TOYS

A couple of weeks ago Keri started back working at a small hospital up in Snoqualmie. Between Lisa, Shelly and myself, we have all helped out babysitting Blake and Bailey. It works out for me because they keep Mimi entertained. This afternoon Mimi tells Blake "Hey, let's go upstairs and play in my room" to which good old Blake replies "But Mimi, you don't have enough TOYS!!!" Just how much toys does the girl need???? Maybe as much as HE HAS ??? Which is corner to corner of his house filled with toys. I think NOT! This is what I found when I went up to check in on them.

LUNCH AND THE MONORAIL

Of course no train trip is complete without having lunch at the Westlake shopping mall. All the kids opted for McDonalds happy meal except for Mimi. She and I shared sushi. Yum, yum. Then as usual we made a stop to Mrs. Fields cookie shop and then the monorail before heading home. All in all everyone had a good time.

RIDING THE LIGHT RAIL

Since yesterday was too hot to stay home, I thought that I would take Mimi and her friends for a ride on the light rail that leaves Tukwila and goes right into the heart of downtown Seattle. Janet decided that she and the boys wanted to join us and so they did. The kids all had a blast especially when they saw the Blue Angels fly overhead from Sea-Tac airport on their way to Lake Washington where they will be practicing this week for the Seafair festivities. In case you don't know, our Seafair celebration lasts one week long with all kinds of things going on. Started off with the torchlight parade, then there is the Blue Angels show, boat shows, hydroplane races and a whole lot more.

COOLING DOWN

Today is the day when we are supposed to be starting the cooling down period. However the weather channel says that it will be still close to 100 degrees. So I think we will go out for breakfast then head for the mall. I have a gift certificate for Sears from several years ago. Not sure if it is still good though.

Last night it was still quite warm outside at 10:30 so we all sat on the front porch where it was much cooler than inside the house. In the distance you could see a couple of thunder bolts. It's possible we may have some summer rain too.

RECORD HIGH

Today marks the record high for the city of Seattle. Of course for those of us who live outside of the city, the temperature was way higher.

Mimi and I kept cool by staying in air conditioned places. First way Jiffy Lube, then Safeway, then the nail shop, then home where she, Blake and Spencer kept watering themselves in the pool or slip 'n' slide. Thank goodness the lodge where the karate class takes place is air conditioned. Then we decided to skip the sports camp for today as it was 7:00 in the evening and still over 100 degrees outside. Instead we opted for McDonald's playset where it is airconditioned and we also got some ice cream to keep us cool and a yummy way to do it too.

SPORTS CAMP AND KARATE

This past Monday afternoon marked the beginning of karate and sports camp for Mimi and her friends Blake, Erin and Zoe. It is also the first time in a long time that we moms were able to get together too. A couple of weeks ago was the real pits for a lot of us. For me it was my spider infected leg and dealing with Ms Sassy who came to visit for a while. For some reason a lot of the parents are having to deal with sassy kids. For Shelley, it was her son Braden. She had taken both Braden and Zoe to Costco and she says that Braden (4yo) was not only sassy with her but started to hit her too. She called Mike (dad) at work and told him about it. Mike who works construction in laying cement, was working with a sledge hammer and must have been thinking about Shelly's situation with Braden, all of a sudden whacked his left thumb with the sledge hammer real good. It is now in a brace. Keri who rammed her right hand pinky finger into the stair railing while on vacation last month finally saw a doctor and found out that she needed surgery on that finger. Janet had to take care of 3 kids all by herself while hubby Sean was out of town for 3 days on business. They all came down with the flu. She also said that her Liam is awfully sassy too. I tell you, when it rains it really pours. Everything is now either back to normal or getting back to normal. My leg is healing quite nicely, Mimi is back to being sweet, sweet, sweet, Mike's thumb and Keri's finger is on the mend. Janet and her family is all well except for Sean who now has the flu. That's the latest gossip for now.

As far as Mimi goes, she just loves karate and sports camp. The karate class is down at the lodge by the lake. As soon as it is over, we skeedaddle on home just in time to make it over to her school for sports camp. I must say that the sports camp is well organized. I was very impressed last year when she and Spencer did it together. They have all of the kids grouped by age and do just a couple of sports each night with a rally at the end and everyone gets some kind of prize. No one is left out.

IN THE GOOD OLE' SUMMERTIME......

Blake 'n' Mimi were beating the heat with the good old slip 'n' slide.