> MOMMY!!!
* yes?
> I made a big mess.
* In the bathroom? Is there water everywhere?
> No.

pause for dramatic effect

> There's BUBBLES everywhere!
* You smell like strawberries. Did you get the soap down?
> Yeah!


I bought a new bottle of bubble bath Tuesday. And now we are out again.

pink

These are dahlias from the Edmonds Saturday market. They are in a vase next to the kitchen sink. Aren't they miraculous?

it can still be summer

 Zoe picked some "flowers" for me from the "garden". We put them in a cup of water so that they wouldn't "sleep". I keep them on the windowsill in the kitchen and they bloom each morning when the sun comes in. Dandelions will live like this for a long time.

zoo

Friday Kevin & Tina were in town for a few hours and we met them for lunch at Ray's Boathouse/Cafe in Ballard. It was a beautiful day and we got a table on the balcony outside with a perfect view of the water & mountains. Did I take any pictures?... nope.

We were really close to the zoo & I had packed us up just in case I felt like going after lunch. And I had a Groupon for admission. It's so expensive! However, I did pull right into a parking spot that was right in front of the entrance on the sidewalk. Amazing! And then the people who were leaving the spot gave me their parking ticket so I didn't have to pay. [I always did this for other people too.] The parking lot $ does not go to the zoo anyway. And it wasn't too crowded, but it was a sunny afternoon and the animals were incognito [napping?]. We saw the giraffes, an elephant, a sleeping tiger, a lion, and a faraway zebra. The dinosaur exhibit closes next weekend so I'm glad we finally got to see it.

Zoe had a good time. So did I.

dinosaurs + zoo

sunbeams

They sing this at preschool.

If all the sunbeams were candy bars and milkshakes

I'd want to be standing outside

with my mouth open wide

ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah

wiggle, wiggle, flap, kick

I think this is the Dragon Dance or the Butterfly Dance

talking all the time

* I think Daddy's garage is really messy. Yeah, I think it's really dirty. I'm going to clean it up.

>Zoe, please don't break my glasses. I need them to see.
* Okay, suit yourself.

* I'm a really good acrobat.
* I'm a really good ballerina.
* I'm a really good draw-er.
* I'm a really good digger.
* I'm a really good jumper.
* I'm a really good builder.

Last night from the backyard

It was cold & rainy yesterday - which was much needed around here. Pete was over helping a friend build some new ductwork so Zoe & I kept busy playing in the house and then running around outside.

BTW: my garage sale on Saturday was a success. Constance was a HUGE help and Zoe was well-behaved the entire day. I sold all of Zoe's 3T clothes that I have been collecting for Goodwill and some of her toys that she doesn't play with anymore. We got rid of the cement mixer and some saws that have been sitting in the garage for 3 years. I put out my jars of jam and sold... about 20? There was one "crazy" Norwegian lady who bought 12. At $4 each I at least paid for the majority of my canning project overall. While I am now out of plain strawberry, I reserved jars of everything else to share with y'all some day.

Zoe seems to be about the average height/weight for kid's her age, but I am buying size 5T shirts & jammies for her. 5T pants are a little long for her right now, but I know she will grow into them by winter. 4T clothes fit her perfectly all-around, but it will just take one growth spurt to make them a little snug. She doesn't like to wear jeans or any kind of pants that are not stretch pants/leggings. She won't wear anything with a rough or scratchy texture. She really likes patterns.

Open-Shut

This is a song from preschool that Zoe sings fairly often.

so many jars

I made some more things today. I had some mangoes that were totally ripe and a pint of raspberries in the fridge - and then I saw a recipe for mango-raspberry jam! Delicious! I have had pecan-praline syrup on my To Do List and it was so easy to make [bottom photo]. I found these awesome "special occasion" jars at Fred Meyer [I hate shopping there, why do they have to sell everything I want?] They are small, wide-mouth 1/2-pint jars. I am building quite a collection in my Preservation Cabinet.

I wish I could still sleep like this

Pink Ladies Tricycle Club

tricycle

This tricycle is going in the garage sale on Saturday. She has never really enjoyed riding it. It is really tough to pedal on our lopsided driveway. What she really wants is a scooter or roller skates. I am investigating the 3-wheeled scooters that don't tip over.

Zoe's photos

Here are a few of the photos from Zoe's camera.

I Think I Canned

I canned some fruit this week! Since Zoe is in school during the day I finally have time this summer to do things like this. So far I have made: strawberry jam, strawberry-jalapeno jam, strawberry-raspberry-jalapeno jam, blueberries in lavendar-honey syrup, peaches in vanilla bean-cinnamon-star anise syrup, raspberry-basil-balsamic jam, dill pickles, pickled peppers, & brandied bing cherries. That sounds like a lot of stuff. Some of the batches were only a few pints. I'm going to try to sell a few jars of jam at my garage sale in a couple of weeks. If I can find some good tomatoes I will make some salsa or pasta sauce. And I am excited for apple & squash season in a few months, too.

Train Drawing

I'm a good picture

Zoe took her camera outside to find some animals to take pictures of, but there weren't any... where was that old black cat hiding? So she found some other things that interested her. The house next door is vacant & for sale and the lawn is getting a little out of hand.... she is going over there to pick "flowers" for me. I haven't looked at the pictures that she took. I'll try to remember to get them off of her camera & post a few. So many SD cards in this house!

Scenes from the Market

Constance, Zoe & I went to the Edmonds Saturday market. I got some flowers, a zucchini, some lettuce, basil, kale... I also got a free book that is an encylopedia of the year 1975. A "vintage" shop had a box of free books sitting outside. And to make Edmonds even more awesome, a new frozen yogurt place opened! Have you been to one of these self-serve yogurt places? They are popping up all over the place. It seems to be a franchise-type kit that you name whatever you want. There is one in Greenlake called Zoe! You fill up your cup with whatever you want and there is a toppings bar with fresh cookies and cereals, candy, sauces, fruit, pretzels, etc and then they weigh it. It doesn't seem more expensive than 2 scoops at Baskin-Robbins, about $3 usually.

Zoe has been dressing herself, most days, for a couple of months now. She would wear this butterfly shirt every single day if I didn't tell her that it was "dirty". She is wearing it in a lot of the pictures I've posted lately. It will be sad when it stops fitting her. I got it at Kohl's for $4 and would have bought extra had I known it would be so popular. She still loves loves loves pink. Today she put on a pink dress and pink, velour pants. And pink socks. She has silver shoes that have rainbows on them and she tells EVERYBODY to look at her rainbow shoes. Aren't they beautiful? she asks. She has also started to say to people "Hi! What are you doing?" Oh, well, I'm putting your groceries in this bag. "this is a pineapple!" yes, thank you. "and these are my cookies! don't drop them. Don't break them. These are my cookies" ok, I won't drop them...

Tour de Terrace Carnival

It's the beginning of SeaFair in Seattle and our next-door neighborhood Mountlake Terrace had their annual Tour de Terrace over the weekend. We took Zoe to this last year and she loved the things that she was big enough to do. This summer she is about 34 inches tall and that qualifies her to do a bit more, like ride the dragon roller coaster and the crazy bus. Super fun! I'm glad she likes rides.