The Zoo and Japan

Hello! Another lovely week has passed without too much excitement. No one missed the bus this week, no major falls or scraps, we made it to curriculum night, and everyone got their homework done--at least for last week.

Wednesday was early release, so T had no school. It would work out much better for me if early release came on Monday or Friday, but Wednesday is fine. We went to the zoo. We have a Zoo pass, so I like to get as much use out of it as possible. We went over alone, but met up with some friends at lunch, much to T's joy. I actually have tons of pictures of my kids at the zoo, so I didn't take many pictures, but they did have some baby animals on display, and there is nothing cuter than baby animals. This is the new baby elephant that has been in the news lately. He has a name, Sam-something-ku, but I can't remember it. I'm sure it's on the zoo webpage with pictures. They call him Sam, for short. He was very fun to watch.There were also baby Worty Pigs on display. The worty pigs are a little on the ugly side, but the babies are darling, running all over the place. There is also a new frog exhibit, which is really well done. There are activities for the kids as well as lots of varieties of frogs. Here's the girls with their friends on the way out. Ms. A likes to blend in with the animals when we go to the zoo:) I had two, almost three asleep on the way home, but since I was the third, we are all happy I stayed awake.

Saturday we spent part of the day at the Japanese Festival at Uwayimaya's, an Asian market in Beverton. The girls loved it.There was marial arts displays, a stage with different groups performing, crafts for the kids to make, and tons of booths. One booth had students giving free masages. Both Stuart and I had one--a little wierd, but it felt good.

This was called the Live Goldfish Pond. Basically, you pay a buck and get to fish for goldfish with the net. Then you can take two home with you. This was T's favorite thing, but we did not take home any fish. Crazy!The girls got airbrush tatoosAnd met Hello Kitty. We also ate yummy (greasy) food and --Happy day for S--Hawaiian Shaved Ice.

Ms. M came away with no cuts of bruises--Hooray!

T and A came away with balloons, necklaces, bags, but no squishy pig (dad said no and then when we went back they had run out). Also, what a beautiful day! It was actually on the warm side. Got to soak in as much sun as possible to make it through the winter:)

Saturday Market

This last week has been pretty non-eventful, which is usually a good thing. We are getting a little more use to our schedules (though we did miss the bus on Thursday, which was just the saddest thing in the world for Ms. T) and before we know it, another week has passed by.

Saturday we decided to head down to Saturday Market. It's been a while since we went down there and we were looking for something fun to do. There is always plenty of things to see and do.

This was a street band we listened to for a while. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of the dancing Elvis. He had some good moves.With so much to see, the girls had a hard time not touching things. Saturday Market also provides lots of interesting conversations, like why that girl's hair is bright pink.

The second we got down there, the only thing A wanted to do was ride the "train" (the MAX). She takes after her Uncle B. Since it's free downtown, we jumped on and went up to Pioneer Square.I felt like a complete tourist taking this picture:) Oh well. We grabbed some lunch and ate on the steps. At least the adults ate. Ms. A had a hard time focusing, mostly she just wanted to chased the pigeons.And T decided her family was a little embaressing, or something.--She had to go off and find her own place to eat.After eating we road the "train" back to the Market, looked around, ate more yummy food and eventually headed to the Rose Garden. It is beautiful this time of year--in fact there was one wedding/reception going on (complete with a small string quartet) and another bride and groom getting pictures taken. We, of course, ate more--The best Hawaiian Shaved Ice in 100 mile radius--ran around, and smelled flowers. The girls favorite thing was picking petals off the ground. I returned home with three pockets full of petals. Ms. M loved running free and the water.

We ended by playing on the big play structure just down from the rose garden. This was a treat for the kids because I never take them there on my own. It is sooo big it's hard to keep track of everyone. Even with the two of us, it was hard.

A very fun day, but I only had one asleep on the way home. Also, Ms. M had a bit of a tumble. Actually, she had multiple tumbles, but only one that caused any damage. Once, while running free in the rose garden she fell on asphalt and did a face plant. It was pretty sad, but she seems to have recovered (at least emotionally:)
Hopefully next week we won't have any bruises or scraps to report, but no guarantees.

The Bus, Pre-school, and Runs

This has been a fun week for our family. It stared on Monday when T got to ride the bus to school for the first time. The first couple of days we spend at least an hour waiting for the bus to come to and from school, but, sigh of relief, we always managed to catch it, and now we have a fairly good schedule down (I hope, anyway). For T, the best part of school is riding the bus and recess (but snack is also a highlight). She made it though the first week and seemed quite happy. I was a little stressed about the bus, but she rides with only kinders on the way there and her bus driver on the way home is a lady from church, which made me happy. Soo, we are into the first year of many, complete with the fund raiser coupon book that has already come home to start selling--hum...

Paitently waiting! Climbing aboard!

Also, ms. A started our co-op pre-school this week. She is learning about the alphabet, the seasons, and apples. She mostly likes it, but doesn't like doing "homework" with me. So sad!

First day!

Working in her journal before coming home with me.

I didn't plan it out well. A has pre-school in the morning and T has kg in the afternoon, but thank goodness for naps--In theory, I should get at least an hour of quiet time a day. I might actually get something done--or a nap:)

Lastly, on Saturday I did my first 1/2 marathon. My girlfriend, A, and I have been running together since January or February and this race was our goal. She is actually a much better runner than I am, so it wasn't a big deal for her. We ran together all spring and summer and I got to where I could mostly keep up with her:) The week before the race we drove the course so we'd know what to except--too many hills--but it was better to know. I wasn't sure what to expect, and it was definitely hard, but I'm happy to say I survived, I kept up with A until she left me on a hill at mile 8, I ran the whole time, and I did beat the guy pushing his one year old in the stroller (but it was iffy for a while). I did, however, get passed on the last mile by a guy in his 60's that (I found out after) was running with a broken toe--nice! Both A and I got 3rd for our age groups (that's right, she's older than me and faster as well.) S brought the girls out to cheer me on at the end--very fun!

Us with our metals. S made fun of me because I was the only runner not in shorts.

A's goal for the next year--A marathon!

My goal for the next year--have another baby!

S's goal for me for the next year--A marathon!

T's first day of Kindergarten

Friday was T's first day of Kindergarten. She was SOOO excited. The school district here does something called Smart Start, where the kindergarten class is broken into thirds and a third goes Wed, a third Thurs, and the last third on Fri. T, of course, was in the last third. (A friend told me they do it by last name). Anyhow, Friday she picked out what she wanted to wear, put her backpack by the door, and waited and waited for the time to come to head to school (Of course, there was also the dash over to the neighbor's house to get her shoes she hide there from the night before--love it).

Doesn't she look little to be going to school? I tried to get her to wear pants, as she would be going out to recess, but she wouldn't go for it.

Ms. A wanted to be in the picture, too. (She starts Pre-school Tuesday, so look for posts on that next week).

Here she is in front of her classroom. And can I say I LOVE her teacher. I use to sub for her quite a bit my first year I lived here. She is a very happy, lovely person.
Doing the counting jar. It was about here I gave her a kiss good-bye and got all teary. How embarrassing! Tomorrow she gets to ride the bus for the first time. I'll probably be a wreck again.

It finally came!

Some of you know that my parents had decided to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. We had all been waiting to see where they would go. They put they wanted to do a one year mission, so we thought they would stay in the States. While we were in the Tri-cities over Labor Day the mission call came. I was thrilled I was there when they opened it.

My parents were a little suprised. They were called to the Philippines for a year and a half. I can't remember the exact name, but it's north of Manila. They leave Dec 1st. I'm already missing them, but it will be such a great experience for them. My parents have always been wonderful examples of disciples of our Savior, Jesus Christ. I know they will touch many lives. Congratulations Mom and Dad!