Father's Day Lobster!

Father's Day. How cool is that? I know being MOM is the coolest, I know Mark feels the same way about being a DAD! Mark wanted to have a lobster dinner for his special day. Well, we can do that. We got some fresh lobster at the lobster store and Mark cooked them up!

Lon is not even ONE yet and he has tasted his first Lobster. He liked it.
Uncle Vasu had his first lobster too! He enjoyed it also.


I think Mark had a good day. I hope so. He is a good father.

Lon wore his Lobster Jammies again that night.

Yes, Lon is wearing a soccer jonjon. He is cheering for Team USA, however, he also thinks that Brasil is going to win. (if Ronaldo can get out of the way!)

9th Grade Graduation!

Around here Junior High is three years and high school is three years. They had a Graduation Assembly for the 9th graders on the last day of school. Miss Sarah asked if we would come. It started at 9 am. Of course we would be there!

The kids who got the presidential Silver Award for getting a 3.5 GPA for the last three years. Sarah is in that mix somewhere! Congratulations Miss Sarah on the good grades!

Lon wore his stripped jacket, blazer and a tie. He was the very best looking man there. Young or old! Mommy was not looking too shabby either. When I called Mark and told him we were home, he said, oh too bad you did not call me 5 minutes earlier we could have met up at the Indian restaurant I told you about. HA! I will meet you there! We are jumping back in the car RIGHT NOW! And we did. We actually beat the guys there! I have not had really good luck with Indian food. Apparently I had not had real Indian food. The stuff I remember was greasy, overcooked, heavily sauced and so spicy I could not eat for the rest of the day. Well, real Indian food is NOT like that. I even ate Vindaloo. It was all super yummy! Lon however was not used to Basmati rice, he likes his mother sticky rice much better.

Lon is eating his tie! He is enjoying the tie very much.

I enjoyed the food at Mayuri so much that I went home and actually tried to make Lamb Vindaloo ala Goa. I did not make it very hot, as I lost my taste for spicy when I was pregnant. (Lon would send it back if it was spicy.) Mark took some of the leftovers for lunch. Uncle Vasu said the spices were correct and it was good, but it could have had more heat. He can always add heat. I am pleased that my first attempt at Indian Cuisine turned out well. I will try again!

The Very Next Day

Sunday was another lovely day, so we went back to Juanita Bay Park. This time Lon took off his socks and shoes and went wading in Lake Washington. Mommy kept her shoes on! We had fun wading along the shore. We went back to the Climbing Wall. Which is the greatest thing of all. Then we came home and had some snacks. Sometimes snacks dribble down his chin, but he really enjoys snack time. Most especially if they are fish. We have also discovered apple cheerios. Those are pretty darn tasty. Way better than plain old boring cheerios.

Later on that night, Mark called Vasu to tell him that the Simpsons rerun was going to be when Homer gets transferred to India. Instead of just watching it alone at their apartment, Rahul and Uncle Vasu came over right after Temple to watch it with us. Lon spared me from watching it by needing to go to bed during the episode. They also shared a meal with us. That is so nice.

Uncle Vasu loves Bullwinkle. Bullwinkle loves Uncle Vasu!

Time to go to bed, say Night Night to everyone. Lon loves his Lobster Jammies from Grandma Phis! Thank you Grandma Phis. Grandma Phis is big on Jammies. Which is good, since we wear them every day!

Happy Anniversary!

Aren't these the coolest flowers? They smell wonderful! It is great. My Mom and Grandmother sent those for our 11th Anniversary. They are so thoughtful. I have such a great family! Mark and I went to lunch at the Scezuan place again. This time we had all the guys he works with come too. This was on the Friday before our special day. The waitresses took Lon off to give him some candy. Of course Lon wanted the red wrapped candy. Red is best. Lon does enjoy the restaurant. But alas, the Bad Car Karma continued. We come out of the restaurant and Vasu looks at my car and I have a extremely low rear tire. Just a hair better than flat. There was a service station on the corner, so I got more air in the tire. ARG! Hopefully that will end the Bad Car Karma.




On our anniversary, Mark, Lon and I went to lunch. At the Thai place near the park. Lon loves the Thai place. Mark gave him a taste of the vinegar that the cucumbers were swimming in (no, I can not remember the name right now) Lon LOVED IT. He thought that was great stuff. Mark kept giving him more! I think if we let him drink it, he would have. He had some pad Thai noodles, he had some cucumber, and of course the ever present, can not leave home without them, goldfish. Lon had fun and the waitstaff love him. I am not sure he goes to any restaurant that the waitstaff doesn't love him.


After a super filling lunch of satay, pad Thai and Thai sweet and sour, with my favorite Thai coffee, we went to Juanita Beach Park.
Lon is still not thrilled with swings. He might get used to them. Or he might not.
We did find the BEST thing about the park, the Lon sized Rock wall! How cool is this!
Lon was all over that climbing wall. He had the best time on that.

Lon waving from the top of the climbing wall.

Lon rides the whale! He is not quiet big enough yet.

Lon on the slides! WOW. Can it get any better? Lon was having the most fun ever! Slides are great fun. I can see going back to the Juanita Beach in our future.

After we went to the Juanita Beach, we thought we would check out North Kirkland Park. It was also good.

If no one is going to help me get back to the top, I will do it all myself!

Slides are the best!

Miss Lindsay!

Today was a great day! Miss Lindsay was in town getting the boat ready for fish season. She was able to get a couple hours off and come visit us. That was wonderful! Lindsay got to meet Lon.

On the way to pick her up, I thought that Lon and I would leave a little early as he did not have a morning nap, the car ride would do him some good. My car would not start. bubkiss. nada. hmmmm. Okay, so I asked the neighbor to give me a jump, well that got the radio to work, but the engine would not turn over, all we got was that clicking noise. I was thinking it can not be my starter, the car is only 6 years old! rats rats rats. Mark came home, I got in his car, left the little guy at home with his Dad and went to pick up Lindsay. In Ballard. I only got lost once as I got committed to the turn lane to go across the Fremont bridge. I turned around, saw the statue of Lenin, got back on the bridge and made it to Ballard just fine. The other thing that happened was I got rear ended. No damage to Mark's car. The other guy was only going a couple miles an hour. Thank God!
While I was trekking through Seattle, my car got towed to the repair place. As it turned out someone who drives my car, but is not me, left a light on, did not close the door all the way, something, and the battery was completely and totally drained. The best part of it was that the battery was still under warranty. WHEW!


Lon did not get his afternoon nap either. He fell asleep in his dinner. Poor little guy. He slept for a couple hours, got up played and then we took Lindsay home. Back to Ballard. This time I did not go to Fremont first. It was so nice to see Lindsay.


We dropped Lindsay off with her bag of oatmeal cookies and some fresh mint from the garden. We stopped off and each got a map of Seattle. I think that will help me!

Inside, Outside

First, I would like to say that I am not ever going to look at Lon and repeat those age old words, may your child be just like you. Apparently my very own Mother did that to me. Vehemently. Please note the slightly diabolical look on Lon's face. He is about to show me what he figured out how to do. He had to push the toy over to the couch, then he got up on the toy and started to climb on the couch. He was very very pleased with himself. No more letting him play while I scan the paper. He has figured out how to move things around and use them to climb up on other things. To look out the window, to just see what is up there. I guess one day when I was a kid Mom found me on top of the fridge. This is scary.

Lon wanted to go outside. Sounded like a fine idea! First we went to the backyard. The tummy cam was back in operation. What fun! Lon would crawl over to me and *push* me over and we would roll around on the grass, which made the little guy laugh!

We then went out to play in the front yard. No land mines from the dog. Or bird feathers. I think the neighbors cat got a bird in the back yard. There were little feathers all over the place!

We were out in the front yard when Daddy came home!! Hurray for Daddy !!

Seems like all boys love cars!

After Daddy came home, Lon was tired so he is now napping. It was a long day!

These next pictures are for Grandmother P. My Fushia plant, my first rose of the season, her peonies and the pilfered sitka rose from the airport ferry parking lot in Ketchikan. (I took a cutting of it, rooted it and planted it. It seems to like it here)

Sillyness, just plain sillyness

Our neighbor girl, Miss Sarah, had a birthday. She turned 15. What did she want for her birthday? A *My Little Pony* skirt and a cat shaped purse. I had the patterns, I have patterns for almost everything you can imagine! So I made her a skirt. It has ruffles on the backside. Just like I would make for Miss Ingrid. And her purse. This is a picture of the purse face. I will post a picture of Miss Sarah with her skirt later. The purse has a feather boa for a tail. It really is just silly. But Sarah likes it, and you really should be indulged on your birthday. That's the philosophy that works for me.

Miss Sarah.

Lon is supervising the brushing of the pets. On Sunday, Mark thought it would be a good idea to run the sweeper. So we moved furniture, ran the sweeper. But the sun was shining and the floors looked awful. We got out the steam cleaner. We really cleaned the floors. Then put all the furniture back. I went down stairs to start work on the laundry room. I emptied out the things I could move. I went to get all the icky stuff from behind the washer and dryer. I moved out the washer. Why did I ever get so ambitious? Last year we had a leak in the washer. Well, now there was mold under it. EW. Serious ew. I called Mark, he brought me the bleach. I cleaned out under the washer. Then I went to move the dryer, bad idea. The dryer gave shock. Nasty. My elbow still hurts when I move my fingers. I hope it gets better. Mark tilted the dryer and I got under it with the sweeper. Finally we were DONE. Then we had a thought, perhaps we should brush the pets, since that was what started this whole thing in the first place. Too much pet hair on the floor. I brushed the dog, Mark got to brush the cats.









Rocky is NOT impressed with the whole brushing thing. He thinks that it is just not a fun thing and we should skip it. But where is the fun in that?

Lon got a new pair of Jammies for his upcoming FIRST birthday. He loves them. They are a little bit big, but that is wonderful. Lon is comfy in them and they look so good on him! Hanna Anderson's stuff is so soft! The best part is, it gets softer the more you wash it! How cool is that? Lon of course, loves the new jammies. He is going to save the stars and stripes Jammies to be worn when we are in DC. Thank you, Grandma Phis!!

Lon is eating a dried shitake mushroom. Mark was making Hot and Sour soup. The last time we were at Paldo World we got a huge pillow of dried mushrooms so we could have them on hand. Mark makes the best Hot and Sour Soup. It is yummy and Lon likes it too. I give him the tofu, mushrooms and bamboo shoots out of the soup. He really likes the tofu, and as you can see the mushrooms.

Lon is really getting into this phone thing. He LOVES playing with the phones. My cell phone can be turned to games, so he can not call anyone. It is not random strangers I have a problem with, it is if he accidentally calls 911. That would take up their time needlessly and not be good.

Silly phone.