Hip Hop Hippity Hop Hip Hip Hop Hop Hippity Hippity Splat

Soccer mom is back in full force.  Saturday started out with Siena's dance class at 9:30-10:30.  Then both kids had a soccer game at 11:00 followed by a second soccer game at 11:50.  They were definitely worn out by the end of all that but they did great and ran hard.  They both even came close to scoring a goal.  Admittedly, dance and soccer were Kodak moments but I was too busy doling out water and snacks to keep these guys running.

We made it home in time for the Blazer game.  All I can say about this Game 4 playoff game is that for the first 3 quarters, it was the worst game of the season.  For some reason I couldn't bring myself to change the channel. Usually I get frustrated and do.  Even when they were down by 23 points toward the end of the 3rd, I kept it on.  And good thing I did because the 4th quarter of this game was the most amazing quarter I've ever seen the Blazers play.  B Roy was unbelieveable.  When he hit this game winning shot, I ran around the family room like a crazy lady.  Meanwhile the kids were like "That's nice mom.  Can I have some juice now?"

Today is Easter.  The day of resurrection.  Much like the Blazers comeback yesterday.  We started out the morning with breakfast at the Bomber with the Cruzes.  As you can see, I'm "representin" with my Blazers shirt.

There was a balloon guy at the restaurant this morning.  While we were waiting for food, Kendra took the rest of the kids over to get balloons.  Andre came back after a few minutes with his.  Then Mason came back because he didn't think he wanted one.  Then the food came.  We all ate.  Finally, after what felt like forever, Siena and Kendra made it back.  In the time it took, she should have come back with the Eiffel Tower of balloons.  Instead, this is what she got.  Oh well.  She was happy with her balloon tiara.

Here is Andre with his snake.  Mason caved in the end and decided to get one.  Of course, he got a Ghostbuster's balloon. 

Later in the afternoon, we went up to Yaya and Papa Ron's house for some Easter egg hunting.  It's Oregon so it wouldn't be Easter if it wasn't raining.  We didn't let that deter our hunting!  I don't even think the kids noticed the drops.

"I FOUND ONE!"

"What?!?  There's even more hidden up on the deck?!?"

We had a fantastic rib dinner with my folks.  The kids ate a ton of their candy.  The sugar low must have kicked in by the time we got home because they were both too tired to even read books.  I haven't heard a peep out of them.  So with that, happy Easter to all and to all a good night.

I Am Old

Apologies for no blog last week but I had nothing to blog about.  Tax returns kept me from any Saturday excitement and rain kept us from leaving the house last Sunday.  Fortunately, things turned around this week.

For me, the weekend started Friday night when I got to go watch one of my favorite comedians and podcasters, Mike Schmidt, perform his one man show.  It was a small affair but I laughted harder than I had in a long time and it was a great evening.

After Siena's dance class on Saturday, we went to Jose's work for their annual Easter party.  We were too late for the egg hunt.  The kids still got candy and cupcakes though so it was a success.

It took a good half hour, but we were eventually able to convince all of the cousins to join Tristyn with the Easter bunny.

Mason was especially fond of the carrot car Easter bunny. He may love Star Wars and Ghostbusters, but he's still a car kid at heart.

Yeah, you know these guys.

Here's an actual interaction I had with Siena one morning this week.  She has taken to wanting to put on makeup with me in the morning.  While I was putting on foundation...

Siena: Mama, can I put that on?
Me: No Siena, your skin is perfect already.  You don't need this.
Seina:  Okay.  I'll just use it when I'm old like you.

I'm still recovering from that one.

I had to tear myself away from the tv to take the kids on our Sunday walk.  It's the first round of the playoffs so there's 4 playoff games on each Saturday and Sunday.  I LOVE it!

Mason picked out today's walk on google earth.  He chose the walkway along the Columbia River on Marine Drive.

It's a nice paved walkway so of course he wanted to walk on the grass.

Siena did great and had fun!

The kids left a grass path so people could find our trail (ala Hansel and Gretel).  As you can see, getting lost is a big risk on this path.

After our walk, we went to my cousin Brian and his wife Deb's open house in Vancouver.  They now have an awesome new house, complete with Brian's mancave. 

Someone in the family got artsy last weekend.  There is still some improvement needed but it was fun nonetheless.

Think this is my favorite.

The Spirit of the 90s is Alive in Portland

After a week of work, today is break time.  I have been continuing to help out Isler with tax returns on Saturdays.  One of their interns had to quit last week as a result of some health issues so they are even more behind.  I have to admit, it's somewhat nice being an outsider just helping out at this point.  It also seems like the staff are doing the required number of hours and not a minute more.  When I was a staff, we tended to work above and beyond as the work load dictated.  I came home lamenting "kids these days"...

Back at Mentor, Mr. Icahn continues to orchestrate his media game against us.  What the outcome will be, no one knows at this time.  We have to continue to see how it plays out.  I'm just happy to be in between quarter ends at this point.  I can go to workout classes and get home at normal times.

We continued our new tradition of Sunday walks today by going up to some of the trails around the zoo.  Blinky Siena and Mason had take a break at one point.  We did a lot of walking around on the trails around the Hoyt Arborarium and on the Wildwood Trail.

We were fortunate in that the rain held out today too.

I just thought this tree was neat.  It had more pine cones than I have ever seen on a tree.

This is up above the Vietnam Veterans memorial.  Picture sponsored by The Gap.

While it was dry and reasonably warm, it was still too cloudy to see the city in the background.  We tried though.

A lady with her family was nice enough to offer to take a picture of the 3 of us. 

Luis has kept busy this week working, taking in the Timbers first ever MLS game in Portland, and pursuing new business opportunities.  Much like the Icahn situation, we don't know yet what will come of it but we'll keep you posted.

The kids are nicely playing I Spy right now. I'm wondering how long the harmony will last.  For now though, it's so darn cute. Time for me to go watch my new favorite show, Who Do You Think You Are.  I'm a nerd.