See Ya At Christmas Mama

Mom's vacation is over. She is in the air as I type this, on her final leg of the trip - from Chicago to Marquette. Dad will be happy to see her but my brother and I will miss her. We had a WONDERFUL time.

I love my mama.

Mom's Northwest Vacation - Part Five

Mom's Northwest Vacation - Part Four

Mom's Northwest Vacation - Part Three

Mom's Northwest Vacation - Part Two

Mom's Northwest Vacation - Part One

North Cascades Scenic Highway

(who says you can't have fun while breaking down in the middle of nowhere with no cell reception?)

(you should see the pictures we didn't get to take)

Mariners vs. Yankees

(despite D's 9th inning rally cap, we still lost)

Stuff and Things

Snoqualmie Falls/JP's Birthday Cake

4th of July With The WA Family

(having fun with the distort/transform setting on the camera)

Tranquility

I don't feel much like putting anything into words but I still want to remember my days. Today was relaxing. I think I would use the adjectives "peaceful and tranquil." I love my little sanctuary.

Woodland Park Rose Gardens

July 2 - My Brother's Birthday

We had grand plans for my brother's big day. Originally we were going to have McDonald's breakfast, a trip to the zoo, a cookout at the park, the movie Eclipse and dinner at Hard Rock Cafe.

Later it was decided to ditch the movie/dinner and instead make pasties at home and play games/eat cake with MA.

The day ended up being nothing like we planned. We slept too late to get breakfast from McDonald's, the zoo was too crowded so we got out of the ticket line, we went to Snoqualmie Falls - except they were doing construction on one side of the riverbank so we couldn't take any pictures without getting heavy equipment in our frame, it started to rain as soon as we left Seattle, the picnic area we went to for a cookout didn't have a grill, Mom forgot to give us the recipe for pasties, and we got in a fight about birthdays and how many "bottoms" would fit in our kitchen at one time.

The day ended much better than it began but poor MA had to put up with a lot. Our pasties turned out really well, even my gluten-free ones...I managed to follow the directions and came up with decent cupcakes out of the box with relighting candles, we watched an episode of The Office, played Scrabble, burned a Pic and laughed a lot.

I am thankful for my brother. We share family history, inside jokes, information that can be used for blackmail purposes and an ease of communication. Having him here this year has been a blessing. The last time I lived with him, he was only 8 years old. Now we get to try it as adults and learn each other's quirks on a whole new level. He might drive me crazy and I know I irritate him but we're stuck with each other. I wouldn't trade him for the world.