MORE MID-WINTER BREAK FUN

We're all about having fairly cheap fun these days. While Blake is having fun at the Great Wolf Lodge, Mimi and Zoe are some fun on their own. Yesterday Zoe came over to our house and today Butch and I walked Mimi over to Zoe's. They always have loads of fun together. A couple of hours after playing I received a phone call from Shelly. She says that the girls are conjouring up a sleep-over plan. Since Zoe's big sis Allyah is having a sleep-over with her friend Courtney, Shelly figures that Zoe could have her sleep over with Mimi. When I talked with Mimi on the phone I said "you don't want a sleep-over with Zoe now do you?" to which the girl says in a big loud voice "UH-HUH-UH!!!". I then continue "I know you want to come home to me, dad, Butch and Stanley" to which the girl says "Mom, you're just messing with me. Now don't make me mad". I'm such a stinker. Next thing I knew Shelly dropped her off at home to collect her stuff while she did a bit of grocery shopping for tonight's dinner of hamburgers. Mimi and Zoe said that they are going on a vacation when I took this picture of the two of them. The next picture is of Mimi talking with her dad and telling him all about her plans for the evening. We do have a busy social butterfly on our hands. Dad says that gone are the days when Mimi absolutely would not leave our side, now she practically flies out the door.

MIDWINTER BREAK

This week is Mimi's midwinter break. Due to the fact that we will be in Canada next week, she will have two weeks out of school. What to do with this energetic, hot chili pepper of mine??? Since we had a busy weekend, by Monday I was way to exhausted to do anything so we gave Blake a call to see if they would like to join at Black Diamond Bakery for breakfast and they did because Keri was feeling the exact same thing. Then it was time to do some grocery shopping and piano lessons for Mimi. Then came Tuesday where Blake called to see if he could come over while Bailey was at gymnastics "I really don't wanna go with my mom and Bailey" the boy said with a sad, sad voice. However Bailey was upset because she wanted him to come and watch her practice as he is in school when she has her gymnastic class. Blake really did not want to go, so I suggested to Keri that ALL of us would go and then we would have lunch at McDonald's. Unfortunately lunch did not happen as you may have seen on my FB. Someone bashed into the drive-up window. Mimi then went home with Keri while I did a bit more shopping at Costco. Then it was back to the gym again for Mimi's gymnastic practice. Our local Costco is the watering hole for those of us up here in Maple Valley. While there, I met with other parents whose girl takes lessons from Ms. Celia (piano teacher) and Mimi's gymnastic coaches. That brings us up to today. A short while back, Keri invited us to go to the Great Wolf Lodge with her and her family this week, but since we are going to the Olympics, we politely declined. We are saving our $$$ for next week. Mimi was quite upset when she found out Blake was going to The Great Wolf Lodge (huge indoor park with a copied Disney, somewhat of a Brother Bear theme interior decorum). Don't know how else to describe it. It is very popular with the locals up here in the northwest. Especially during the winter season. Anyways Mimi was quite livid with us that we are not going "I HAVE BEEN DYING TO GO THERE AND YOU WON'T TAKE ME!!!" Truth of the matter is.......I wanna go to as I love swimming more than anything. She quieted down when we told her that we may take her in June. Now she cannot wait to go to Canada with Samantha and her family. She already has it in her mind that both she and Samantha are going as "Rockstars ". Today she and Zoe played together while Shelly and I had a nice visit. We don't get much of a chance to see each other very often as we both have busy kid schedules. Tomorrow and Friday will be busy with taking care of any last minute details. Then when we get back there will be another competition up in Skagit County, Mount Baker to be exact. Then come this summer is our annual camping trip to Ohanapecosh near Mount Rainier. Phew! It seems like we never stop. Just go, go, go but I am loving it every minute of everyday.

HAVING FUN WITH BUTCH

FUTURE ROCKSTARZ???

Today Mimi was telling all of her gymnastic friends that we are going to Cananda next week for the Olympics. I think that she is starting to get excited about it. She is also looking forward to her friend Samantha's visit. Tonight Mimi tells me "Hey mom, maybe Samantha will be a rockstar with me! You think?!"

RIKKI RIKKI'S

There was a time when Mimi did not like any candy. Now that she is older and meeting more kids her age, there is more influence. Thankfully she eats it in moderation. Her ultimate favorite sweet thing is ice cream still. Before practice and competitions the kids are not allowed any sweets because of the effects it has on them. Therefore I did not pack any in Mimi's bag yesterday however I saw the little stinker eating candy hearts that another team member gave her. I'm assuming it was Elsie as they always share their food/snacks. Plus also I saw Elsie eating the candy too but it was when they were done with their part of the competition. By the time they were all done, it was 6:00 and we were quite famished! So on to Rikki, Rikki's Japanese restaurant in Kirkland we went. I still cannot believe how much Mimi eats. Everytime we see the doctor for her physical, the doc says there is nothing wrong and she is very healthy. I guess that she just has a high metabolism. Yesterday she ate breakfast at Testy's, a fish sandwich on the way to the meet. Then came her chicken nugget lunchable and carrot sticks for snacks at the meet. At dinner she had 3 bowls of miso soup, 3 shrimp tempura and of course her tuna sashimi. Man can she pack it away. When we got home I heard those immortal words of "Mom, I'm hungry again." So she ate a bowl of cereal and oh we cannot forget the ice cream for desert. On top of all this, Mimi and Elsie are like two peas in a pod. Just crazy, energetic little things. Emma just shakes her head.

YESTERDAY'S MEET

All the girls did great including Mimi. However when it came time for her to receive her first medal for the double mini in which she won 3rd place, Mimi was nowhere to be found. It was sort of like a Where's Waldo thing going on. The announcer kept saying "Naomi Putney" over and over but there was no Naomi to be seen. So on with the show it went. I was not allowed to take pictures with my camera so Rhonda says that she will send the picture of "Phantom" Naomi to me later. Mimi says that Jaelyn took her to the bathroom at that time. None the less I saw Debbie (Summit's gym owner) talking with her later. I do like the fact that the older kids come to the meets even when they are not competing to support and help out with the younger athletes. Mimi, Elsie and Emma all just adore the big girls too.

MAKING PLANS

Yesterday morning started off with Mimi and dad going out to breakfast by themselves for some father/daughter time. Mimi says that it is "T vs B. Mom, you what vs is? It stands for verses, so it's Testy Chef vs Black Diamond." Testy Chef won out. Then it was time to come home and get ready for the meet. Mimi was calm, cool and collected about the meet, I on the other hand was a nervous wreck. Is her hair ok? I was told that points would be taken off if the hair is not done right. Can't use any bobby pins either. What if she forgets her routine? Heaven forbid the girl hurts herself? So many thoughts ran through my head. Since we have never been to this gym and it is an hour's drive, I did not want to get lost so we left early and got there one hour early. Therefore we decided to kill time at the local Costco. Not much else interesting in Woodinville. That's when Teri called to talk about kids clothing and what they wear up here. Completely different from California. Yesterday was rainy with a temperature of 56. There are times though when the weather has been so clear and beautiful with the gorgeous blue skies and even though the thermometer says 60, but if there is no wind, it is quite pleasant outside. When Mimi saw that I was talking with Teri, she saw it as her opportunity to snatch the phone away and make plans with Samantha.