Olympic Swimming Trials

The kids and I have been watching the Olympic Swimming Trials this past week. It has been fun to see how interested they are in the different races. Becca thinks the butterfly is really cool, Hannah liked watching the Women's 50 freestyle and Peter Gordon liked the Men's IMs. Emily was just happy to hang out with everyone. It is amazing how talented the swimmers are. It will be fun to watch them during the Olympic Games next week.

Swimming Lessons

The kids started swimming lessons at Seven Peaks yesterday and are having a blast. Peter Gordon is learning to put his face in the water and gaining confidence in the pool. He's trying out arm motions here. Hannah is working on diving and freestyle. Becca is learning the breaststroke and has plans to learn the butterfly tomorrow. Emily wishes she could get in and has had to be content with wading in the shallow parts of the wave pool.

Hannah's Birthday

Hannah had her birthday last Wednesday and had a happy day. She got some clothes, some books and a new stuffed animal. The stuffed animal, a monkey she has named Patches, is a definite hit and has taken its place of honor as her bedtime buddy. She had a party on Saturday with her friends and really had fun playing over in the park. She had a princess cake (cake stuffed with pudding and jam) and thought it was delicious.

Alaskan Adventures

I was up in Anchorage, Alaska over the weekend to give a presentation on a project that I have been working on to the Northwest Archivists' spring meeting. It is absolutely beautiful up there. There is a wildness to Alaska that gets into your soul and reminds you of how spectacular nature can be. I was lucky enough that Brad is still up there on his ob/gyn rotation and so we hung out together on Saturday. We went up to Girdwood and ate lunch at a little diner and played pool. We also hiked up to Byron Glacier. It was pretty cool to realize that the glacial melt was flowing underneath us towards a lake. The ice was really blue in places and the vistas were quite stunning.


That evening we ate dinner at Simon and Seaforts and I had the best fish I have ever had in my life. I had macadamia encrusted halibut stuffed with king crab meat. It was to die for. As you can see by the picture below we were both happy campers after dinner. It was fun to go to Alaska and even more fun to spend time with Brad.

Five and the owner of a big bike

Peter Gordon had his fifth birthday today and it was a good one. He had a bunch of friends over this afternoon and played in the backyard in our inflatable swimming pool. They had a blast. He got a bug catcher gun, a water gun, some dinosaurs, binoculars, a puzzle and some other fun stuff from his friends. This evening we had a little family party for him and he had cupcakes and orange dreamsicles. He got some golf clubs from Grandma Susan and Grandpa Pete, some basketball shorts from the girls and a bike from Mom and Dad. He loves his new bike. It is 18 inches tall and he is still figuring out how to get on it but once he is on he is a speed demon. He loves to be outdoors and is always on the go. He makes life interesting.

I'm a big girl too!!

Emily had a couple of breakthroughs over the weekend. Chantel has been working on potty training with her for the last week and she is finally starting to get the hang of it. She gets pretty excited about going in her little toilet and loves to high five everyone after a successful try. Emily also decided that it was okay to go to nursery by herself. In fact when I went to pick her up and said it was time to go she said "No" and scurried off to the other side of the room. I hope she is as excited about nursery next week. We'll see.

The Gift of Flowers

Last year about this time my Dad gave Chantel a gorgeous orchid to brighten the house. We enjoyed it for several weeks and once the blooms had fallen off Chantel decided that she would try to nurture it through the year to see if she could get it to rebloom. Her efforts have been rewarded with four beautiful blossoms and the promise of a few more.

I have been thinking about why flowers are the gift of choice from men to women. I think that it may have something to do with the desire to give the gift of life. Flowers are something that are very much alive and bring joy to the receiver. The kids and I gave Chantel some flowers for Mother's Day and they really enjoyed planting them with her. I love to cut my roses and arrange them in beautiful bouquets on the kitchen table. There is something simple and elegant about flowers. They never fail to brighten a person's day and they are always welcome. Everyone deserves more flowers and happiness in their lives.