A Week's End

I am very sick today! Yes, bummer. My head feels like a balloon and my nose feels even bigger. So I thought I would cheer myself up by blogging about my really great week.

On Monday, I was Miss Efficient and got tons of stuff done. It felt nice to be somewhat prepared for the week ahead. For Bible club, only one lone soul came...Patience. But we read a Bible story, played games, and sang a few fun songs anyway. It was nice to have it laid back since, truthfully, we were exhausted from the previous weekend.

Tuesday was go-to-the-park-with-friends day!! We went to Jefferson Park by invite of our friend Erienne and little Blake. We hung out with our other mom friends (two of whom are VERY pregnant) and their kiddos. Jefferson Park has a free water-splash park, which I'm sure many of you are familiar with. But we had never seen one before! So it was extra surprising and fun! Unfortunately, Bri was a little unnerved by the water coming from every which direction, so most of her time was spent running around the water, but, hey, at least she had fun. She is an ocean, lake and bath lover, but not one for water from above. She'd probably never make it under a waterfall ;) I wish I had brought my camera. Sometimes I just want to relax and not take photos. But then I also miss out on many precious moments.

On Wednesday, we went strawberry picking! Red hands and red mouths were quite the fashion amongst our toddlers that day. Picha farms has the most amazing juicy strawberries around. Usually, I buy them by the box-full and make yummy freezer-jam. But this time, hand-picking sounded extra fun...and cheaper. It was relaxing to chat with the gals as we picked - not really caring what our toddlers were doing or eating. Ahem. Actually, our toddlers did well, there's really no harm they could do. I kept fearing they would topple over on my box of berries, however. And smoosh my efforts to smithereens. Fortunately, that never happened. I almost forgot to mention that my big little bro, Brian, joined us, too. He got himself a nice bunch. After two long hours of picking, we decided to call it quits...and head to a local coffee shop!

It was nice to be out of the heat and chill with everyone. We did have quite the crowd in there. We even knew the barista, Erika. She is sisters with Erienne, and we all know her. She's also very single. And gorgeous. And loves Jesus. Okay, enough of that :) Anyway, Erika did an awesome job on our drinks, giving Brilla a fancy-schmancy chocolate milk with whip cream and sprinkles on top. Brilla has been reading Fancy Nancy lately, so she gobbled it right up and said, "It's fancy like Nancy!" Meanwhile I sipped my delicious toasted marshmallow iced espresso drink. It was truly divine. Thanks, Erika. After our drinks, B and I left to meet up with B's uncles, Brian and Sean, for lunch at Steamers. We were really living it up!

On Thursday, B and I met with our friends Sarah, Caden and Noah. We met in the new play area
at Southcenter Mall. There is a strategically placed Starbucks nearby, where we got snacks and cold drinks. Inside an air-conditioned placed felt sooo good. Sarah is my close friend, and we were able to have some heart-to-heart talks. Friends are truly gifts from God. After saying "good-bye" all around, we headed home for naps and piano teaching.

Friday was yet another meet-up day! But this time, it was in the ordinary business of doing things...I had to get my car looked at by a friend who happens to be a mechanic, and owns a Chevron Auto Station. While we waited, it was ohso convenient to hang with my friend (his wife) Meghan and her three kids at another splash park, this time in Auburn. The park was within walking distance of the auto station! What usually is an annoying must (car work) turned out to be so much fun! We ate lunch while the kids splashed around. We were going to get the "free lunches" put out by the city of Auburn, but they ended up not doing it that day. I guess the city of Auburn has a summer program where many of the parks give out free lunches Monday-Friday, 12:00-12:30, under the concept of not wanting any child to go hungry. What a wonderful program. Thankfully, I had brought a back-up lunch, though and we went on our merry way.
After sweltering under the heat (Friday was a hot, hot day!!), we decided to head back. Again, we headed home to get cooled off and take naps. I should have taken one! But instead, I went to get my eyebrows and lip waxed. If I had fine hair and less of it, I would do it myself. But for only $14, it's well worth it. The place I go to, Salon Avida and Spa, does an amazing job. I don't get my hair done, I don't get pedicures/manicures, I don't spend tons of money on makeup, so I figure I can spend a little money on facial hair :) I felt so neat and clean afterward.

I said I should have taken a nap because a couple hours later, we were smack-dab in the middle of our church's 3rd of July block party! Mike ran the inflatable slide attraction, while I brought cherries, pineapple and cantaloupe for the food line. There were about 600 in attendance. It all lasted for about 4 hours and after being in more sweltering heat, eating way too much sugar, and having a great time with church family and friends, we were tired. Around 10:00 we watched fireworks in our church's really cool open field. Unfortunately, my throat felt very cottony, and I had a bad headache.

Then yesterday was Independence Day! Once again, I forgot my camera :( But everyone else took a ton of photos. My scratchy/cottony throat and runny nose were full blown and basically, I felt just under miserable the whole time. However, that didn't keep me from enjoying it the best I could. I had some wonderful beef kabobs, kudos to Tim, and freshly grilled halibut, thanks to my mom. I probably shouldn't have all the dessert I did, but I couldn't resist. My m-i-l had made her soft oatmeal chocolate chip cookies (my favorite), and there was banana pudding and classic apple pie with whip cream. I forgot to mention this is all on the water front of Lake Tapps, thank to my Dad, who works at a local energy company and gets free access to its park. It was such a beautiful moonlit evening and we got a 4-star view of the fireworks. We wrapped it all up about 11:30 p.m. I can't tell you how awful my cold/allergy (can't figure out which one) had gotten, but needless to say, I got a horrible sleep last night. I could not breathe and I had a super dry throat.

This morning, I feel awful again, but hope to get lots of rest. Thus ends my glorious week out in the sun with friends and family! Please pray for me as I (hopefully, quickly) get over this stuff :P