The song "Tomorrow" from Annie has been in my head a lot lately due to the horrible weather around here. The other night Lincoln and I were singing it at dinner as we goofed around with the kids and I was telling Hannah and Jake about the movie. The kids had obviously never seen it and Lincoln informed me that he actually hadn't seen it either so of course I had to run out and buy it on DVD. We started out with all 4 of us watching it but since we got a late start Jake started to fall asleep and Lincoln went off to put him to bed. Hannah and I stayed up late (isn't summer great?) and finished watching the movie. Annie was one of my favorite movies when I was a kid and it was so fun to watch it again with Hannah. She got so much enjoyment out of it that it made my experience that much better.
Sometimes the "classics" don't translate well from one generation to the next but this one did. What a fun night.
I have a major Chapstick obsession. I have them in my desk, in my car, in my purse, in my pocket, in my bathroom, in the kitchen......you get the idea. Every year for Christmas Lincoln puts like 25-30 of them in my stocking. Then for Valentine's Day 2008 he put another 20 or so in with my gift. Add that to the other 25-30 he gave me this past Christmas and I've been doing pretty good on my Chapstick stockpile.
Me: Uh oh. My stock of Chapsticks is getting low. You may need to restock me for my birthday....if I can last that long.
Lincoln: I'm sorry but you don't get a stocking for your birthday.
Me: I hear that 4th of July is a gift giving holiday for men to their wives.
Lincoln: Oh yeah, where did you hear that? Hallmark.com?
Tonight I pulled into the driveway to see Lincoln, Kayla, Hannah and Jake all gathered around the stairs leading from our "garage" to the "breezeway".* Apparently there is a lovely little collection of snakes living down there. Yes, snakes....with an s. More than one. More than two I believe. Thanks to the Internet we identified them as a milk snake and a couple of ringneck snakes. And Hannah informed me that a garter snake went up our drain pipe the other day when she almost ran it over with her bike. We have lived here for over 7 years now and I think these are the first snakes I've ever seen. I've seen mice. I've seen frogs. I've seen toads. I have never yet seen a snake but I guess we're getting six years worth of them in one week. And while I would take snakes over frogs any day of the week, I'm not really digging it. Hopefully now that Lincoln cleared out their habitat they'll head out of our yard but I'm not really counting on it.
Sometimes I really hate living in the woods.
*I use the terms garage and breezeway in the loosest way possible since we poured the foundation walls for both when we moved into the house in 2002 but never put in floors, walls, or a roof. So while we technically park in the bays of our "garage" it's not really a garage as evidenced by the fact that, well, it doesn't exist.
Will this ever end? Lincoln said I'm becoming obsessed with the forecast but this is just insane. Even the weather forecasters are getting sick of delivering the bad news.
Usually I carry our camera in my purse and I'm the one to take all of our pictures. Lincoln carries our old camera with him but I never actually think about the fact that he uses it. Tonight he took the pictures of the kids cuddling on the floor so I started flipping through his memory card and found these two delightful photos of Jake. I'm not sure when they were taken or what Jake was doing but I thought they were both adorable.
I also came across a bunch of photos that he took at the Kentucky Derby Party that we do with the Walker's each year. This year I had to miss the Derby Party because I flew out to Seattle for my parents' 40th wedding anniversary. It was the first time that I had missed the Derby party in the 10 years I've been living out here. Michael always rents ponies for the kids to ride so here are a few pictures that Lincoln took that day. I just saw these for the first time when I was going through his memory card.
We had a very successful day today. For once we actually cleaned BOTH floors of the house with the exception of the kids bathroom and Hannah's room. Hannah started on her room but then got involved with re-arranging her book case and, like her mother, ended up not completing her original task because she got distracted by something else. I kept planning on getting to the kids bathroom next but always got off track. This should be a fairly quite holiday week so hopefully I can get that done in the next day or so and then have a 100% clean house for once. What a novel idea.
I also managed to get all of my returns done today so I don't have that hanging over my head this week either. All in all it was a very productive day and it ended with Jake and Hannah snuggling together not once but TWICE. Check it out:
I hate cleaning. I really do. Since I can't afford a housekeeper I just live with various levels of tolerance for my lack of housecleaning skills. Luckily my mother comes often enough that my house gets a deep cleaning on a fairly regular basis.
My levels of tolerance:
Mild: Blissfully ignoring the mess.
Moderate: Pick up the obvious stuff and pretend like we cleaned the house.
Severe:Deep, deep cleaning. Usually peters out before we get both floors done. In my opinion as long as one floor is clean we can live on that one and ignore the other one until the "Severe" mode passes.
Today we have a Code Red.
Jake: Why do I have to clean my desk?
Me: Because we're cleaning our house from top to bottom today.
Jake: Why?
Me: So that next weekend during the long weekend we can play out in the pool all weekend long and not have a dirty house hanging over us.
Lincoln: So we're not going to live in the house between now and then?
Me: Nope.
(A little while later Lincoln walks into the bathroom while I'm scrubbing the sink.)
Today I'm going to look at this situation as the clouds are half empty. That is our new version of optimism. Screw the water glass. It's not supposed to rain today but it will be cloudy all day. That's good because if there was even a slice of sun we would be out in the pool but this way we can get everything done that we've been putting off lately. The house is about to be cleaned from top to bottom and all the returns that I need to take back to Kohl's and Old Navy will finally be done. Unfortunately the only thing I can't do today is go and order my new glasses because the place is closed on Sunday. Other than that we're going to be EXTREMELY productive today. (At least that is what I tell myself.)
Tonight Lincoln and I took the kids down to the Upton fireworks. We got down there about 20 minutes before the fireworks started, spent 15 minutes watching the fireworks, and then 1 hour getting out of the parking lot and back home a few miles away. I did enjoy trying out the "fireworks" setting on my camera though. That was pretty interesting. Here are a few of the pictures that I took.
We sat in our car for quite awhile waiting to even move from our parking spot. It looked like we would be there for a long time and Lincoln said that next year we'd be smart to bring a cooler, sit outside the car and have a cold one while we waited for the parking lot to clear. It would have been a lot more entertaining than just sitting in the car while the kids fell asleep (and yes, Jake even talked in his sleep.)
We were right next to a big Ford Bronco and in my head I was thinking that it would be a battle of who got to go first since we were side by side heading into a single file exit lane. Instead, when I rolled down my window to get some fresh air they struck up a conversation with us and we sat there and joked around with them for awhile until we started to move. When the line did start to finally move the guy told us to go first.
Me: You know, sometimes I don't give Upton the small town credit it deserves. I was really thinking in my head that it would be a "who can edge out who" battle with that big truck just like when you're commuting in Boston but he was really nice. That's exactly something that would have happened in Decorah.
Link: Yeah but if we were in Decorah he would have had a cooler full of beer in his truck. And had I stuck my hand out the sun roof he would have tossed me one.
Jake can talk. Really, really, really talk. He NEVER shuts up. Seriously. Tonight he was driving me insane before dinner. I wanted a few minutes to finish my magazine before dinner so I banished the kids to the "kids" room while I sat in the "grown-up" room which are two living rooms separated by a pair of folding doors. Instead of the quiet I was looking for I got Jake sitting in the doorway between the two rooms talking. And talking. And talking. By the time we sat down to dinner it had almost become a joke between Lincoln and me. Every time he opened his mouth we'd just look at each other and try not to laugh. Even Hannah attempted to start a round of "The Quiet Game" (a game that she ALWAYS wins, by the way).
(Setting the scene: Mommy, Daddy, and Hannah quietly eating dinner. Jake prepping his taco.)
Tonight we took the kids to see the new Pixar movie Up. It was really cute. Originally I had hoped to take them to see it at the drive-in but, you guessed it, it rained. We went to the regular movie theater instead which of course is WAY more expensive. Oh well. It was a fun night out.
Yes, it's very sad that Michael Jackson died. It's sad that he left three kids behind. He was a musical genius from what everyone tells me (we've clearly already established I'm not a music connoisseur). I'm just not all that broken up about his death. It's a tragedy, yes. But it doesn't really affect my life.
Here's the thing. I didn't really know much about him in his heyday. I was a little too young for the whole Thriller / Beat It / Billie Jean phenomenon. I remember the Thriller video but never really enjoyed watching it and I certainly never learned the dance. I remember clips of him dancing on a sidewalk that lit up but I couldn't tell you what song that was. (My husband informs me, with some distaste in his voice for my lack of musical knowledge, that it was Billie Jean.) I remember the video he did later on in life when the head kept turning into different people (Black or White?) What I remember most about him was his hair catching on fire while filming a Pepsi commercial and the fact that he married Lisa Marie Presley. See, even back then I was more concerned with celebrity gossip than music. Still am. Always will be.
And let us not forget that he was riding hell bent for leather on the crazy train these days. And that despite what a jury in L.A. decided, it is very likely that he had improper relationships with young boys. And that his children will very likely need years and years and years of therapy for the fact that they couldn't go out in public without a blanket over their heads and that he named his son's Prince and Prince II. (Although to be fair I just check Wikipedia and apparently their names are Michael and Prince but they go by Prince and Blanket. And no, the one actually named Prince doesn't go by Prince. The one not named Prince goes by Prince.) I'm just saying, he wasn't all there anymore.
So yes, I am sad to see such a legend die but he wasn't one of my legends. And while neither was she, I think it's very important to remember that Farrah Fawcett also died yesterday. I'm sure there won't be much press coverage of her in the days to come but her family, friends, and fans are mourning her loss just as much as many people are mourning Michael Jackson's loss. At least the world already had a day or two to come to terms with Ed McMahon's death. And David Carradine's. Wow, I would not want to be a celebrity these days......
Jake was very concerned about the seagulls while we were down at the beach last weekend and kept asking me where they were. When we were packing up Tracy noticed one on the sand right behind us.
This weekend while Lincoln and Jake were playing Baggo in the front yard at the Vineyard house Jake took his straw out of his juice box and said it was a "beer". He and Lincoln would toss a few bean bags and then Jake would saunter over to the steps where they had left their drinks and say "Let's go drink our beer."
Lincoln of course thought that was a great idea and would join him.
At the beach: Jake and Lincoln had the foam swords at the beach again this year. Don't worry, they defended mankind against the great waves once again. We are all safe for another year.
Twins: Anything that Hunter did this weekend was something that Jake had to do too. If Hunter ordered a hamburger than Jake ordered a hamburger. If Hunter watched the grown-ups play Baggo then Jake did it too. If Hunter sat on the beach......you get the drift.
Ahhh....vacation: Hannah's crush: Hannah developed a major crush on Mikey this weekend. She hung on his every word and followed him around everywhere.
A brief glimpse of sun: This picture was taken while walking back to the house from town. Usually I get a million of these gorgeous scenery shots while we're down at the Vineyard but this is the only from this summer.
Bike riding: I couldn't get a still shot of Hannah on her bike. She is loving the freedom that she's discovered on her bike this summer and is constantly on the go.
Jake playing catcher: I'll give you three guesses to guess who was batting. And the first two don't count.
Jake "butt boarding" with Mikey:
Climbing trees: My little tomboy in pink.
The Cookie Caper (and the Post Cookie Crash): Lincoln bought a container of cookies on Saturday and Jakey had three of them right in a row.
Laurie: Make sure you ask your Mommy if it's okay to have another cookie.
Jake: They're Daddy's.
As though that justifies everything.
Ahhhhhh......vacation: Tracy enjoys a nice cold Corona.
The end of our long weekend. Our final meal before heading for the ferry:
If you're wondering how I can bitch so much about the weather here are a few statistics for you.
Cloudiest June since 1903
Only 3 days in June with 80% (or more) sunshine
No days with 100% sunshine
The only good news is that out in suburbia we've had a few more days of sunshine than those 3 days. Maybe 5 or 6 out of the last 25 days. And luckily those have been mostly on weekends so we have managed to get in the pool but man is it still depressing. Looking at the 15 day forecast it doesn't look like it's going to get much better any time soon with only a few days here and there with any substantial amounts of sun. I really hope that changes.
There are rumors that the sun is going to come out either today or tomorrow. This morning when I was driving to work I noticed that some of the clouds were distinctly lighter, as though there was truth to the rumor that a sun lurked behind them, but then I would drive right through a rain shower. Then a little further down the road I saw something that I only vaguely remember existing....the smallest slice of bright blue sky. Could it be? Does such a thing really exist? I guess we'll have to wait to find out since it's still cloudy and gray outside of my window right now.
I actually fear for when the sun does come back out. It's like when it rains and all of a sudden everyone forgets how to drive. Or when the winter comes and people who have lived in the northern part of the country their entire lives freak out and say "what the hell is this white stuff?" I suspect the same thing will happen once the sun actually returns. People will be crawling along on their commute trying to shield their eyes from the bright yellow light while peeking through them at the same time trying to witness this unknown phenomenon the scientists call "sun".
Lincoln and Hannah played a lot of Frisbee down at the Vineyard this past weekend and Jake decided he wanted to join in. Lincoln sent him a nice, controlled toss that should have been easy to catch.....that is if Jake had put his hands up. Obviously we need to work on his hand/eye coordination since in this instance he just caught it with his eye. These pictures were taken the next day while we were at the beach. If you look closely you can see the lump/bruise on his eyelid as well as the little cut. The funny thing is when I went to check him out after it happened Jake just said, in a very indignant voice, "Daddy aimed that right at my eye!!!"
On Saturday night when we were down at the Vineyard Hannah and I volunteered to shuck the corn on the cob for dinner. I actually volunteered to do it because I have fond memories of doing it as a kid in Iowa and Hannah volunteered to help me.
Me: You know Hannah, there is a picture of me and Grandpa Dan doing this on Grandma Lentz's porch when I was a little girl.
Hannah: There is?
Me: Yep.
Hannah: When I grow up, and I have a little girl, I'm going to tell her all about sitting on the porch and shucking corn with my Mommy.
So here we are. Three generations of corn shuckers.
I usually get my car fixed at the Saturn dealership. I know people say you shouldn't do that but they're actually good and they're very reasonable. Never once have they charged me more than the original quote. The lady in the service department, Ellen, is fantastic and she's the only one that I'll deal with there. The other person working in that department is a major tool, jerk, idiot, rude pain in my ass. Can you tell how I feel about him? Normally when I have to deal with him I call Lincoln immediately afterwards and tell him I'm selling my car. I finally gave up and just refused to deal with anyone but Ellen even if it means waiting.
This July we're getting ready to drive back to Iowa and Minnesota so I need to get a few things repaired on my car before we go. Most of them are small little things but I just want everything done before we drive all those miles. I finally called Saturn today to make an appointment and found out that Ellen LEFT!!!! What am I going to do? The receptionist offered to put me through to the other guy and I said "no thanks, I may just have to find somewhere else to take my car." Eventually I decided to talk to Ivan. He's the person hired to replace Ellen. He seemed pretty good after my brief conversation with him so hopefully he'll end up being my new Ellen and I can continue to avoid the other idiot. If not I'm definitely looking for a new mechanic.
Nope. Not tomorrow. Or the day after. The local weather people keep dangling sunny days in front of us like the proverbial carrot. Every morning it looks like the sun will be out in 3 days. And then the next morning the sun is still 3 days away. WHEN WILL THE FREAKING SUN BE BACK!?!? I really want to take the kids to the drive-in movies on Friday night so I'm really hoping it will be a nice day. Is a little sun too much to ask for?
Well, we made it back from Martha's Vineyard late last night. This was our third year that we've been down there and while the trip was lots of fun it definitely wasn't as great as the last few years thanks to the weather. New England, for some reason, has decided not to celebrate summer and has been cold, rainy, and windy for the past week or so with not much hope of anything different for at least another few days.
Thursday morning we packed up the car and headed down to catch the ferry in Woods Hole, MA. The car was fully packed to the brim and despite my husband briefly questioning my car packing abilities I was able to get everything in the car. The trip was fairly uneventful and both kids actually fell asleep on the drive down. The trip down only takes about an hour and a half and we made it down in plenty of time to let the kids get out and walk around before getting onto the ferry. For the first time ever we were put on one of the freight ferries. I'm always amazed because the "big" ferry is actually about 1/4 of the size of one of the Washington State Ferries but the freight ferry was even much smaller. It only had 4 short lanes for cars and you actually drove down the far left one to turn around and drive back to the right in order to drive back off the ferry in the direction that you came from. Basically you do a big U-turn on a boat. There is a small area at the top where you can go inside but it's nothing like the usual ferry that serves food and drinks and has a few games.
The freight ferry:
We got to Oak Bluffs on the Vineyard around noon and quickly unloaded our car. Once we got everything unloaded, and received a brief visit from the Oak Bluffs police about a vagrant discovered to be camping in the bushes at the bottom of the property we were renting, we headed into town for lunch. Oak Bluffs is a great little town and we ate lunch at Sharkey's before the guys headed back to the house with the kids and Tracy and I went shopping at the famous Black Dog store. After that we obviously had to stop at the Sand Bar because, you know, shopping is thirsty work. After that we headed back to the house to meet up with another couple, Jim and Laurie, who had arrived at the house. Mike had also ridden over with them and would be joined by his wife and son, Grace and Mikey, the next day. Usually Denise and Brian and their two kids come with us too but this year they weren't able to make it. It's a 6-bedroom house and while it's tight quarters it's a lot of fun with all those people. Thursday night we ordered pizza and hung out on the deck. Despite the clouds it wasn't really raining much that night so the kids ran around and the grown-ups played Baggo and Washer Toss in the front yard.
Friday morning Jim, Tracy, and Mike decided they were going to go out on a chartered fishing boat but due to the massive downpour, and the small craft advisory, that trip was cancelled. When the rain stopped we headed over to Chappy to play on the beach despite the cloudy, dreary day but by the time we drove over to Edgartown and caught the Chappy Ferry it was raining pretty hard again. Basically we paid to ride the ferry across and be told by the ferry operator that we had an almost flat tire. Obviously we were not "Happy on Chappy" this year.
After coming back and resting during the afternoon we had Mexican Night out on the big front porch. By evening the weather was actually very pleasant and we even had some blue skies. We played some more lawn games and everyone just sat around socializing and having a few drinks. After dinner we walked down to the carousel (the oldest one in the country) and then the arcade. Saturday was actually a fairly nice day. While it was fairly cool and mostly cloudy there was sun every now and then. We decided that we wouldn't chance heading over to Chappy again and instead went down to a small beach within walking distance of the house. The kids had a great time and even went in the water although I'm sure it was pretty cold.
Hanging at the beach:
Afterwards we headed back and tossed the kids in quick showers and put Jake down for a nap. Tracy and I then headed down to a small street festival along the water while Cliff kept an eye on the kids and Lincoln ran to the grocery store. Conveniently the street festival ended at the Sand Bar again so we stopped for a few drinks before heading back to meet the guys, along with the kids, at a traveling rock wall. Hannah discovered this the first year we were there and she loved it. She is quite the little monkey and climbed up all three levels of easy, medium, and hard. Jake decided to give it a try too but didn't make it too far up the easy level. Lincoln climbed with him and did the "hard" level right next to Jake. Even having Lincoln next to him didn't encourage him to go up very far but we were both very proud that he gave it a try.
Hannah on the rock wall: Hannah on the rock wall (video):
Lincoln and Jake at (and on) the rock wall:
Lincoln and Jake on the rock wall (video):
Saturday night we headed back to the house and the Jim and Mike grilled up a wonderful BBQ dinner. This was probably my favorite night of the weekend as we all just hung out and had a blast on the porch. The kids road their bikes up and down the street and Mikey taught Jake how to "butt board" on his skateboard. Mikey is Mike and Grace's 16 year old son and he was FANTASTIC with the kids. We will definitely be taking him up on future babysitting services.
Jake and Mikey:
Sunday morning we got up, packed up the luggage and Lincoln cooked a great Father's Day breakfast for everyone. Yes, I know that I should be cooking for Lincoln on Father's Day but breakfast is his thing. He loves cooking breakfast and even took his griddle and bacon press down with us. After breakfast we finished packing up the house, washing the sheets, and cleaning up the bedroom before heading out for lunch. Wow....that make it seem like all we did was eat but I'm sure we must have done something else in between. I just can't think of what it was. Probably just sat on the porch and vegged out. Sunday was a very cold, misty day and even though it required a good warm blanket we spent a lot of time sitting out on the porch and looking at the water and mourning that our "beach" vacation was coming to an end.
After lunch Jim, Laurie, Grace, Mike, and Mikey headed back on a mid-day ferry while the rest of us headed back to the arcade. I have to say, the arcade is not that big of a money suck. For $20 you get 96 tokens and most of the games are fairly generous in giving out tickets. You usually end up with about 400-500 tickets and yet the prizes are not too "expensive" when you cash out your tickets. On the upside the kids love it because they can get tons of stuff. On the downside your kids come home with an obscene amount of junk. The first night they got a few plastic swords, some candy, a whoopie cushion, some super balls, and one or two other things. Sunday afternoon they went for the bigger prizes and Hannah got a magnetic sculpture and Jake got a basketball hoop and ball.
Once we got back to the house we loaded up the car and then vegged out on the porch looking out into the drizzle for awhile. I'm not sure where Cliff went off to but the kids played around inside the house while Tracy, Lincoln, and I played Phase 10 which is a wonderful card game. And I'm not just saying it's a wonderful card game because I won although I do love beating Tracy. She is wicked competitive so whenever I can take her down I love it.
Before heading for our ferry we went out for a Father's Day dinner at Offshore Ale Co. This is a great little brewpub in Oak Bluffs that we've never come across in the past few years. The food was phenomenal and the beer was great. If you're ever in Oak Bluffs I highly recommend giving it a try.
After dinner we hopped in the car and headed towards Vineyard Haven to catch our ferry. At this point it was getting very windy and there were a number of whitecaps on the water. When we drove through Tisbury we saw a sailboat that must have slipped its mooring and washed up on shore. I'm sure that will be an unpleasant surprise for the owner. We got on the ferry and headed home and it was pretty rough. I have to say, I don't usually get seasick but it was a pretty rough crossing. The drive from Woods Hole to Upton took a little longer than on the way down because it was raining pretty heavily and super windy. Lincoln got us home safely and after getting the kids into the house and into their beds we unloaded the car in a drizzly rain. At least by that point it wasn't a outright downpour.
Beached sailboat:
All in all it was a very good weekend but it definitely wasn't the fun, summery, heavenly delightful Martha's Vineyard vacations of the past few years. Hopefully our upcoming trip to go camping in Maine with Lincoln's brother and sister-in-law will have a little more sun.
I am a 33 year old mother of 2 married to the most perfect man on the earth. Since the rest of my family and friends are scattered all over the country I started this blog to let them all know what was going on in our lives.
DEBBIE AND MARK - my sister and her awesome husband. They live in Seattle and I don't get to see them as much as I'd like but hopefully they'll be coming out to visit soon.
HANNAH - My 9-year old daughter. She is brilliant, precocious, and wise beyond her years.
HUNTER - Tracy's 9-year old son and a good friend of Hannah's. Jake's idol.
JAKE - My 5-year old son. He is constantly in trouble for hitting, kicking, and punching and I fully anticipate having to visit him in jail someday.
JEN - my former assistant. She may have moved up to nice, quiet Portland, Maine but I'm sure she still calls in late to work while doing the walk of shame and she's also the one that had Bret Michaels autograph her breast.
KAYLA (KIKI) - My 11-year old niece and one of my childrens' favorite people in the whole world. Jake gave her the nickname Kiki when he was a baby. She's the ultimate tomboy and is fantastic with the kids. They adore her.
KEGAN - The little brother I always wanted and Mom and Dad never gave me. He worked for me briefly before moving up in the company. Now he's just a thorn in my side but I adore him anyway.
KYLE - My 17-year old nephew and a great kid. He may be a big, cool, important high schooler but he's so great with the kids. He'll let Jake think they're doing serious wrestling without ever letting him be in danger.
LINCOLN (LINK) - My wonderful, perfect husband that I don't deserve.
MA AND PA SNOW - Lincoln's parents and my fantastic in-laws. They live right around the corner from us and are a true godsend.
MELISSA - my favorite co-worker. Melissa and I spent the first couple years of our acquaintance sharing a small office at work. She mocks my lack of music knowledge and I do her expense reports in exchange for wine and other gifts.
MOM AND DAD - my parents (duh!). They live in Seattle and come to visit often.
MY HAREM OF 20-SOMETHING BOYS - The young boys that I hire to work for me as runners.
RACHEL - My bestest and most longtime friend. My mother started babysitting for Rachel while she was pregnant with me so I've literally known Rachel since the womb.
THE OTHER DIANE SNOW - my sister-in-law who bears the same name as me and lives two houses up on the same street.
THE WALKERS - My second family. Deb and Michael are my Boston parents. Deb was my 10th grade teacher when I lived in Arkansas and she and Michael took me in when I moved to Boston. I even lived in their basement for the summer when I first moved here. Their daughters, Shani and Kristen, are my little sisters. They go to concerts with me, babysit my kids, and are just generally cool chicks.
TRACY - My BFF. Between bail bonds and locked psych wards we have it covered.
I also came across a bunch of photos that he took at the Kentucky Derby Party that we do with the Walker's each year. This year I had to miss the Derby Party because I flew out to Seattle for my parents' 
We sat in our car for quite awhile waiting to even move from our parking spot. It looked like we would be there for a long time and Lincoln said that next year we'd be smart to bring a cooler, sit outside the car and have a cold one while we waited for the parking lot to clear. It would have been a lot more entertaining than just sitting in the car while the kids fell asleep (and yes, Jake even 
Hannah's crush: Hannah developed a major crush on Mikey this weekend. She hung on his every word and followed him around everywhere.
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE send us sun sometime soon.
Afterwards we headed back and tossed the kids in quick showers and put Jake down for a nap. Tracy and I then headed down to a small street festival along the water while Cliff kept an eye on the kids and Lincoln ran to the grocery store. Conveniently the street festival ended at the Sand Bar again so we stopped for a few drinks before heading back to meet the guys, along with the kids, at a traveling rock wall. Hannah discovered this the first year we were there and she loved it. She is quite the little monkey and climbed up all three levels of easy, medium, and hard. Jake decided to give it a try too but didn't make it too far up the easy level. Lincoln climbed with him and did the "hard" level right next to Jake. Even having Lincoln next to him didn't encourage him to go up very far but we were both very proud that he gave it a try.
All in all it was a very good weekend but it definitely wasn't the fun, 
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