Berry Pickin'

Friday night the girls each had a friend spend the night: Kalli's best friend, Nicole, and her sister, Lauren. Before bed, as Kalli snuggles up with her blanket and sticks her thumb in her pie hole, I overhear the following conversation:

Nicole: So you still suck your thumb, eh?

Kalli: Yeah, but mostly at night.

Nicole: Why?

Kalli: Cuz its fun and it tastes good.

(At this point Nicole pops her thumb in her mouth and sucks).

Kalli: Tastes good, huh?

Nicole: Tastes like plain old thumb.

Kalli: Yeah, but its cool to suck your thumb.

Nicole: Okay. Let's start a thumb-sucking club. You can only join if you suck your thumb and think it's cool.

Wow. Thumb-sucking club membership is going to boom once word gets out on this one!! :)

Saturday we corraled the kids for "Family Day." I put that in quotations because we have to officially name the day in order to get the kids to realize it's just us and no one else. We headed out for Remlinger Farms, which is a prime raspberry picking venue. The weather was perfect and the kids were itchin' to pick.

Sean and the two older kids took on one row and Tuck, Kalli and I took on another one. (Inner-family conversation was still made possible through the raspberry bushes but we were able to make more efficient progress this way, according to Sean. :)

As we were picking, I decided it was a prime opportunity to teach my young brood about the natural/real-life allegory of picking the best things in life. We discussed which raspberries were the best ones to pick, which ones weren't apparently ripe and which ones were diseased and rotten.

I then asked them how raspberry picking was like picking friends. Tucker thought for a moment and then said, "You want to pick friends that are ready to be your friends." And Kalli threw in, "You pick friends that are sweet."

Sigh. Parental bliss. Check the big "Teach Your Kid Something Valuable Today" box.

Then things started to head south. Tucker perked up and added, "You don't want to pick friends with diseases. And you don't want to eat your friends." And Kalli chimed in with, "You don't want to step on your friends or they'll squish out blood" (This is where she stepped on a raspberry and smeared it into the dirt).

Well, I tried. That has to count for something.

After raspberry picking, we raided a blueberry patch on the way home. In all, we made it home with 40 lbs of raspberries and 5 lbs of blueberries. Plus the ones the kids ate when we weren't looking.

Tonight Sommer and Ben came over for games and homemade raspberry pie, which would have been quite a feat for us non-baking Sundwalls, except that halfway through dessert I casually asked Sean if he had washed the raspberries before making the filling and he casually replied he had not. Shortly thereafter I fished out a leaf and Katelyn squealed at the discovery of a live bug. The rest went in the trash. Sean redeemed himself, however, by making boat loads of raspberry freezer jam that will see us happily through the winter months.

Onward to another week. There is truly nothing like a Northwest summer! Out- Us

Bears In Trees! Sean and Tanner found a herd of onlookers on the Parkway on Saturday and stopped for a few shots. I think everyone who lives here has seen a bear, except for me.

Tanner, with Herculean strength, lifting a wooden box full of raspberries. Obviously the box was no match for his powers and succumbed to box-death. The raspberries survived, however.







Kalli. Being Kalli.




Girls with their friends Twister-ing like madwomen. Ah, to be young and limber. And to wear the pajamas we really love, with monkeys and ice cream cones all over them.


The boys and their friends eating pizza. Look closely. One of these things (one who just had surgery on his privates and thus dons a plastic satellite dish) is not like the other ones...

Sphygmomanometer

So I'm at the doctor yesterday for a routine check on my thyroid (its been fine for six years and yet they still insist on drawing blood on a regular basis "just to be sure." Sadists...). I'm in the exam room and I'm waiting. And waiting. And waiting some more, so I start poking around the room for something entertaining. Eventually I notice that the label on the blood pressure meter is this: SPHYGMOMANOMETER. Who knew this is what it was called? Have you ever in your life heard this word? It is so fun to say! Try saying that ten times fast. A little mid-summer amusement for ya. :)

We had a great time in Minnesota followed by more fun upon our return last week. Lots of park and beach trips with friends and a jaunt up north to our old stomping grounds on Saturday, where Sean ran another 5k. Friday night was girls' night at a friends house after some tasty Chinese food, and I can honestly say I have not laughed that hard in a mighty long time. I think Marlo, Laurie and I freaked a few people out with our giddy antics, but that's the danger in hanging out with 30-somethings!

I've been asked for pics from our Minnesota trip. These are in a completely random order, in keeping with my arbitrary thought processes.

The newsroom setup at the Minnesota Science Museum. Look at Kalli checking herself out on the monitor. Such vanity...:)

The kids inventing their own robot at the museum. I think the giggles here were due to the fact that they gave the robot a very rotund backside.

Kalli enjoying swabbing an over-sized nasal cavity.

Yoda. Don't you just want to hug him? I've always had a soft spot for the little guy. This was at the "Star Wars" exhibit at the museum.

Visual proof that Tanner is a wild man on the kiddie rides.

Dale, Kate and Susan. Armed and dangerous.

Katelyn fleeing the embrace of an overly huggy Backyardigan at the Mall of America amusement park.
Kalli and Dale in a Cessna. Sean, the boys and Kalli took a day trip with a local ward member pilot up to the Cessna factory in Duluth.

Tucker was excited to be standing on Australia.

Susan, Susan, Susan. Really. I would expect much more from a woman as dignified as you. :)

Kids at the zoo.

Kalli suckling a giant plastic pig. Proof, perhaps, that 10 months of nursing was just shy of what she really needed.

Why is Tanner so happy? Because he found the meerkats. He loves meerkats almost as much as he loves cheese. But not quite.


Dale and Kate at the races. More on this to come. It was so entertaining, it deserves its own blog post.

I've decided that if the Bhuddists win and it turns out that we're all reincarnated in the afterlife, I want to come back as a lemur for obvious reasons (see above).

Patient little Tucker. It's 4:30 am in the MN airport, and Tucker quietly awaits the luggage.

Thriller, Part Deuce

Wednesday night at the Sundwalls. Tanner's friend Andrew received a "Michael Jackson's Greatest Videos" DVD for his birthday and brought it to share at our slumber party. His mom, Jen, and I got an immense kick out of watching the vids with our kids; a jaunty spree down memory lane. I mean, who DIDN'T rollerskate to "Beat It", "Thriller" and "Billy Jean" in the '80's, leg warmers and all? I must also add that outside of Mikey's perpetual pelvic thrust, his vids sure were clean!

After Jen left we loaded up on sugar and did another round of the DVD with Sean. He opted for the "Thriller" video, which we hadn't previously seen due to the fact that it scared the sleep out of my kids a few months back (see related blog post in...May, perhaps?). Tucker and Kalli ran crying from the room before "Thriller" started but eventually returned due to innate curiosity and ended up laughing their way through it. We had a massive jam session (I'm sure the neighbors loved it) and then consumed more sugar and a few hot dogs.

Good times, good times...

As an aside, if your looking for some good "guess that has-been" fun, check out the "We Are The World" video on U-Tube. Wow. :)

Slurpee Heroics

Greetings from the surprisingly beautiful and welcoming state of Minnesota! No, we did not pull a spontaneous relocation; we're just visiting. Sean's parents currently (but not for long) reside in the quaint town of New Prague and we descended on them like flies on a cowpie for ten whole days. Not to say that we can fly without artificial aid or that Sean's parents are in any way comparable to bovine excrement...that analogy really didn't work too well, did it?

I have so much to share because our trip has been packed full of fun, but due to the fact that I'm dog paddling in post-midnight mental sludge, I'll touch on yesterday's events and fill in the rest later.

So Sean and I have this really fun thing we do with our kids. Its not altogether productive and somewhat manipulative, but we seem to enjoy it because we keep doing it.

Here's how it goes. We take the clan to an amusement park, which we have now done twice on this trip alone. Friday we spent the entire day at Valley Fair and today we visited the Mall of America amusement park. We spend a boat-load getting everyone unlimited passes, and then we spend the rest of the day bribing them with Slurpees to go on rides that scare the pants off of them.

Katelyn in the past has been an easy target; she would go on anything. She's apparently tightened the reigns on her bravery (or lost interest in Slurpees) because she could not be bribed at any time on this trip to go on coasters that normally could have been bought with a 32-ounce Slurpee. I had to up the antee. I actually bribed her with a discount-rack purchase at Justice Just for Girls to go on this "Fairly-Odd Coaster" at the Mall of Americas today. It was a last-ditch effort, but it paid off. The coaster was awesome; the cars spin like the Tilt-a-Whirl while running on a coaster track. Incidentally, I bribed Kalli onto the same coaster with the promise of Chinese food for lunch tomorrow. Apparently the Slurpee has really lost its appeal.

Tucker is pretty open to any ride and did the big doozer coaster and a few smaller ones at Valley Fair. However today we couldn't bribe him onto anything remotely coaster-ish. He did brave some freefall rides, but they were bribe-free and therefore he gets no Slurpee.

Tanner? Sigh. The guy is admittedly squeamish the second we step foot inside a park. He knows the prodding and bribing that follow (although I usually leave him alone as I was a lot like him as a young lass in this regard). He is stalwart; a true brick wall. Oh, he'll do rides. They just happen to be rides he shares with preschoolers. He doesn't care. I will give him this, however. He braved two "down" escalators today. An all-time first for this kid!

Kalli wins the Tough Chick of the Day award. She didn't balk at any ride she was tall enough to go on. Kudos to Dale and Susan for coming along for the ride (pun very much intended). They're always up for an adventure.

I'm too lazy (tired?) to upload pictures, so until next time...

Seanism of the Year

Wow. I can't believe my husband popped this one out last night while we were sitting on the couch. I had to turn my head 90 degrees and stare for a minute to make sure he was completely serious. He was. Here's what he said:

"You know, I like the way the salt on my face tastes after a long run. It's better than Costco salt. I bet it would be great on popcorn. If only I had a way to harvest it."

Yes. It's all true, I tell you.

Summer is here! The kids are finally out of school and I am SOOO happy. We celebrated with lunch at a local dive with some friends. The kids participated in their first official track meet and loved it. We went for a 14 mile bike ride on Friday from our house to Carnation with four other moms and their kids. We had multiple birthday parties Saturday to attend, followed by a Slip n' Slide extravaganza on our front lawn with a herd of little people, and I finally finished reading a book for the first time in quite some time. We are so blessed. Good times, great friends...we love you all...

This is a series of pictures I took of Tanner at the Fall City 5k. Notice how his feet never touch the ground...:)

Kalli and her bestest friend Nicole at their gymnastics recital.

Kalli sizing up the competition at the track meet. Look closely at the expression. She means business!
Tanner, Jared, Preston and Tucker. One of my boys with his tongue out and one with his mouth stuffed; very much in their element...

Before the bike trip. Afterward we were walking like jilted cowboys.

Kate and lots of green. Don't we live in a beautiful place?

Kate's final band concert.
Tucker being Tucker.
Tuck's last baseball game.
Oh, sure...you're thinking I threw this one in for the shock effect. No, no. Look closely; Sean's in the distant background. :)
Kalli with her hair done. It lasted about 45 seconds.

Tucker and Emmy

Here's the man! We're so proud of him. We had a fantastic weekend with lots of family in town: Anna and Sawyer from TX, Grandma & Grandpa Houser from ID, Grandma and Grandpa Sundwall from MN, Judah and Kes and their tribe from the tri-cities and a surprise visit from Javan and Niobe from CO. We are so grateful for everyone's willingness and sacrifice to come help us celebrate Tucker's birthday and baptism.

That being said, Mother Nature was a bad, bad girl this past week. We did sneak in a hike down to Snoqualmie Falls between rainstorms on Sunday afternoon but other than that it was a pretty gloomy weather weekend. Today's headline read, "Colder than Siberia!" Apparently it is reported to reach a high of 61 degrees in that notoriously nippy wasteland and only 58 degrees here. Anyone looking to relocate to my state anytime soon?!!

It's another crazy week with the kids finishing up endless projects at school and basbeball and track overlapping, so I'll post a few pictures and sign out for now. See ya!


We have a "don't ask, don't tell" policy with Tucker



Anna, "Emmy" and myself. Oh, yes, it's real. My brother Judah's team at Lockheed Martin won it for Best Commercial (or something like that) at the regional Emmy's last weekend while he was here. We spent a good hour coming up with uses for this little beauty. Great late night entertainment!!


Sawyer, Tanner and Tucker...inseparable as always!


Prying the Gameboys from their little paws was no easy task



The fam at the baptism

Furry Mayo

Boy brains fascinate me. I love to hear what's going on in there. This morning after I got out of the shower, I hear Tucker's little voice from the depths of my bed: "Come snuggle under covers." (He's been saying this since he was two). So I get dressed and climb in with him.

After a few minutes, he says, "Wish Dad was here, too. Then we could make aTucker sandwich." (This is where Sean and I smoosh a kid between us in bed; Sean and I are the "bread" and the kid is the "meat". They love it.)

Just then, the cat jumps in and Tucker sticks him between us. So I say, "What part of the sandwich is Lincoln?" Without pause Tucker says, "He's the furry mayo and I'm the bloody turkey." Of course. Because what is a sandwich without furry mayo and bloody turkey?!

It's been a crazy week. Last Wednesday Kate and I ventured out on the fifth grade overnight field trip to Mount St. Helens. It was good to spend time with my Kate and gain some insight into the inner-workings of the 5th grade social scene. Outside of getting pummeled in the face with a basketball during a game of Bump and having to sleep on the floor of a high school gym, the trip was fantastic.

Sean, Grandma Susan and the kids picked us up in Chehalis and we took off to Newport, Oregon, where we stayed for two nights. Grandpa Dale joined us on Saturday. The kids swam and swam at the hotel and played in the sand on a chilly beach and we all ate way too much. Saturday morning Sean won the Newport Marathon and set a new time record, 2:22:47. He's got some cheetah blood in him. We're very proud. He also brought home a stunning three-foot-tall trophy of a wood-carved blue heron mounted on a piece of driftwood. Curious.

Speaking of Sean and boy brains, I have two Seanisms regarding our new dog. (Lisa, these are for you...) I'll preface the first -ism by saying that the dog we bought was not cheap and the cat we own was free. So here goes.

Seanism #1: Fletcher the dog and Lincoln the cat are playing, and Lincoln bats his claw at Fletcher. Sean springs from his seat on the couch and shouts, "Hey, free cat, leave my expensive dog alone!"

Seanism #2: We're on a leisurely family walk and Fletcher cuts sharply from the sidewalk to the street. Sean yells, "Get the dog! That's some expensive road kill if he gets hit!"

Tucker's baptism is this Saturday. We're so excited! Can't wait to see some of you there. Have a great week~ Mara

Tanner, beach and ball (but not a beach ball :)

My girls

Busy beach bodies

I was going to ask for opinions on what brand of carcass this is, but Dale and I did some digging and pinned it as a wolverine...the things you find while beach combing...

Man on a mission (near the finish line). Look at that set jaw. Grrr.