Wild Waves Theme Park

Today, I took the young 'uns to Wild Waves Theme Park, a water park about 45 minutes away. They were unimaginably excited. When I got to their house at 8:30, they both had their swimsuits on and were eager to go. The fact that a) the water park didn't open until 10 and b) that Clover hadn't yet had breakfast absolutely failed to faze them. I edged my way around them, and through the still-open front door, shoving poodles in front of me as I went. (It was quite the entrance, though not dissimilar to most other days.)

At about 9:00 we got out the door. We were still gong to be early, but the excitement radiating of the children was too much to keep inside! After an uneventful drive... we arrived.

I would like to note that it reached over 100 degrees here today. In the PNW, we rarely get temperatures in the upper eighties, never mind the 100s. It was the perfect day to take Neptune to a water park-- if it was less than 90 degrees, he would shiver his way from one attraction to the next. That boy has absolutely 0 body fat.

Carrying on: We strolled through the warm weather, found ourselves a locker, and then scurried off to the wave pool, lazy river, and many different water slides. The children were Positively Delightful. They waited patiently in lines, didn't fight about which attraction we would go to next, and talked about how much fun they were having. (Of course, Neptune also managed to appear to be drowning Every Single Moment he was in the wave pool, but that's neither here nor there. That's just kind of how he acts in the water. And YES, I was always within arm's reach.) It was just plain old fun hanging out with them!

So, after you've taken our advice and headed off to Jetty Island for the day, I would like to recommend that you get yourself some tickets for Wild Waves, and head that direction.

After all, it is Clover and Neptune endorsed.

Sun: 1 Blythe: 0

Let's talk about red. You know what's red?
Strawberries.
Geraniums.
Lip stick.
Some parrots.


My. body.

Oh, sunburns. I made my Facebook status the other day was "Blythe likes having a job that leaves her with sunburns... even if she doesn't like the sunburns themselves." That pretty much sums things up.

Today the young 'uns and I went to a place called Jetty Island, in Everett. It was a bit of a drive, but was totally worth it. You take a cute little ferry out to the island, and then set the kids loose. The water is warm and shallow, and the beach is incredibly sandy. Throughout the day, Clover and Neptune would chirp, "I LOVE Jetty Island!" or "Can we come back soon? Like, tomorrow?" or "Wow, I'm so glad we came!" or "We're SO LUCKY to be here!" Warmed my heart, I tell ya. Almost as much as the sun warmed my skin.

Do you live within driving distance of Everett? Then make a pilgrimage to Jetty Island. As my kids will attest, it's totally worth it.

Actually, we'll probably see you there.

Zoo Journey

It's good to be back.

When I arrived at work this morning, the kids were bouncing off the walls, and talked to me in very loud, fast, high-pitched voices about all the things they did in Montana after I left. According the them it was areallygreattimebutsometimesitwasabitcrazybeinginonecabinwithsomanypeople. That's not precisely what they said, but, well, you get the idea.

After I had heard many stories about their Montana adventures (including how one child was, to quote 6-year-old Neptune, "Not a pleasure to be around."), I informed the young 'uns that the marker tattoos on Clover's legs must go before we adventure out into the world. What began as a fierce scrub of marker became an hour long bubble bath for both kids. They sculpted bubble-headdresses for each other, blew bubbles (I closed the shower curtain) and had the time of their lives. Finally, I plucked them out so we could get ready to go to the zoo.

And by "plucked them out" I mean "coerced them into finally, FINALLY exiting the tub... but not without splashing most of the bathroom with water." (Actually, despite the enthusiastic splashing, they were quite cooperative when I told them that bath time was over... though I did agree to let them wash their hair first, since they SO wanted to.)

And then, after some reading, writing, math, and lunch.... we headed to the zoo! It was a bit of a gamble, weather-wise, as it had been spitting rain in the morning, but by they time we got there, it was gorgeous. The only trouble was that the pay machine in the zoo parking lot would not take my credit card, and I only had 4 dollar bills. A very kind woman handed me a dollar, saying, "I've been there!" Thank goodness for the kindness of strangers. Nice people make me so happy.

Then we spent whole afternoon at the zoo. I LOVE the Woodland Park Zoo. It's great! They have a brand new Humbolt penguin exhibit, as well as many other fabulous animals. Today, we saw the HUGE brown bears fishing. We were mere centimeters away from the bears, separated only by the glass. It was so cool! The kids and I agreed that we were really lucky.

That, my friends, was a great day.

And, in case you were wondering-- YES. The kids were a pleasure to be around.