My Secret is Out

Guess it would help if I'd BLOG once in a while, huh?! LOL I've been worn out and tired from the trip and then trying to get the three ring circus back on track now that I'm home.

So. Yeah. DYM is the super special celebrity blogger I got to meet and hang with! Since you all pretty much read her blog way before mine, you probably already know all about that! LOL She has a post up from two days ago that is makin' me feel all famous and stuff! She was one of the origional three blogs I got hooked on and gave me the idea that, I too, could blog with the big dogs. It was so fun to meet her and her cute kids. I didn't get to meet Snow White, but I got an even better treat; I got to meet the "REAL" Laylee, she told me she wasn't Snow White yet, because her Snow White dress was dirty and her mom had to wash it. The kids fed the gulls and pigeons at the beach and Daring and I flapped our gums, only pausing long enough to rescue the kids from jumping off the seawall. And, yes, I am so proud of my stalker status. I really did fly across the country AND walk three miles to meet her. I'll make sure and let you know when I'm coming to *YOUR* town...or should I say "a town near you"?

I mean no offense to my Seattle readers by pointing out the colorful freakiness of the inhabitants of your great city. Really. It's just that In my two weeks of travel, I have come to the conclusion that I need a discreet way of taking pictures of people I come across. The table full of "alternate lifestyle living men" dancing to "Don't You Wish Your Girlfriend was Hot Like Me" at a Pizza Hut in Moab is a prime example. That's definately some bloggable stuff. The people I come across in my travels are as much a part of the experience for me as the destination it's self. At the risk of being totally un-PC, it's good to have a belly laugh wondering if that guy over there thought he looked good in his shorty-shorts when he put them on this morning. Sorry, but if you attract attention, you might attract mine and I might laugh at you. Pay no attention to me, I don't get out much and I really can't help myself.

While in Washington, I got to tour some of their lovely temperate rainforest. Huge-o-normous trees and lots of green every where you go. Here are some favorite shots:








I really did take those! Aren't they great! Especially the waterfall pictures, they look like a postcard.

My sister is getting married at the fabulous Lake Quinalt Resort. It's a quiet, intimate place with limited space and unlimited hospitality. I ran across some very unfavorable reviews of the place on-line before my trip, particularly regarding the owners tolerance of children. I was skeered. But, wait! Nope. John was GREAT! Beyond great! He was so friendly, and when diaper duty (or should I say doody?) left me with a "package" un-suitable for and indoor trash, he saw me looking around for a trash, jumped up from his cozy chair, and graciously took the offending package uphill, in the rain, to the dumpster. How's THAT for service?! I was totally impressed. Here are some shots from that lovely location:






Some shots of the city from Gas Works Park, and the Freaky People Fest:





And then I just wouldn't be a good parent if I didn't post some sickeningly sweet pictures of my offspring on her first large scale adventure:






Whew! Tired yet? Life-a-la-boring comin' at ya next week!

Can I PLEASE Go Home Now?

A week is just a very, very, very long time to be away from life. It's even longer when the week is shared with people who don't have kids and keep saying things about not ever having kids. I know. I said it first, but I was joking. I've discovered that there are lots of reasons my sister and I haven't spent much time together in the last ten or so years. I'm probably on their last nerve too, so no hard feelings.

Seattle! My sister and her uber cool fiancee have done a fabulous job showing me around their strange and colorful city. There's a whole lotta freaky people 'round here! And I'm beginning to think the person who coined the phrase "Texas Friendly" was probably from here. And that person is probably dead. Dead from the shock of being around people who don't swear at you and use the one finger salute at every opportunity! People here are pretty intense. We attended the Folklife Festival downtown this weekend where I realized that I could have brought my frumpy mommy uniforms, complete with mismatched socks and non-color co-ordinated sweats and fit in better than I did in the carefully chosen "cute" clothes I dredged up to bring instead. In fact, I could have worn my socks on my hands and my bra on the outside of my shirt and been the height of Seattle-Freaky-People fashion. But hey, where else can you watch a half naked, afro wearing, silk scarf waving, has to be on something, old geezer guy dance to a live bluegrass band in the rain? I'm really not complaining at all, the visit here has been an interesting cultural experience. I've eaten some great seafood, seen some beautiful architecture, both man-made and natural, and had my horizons broadened. Who could ask for more?

When I get home, and back to the land of CABLE INTERNET *insert screaming happy banshee dance here* I'll upload some pictures, including some from my afternoon with a BLOG CELEBRITY!!! I can't wait to get back, catch up on everyone's blog-thangs and see how you all have been doing!

The Green Ones Count

We made the flight in fine shape. J just picked out a nice, grandmotherly type who seemed encouraging and willing to play with her, crawled up on her lap, and went to sleep. Does that count as a Works for Me Wednesday? Wisdom Wednesday? Let your child talk to strangers, crawl up in their lap and go to sleep. No? Well, it was worth a shot.

The schedule sabatoge has served to eliminate her normal appetite. I usually don't worry much about if they eat or not, I figure, they aren't going to starve, if they want to eat, they will. But yesterday, we were going on day three of food strike and in a desperate attempt to kickstart her appetite, I fed my child M&M's...for lunch. Technically, when you think about it, there *is* "green" in there...right?

Now if she doesn't scare my sister out of the idea of having children, ever, we'll get this wedding show on the road.

What Have I Done?

My sister is getting married in September and has asked me to come help her get things lined out before hand. No problem, except that she lives 2000 miles away and I have oodles of children. I got good news in the form of an e-mail from Frontier Airlines yesterday, alerting me to a fare sale. It wasn't good enough news to buy all the tickets to eliminate "who will watch the children", but who wants to spend a week shopping, tasting food, picking flowers and trying on dresses with children in tow? Fortunately enough, I have friends that really, really like me and don't mind adding a few of my children in with their children, but I just couldn't bring myself to push the bounds of those friendships to ask anyone to keep J. I'd like to have Taxi Girl as a friend when I come back. So I booked the flight for myself and added J as an infant passenger. Then I asked some of my flights-with-kids saavy pals for advice with the logistics of transporting all the gear that goes with children under age two. It wasn't until then that I actually did the math, and realized I'd just VOLUNTARILY signed up and PAID for a 7 1/2 hour stint in a small, enclosed space, with a child who doesn't like to be held and is prone to Diva fits. So ladies, do tell, what are your favorite small-person distractions? Drugging her probably isn't an option, and allowing her to have permanent black markers, sharp objects, packing peanuts and other forbidden delights would probably be frowned upon; so I need some MAJOR distractions to keep her happy during these flights. In fact, any toddler air travel tips at all, I beg you to dish.