Janbruarchprilay 2023

That’s a clusterfuck of a title. Five months in one post. It’s been a while. Before I have to figure a way to add June in that awful title, let’s get right to remembering the last five months. Fun fact: I had to look up whether to use last or past. Google tells me to use last for the final period of time in a set and past for a period of time that continues to the present. I’ll likely break this rule and ramble on about things going on now. But for the sake of this post, here are the last five months. To keep this brief, it’s mostly pictures.

January 2023

Not many pictures. January is usually my reset month, where I get a burst of energy with the New Year and all inspired. Not this January. Most of the month was spent in an anxiety-ridden state. Not exactly sure why, even reflecting back on the month now. Two January highlights every year, my birthday—44 this go around— and Brian and I add another year to our time together. We’re up to 27 years.

The few January pictures that exist:

We went to the zoo on a cold January day. I like it best in the winter, no crowds. We did witness a bloody mess—an older gentleman was left with his walker while his family went to check out an exhibit. The poor man fell and cracked his head. The zoo staff were amazing, they surrounded him and guided folks to a different path to help kids avoid seeing the blood. Of course my kids were right there when it happened, and Baby had questions. Thankfully I think the gentleman was okay but it didn’t look good.

Laine placed second in her age group/division at the meet in San Diego! We were all supposed to go but then Brian got sick, and then I got sick, but he was better to take only Laine. It was a quick trip; they only went for one night.

A trip to the library, a rainbow, Baby digging a hole, Saige got a haircut and her ears pierced, and a passed out Maive.

February 2023

More pictures in February but I really need to think hard to remember all the things. My attempt:

February activities. Baby rock climbing. Blaise, Saige, and Baby all took a weekly rock climbing class but it ended in March. The gym closed; they plan on reopening when they find a new location. The space they rented was bought by a company that didn’t want to renew their lease. They have other locations but they’re too far from us for a weekly class to make sense. Ice skating with friends. And swimming! Our favorite swimming teacher moved and we had to find lessons for Maive, out only non-swimmer. I went for it at the Sammamish YMCA and I’m happy enough. The facility is amazing. Then again, it’s Sammamish. Maive has been taking lessons weekly since February. She’s close to swimming!

Another trip to the library. It’s so close that we walk up.

School field trip to the Pacific Science Center. I didn’t go with the kiddos but a friend did, and she sent along some pictures from the day.

Theater outings in February. I took Baby and Maive to see the Three Pigs at Storybook Theater and I went with a friend to see Sense and Sensibility at Village Theater. The kids are spaced out enough that the musicals Storybook puts on are cycling through again. I took Blaise and Laine to see the same Three Pigs production years ago. The pig was nice enough to take a picture with the girls She was greeting her family out back who came to watch her and offered pictures with the kiddos who walked by.

An outing to the Northwest Railway Museum in Snoqualmie. I remember this was a Thursday. Blaise, Baby, and Maive were on mid-winter break from their respective programs, and Laine and Saige were in their Thursday classes that has a different mid-winter break schedule. If schedule juggling were a sport, I’d be on the podium. The original plan was to go to the gnome trail but Laine wants to go with us, so we switched it up last minute and went to Snoqualmie. We’re actually going to the gnome trail this coming week.

Outdoor preschool kiddos! Maive and her buddy all bundled up for the cold February days.

Bingo night! This is put on by the kiddos’ part-time public school. It’s a fun night where they draw in people with bingo but hold a PTSA meeting beforehand. I get it, it works. My kids look forward to bingo night every year. Brian takes them. I enjoy the quiet house for a couple of hours.

Mountain biker Blaise! Blaise joined the local mountain biking team, open to kiddos within our district in grades 6-12. He was hesitant at first but quickly enjoyed himself. This is by far the most well-run program we have ever been involved with. I cannot be happier with how they share information and the schedule, amazing. Blaise has ended for the season as it’s June now; he’ll start back up in the fall and again next spring. I think this will be a thing for him through 12th grade.

Trail outings from February. A neighborhood cat wanted snuggles. They were so friendly! We haven’t seen them again, although we rarely go down that street. Adding that to the summer list. And a teenager bald eagle. At least we think so?! It didn’t have their adult feather coloring yet. Lastly, Maive being cute and making silly faces from the tree.

February gymnastics. Laine and friends went to a UW gymnastics meet. Laine at a home meet, at her gym (at the time). And a trip down to Portland for an away meet. I randomly picked a hotel and was thoroughly impressed. The hotel has COLOR. Color everywhere. I’m not a huge fan of only neutrals so this was a welcomed surprise. Even the carpet and chair in our room was colorful.

Around the house in February. Blaise and Laine were learning about the periodic table and were assigned elements to diagram. Harold enjoying some nuts on the back patio. The three younger gals hanging out together. Maive wearing Brian’s shirt—it’s Tobias Fünke but most people think it’s Gandhi, which is kind of annoying. Lastly, Saige and Maive working together to make breakfast. Saige is quite the chef!

March 2023

On to March. And more racking of the brain to remember. I do remember that I took Blaise and Laine on a mom trip to Las Vegas. That was a great trip.

We started our bi-weekly hikes with a friend. First of the season, Coal Creek Falls. Even though we’ve hiked this one several times, I made a separate post so I can track all the hikes we complete this year.

More hiking, without kids. Karann and I put some dates on the calendar and actually have a 50% hit rate, haha! This day was Pratt River Trail. We wanted easy since we both were lazy over winter. It was perfect. And another post about the hike here, mostly more pictures.

Laine! She’s an avid milk drinker. So when she came to us and told us the milk went bad… we weren’t expecting this. Haha! I love this. Snugs and Mel enjoying the lazy days of March.

March activities. Blaise in action mountain biking. Laine at another meet. Maive started gymnastics. And more swimming! Maive takes a lesson while Baby hangs out in the shallow pool area. They love to shower in the warmth afterwards. The Sammamish YMCA facility impresses me every time we go.

Hitting the trails. With Blaise and Laine no longer in their Wednesday class, we’d often hit the trail on bikes around town. A rare warmish Friday. The girls and Blaise rode their bikes to Tolt, where we left Blaise to ride with his mountain bike club. The girls and I stayed a while at the playground at Tolt before deciding to order pizza to stop on our way back home. I placed the pizza order while the gals played and we left a bit later to head over to the pizza joint. We decided to eat outside since it was a nice evening. It was a little glimpse into summer. And it was so nice to sit there, on the main drag in our small town, and look around at the other small businesses and envision ourselves going to the other places over summer. I don’t love Carnation but I love living here.

Silly Maive before school. She’s all about making silly faces these days.

Blaise has a good buddy whose family sold their home here and bought a boat, and plan to sail around for the next several years. So exciting for them. They were docked in Friday Harbor for the winter and Blaise went to stay on their boat for two nights.

Blaise had a mountain biking ride in Bellingham on Sunday, and he and I stayed over in a hotel to catch the Anacortes ferry Monday morning. We met his buddy at the ferry terminal in Friday Harbor. I quickly re-boarded the ferry to get back to Anacortes and home, other kiddo activities. Laine, Maive, and I drove back up to Anacortes Wednesday after Maive’s dance class to pick up Blaise from the ferry terminal. In the meantime, Brian went to watch Saige at her poetry reading, an end-of-the-quarter tradition for her Wednesday class.

Friend time! Sleepover baking and attempting to get an Oreo in their mouths from their foreheads, without using hands. Saige and her buddy at Starbucks. Saige at a sleepover with her buddy. And yet another sleepover where the kids attempted to make a fire in the backyard and breakfast the next morning. When you have five kids, having three extra kids sleep over is no big deal.

April 2023

On to April.

Another crazy week. Crazy is kind of our norm these weeks. Blaise was off to a two-night overnight with his wilderness class. The three girls had their part-time public school’s science expo. That I volunteered on the committee, haha. I’m not room mom type of mom. But I agreed to help from behind the scene. And we were leaving the next day for our annual Kayak Point trip. That we booked months ago and I didn’t realize it was Easter weekend. And then Blaise’s overnight was added to the calendar after booking the yurt. We made it all happen, but I’m still tired thinking about it all, haha.

Spring break outing with one of Laine’s gymnastics buddies. Some random indoor kid place in Factoria. Laine found it online and we made plans to meet there. I had Baby and Maive in tow, they were able to get their blacklight golfing on while Laine and her buddy did their thing.

Around town. Living so close to the trail is a requirement for me. I cannot imagine not having a trail within walking distance. I use that sucker almost daily. Here Maive and I hit the trail and stopped by the local coffee shop for a massive cake pop. And another day where we walked up to the kiddos’ part-time public school to grab them. We can walk to and from there also, so perfect.

Flight museum on a Friday. We met Baby and Maive’s buddies at the museum for a day of flight. We spent a few hours there, mostly in the play areas but that counts. Of course we couldn’t leave without stuffies (insert eye roll, haha).

Blaise went to his first mountain biking race. It was wetter than expected, pouring rain all day. He pulled through and finished. He’s not competitive in the slightest, unlike a sibling of his. He just likes to ride and enjoy himself. Which is what it’s all about.

Around the house in April. A make-up Easter morning that we did at night. An egg hunt and Easter baskets. I didn’t take any pictures but the kids made out, as usual. A bubble gun I was influenced on Tik Tok. And the girls hanging out back, swinging and chatting.

Maive! Nastics (what she calls gymnastics) class and a painting class at the YMCA. This kid has the life!

More theatering. I took Baby and Maive to the next Storybook Theater musical, Rupunzel. Which I had already seen with the older kids. No complaints, I enjoy their productions. And a play at Village Theater with a friend. We’re season ticket holders otherwise I don’t think I would have gone to this one. I wasn’t feeling this one. It was done well and all, and the actors were amazing as usual, just not my thing. I’m more of an uplifting musical kind of theater goer.

Pictures from outings. Brian took Saige and Baby to ice cream. And for the kiddos’ buddy’s birthday, we bought tickets to the XFL game in Seattle. Brian took them.

This weekend. We had a massive sleepover Friday night. Saturday, Brian left with Blaise, Baby, and Maive to another mountain bike race in Ephrata. That left Laine and Saige with me, and their buddies who spent the night. I dropped off Laine and her buddy and her buddy’s house, and took Saige and her buddy to get pedicures and lunch, and then shop a bit. Laine ended up spending the night at her buddy’s house which left only Saige and me. That was weird! And quiet. Sunday morning Saige’s buddy picked up Saige, and then Laine and her buddy, and they went to the movies. We’re always shuffling kiddos around.

May 2023

Last month to go, phew. May in pictures:

Maive and her preschool buddy, who is Saige’s buddy’s little brother. They had their faces painted at school this day. My friend offered to pick up Maive and take her to the park after preschool, giving me an extra hour or so alone. Score! Thursdays are my only day each week where I’m kid-free for four hours. I’ll take any extra time I can get.

Another school field trip, to the zoo this time. Again, I didn’t attend but my friend did and sent me pictures of the kiddos. Looks like a fun time! Matches the report I got from Saige and Baby.

A Friday morning hike with friends. I made a separate post to keep track of the hikes we do.

Saige loves to cook. She asked to enter the school district cooking competition, and so we did. That was a process. The entry forms were insane. You had to come up with four dishes and sides, and break them down by cost per ingredient. Each meal had to be under $7 I think it was. Saige and her buddy came up with their four meals, and then Brian and I had to look up all the ingredients and break down the costs. Brian and I started the night before and had to get up at 5am the next morning to complete the forms, and it took us hours. Because of course Saige told us close to the deadline. We made the deadline and then they extended it by a week. Ugh, haha!

They were selected to compete but didn’t win, but they had fun and that’s all that matters! I think it’s funny that the school district added an unnecessary apostrophe in their team name. They were the Best Chefs. But the SCHOOL DISTRICT put their team name as the Best Chef’s.

Laine! We made the decision to switch gyms. She’s now on a team at a different gym, that is not only closer but I appreciate how they run things from the parent side of things. It’s been a great switch and Laine is loving the gym! This was her first day of official practice, and of course Maive wanted to be in the picture. Maive goes to gymnastics there also, and is doing the advanced preschool class. Saige and Maive had their dance recital in May also. They both did great!

Another hike. Hazel Wolf Wetlands. And other post about the outing here.

More mountain biking. Blaise doing bike limbo at practice one day. They are a great, fun group. Another race for Blaise, over in Spokane. Brian took all five kids and left me behind so I could have the house to myself for the weekend. So needed. Other than hitting the trail, I never left and just sat and enjoyed the quiet, clean house—that stayed clean.

My solo weekend trail outings. Foggy river and the tree branch that finally fell! I’ve been eyeing this branch in a tree I pass under all the time, and I always worried about it falling. It finally caved.

Gymnastics banquet! Laine’s former gym she was with for six years. It was a good run and we love the gym and people, it was time to move on for several reasons. Laine was already at her new gym but was welcomed to attend the banquet. She wanted to go to say goodbye to her team and coaches. It’s a nice group of people all around. After the banquet, Laine and her buddy went roller skating.