Guntar

 

 

 

 

Summer pet number 2 - Guntar - Weimaraner puppy. We only had him for a day but it was great fun for the kids.  Avery was the primary caretaker: feeding him, walking him, bathing with him... yes bathing with him.  She wanted to give him a bath outside and thought that the water was too cold so she brought him inside to give him a bath and apparently it was too inviting to pass up.  She did give him a nice conditioning treatment though!  When he left I felt like a grandparent does when their grandchildren leave.  Happy to have him visit but glad I don't have to do it full time :)

Frank the Frog II

 

 

 

The kids got their first pet.  A Pacific Tree Frog that they found nearby.  I am fairly anti-pet, because I don't have time to take care of one more animal in this house, but I could deal with this.  Plus I knew they would tire of taking care of him anyway.  They were so excited to make a nice home for him and go to Petsmart and get crickets for him (which he never ate), but they were ultimately concerned that he might starve to death and after a few attempts to give him confined freedom to roam outside where he didn't take advantage of the smorgasborg of insects, they let him hop away into a crack in our retaining wall.  Goodbye Frank II (Frank the Frog I lives in a fountain in San Clemente CA)

Cascade Loop

There may not be a prettier place in the continental U.S. than Washington state.  Even though it doesn't feel like home to me, I can appreciate it's fabulousness, at least for about 18 days a year.  We had a rental car while mine was in the shop so of course we were gonna put some miles on that puppy.  One tour to complete - Cascade Loop (different from the Kaskade loop that Britt plays on her iPod).  An eight hour drive that we have never completed in full.  We opted to drive it clockwise heading straight for the Cascadian Farms roadside stand for some ice cream and berries.

Then on to Ross and Diablo Lakes.  We have camped there before and it's stunning every time.

 The part of the loop I had never seen, the Methow Valley, including the old western town of Winthrop.  There was no vacancy on this part of the loop otherwise I would have loved to stay here and explore the area.

London 2012 - Week 1

Is there anyone else who isn't getting much done this week?  Is there anyone else who is so mad at MSN and the likes for plastering spoilers right on the front page of browsers?  Is there anyone else who wishes that Olympic "prime time" started about 2 hours earlier so that we, our spouses and children could go to bed at a decent hour?  Okay, those are my chief complaints, otherwise it's been awesome as expected.  Highlights and commentary from week one:

1.  I love this clip of two kids who snuck and grabbed the Olympic torch en route to the opening ceremonies.

2.  Ryan Lochte.  Do I want to hold a finger to your lips and shush you and your mother?  Yes.  I know she has since clarified the "one night stands" remark but I am still glad for the safety of your competitors that you swim in a heavily chlorinated arena.  I'm not super impressed with your grill, although at least it was patriotic.  You're 28 dude (happy birthday today!), not 18.  But what caused the biggest eye roll from me was your interview when asked what clothing you liked women in the most and you said that you like a female in one of your long sleeve button downs and nothing else.  So cliche!

3. Out with Lochte, in with Adrian (Nathan).  He's adorable (at least as adorable as you can be at 6'6").  He is a local boy and I love our commercials that feature his parents, especially his "Chinese Tiger Mother" who says that she said, "if you don't want to practice swimming I have chores for you to do at home".

4.  So what about Ye Shiwen?  Does she spend time cross training with Floyd Landis or is she truly just a product of the Chinese sports factory?  No matter, while Ryan Lochte is busy reading his latest issue of Maxim, Ye Shiwen is doing something that allows her to post a faster free split time than him in the IM. If you can avoid the trash on the sidebars, this article in the UK Daily Mail is a good one about this teenager who likes "puppies, detective novels and horoscopes".  

5.  Volleyball has been fun to watch - whether at Horse Guards Parade (??) or indoor.  Amazing athletes.  I like that the men's team is issued their choice of one of two haircuts - preppy side part or bald and bic'd.

6.  The best part of the Olympics is the reactions of the athletes win or lose and the reactions of their parents.    You just can't watch Aly Raisman's parents too many times.  It is so nervewracking to watch gymnastics when it is not your kid.  I can't imagine.  And what about diving?  I almost can't enjoy it thinking someone is going to split their head open. I guess we all have Greg Louganis to thank for that.

7.  Can we just talk about the sport of eyebrow overplucking that ravages our gymnastics team every year?  There's always one who just can't step away from the tweezers.  Yikes.  But in other eyebrow raising news...

8.  Oh Anthony Davis.  How could you forget to put on your jersey?  Rookie mistake I guess.  I love that he tried to check into the game then realized it.

9.  It's been fun to watch Abby Wambach take it to our opponents in the games.  It took me a while to realize that she doesn't play both defense and offense and that Amy LePeilbet is not her.  Thank goodness Rapinoe has a platinum 'do or it could have gotten really confusing.  Those girls are super tough, hats off especially to Kiwi GK who got kneed in the face by the incredibly talented Alex Morgan and kept playing.  Meanwhile, Hope Solo just sits back in goal thinking about what she is going to tweet.  

10.  Boo for badminton teams losing intentionally to manipulate future games.