Happy Trails...Mostly

I'm belated in posting in regards to our trip to my parents' home a little over a week ago. We had such a great, albeit short, stay with them. My parents currently reside in Silverton, ID, but are moving to Colorado in a few months. Being a measly five-hour drive away, the kids and I felt it important to pay them at least one more visit before they fled the area. (FYI: Wallace, ID, the nearest town to Silverton with indoor plumbing and a population of more than single digits, was at one time the brothel capital of the U.S. and also boasts a fine looking sewer cover in an obscure intersection that some drunk mayor deemed to be "The Center of the Universe." No lie. There's official signage to prove it.)

So the kids and I took a long weekend and enjoyed some quality grandparent time. A small aside here: I know I've mentioned before my love for road trips. It's true. There's something completely liberating about getting behind the wheel and driving yourself nearly out of gas, filling up and doing it all over again. Complete with some Abba, Sting and a few exceptional conference talks, I can spend hours in my head just zoning out. Not to say that I neglect my kids in the car. I love the "shoot the bull" quality there is to being stuck together that long. And I love the headphones that accompany our portable DVD player. :)

We enjoyed our stay, and in due course, my ever-productive father announced he was taking the kids and I on a 15-mile bike ride down the Hiawatha Trail, which runs across the Idaho/Montana border. We loaded up and hit the road. The trail began with an almost 2-mile long train tunnel that required bike lights (which we'd rented) and some manufactured body heat, as the tunnel pentrated the innards of a sizeable mountain.

My older three plus Gramps took off ahead (with the unspoken promise we'd meet up at the end of the tunnel), leaving Kalli and I in cold, nearly pitch black confines. Kalli, being a just-barely six-year-old, immediately took to whining. "I'm cold," "I'm scared," and "I want to go home," echoed repeatedly throughout the tunnel. Anyone who knows my fourth child knows that trying to distract or persuade her is something akin to a naked mole rat giving birth to a manatee. She refused to ride the bike in the dark and was moving at the speed of lard.

Trying to be optomistic and patient, I cajoled, bribed, begged and pleaded her through that increasingly cold tunnel. Here's where truth-telling gets painful. By roughly the halfway mark, I started to get a little mean. Yes, its true. Shocking, I know. :) I started to employ scare tactics and even once casually commented that I was going to ride on ahead and meet her at the end. Oh the sorrow that ensued. But guess what? She got on that bike and she rode her little tail out of that tunnel!

Grandpa somehow coaxed Kalli out of her bad mood once we lef the tunnel and the rest of the ride was wonderful. Oh. Except for the part where Grandpa endoed on his bike and reopened several wounds from a previous endo the week before. We love that Grandpa gets back on the bike and tries, tries again. :)

We finished the day off with a feast at the Pizza Factory in Wallace, which also touts their taco salad. Except that when Grandma (who met us at the restaurant) ordered the taco salad, there were a lot of confused expressions among the prepubescent crew members. Sadly, the taco salad showed up at the table about the time we were licking the last of the pizza grease off our fingers.

We also swam at the local pool, watched lots of Olympics and, of course, played the game "Snapshots Across America" several times. Siblings, you know the one.

Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for a wonderful visit, grass stained peds and all (see below)! Love you- Mara

Kalli see-sawing with Grandpa.

The boys taking a relaxing break in the shadow of an outhouse.

Tucker and his too-small-bike. We need to get him a new bike, but only ever think about buying a new bike when we're actually riding bikes. And we never ride bikes to stores where they sell bikes. Thus, he remains on his too-small-bike.

Kids and Grandpa at the mouth of the first tunnel. Did I mention there was something like 18 tunnels on this trail? If you get through the first impossibly long one, the rest are cheese...

Flashes are beautiful things. See Kalli ride? Yes! She's actually peddling!

Kate bein' cute.
The trail also sported several crazy-high bridges, which aggravated my acrophobia, but I managed to hold it together.

Kate thought it was pretty funny that I was worn out by the end. This is my "lizard on a rock" impression. Minus the grossly long tongue.

Because I was feeling bad about Grandpa's biking accident, I mowed his big ol' backyard. In my bare feet. Which was a great idea, I thought, until my mom and her friend caught sight of the bottoms of my feet and turned green themselves. It took a good week to get back to my natural foot color. :)

Peace out.

Homegrown Gifted Child Program

The term "gifted" is often applied in academic circles to a child who is exceptionally bright and promising. I prefer to apply the term to kids that do things that honestly and openly express their uniqueness and creativity.

The "gift" for me is their ability to make me smile and stretch my heart just a little wider, if possible, to allow more love for them to seep on in.

By this definition, my kids are gifted.

After a few "creative" episodes last week, I just had to share. Here goes.


Part I:
Katelyn received this double baby stroller several Christmases ago, and outside of cousin Kesley's occasional use of it, it sits unnoticed in a corner of our playroom. Until last week, that is, when the kids realized it was a joy ride in the making; 2+ hours of giddy goofballness. The helmet just adds to the Rainman effect.

And EVERYONE got a turn...notice the cat. He didn't seem to mind, and rode around for a good 20 minutes.

Part II: Kalli has a sweet little friend, Lauren, who comes from a very proper and upstanding family. Kalli was invited to attend Lauren's garden birthday party last week. I tried to persuade her to wear something girly to no avail. The outfit below was the compromise after a 10-minute stand-off in her closet. She wanted to wear her monkey shirt and raggedy jean shorts.

When I returned to the party to pick Kalli up, my friend Jill (the mother) chuckled and said, "Kalli entertained the girls with some body art." Out from the backyard strides Kalli followed by six little girls in flowing dresses and bows. "Check out my tatoos, Mom," she proudly exclaims. Several of the other mothers got all wide-eyed and astonished looking. I gave Kalli a hearty pat on the back, complimented her artwork and then fled the scene.

Upon arriving home, Kalli busted into the goody bag, which contained a flowerpot rendition of a cupcake, a sucker and some other junk. Kalli, eager to share and realizing the sibs were all out for the afternoon, divided her spoils with the obvious next of kin, Fletcher. Please do not be alarmed by the following pictures. She's a work in progress, to be sure.




We live life to the fullest around here~! Have a great week...Us

Just Beachy

Yeah, so maybe we don't live in a tropical paradise. Maybe there's not a single cabana standing stalwart on our chilly northern shores. But we have our fair share of sand-in-the-pants, sun pounding beach days. And we're proud of our clean air, newsworthy orca whales and over-zealous environmentalists. Betcha can't lay claim to those notables, eh?!

Beach day #1: Seafair hosts the Blue Angels (Navy airplanes) every year, and a friend and I took our multitudinous crew for the show last week on Lake Washington. Great fun. And who needs a swimsuit anyway?



Beach Day #2: Vasa Park, Issquah. A bunch of friends and I took the kids to a great lake water park on Lake Sammamish. The picture below, of Kalli with finger held high, is actually her making the point to her buddy that you could drown if you don't have floaties. I asked her what she said to Nicole, and she said, "'And don't you forget it, little missy.' But I said it with a smile, Mommy."

Tanner and Jared at the beachfront park. What balance...

Tucker sizing up the waterslide.

Kate and her buddies...its amazing how many little bodies one float ring can hold.

Friends

Yesterday was my birthday. I'm not relating this scrap of information to make any of you who may have forgotten my b-day feel sucky; I truly don't get much excitement out of this particular annual recurrence. Not because I fear aging, but because my sixth birthday was the bomb--completely unmatched in every way. I need no further celebration when I can simply reminisce about that glorious day 30 years ago. You should have seen the magic my mom worked with crepe paper and confetti. And Suzie What's-Her-Bucket gave me my first Chinese jump rope. My life has never been the same since. Who knew that I possessed such hidden talent? I ROCK at Chinese jump rope. Don't believe me? Bring it on...(Heather Smith, this brag's for you. :)

I digress. Back to the birthday. Thank you, thank you to all of my wonderful friends. I know I'm not an easy person to hang with. There's a lot of hand gesturing, random interjection and occasional gleeking that occurs. But you were all so wonderful to me this weekend and I thank you. What an amazing group of women I know.

And to my bestest friends, my little family, I love and thank you. Now if you'd kindly clean the house, cook the food, and feed me grapes while fanning me, I can dive into all of those great books you gave me!

PS: I do fear some form of conspiracy, however. It's interesting that in tandem with the three birthday cakes, I also received a Wii Fit. :)

Backing Up

I've suddenly realized why I love going to the library with my kiddos. I totally dig how, after Kalli and Tucker pick out a book and want to sit down and look at it with me, they back up into my lap while I'm sitting on a chair. Kid+book+laptime=euphoria.

Sean is a machine. Can I just say kudos to this guy and his unquenchable love of running, as well as his apparent knack for organization that hasn't exhibitied itself in his closet or car yet, but we're hopeful. He has somehow single-handedly organized a 5k/10k that will be held this weekend during Snoqualmie Railroad Days, including a 1k kids' run. I didn't realize how much effort goes into one of these gigs. There are already over 350 runners registered. Granted, my house has turned into a disheveled hovel due to all the preparation, but it's been some great family bonding time. We pay the kids for their time in food, love and shelter. :)

Tanner in football camp attire. Isn't he so stinkin' cute? I mean brusque and burly? :) The "one shoelace untied" look is quintessential Tanner; he doesn't let minor inconveniences slow him down! (Yes, Laura, they wore their cups. I just knew you'd ask!)

For fun, I fed the kids traditional Korean-style ramen (super spicy). Kalli, mouth afire, would not be thwarted; she ate every bite and then drank a gallon of water. Notice the wet paper towel binding the burning lips. Very resourceful child.

Race headquarters = child labor laws snubbed. These kids worked hard!

More labor. And mess.

Remember the Knights That Said Nee? This is Kalli and Tucker's version...notice they're mysteriously absent in the "working" pictures. A child's work is his play, right???

The Long Way Home

We took the long way home, but it wasn't intentional, at least at first. Kate, Kalli and I were leaving Sean's work party at Marymoor Park and I was admittedly zoned out a bit and took an apparent wrong turn on Lake Sammamish Parkway, which diverted me around the west side of the lake. Traffic being what it is in this state, it took officially FOREVER to get as far as Issaquah. Is it strange to be grateful for traffic? Retrospectively, I really was. I actually enjoyed the delay. The lake was crystal clear in the sunlight and the rearview mirror framed my two girls day-dreamy faces as they listened to a book on tape. They are changing so much and I double-taked a few times just to make sure they were mine!

As I'm big on road trips anyway, I took advantage of the time and reminisced a bit. Okay, a lot bit. I even went the speed limit in order to stretch out the time. I looked back with a subjective eye on my life since my mission; how much I've learned, how much I've changed. It's truly incredible to me the way the Lord has gently steered me through the good and bad in my life. I think He kinda likes me. :)

Someone recently pointed out to me that most of the blogs she has read seem to be brag-fests about people's kids and a travelogue of everyone's comings and goings. I wonder if my blog seems this way. I write what I want to remember about my life and the lives of those whom I love. There is plenty to frown about in life; I want to remember the humor found amidst the monotony. I truly believe God wants us to find the good, even when the good is pretty hard to find.

This morning I came across the huge three-ringed binder that I used to compile all of my weekly emails that I'd written since early in our marriage but fizzled out on a few years back. It's a journal, of sorts. Call it an archaic method of blogging. I found a few quiet moments this afternoon and sat down to flip through it. Solely for my own amusement, I'm going to include a few entries here. Looking back, I cannot believe how fast the time has passed and how much I miss my children's littleness but how much I love their emerging personalities and interests. They are my buddies.

June 4, 2002 -- "Kids and I took a walk this afternoon, then I drew a face on my swollen, pregnant belly and chased the kids around the house trying to give them baby smooches. That was fun. Afterward, while I camped out and napped on the oversized chair in the loft, Kate took off with the idea and graffitied my entire midriff with permanent marker for a good 1/2 hour. Today at my 9-month appointment, the doctor found my explanation to be a bit disturbing."

January 12, 2003 -- "Finally wrapped up a bit of a rough week. (WARNING: pity party ahead!) Sinusitis and mastitis had me reeling most of the week, but we're on the up-and-up. If asked to describe mastitis to someone whose never experienced it, I would say it is something akin to strapping a burning barn to your chest and then shoving flaming arrows through your scalp to the soles of your feet. Something like that. It's amazing how children can sense a breech in the customary flow of things (like illness) and will stage a coup at a moment's notice. Most of my week was spent pressing back the revolt. Such small, sweet warriors!!"

March 20, 2003 -- "It's a rare moment indeed when I can sit and write an entire email without an interruption involving one or more of the following: a diaper blowout, a request for nourishment, a word pronunciation, a referee job, a bandaid, or a random request for something my children know I'll only say yes to when I'm preoccupied. Hey, I just typed that entire sentence without an interruption. Kids exist primarily to prove us wrong."

Okay, I'm done reminiscing. But I am going to throw in a few pictures from the past, just to round out the nostalgia!

Hope all is well on your branch of the big tree...

Kalli Jane at 8 months

2-year-old Tucker
4-year-old Tanner
5-year-old Katelyn

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...