Katie has been bugging me and bugging me to update the blog.
Problem is that I like it to be quiet when I'm blogging.
Meaning NO KIDS.
So, now that the kids are back in school, the last two weeks of September will be Blog Catch Up Time.
June 1st was quite the busy day.
We found out that Katie was going to be a 7th grade representative on the student government.
(They call it ASB - associated student body).
I spent three hours with my friend/ PTA co-prez popping and serving popcorn to the middle schoolers for "Popcorn Friday".
Upside: It's actually a lot of fun.
Sometimes you can get the kids to dance and sing for free popcorn.
Always entertaining.
Downside: You smell like popcorn for the rest of the day.
After we were done with popcorn, we headed out to the Emergency Prep supply shed to take a delivery of a crap load of supplies.
You see, here in the PNW, we are required by the state to have enough supplies to take care of everyone on campus in the event of an emergency. So, we have food, water, toilets, emergency blankets, first aid supplies, tarps, flashlights, search & rescue kits, etc.
The state mandates that we have these supplies, but gives no money to pay for them.
That's where PTA comes in.
We inventory the supplies, order the supplies, pay for the supplies and stock the supplies.
Yay us.
PTA. Your disaster preparation specialists.
Rich's bro, Chris, came for a quick visit.
After Mikey's morning soccer game, we took him for a hike to a lake.
He CHOSE to have Ralph duty.
First to jump in the water was Ralph.
Next was our Little Mermaid.
(Who, for the record, is not so little anymore.)
The bros chilled and gabbed.
Finally, the soggy trifecta was complete.
Shortly after this picture was taken, Mikey was stung by a bee.
But, that didn't stop him from helping Uncle Chris juice some limes for margaritas to go with our taco dinner.
Cheese!!
Thanks for stopping by Chris!!!
Now, a quick break, for a sampling of our towns varied wildlife.
Among such standouts as opossum, racoon, squirrel, mice, rats, deer, black bears we also have:
Coyote.
And, rabbits galore.
At least a dozen in our backyard alone.
This is Mikey.
Mikey does not like cooked carrots.
They are, "THE WORST."
I decided that this year, Ralph would not ruin our blueberry bush.
Another Saturday, another soccer game.
Here he is with the team, the Golden Warriors.
That Saturday also happened to be Take Steps for Crohn's and Colitis.
Katie was quick to take up with her friend from camp.
They strided off together and left the rest of the family in the dust to walk together.
We were able to catch up and pass them at the end and were ready for Katie to cross the finish line and see this......
It was a busy Saturday.
You can't tell from this picture.
But this one certainly makes it clear.
There was one last full week of school left at this point.
Katie had some end-of-year events.
A salad party in her science class.
They grew different lettuces, harvested them and then ate them.
Katie was lucky to have a drama instructor teach four of her electives during the year.
1) Drama
2) Music (they formed a kazoo band)
3) "Action Drama" (was the equivalent to PE Games - they practiced dancing and other fun games)
and
4) Leadership (they presented "The Life of a Piece of Gum" on the video student bulletin).
Katie felt that she was the luckiest kid on earth. She was in theatre heaven.
And then her year of drama-related electives ended with a performance of "A Friend Like Me" in front of a packed house and the 8th grade Advanced Drama class.
Dancing, singing, costumes.
It had it all.
She ended the week at a friends birthday party.
At some point, she stole my camera and decided to make some "art".
This might be why I now see a dark spot in the viewfinder of my camera......
Hmmm.
So, sassy.
Ralph found a bunny nest in our yard.
I can't quite remember if there was drama surrounding his discovery.
There might have been.
I think he got one and kinda chomped it.
Anyways, here are the survivors in all their cuteness.
We cordoned it off as best we could.
Last week of school!!!
Mikey had his field day.
I did popcorn duty in the morning and face painting in the afternoon.
Mikey was very happy with his face paint suggestion.
The next day was Katie's field day.
A little bit bigger of an event, it's planned and organized by the ASB but PTA volunteers to help man stations.
I picked up Tie-Dye station prep duty.
Mixing dye for 200 t-shirts is quite the process.
But, it all worked out and the shirts came out really nice.
I didn't see Katie all that day.
She was busy doing all the other things they had going on.
Like face painting.
I was on my way home from another PTA gig (helping at the 8th grade party), when I saw this and had to pull over to take a pic.
Sometimes it's easy to forget, or to take for granted, what a beautiful area we live in.
LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!
LAST BUS STOP WALKS OF THE SCHOOL YEAR FOR RALPH!
Katie brought a friend home afterschool.
So did Mikey.
We spent the afternoon at a local community indoor pool with those friends and a few more.
A great way to end the school year.
The next day, Huzbend's work had a giant family picnic with food trucks, bouncy houses, carnival games & petting zoo.
Usually the kids are still in school and miss it.
Not this year.
Cotton candy.
Katie's go-to treat when everything else is gluten-based.
Mac n' cheese.
Mikey's go-to meal when everything else is "weird".
Cute game of "get the fish in the basket with a foot activated catapult".
And then there were the human hamster balls.
We ended the day with a visit to the petting zoo.
Mikey still remembers a petting zoo that he went to a few years back where he pet a rabbit named Blackbeard. Now, all rabbits are compared to Blackbeard.
Blackbeard was softer than this rabbit.
The end of June brings with it Camp Oasis.
Katie goes away for a week to sleep away camp with other Crohnies and Colitis peeps.
"Do you HAVE to take a picture of my bunk?
Seriously."
To say Katie was excited to be there was an understatement.
She has talked about going back to Camp Oasis since leaving last June!
Hugs goodbye.
So, while Katie's away, Mikey must play.
We did a whole bunch of things to keep him busy.
First up, bowling with one of his friends.
Followed by post-bowling Fro-Yo that same day.
The rest of the week was busy with:
Raspberry picking.
And a lot of raspberry eating.
Strawberry picking.
Hiking.
And a trip to Olive Garden for very gluteny breadsticks.
