Where have I been? I
know! It's been sort of a whirlwind of adventures and tears. A few weeks ago, when John was sporadically always out of town, I swooped in and stole Hartwell away from pre-school for a mini Disneyland vacation. My boys like two things: Disneyland and hotels. They play hotel in their bedrooms. With key cards and a concierge. We stayed in the cheapest room at the Grand Californian and it was pretty delightful. Totally worth the extra $50 to stay in the park-ish.
These photos are the only ones I took those two days. They are enjoying a cotton candy reward because Hartwell pooped on the potty! There's more to it, but I'd hate to ruin your current cotton candy association.
It was their first cotton candy. (Okay, I bought them some once in a bucket, but it hardly compares to the delicious beehive goodness of a mound of sugar on a paper cone).
I love how messy Hartwell's face is compared to Beckett's clean one. So like them.
Next up, heliport! Our local heliport held an open house. The kids could check out four different helicopters, a SWAT truck, an official police dog, and get a free wiener! The pilot was really nice and explained what everything inside the helicopter does, how fuel is measured in pounds and showed him all the radios they use, (NOT to listen to Lady GaGa, I asked). The pilot then asked if Hartwell had any questions, and he surprised me by saying yes. His question? "Um,...I went to Disneyland!"
I call this one "Melee at Yo Gabba Gabba Live."
"White male, 52 inches tall, grey shirt, driving erratically."
Ahhhh, deep breath! After spending two weeks alone with my knuckleheads, I hopped on a plane to Seattle to visit my mom and dad. ALONE! No children, no basset hound, no responsibilities. As vacations go, it was really great and I highly recommend it. I think my next vacation will be flying somewhere with some girlfriends, splitting hotel rooms, doing stuff I can't do with kids. My boys are still perfectly happy to go to the beach, but I'd like to go to the MOMA.
I took this photo on the two hour drive to Leavenworth, Washington. A lovely mountain town founded by Germans. Really cute and full vacation satisfaction. Quick note, people will get mad if you post it on facebook as "Germany-ish" and will tell you that they could see a USA Today. The jig is up!
We mostly shopped and ate and, of course, drank coffee. Most of the stores were sort of Christmas or German, there were a few sassy vintage modern places, and one store that sold imported Russian items. My mom talked to the guy for awhile, as she is a collector of the lacquered boxes that he carried. Turns out none of hers are counterfeit because she bought them in Germany in the 80's. Good to know. Will addendum!
I bought a carved wooden bear that has a ball and string hanging down and when you move it, the bear puts his shoe on. It reminded me of Hartwell. He still can't put shoes on.
On the way home we stopped by Snohomish, a small town full of antique/vintage stores. I wanted this set of dishes, but I would cry if the boys broke a piece so we kept walkin'.
On Saturday, we took a ferry to the San Juan Islands. A group of islands near the Canadian border that the British tried to snake. Take that, British! That's my dad. We were freezing our butts off on the deck trying to spot some orcas. But they, apparently, were not informed about my vacation. We did see some porpoises. Not as exciting.
Can you see the house snuggled into the trees? Lovely.
I took this one for John. He's a boat guy. As boats go, it was a pretty one.
On the last day my mom and I went back to antique stores and browsed like crazy. My suitcase was fuller than my dad after the Friday night seafood buffet, so I wasn't able to purchase more Pyrex.
I returned to Los Angeles Sunday night at midnight, after leaving my phone in Seattle and having a mini breakdown in the airport. Why are there no clocks? ! You'd think a person at an airport would enjoy a clock or two! And no phones! I had to search for a pay phone to try to catch my mom before she got on the freeway and was carried away by traffic undertow.
My phone was mailed the next day. Mostly I missed my watch and solitaire game.
A few days later, Hartwell had a birthday party to attend. A pink princess birthday party. So he and I designed a bag for his friend. He picked pink swirl fabric because it was just like Pinky Dinky Doo.
And now we're back to peonies. The last ones lasted almost two weeks, so I bought another bunch for the kitchen. Magenta.
Delicious.
