Seattle Meet-Up

We met up with Peter, Lani and their kids Kellen (11) and Alexis (9) for an off-the-charts hot weekend in Seattle. Fortunately their hotel had a/c and our repairman came Saturday late afternoon! We were also able to score a reservation at the condo pool which was wonderful. Also, turns out our bouldering membership hasn't yet expired so we all went bouldering for free on Sunday in their air conditioned Fremont location. A stop at the air conditioned HMart was also a plus where we picked up an economy sized pack of yogurt drinks for the kids.

Cool Photos

My cousin Andrew sent us these photos of our grandparents (dad's side) from the 1940s, one of the family, and one of my great grandpa with my aunt.

Thirdhand Shoes

Christian's left foot has officially surpassed mine. His right foot is about the same as mine - I think we actually both have slightly different sized feet. + Olin got picked up from the last day of soccer camp and when I got to him he goes "guess what?" and showed me his heavily taped cleat. Apparently it fell apart earlier in the day so the coaches taped it together. And then he said "and during the last scrimmage I looked down and my other shoe fell apart and my foot was falling out!" So funny! I think those were originally Didi's, then Christian's, then Olin's. Time to upgrade to his next shoe which I think is only second hand, not third hand! + Look at these tan lines even with mineral sunblock every day. Lots of sunny days. + Size updates: Christian is 80 lbs (12 years 3 months) and Olin is 50 lbs (9 years 9 months).

Brokedown Palace

Our "palaces" are breaking down. Seems like so many things are broken. Kitchen faucet leaking, shower didn't have any intermediate temps (just scalding and very cold), outdoor faucet leaking x 2, and most monumentally the air conditioning in Seattle is malfunctioning and we're staying there this weekend and meeting up with Dae's friend Peter, Lani and their kids in 99 degree temps....yikes. Meanwhile, the kids are keeping themselves entertained by bickering daily, wrapping my exercise bands around their heads, and going to outdoor soccer camp in these 90-100 degree weathers. A few moms and I have put up these tents which aren't pretty but are necessary to fend off the sun and also necessary to pitch at an angle so as not to get swept away by the strong gusts in South Kennewick. I had to capture a picture of Dae reading - I've now seen him pull out the book I got him two times which is the most I've ever seen him pull out a book since I've known him which is 15 years. Lastly, I am teaching the kids a new Life Skill every week this summer. Last week they memorized their social security numbers and this week they learned how to write a check.

Happy Father's Dae

Happy Father's day to Dae and Gong Gong! I put Dae to work installing our new 'floating' style house numbers. I really enjoy them. We then went on a bike ride to Graze for a salad and Amethyst Creamery for ice cream. On our way home we stopped at the new Mexican grocery store by DQ, Las Cabañas, and picked up stuff for taco dinner as well as two huge aloe leaves to use nightly on my face per my mom's recommendation. We also picked up Hot Cheetos - the checker said these are different hot cheetos than the ones they sell in America - she said they're more citrusy, and they were good. For Father's Day, we got Dae a wooden photo to put up at work and a book "Eat A Peach" by chef David Chang. I will patiently wait to see if he starts/finishes this book. He's the least enthusiastic reader in the family, definitely and unfortunately.

PDX One-Nighter

We were able to juggle in one overnighter: Doe donuts (x 2 trips!), Irvington Pool, joy riding in Ev's new LandRover (2010, 3 sunroofs!), Picking up supplies at Target to donate toward a Juneteenth cause, and Christian getting his second Pfizer vaccine! woohoo!

Ladies + Relaxation

The three of us definitely know how to relax. And by relax: we are content watching TV (Olympic swimming trials!), reading magazines, checking our phones, lounging. Our mid-week getaway was very fun and we actually walked and discovered Macrina Bakery in Belltown, then went to UBookstore and U-Village. We also walked to the Amazon Go Store and the Amazon 4-Star store. This morning, Ev and I checked out the new Amazon Fresh store in Factoria near puop's house where we hit up the photo booth (never met a photo booth we didn't enter) and both were able to use the hand/palm scanner to go in and purchase goods. It was quite fun! I also brought my whole kit & kaboodle and took to the road to microneedle Ev at the condo. Went off without a hitch and actually wasn't that much of a hassle at all to pack it. Also: we went to Agua Verde for lunch (delicious) and GrubHubbed A+ Hong Kong Kitchen for dinner and dessert (delicious).

Summer Fruit

Our raspberry bush (from raspberry starts from teacher Onnie) is producing! Also we went cherry picking last week and picked Rainiers, Bentons, Bings. The red cherries taste the best to me but the Rainiers were the juiciest this season.