sat, 7/17...day 198

Filled up the van and made a run to the dump today. Always feels so good to get rid of some of the junk lying around, in the side yard and in the garage.

Took two old crib mattresses, FIVE booster/car seats, the no-lights-now Christmas tree that has been sitting in the corner of the family room, pieces of a cabinet that I had removed from the laundry room 6 years ago (!), a crumbling wading pool, and an old hose - among other things!

fri, 7/16...day 197

Tonight the Enso Center camp had a performance for parents and demonstrated to us what they'd been working on during the week. Beforehand, we tried out these harmonic water bowls. You dip your palms in the water, and then rub on the handles. The water starts rippling, and then leaps and sprays out of the bowl. It's quite fun!

This is Niall next to the teacher, Jason, demonstrating sword movements. Niall concentrated intently on all of the moves, not only during this part but all the other demontrations.

He had made a couple of friends during the week, too, which really warms my heart. Love to see him reaching out and having a good time with his peers.

thu, 7/15...day 196

Love these hanging "cups" that act as a downspout at the Enso Center.

And here's my Niall-guy, hanging out on the deck with me. The light was lovely this evening so I had to catch a few photos (of course!)

wed, 7/14...day 195

This is a view of the Microsoft Commons, from the window of a conference room where I've met with the Test Central team every week for months now. I sent my "moving on" announcement out to the teams yesterday, so this was a wrapping-it-up meeting for me this week.

I wish them all well, but am excited to be moving back to an IT Pro writing spot with my new group.

tue, 7/13...day 194

Cory has been enjoying watching Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, which I got from the library this week. Here he is pretending to be one of the characters in the movie, who wears an eye patch. He did a whole three-part "play" for me, re-enacting part of the movie. :-)

mon, 7/12...day 193

This week, Niall and Cory are at martial arts camp at the Enso Center in Redmond. They're learning about several types of martial arts, including Aikido, doing stretches, learning about moving their bodies deliberately in space, and practicing rolls, kicks, and even throws.

The instructor, Jason, and his "helpers" often demonstrate different moves for the kids, sometimes with fans or "weapons" (wood sticks or swords). The swords and so on, they emphasize, are only used to help them focus on the space around them rather than being used for self-defensive or to actually attack.

sun, 7/11...day 192

On Friday, someone at work posted a link to half-price tickets for Cirque du Soleil Kooza performance. I so wanted the boys to have a chance to see them, so I seized the moment and bought tickets for the second-to-last performance, today at 1:00.

It was wonderful! Cory got a bit antsy toward the end of the second half, but Tynor, Niall and I had a fabulous time. I think my favorite act was called the Wheel of Death. Two performers spun and jumped and flipped in, on, and over two wheels (actually circles) that revolved around a center point. They made the wheels spin around the axis by walking and running inside the circle bands, and balanced exactly opposite, and with one exactly on top, and so on. Here's a small photo of it:



It was amazing to watch - among many other amazing sights!

sat, 7/10...day 191

This is our local pharmacy, just down the hill from us. The boys and I stopped by this morning to fill Niall's antibiotics prescription. Really like this place and the people there. We've been there way too often, unfortunately, but feel lucky to have such a great resource nearby. The only downside is that they aren't open many hours on the weekends.

My friend Laurel came over to visit for a bit this evening, and even brought dinner! We sat out on the deck later while the kids played. Beautiful evening. And she finally got to see a few pictures from our Africa trip.

fri, 7/9...day 190

Poor Niall has a swollen arm, wrist, and hand from an infected bug bite. Picked the boys up from camp this afternoon, and it was clear we needed to check in with a doctor and get antibiotics.

That was the right call. But unfortunately, the doctor also thought it would be best to get a jumpstart on the meds by giving him a dose by injection. Which wouldn't have been so bad, but he needed so much of the antibiotic, he had to have FOUR shots: two nasty ones in his legs, and two more in his arms. He was not a happy guy. :-( But he handled it very well, all things considered.

Then we had to hang out in the doctor's office for another 30 minutes to make sure Niall didn't have an adverse reaction to the meds. All of this when we were supposed to be at a going-away picnic for our friends the Bells, who are moving to Zurich for two years. Sigh. We did go to the very end of the picnic, but were sorry to miss most of the fun.

thu, 7/8...day 189

Kellen came by for lunch today and got sushi again. It must be good. I love how they make it fresh as you wait.

We walked over to the Company Store to check out Zune HDs (they didn't have any :-(), and then stopped to order Kellen's new smart phone, while we were in the neighborhood (near the Commons).

I added Kellen and Tynor to an AT&T family plan a few weeks ago, with the agreement that we'll split the basic bill three ways and all save some money. Tynor has a phone already (and plans to get an iPhone, when he has a job) and Kellen got a "feature" phone to start with. But now that he has a steady income working at Uwajimaya (yay!), he can afford to upgrade to data on his cell. :-)