Five

We have been here for five weekends. We have skied at five different ski areas. Now I am counting a day of skiing en-route, because technically we (John) unloaded the truck on weekend.
Last weekend we took a mini international vacation, to Canada. It was short sweet and left us wanting more. I wonder what is in store for this weekend.

Humid

We tried using a toilet paper tube, It worked pretty well, but my mouth tasted soapy after.

This has been an especially rainy month, even for the Pacific Northwest. When it is not rainy it is often humid, not typically my favorite weather. Until I found the prefect activity for humid days. BUBBLES!

He tried blowing a few but mostly let me so he was free to pop them.


He pops them with his hands,


and with his nose,


and whatever this is.

Last day of winter

We seem to be in a routine here. On Saturdays we ski (and eat Mexican food). This week involved a hotel stay because the ski area was about 190 miles away. Are we nuts for driving 190 miles to go skiing? Maybe.
We were met with a gorgeous day lots of snow and tons of smiles.


Really he was having fun don't let his face fool you.


Mt. Shuksan

Today

Technically this was last night after dinner, but still very timely.

Such a great day today. I am partially glad it was St. Patrick's Day so Odin doesn't start to expect this much activity on any random Thursday. We started out this morning riding bikes (he used the add- a-bike not the giant) to the local Childrens Museum (many thanks to the Casper family).


Giant wall of push the pin side to side stuff...Yes that is my face at the top. I could have played with that the whole time.


My moon sand slug from the sand table. Odin had loads of fun too but wouldn't hold still long enough for my camera phone... (sadly the only camera I managed to bring)

Last night as I was looking into logistics I noticed that the chance of rain today was pretty low and thought bikes would be great. It was a little cool this morning, high 30's, but it is March after all. The rain held off until about 20 minutes after we came home.

We had lunch and then made some pudding that my sister posted on her blog. Odin thought it was pretty neat, and also a lot of stirring. It turned out to be the perfect activity/desert for us tonight.


Stirring the dry ingredients.


After the pudding was made and had chilled for a while we separated it into six baggies and added some gel food coloring then mixed and kneaded until uniformly colored.


I am certainly no food stylist (or food blogger for that matter) but this project was actually pretty and tasty, not just tasty.

Then it was almost time to get ready to go to his new gymnastics class. We found a local gym and went to their preschool open gym last week. They let you try a class to make sure it is a good match but I knew before class was over that he was having a great time. They are mostly in the smaller gym upstairs but spent about 20 minutes in the big gym.

And in hounor of St. Patrick's day I made corned beef for dinner. But because I am a selfish cook, and the thought of boiled beef and cabbage is not appealing, I made corned beef hash and eggs. Paired with a Murphys it made my day, or maybe week! The unfortunate part is both John and Odin enjoyed it as much as i did, so I had to fight off some pretty strong competition.



Now what are we going to do tomorrow?

New Bike! New Bike!

As John was disassembling our bikes to box up for the truck he noticed a few things about Odin's bike. The bearing was shot. We already knew that the chain needed to be replaced (it kept on falling off). Oh and it was as heavy as the Titanic. We decided not to move it. We planned to get him a new bike once we were settled.
Even though it has rained (or snowed) every day that we have been here Odin has really wanted to ride bike. Er, um, well, remember we didn't move it . . . .
We must be settled, because last night we bought him a new bike. Not new to him from craigslist, NEW NEW NEW from a bike shop and everything. I am not sure who is the most excited about it. John and I think it is awesome, and Odin loves it and the bell that came with it.

He took it for a little test ride today and decided 47 degrees is a little chilly for bike riding. It is also bigger than his last bike, it's a 20" mountain bike with gears, handbrakes and the works.

Moving thoughts, reflections

Moving is a bit of a strange process. All of a sudden you expect yourself to be adjusted to where the measuring cups are or where to put all the stuff from the dishwasher. Things that used to be so second nature overnight (or over the course of a week) have changed.
It is all about fresh beginnings too. Maybe the tools used to be totally disorganized in a heap now there is a chance to make it right.
I think it can be loads of pressure too. The thought of unpacking can be a little daunting, but the thought of moving things once unpacked? No thank you.
There has been lots of time for reflection lately, and I thought a little before and after from our place in MN was in order.

Entryway





Living Room





Half Bath



The tour stops here. I really wish we had a good picture of how horrid the kitchen was. But we don't really. But trust me it was bad.

The place we are living now is in great shape. All the appliances and fixtures are pretty new, and I understand why Realtors are always talking about beige being king. The office here is an interesting shade of minty green and Odin's room? Very faint pink. He preferred the closet in the pink room and chose it over the green room.

We are getting pretty used to our new home city (not including the number if time I have accidentally gotten on the freeway or had to turn around). Our new home too. I have spent the past two ays buying shelves for closets and other necessary things to finish unpacking, because as we all know thing take up much more room in boxes. One of these days we would like to put cars in the garage.

This much I know

1. I would be willing to pay more for my Washington drivers license in exchange for it not taking two hours of my life. (seriously two hours!)

2. March here is not winter (as we know it).



3. Skiing here is much warmer, it is also much wetter.




4. Odin's favorite apres ski activity is still paying in the plow piles in the parking lot.

Home

After a week of slowly getting the non essential boxes unpacked and recuperating, we took the day off yesterday to go skiing. It was an unusually wet week and the mountains got over 100" of snow just last week. Odin took a lesson in the afternoon and had a blast. It is nice knowing that the various kids programs at ski hills keep kiddos wanting more. When we picked Odin up yesterday he wanted to ski some more. With the lifts closing in 20 minutes we wasted no time and got in two more runs.
Today I think we are going to take it easy, go for a hike this afternoon maybe, just relax. There are still lots of boxes to be unpacked, but the house is totally livable at least. And there will be plenty of time once ski season is over.

Olympia

There is much to report from our week without internet access. The day we arrived in Olympia I got sick. I presume I was sick the day before but not willing to admit it. We arrived got keys for the house, took the car off the auto transport and parked the truck in the driveway. After John shoveled the driveway from the rare Olympia late February snow storm.




By this time I had a fever, a real one, just under 103 it lasted for about three days. John worked as I lay on the floor in our new room to unload some of the detritus at the back of the truck.
From there we went back to Tacoma for the night to Mike and Kim's and I went to bed before Odin.
Saturday morning Move in Day. I was useless. I mean useless. John used the hand truck to move boxes in. By the afternoon I was able to help in little ways, folding blankets, moving things inside the house. Mike came in the afternoon and he and John unloaded the truck together. The goal was to have the truck back to Uhaul by 7pm then get some dinner.

Here is the highlight reel from the past week.

Playing outside






Odin starting his new preschool (it's great!)

The understanding that unpacking is a process just like packing was, it is not all going to happen in one day.