DAREDEVIL RIDERS

What it is about Seattle and Pirates I have no clue yet. Maybe it is a nautical kind of thing. I still have to figure that one out.

According to Patricia, Ben was a little apprehensive about Blake joining us. "What if Mimi wants to do everything with Blake and not me?' he asked his mom. Not to worry. Blake is a very conservative kind of guy. The amusement park has two sides to it. On one side are all the rides that Mimi could ride on because she is tall enough. The other side the rides are for the taller kids like Ben and Blake. However Blake did not want to go on any of those rides and Ben did. The attendent of the Galleon did allow Mimi to ride with Ben as he is taller than her and she needed to be accompanied by him. She has gone on the smaller, similiar ride about a million times. When they got off the ride, the both of them came running up to us saying "Mom! That ride was freaky but AWSOME!!!" They rode it again.

Later on in the afternoon while Ben and Blake were at the shooting gallery, Mimi who does not care much for that kind of stuff went on another ridy by herself. There she met another 4 yo boy by the name of Anthony. Anthony took an instant liking to her and since they are about the same size, he stuck with her everywhere. However it was putting a little kink into Blake and Ben's plans about going on the rides with Mimi by themselves. A rose and all those thorns around her as my dad used to say.

Since Blake does not like the roller coaster, he sat on the sidelines with us. Ben, Mimi and Anthony however loves it. By accident I overheard Ben say to Mimi as they were sitting in their car together "Mimi, scoot out a little bit so that Anthony can't sit here. He'll have to sit in another seat". Sure enough Mimi scooted over and Anthony sat in another car. Ben then sat closer to Mimi.

If this is a sign of things to come, I'm going to be in biiiig trouble. I'm going to have to call my friend Terry and tell him to send those rocks now.

Tomorrow Mimi and Ben will "Ride the Ducks".

AMUSEMENT PARK AT THE SPACE NEEDLE

This has been one crazy day. However it is not unusual for us to have a crazy day most of the time. Ben (far right) and his family came up here to Seattle (actually Port Angeles) from Vancouver, Washington to visit with relatives. His mom Patricia e-mailed me a while back asking if we could meet with them on Sept. 1st while they are here in Seattle. I said that would be fine as Mimi does not start school until the 2nd. We made plans to meet at the Space Needle for 11:15 a.m.

Well you may have guessed it by now, she got the dates mixed up. She called my house at 11:15 saying "We're here now!". I'm thinking that she is calling to let me know that she and the family got into town from Port Angeles and they are at the hotel. "Where are you?" Patricial asks me. I answered "We're at home. Why?" "Aren't we supposed to meet at 11:15 at the gift shop at the Space Needle cause we're here now." Patricia says. I then reminded her that we are supposed to meet on the 1st of September and that today is the 31st of August. She was soooo embarassed cause she got the dates mixed up.

In the meantime I am at home cleanning my house in my pj's. I do that from time to time. Blake was at the house because he did not want to go to the doctor and watch the doctor take out the pins from Keri's pinky finger (another story for another time). So needless to say, I showered and got dressed, Mimi and Blake were already ready to go, then I got the ok from Keri to take Blake with us and we hit the road. As usual we took the light rail and then the monorail. Much faster and cheaper that way.

We get to the Space Needle and who do we see? It's none other than Caitlyn and Conner our neighbors from down the street.

THE STRIKE IS ON.......

At least in the Kent School District it is. Several of Mimi's friends, Sara, Chris and Alex were supposed to start school today but cannot. Their teachers are still on strike. However on the other hand I'm quite sure Sara is happy about it as it gives her more time to spend with big sis Tasha as she gets ready to go to Cornish University starting today. Tasha moved out of the house yesterday and they have their first family meeting at school today. Sara totally adores her big sister "Tash" and so does Mimi.

Mimi begins school this coming Wednesday. Today I am planning to get a lot of the laundry done. Tomorrow we will go over to Halliwell's house for a "End Of Summer Vacation Breakfast" before taking the light rail into downtown Seattle. We have plans to meet with Ben and his mom Patricia while they are here visitly relatives in Port Angeles. The sad part is that we will only be able to spend a couple of hours with them. I guess that is better than nothing at all. Then it will be time to head over to the gym for Mimi first team gymnastic class of the season.

FLAMING GEISER

Summer vacation is almost over. Somehow we managed to do quite a bit
of activities without ever leaving home much.

Throughout the summer Mimi managed to get together with her friends
off and on.

Today was Halliell's turn. This morning dad took both the girls out to
breakfast at Black Diamond Bakery. They then came home to play for
awhile till I took theboth of th along with Butch to Flaming Geiser
State Park. There they had loads of fun making mud pies got the very
first time. At least it was for Mimi.

LISTEN, DO YOU WANNA KNOW A SECRET?????

UP A TREE

L-Mimi, T-Sara, R-Ling Ling aka Shirley, B-Chris.

WHY IT'S MIMI OF COURSE!!!

WHO'S THAT HIDING BEHIND DAD???

CHANGING OF THE SEASONS

The fall season has already begun. The air is a bit cooler and the leaves are changing colors. Where did our summer go?????

MORE OF BUTCH 'N' OLLIE

This picture was taken at Mimi's school behind our house. This is also a normal activity for these two on a daily basis. I thought that since Butch had been locked up in his bedroom for the better part of the day, I would take him over to the school. Sure enough Ollie had to follow. All the kids had gone home so I thought that I would take a chance a let Butch off the least to see what would happen. Nothing much happened. He and Ollie just played around together. Then Ollie got Butch into a headlock and the game was on. They never hurt each other. Instead Butch just gets more excited.

BUTCH 'N' OLLIE

This is where Ollie got Butch into a headlock.

DINNER AT RED ROBINS

We rode the light rail into and out of Seattle where we had lunch at
the Westake shopping mall before taking the monorail over to the
amusemt park at the Space Needle.

After spending the whole day there we headed for dinner at Red Robins.
I then took Mari over to grandma's house so that she could have a good
visit with grandma and grandpa before she goes home this morning. In
the meantime I brought Mimi and Blake home as they were really tired
and acting super silly.

RIDES, RIDES AND MORE RIDES

SPACE NEEDLE

ARCADE GAMES

SPACE NEEDLE

MEET 'N' GREET

Today was the day. We all went to the school to meet the new school teacher and classmates. "Our Gang" happened to be going at the same time so we all stopped for a photo op. This year the teachers split up the Barkley Wood Gang. Everyone is in a different class. Mimi has Ms Greenfield for her teacher. She seems pretty good. Don't know enough about her to make any kind of comment yet. Mimi only knew one girl in her class. We actually met Trista at Summit Gymnastics this year where she was another student in Mimi's class. Then out in the hallway we met up with anohter friend Toshiko and her two girls.

Toshiko and Mari's mom (Setsue) were friends back in Virginia. Toshiko's oldest daughter Julia, is best friends with Alliyah (Zoe's big sister).

It seems like the whole state of Washington showed up this afternoon. The place was jam packed.

On another note. The teachers in the Kent District are on strike. So I don't know what is going to happen there. According to some of the moms in our town. The Kent schools are supposed to start on the 31st of August. YIKES! Mimi's school starts on the 2nd of September.

REMLINGER FARMS RIDES AND ANIMALS

All the girls had a blast at the farm yesterday. Besides the baby goat, there were pigs, turkeys, horses, emus, donkeys, sheep and rabbits. The deer do not belong to the farm, they just happened to be there and we saw them while riding on the 100% honest to goodness steamengine train. The last time I was there we saw a little black bear.

The rides closed down for 30-45 minutes. During that time all of the kids went to the barn that had been converted into a kiddie theater. Mari and I were just hanging out in the area where you buy the refreshments, that is until we heard the clown call Mimi's name. The next thing we saw was Mimi on the stage changing the "Hocus Pocus" act to what she said "is a better version of the act". That's our Mimi!

Soon as the show was over, the rides came back on. Both Mimi and Zoe rode the rides over and over again. Remlinger Farms is a great place for the little ones. It's totally a family oriented kind of place where the kids can have oodles and oodles of fun. According to Zoe they rode the roller coaster 8 times.

MOVIE MARATHON

Today is just a kick back day
at the Putney household. Last night a couple of Mari's friends came
down from Ballard and took her out to Red Robin's to eat, drink and be
merry. I'm sure that they caught up on the latest news as to what has
been happening in their lives since they last saw each other.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, Blake who was just a bit sad because we
did not take him to Remlinger Farms with us was upstairs playing with
Mimi. Instead Zoe came with us There are times when the girls like to
play with their little group of friends and there's the times when
they like to do things on a one to one basis. Yesterday was one of
those days.

This morning Blake was wanting to come over, and I had to tell him that
Mimi wanted to spend some time with her cousin all by herself. Sadly
he said "ok" but then perked up when I said that he could go with us
to karate and we will leave earlier than usual so that he and Mimi
(possibly Mari) could play on the playground before their class
starts. He was quite pleased with the idea.

PAJAMA DAY

There were times I took the girls out somewhere and then there were the times that we just wanted to stay home and hang out. Today was one of those days. Mimi and Mari movie marathoned it all day till it was time to go to karate class. Dad seems to think that I too stayed home in my pj's. Sorry to burst your bubble dad but while they stayed home in their pj's, I cleanned the house and did a couple of errands such as going to Mimi's school to set up an account for the Skyward Access, get the car gassed up, take stuff to the thrift store and get lunch for us. I tell you there is no rest for the wicked and I loved being wicked. He, He, He.

KANPAI "BOTTOMS UP"

This was taken last Monday at Black Diamond Bakery for brunch. Then it was time to head out to grandpa and grandma's house for a card game of Lamsey. It has been quite some time since we all played together. It sure felt good again.

Grandma and Grandpa announced that they are planning to move into an assisted lived place very nery the hospital. Therefore when our visit was through, I took the girls and we went to check it out. It looks like a very nice place. Did not have the time to go in though, but we saw the brochures and it had a very nice floor plan. It is located directly across from the hospital should anything happen to them heaven forbid.

Next thing on the list was to grab a snack at Uwajimaya and then head over to Mimi's karate class. When the karate was done, so was our day. All in all Mari got a scenic view of our fair city/town.

Best cell phones for kids - ConsumerMan- msnbc.com

Best cell phones for kids - ConsumerMan- msnbc.com I am learning something new each and everyday. For a long, long time now, Mimi has been quite obsessed with cell phones. She really wants one of her own now. So does her friend Spencer. His birthday is coming up next Saturday and that is what he wants for his present. Michelle says that he is not satisfied with the old ones that she gives him.

VISITING WITH GRANDMA AND GRANDPA

Later in the afternoon while Mimi was over playing at Blake's, the rest of the family was able to have a peaceful visit with grandma and grandpa until Hurricane Mimi came home. When dinner was over and the bath was done Mimi and Mari enjoyed several games of Wii.

BIRTHDAY IN THE PARK

This afternoon we went to the park to celebrate Owen's 5th birthday party in the park. The theme of today's party was Star Wars. All of the kids were asked to bring their light sabers. Even Mari got into the act. The kids just loved her so much. Then it was time for cake and presents. Mimi's present was the first to be opened. As soon as Owen opened her present, he was ready to go on to the next present but not before Ms. Naomi shouted out in a big loud voice "How about a thank you!" The other parents just busted out laughing. Dad swears that she got that attitude from me. Then it was time to head over to the park across the highway and go rock climbing.

BACKYARD FUN

After coming home from the babyshower for another China family Art and Lisa Spencer (who will be leaving for China in just a couple of days), we stopped at Costco before heading home. I just could not help myself and I must admit I bought more plants to put into our backyard. I really want to spruce it up some. Purchased some Hyacinth bulbs too for Mimi and I to plant come this fall. Halliwell and her family happened to be home at the same time so she came over to play.

Just a little over a week ago, Halliwell took a nasty spill at the ice rink where her dad had a hockey game. Brandy says that she tried to run and jump onto the bleachers but missed and tripped over it face down and injured her left lower leg. When we saw her a couple of days ago the doctor had put her leg in a splint. They were not sure if it was broke or not. This whole incident brought back memories of when Mimi's friend Samantha injured her leg. Egads! The good news is Halli did not break her leg. Woo Hoo! However she did end up having soft tissue damage. This afternoon she tells me "I can tell Mimi that she can play rough with me again!!" "Oh no she can't" I said. None the less they both had tons of fun together just like they always do.

THE GIRLS OF ROCK 'N' ROLL-A

Mimi really loves to sing, sing, sing. She says that when she grows up she no longer wants to be a doctor or vet. She wants to be a ROCKSTAR! These songs happen to be from Alvin and the Chipmunks Around the World. In this particular movie there are girl chipmunks known as the Girls of Rock 'n' Roll.

PROPER BREAKFAST ATTIRE

I can tell you right here and now that I will miss these mornings when
Mimi will no longer come downstairs to breakfast dressed as a
superhero. However she has been and will always be my superhero in
more ways than one.

BATHTUB ART

The title of this masterpiece is "Volcano". Mimi is turning out to be quite the artist in the family. The first time dad ever saw this on the bathroom wall he nearly had a heart attack until I told him that it washes off with water. Phew!

SIGN MAKING

On August 29, our SGI group will have a end of summer picnic at Flaming Geiser State Park. Yesterday the ESD members in our group came to our house to make signs. Mostly they just goofed around. played with Butch and had loads of fun. They had so much fun that they cried when it was time to go home. "I don't wanna go home" they cried over and over.

BIG HEADS

I am still trying to figure out the thinking of six year olds. This morning at the breakfast table the topic of discussion was heads. Somehow Blake and Mimi figured out that the bigger one's head is, the more brain he/she has. They spent the whole morning measuring each other's heads to see who had the biggest head.

BREAKFAST AT BLACK DIAMOND BAKERY

Due to the fact that we went camping this past weekend, Mimi and Blake
had spent quite some time APART from each other. They are sure making
up for it now. They spent the whole day yesterday starting with
playing soccer at the school ground then going over to Blake's to play
in the pool. It was quite nice for me too. I was able to get quite a
bit of my household chores done.

HIGH END

Although Mimi prides herself when she tells people that she is a tomboy, she loves to shop at the high end stores such as Nordstrom's. We purchased this London Fog winter coat at the anniversary sale for less than $40.00. Oh you should have seen her try it on. Just like a model.

On the other hand she is quite the opposite way. Yesterday afternoon we had lunch at the Renton Uwajimaya market. Sushi as usual. Mimi not only ate hers but half of mine as well and then said that she was still hungry. Must be going through a growth spurt.

We then headed over to Target to purchase several boy toys for Owen, Spencer and Xaunder who all have upcoming birthday parties. I love to now and then mess around with the girl. We walked through the bedding department and I said, "maybe we should get some of this princess stuff for Mimi" to which the girl exclaimed "mom, get your head out of there and put it in there" pointing to the boy toys such as transformers, star wars and such.

Just thought of it. Because of our campout, we missed the Hawaiian celebration at the Bellevue Uwajimaya. As part of their new store opening, this week is Hawaiian week. So all of their Hawaiian food go on sale.

ANOTHER MIMI-ISM

For the most part Mimi and Ben got along swimmingly on our trip. Now and then they would have to be separated to decompress. Ben is a whole year older and has just as much energy as Mimi and is all boy. There were a couple of times when he would try to grab something out of Mimi's hands while she was playing with it and she would just look at him and say "You're messing with the wrong girl!!! Knock it off!!!!" I kind of glad that Mimi does not have a problem standing up for herself and her friends however on the other hand it has proved to be a problem too.

Once at school this past year there was one girl by the name of Hannah, who was caught piling up on Zoe. Mimi saw this and went to pull Hannah off of Zoe. All the recess teacher saw was Mimi pulling Hannah and put Mimi into time out. I happened to be there as a volunteer that day and was able to help Mimi out and it was a topic of discussion for the class that day.

YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT THEY ARE GOING TO SAY

Yesterday afternoon was gymnastic time. Elsie was there with her mom Rhonda. I noticed Elsie's shiney shoes and said "Wow Elsie, you sure have got some pretty shiney shoes. I love things that sparkle and shine." Elsie then takes a look at my earrings and says "You're a Bling Bling girl too!!!" You got that right babe.

Mimi has come up with some new sayings of her own. She loves playing tic tac toe on my iphone. Whenever I miss a chance of winning and she wins, she will say "Betcha didn't see that com'in did'ja?".