house for dinner. This evening Spencer and his family joined us for a evening of joy, fun and laughter. While big sis Katarina(12) and big bro Zack (11) were playing Wii, Mimi and Spencer ran around the house like two peas in a pod. Just two kids acting goofy as can be. Pictured here they are watching Chicken Little. Tomorrow mama and Mimi will go over to a nearby elementary school to check out the sports camp that Michelle had told us about. Also we may sighn Mimi up to play soccer this fall. Spencer's dad Jim is the coach.

tech-tag » Track stolen Gadgets with Gadget-Track

tech-tag » Track stolen Gadgets with Gadget-Track Mama saw this on King 5 news last night with Jesse Jackson (not the rev) and thought this is kind of cool especially for all the gadget geeks like herself.

SUPERHERO CONTINUED

When the work was all done, grandpa went home. He is very worried about grandma. Grandma is scheduled for knee surgery this coming August 12th. She is unfortunately having quite a bit of discomfort at this time and we found out from grandpa that grandma fell last night at their home. Fortunately she is not seriously hurt. After grandpa had gone home, Mimi wrapped herself up in the red, white and blue (a blanket that was given to us by grandma). She then decided to trapse all over town wearing her cape. She and papa had gone to get pizza to bring home for lunch then go and catch a movie "The Space Chimps".

GRANDFATHER, FATHER, DAUGHTER DAY

This morning grandpa came over to help papa fix the fence post that leads into our backyard. As usual Mimi was the supervisor and making sure everything was done correctly. During the dry weather is when one needs to get the gutters cleanned out and the house repairs done before the windstorm season hits which is in October/November.

BAILEY'S BIRTHDAY

This month is Bailey's birthday and so her mama Keri decided to have a party for her this evening before they leave for their trip to Utah tomorrow morning.

This morning mama was upstairs getting ready for the day and then she called to Mimi to come up and get ready to go shopping for Bailey's birthday present. When Mimi reached the top of the stairs she asked mama out of the blue "why didn't my China mom (Mimi's foster mom) want me?" We sat down right then and there at the top of the stairs and had a discussion. As soon as Mimi turned 4 years old, was when she started to ask questions about her past. Mama would tell her the story about how we came together as a family using a fairytale format until she gets a little older. So when she asked why her China mom did not want her, mama said that it's not that her China mom did not want her but that she (Mimi) needed us and we most definitely needed her and that we love her so very much. "I love you too mom" Mimi says and gave mama a great big baby bear hug. Then she was on her merry way again. WOW!!! That's what mama thought. For such a young child, she will just blow me away with such deep thoughts. When papa came home for the evening, mama shared this story with him and he said that Mimi has asked him "Why did you choose me?" Like I said, WOW!!!

As soon as Ling Ling arrived, mama took both girls over to Blake and Bailey's, Mimi made the announcement, "Hi everybody! This is my friend Ling Ling. She's Chinese, so you have to say Ni Hao because she speaks Chinese!!!" That's our Mimi. Gawd how we love her soooooooo much!!! It's hard to see in the picture but Keri ran out of birthday hats so she gave Mimi and Ling Ling hats that say Happy New Year!

UNINVITED GUESTS

Since our move up here to the northwest, mama has learned from grandma that one needs to keep their pantry and garage stocked full of non-perishable food especially during the winter season. Mama also learned that there is a family of racoons living behind our backyard. The other night while it was so warm out, mama and papa could hear something climb the trees behind our backyard fence but we could not see anything. Last night about 10 minutes after arriving home from Angie's house, papa went downstairs and turned the garage lights on and said that he found a mama racoon munching on our Cheetos. She hissed at him while he shooed her out, then he heard some kind of warbling sound coming from under mama's SUV and there were her cubs. He shooed them out too. Unfortunately he did not think of taking pictures %$#@~! This is a picutre of what mama found this morning.

BASEBALL LINGO

Ever since mama could remember, her dad (Mimi's other grandpa), brother and I have always loved watching the LA Dodgers and Anaheim Angels play. Every Sunday was spent listening to Vin Scully giving the play by play. Now that we live up here in the northwest mama has a soft spot for the Mariners. I think that some of the baseball has rubbed off on Mimi. We have been working on paying attention and following directions that of Mimi's swim and gymnastic coach. Out of the blue yesterday Mimi says "Mama, if I make a mistake one more time I will be 0 for 2, then there is 3 strikes and you're out! (using the hitch hiker thumb)"

RAIN GUTTERS AND SWIMMING POOLS

All this afternoon papa and neighbor/friend Ray were cleanning out the gutters of our homes. Mama meanwhile started to set up Mimi's pool when she realized that this is more than a one person job. When mama bought this pool, she did not realize how big it would be even though the box stated that it is 15' x 32". Maybe that is why she only received a passing grade in home economics all those years ago in Junior High. She can't measure worth a darn. In between time, we went over to grandma's house for papa's birthday dinner. Then came home to resume the gutter cleanning.

Believe it or not, these pictures were taken at 9:00 p.m. and it was still 72 degrees outside but since there is no wind, it feels like 82 degrees.

CARSEATS

According to Ray and papa, there is more than one use for a child carseat. Since we are fortunate to have good weather today papa and Ray made a date to clean the rain gutters before it is too late. Since the houses are too high up they needed to go and rent a taller ladder from the hardware store and this is how they brought it home.

MIMI'S BIRTHDAY

Whenever someone has a birthday such as today was Elsie's birthday and papa's birthday, Mimi will always ask the enevitable queston "When is my birthday?" Mama will tell her that it is not until next January which is followed by the universal question of "WHY?" sigh. hmmmm

WINTER SPORTS

This is papa's new toy. He loves to ski and so this is what mama and Mimi bought for him. He is like a kid in a candy shop. As tired as he is at this hour, mama can hear him downstairs trying out his new toy.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELSIE

Besides July being papa's birthday, it is also Elsie' birthday. She turned 5 years old today. Unfortunately mama's camera ran out of batteries and she was not able to get a good picture of Elsie. Elsie and her big sis Emma are part of our China family. The girls also go to the same gymnastic school as Mimi and they are both on the gymnastic team there. Mama was quite impressed at the way the gymnastic school handled the party. First all the kids sat on the rug as in the picture above to stretch out their muscles then the teacher took them around the different apparatus while the parents were able to mingle with each other up in the balcony where the kids came up for ice cream and cake. Before we knew it the hour and a half was gone and the party was over. Several other China friends were there also. When the party broke, Elsie and her mom and sis plus another China family Lori and her two girls started heading over to Whidby Island for the China Heritage Camp that is put on by our local FCC. Unfortunately we are not able to go this year but most definitely we will be going next year if we are not in China for Mei Mei.

SUMMER FUN

Since school let out last month, Mimi has been busy with swim classes and gymnastic classes. In between times there is the library that her and her BFF Erin goes to every Wednesday morning. There is also playdates with Blake and her new friend Lindsey. Next month we will be busy getting ready for school. The school supplies are already on the shelves at the local stores. Come this September more than likely Mimi and mama will be making the trip to northbend outlet mall for the fall and winter clothes. It just seems like we just finished with the winter weather and it will be here before we know it.

MORE BIRHTDAY CELEBRATION

Since it does not get dark till 9:00 p.m. and papa gets home just a smidgen after 7:00 p.m., mama decided that she and Mimi would have a snack before papa was to get home and mama made a special birthday dinner. Normally we would have our dinner earlier then head for the park.

Mama tried out a new recipe that was given to her by one of her BFF Sandra. The recipe is for chicken breast however since we like the dark meat, it works well with that too. The recipe calls for 1 part oyster sauce and 2 parts red vinegar. Marinate the meat for at least 2 hours then bake, broil or BBQ. We chose BBQ since we like eating outdoors a lot now this time of year. Let me tell you, the chicken was SLAM'IN!!! Oh mama!!! Was it good! Together with the chicken, mama made her favorite garlic mash potatoes and steamed broccoli with a smidgen of mayo.

During dinner, Mimi tells papa "Since I have a big, big, big mouth, I can't tell you what your birthday present is, you have to wait till tomorrow, sorry". So will everyone else.

COMPUTERS AND SWIMMING POOLS

Mimi loves playing on the computer (especially Starfall) when she is not busy. Poor, poor papa sometimes. There are times when they come home and Mimi will run as fast as her litte legs will carry her all the way upstairs and jump into the computer chair before papa could get there. The other night she was in her bathroom across papa's office when he came home from work and according to papa, she jumped of the toilet lickety split and stuck her head out the door with her pants down by the ankles yelling "I'm still on the computer!!! Don't sit there!!! I'm still using it!!!" Poor papa, he sometimes gets the shaft.

The other day Target was having a sale on inflatable swimming pools so mama took Mimi down there to get one. Although the thermometer says that it is 76 degrees but unlike eastern Washington where it is windy and they are having all of the wild fires, here in western Washington the winds are very low and so it feels like 95 degrees. This afternoon mama decided to put up the pool and she found out how big that darn pool is. It looked much smaller on the picture. Everyone in our house knows that mama cannot read directions well, so out of Mimi's mouth came something to the effect of "I think you should let daddy put it together. You break things" which is something not far from the truth. So I guess you could say that now and then mama gets the shaft too.

STUPID PEOPLE

One of mama's pet peeves is stupid people. Now I can understand how people can make a mistake and do something stupid but this is just plain dumb! It kind of reminded me of Ratatouille where the old woman shot up her house after finding mice living in it.

TEETH BRUSHING

Mama is really trying her darndest to keep Mimi from getting any cavities. So far she has none I am happy to announce. Next month mama has a cleanning scheduled and Mimi has dental exam scheduled. Hopefully mama will have good news to report.

Mama: Mimi, it's time to go and brush your teeth before bed!

Mimi: I can't! I don't have any teeth!!!

One never knows what she will say or do next. sigh, hmmmm

NEW ADDITION TO THE FAMILY

Instead of dolls, Mimi likes collecting stuffed animals. Horsey is the newest addition to Mimi's ever growing population of barnyard animals at our house.

GOT ICE CREAM?

Of course no outing is complete unless one has ice cream. In our case strawberry ice cream. YUMMY!!!!

FUTURE HORSE JOCKEY?????

This is the first time Mimi could ride a pony without any belt or set up where the pony goes around and around in a circle. Mama and papa were quite amazed. The pony ride at Remlinger is set up to where the ponies walk with a trainer (girl in red) through a maze. There were horses there to ride also but Mimi prefered to ride a pony "Cucumber" that was just her size and that was completely ok with mama.

Papa took this picture of Mimi and I just noticed that she is sitting on "Cucumber" just like jockey sits on his racehorse. Where she got that from I do not know. Hmmmmm???

NEW FRIENDS

While waiting for the train ride to begin, Mimi met and made a new friend by the name of Madison. They became fast friends and went on all the rides together till it was time for Madison to go home with her mom Kim.

PAPA'S BIRTHDAY CONTINUED

We were planning to go to the Sundae Ferry Cruise today but had a change of plans. Instead we took Mimi to Remlinger Farms out in Carnation. We all had a blast. Remlinger farms is Washington's version of Knott's Berry Farm when mama was a kid. The picture of mama and papa was taken by Mimi while we were waiting for the train ride and she had us make silly faces.

Remlinger Farms not only had rides for the little ones but animals for them to pet as well. After going on all the rides and going through the haystack maze, Mimi wanted to do all over again and so she did with papa at her side. Mama in the meantime went shopping at the country market.

WAD

You've heard the saying "Don't get your panties tied up in a wad!" Well, here is Mimi's version of panties in a wad. She brought this downstairs after breakfast. Fortunately they are clean ones.

RUNNING

From the day Mimi came home from China, Mimi was running everywhere and has yet to stop. Grandpa wants to know if she ever walks and the answer to that question is NO!!!

KNOCK KNOCK JOKES

Mimi: Knock, knock
Mama: Who's there?
Mimi: Banana
Mama: Banana who?
Mimi: Banana Rooney Posit Tooney! Ha,Ha, Ha, Ha!!!!!

The funny part of this joke is that only Mimi thinks it's funny. She loves laughing at her own jokes. It justs really gets her going and she loves making mama do it over and over again until she says STOP!

EINSTEIN AND FRIEND

Since Mimi had to have her hair cut short again, she is back to being called einsteinhead.

BIRTHDAY BOY

Papa's birthday is not till next Friday but mama decided to start celebrating early. This morning she cooked one of papa's favorite breakfast of bacon and french toast. One cannot tell by looking at the picture but the french toast is in the shape of two interlocking hearts. Mimi let papa borrow her birthday hat for the picture.

We are all (except for Mimi) still quite pooped from last night's get together. Therefore we are not doing much today. Stopped by grandma's and grandpa's for a short visit. Grandpa was feeling way too tired yesterday to join us in the festivities therefore they stayed home. He said that he is feeling much better today. Grandma is planning to have knee surgery this coming August 12th.

After our visit with them we headed over to Red Robin for lunch then on to the new Home Depot.

Tomorrow we are going to check out the Sundae Ice Cream Ferry ride on Lake Union, then dinner at our favoriet Japanese restaurant.

CELEBRATION

Celebrate good times..... C'mon!!!

Late in the afternoon our neighborhood gets together for a humongous BBQ and then fireworks in the night. Pictured with Mimi is Blake and Erin and her now new friend Lindsey and Spencer. By coincidence Mimi and Lindsey are in the same swimming class at the Aquatic Center. Lee Ann painted all of the kids faces for them. At first Mimi did not want her face painted until her friends got theirs painted, so of course she had to have her face painted too.

When night time came everyone in all of the neighborhood shot off their fireworks. A lot of them had some pretty darn good ones too. This was the first time ever that mama bought fireworks. She just bought sparklers and pop-it's. Mimi did not care for the fireworks, even the sparklers so therefore she shared them with her friends. However she did enjoy the pop it's and shared those with her friends too.

Finally everything came to an end about 30 minutes ago. I am sure she will sleep reeaalll good tonight.