A great day to be outside!

We've got baby birds. We've actually had them for awhile, but they are getting bigger and louder now and I can see their little mouths sticking out of our vents in the eves of our house.

They peep really loud and then the Mom and Dad take turns bringing them food.

They are fun to watch, but they are going to need to leave soon so we can replace that screen to keep future generations out of the eves and in the trees!

We also spent some time outside riding bikes.

Look Mom, no more training wheels.

Today J-man's friends came over and asked if he could go outside and ride bikes with them. I said no, because I wanted to get dinner started and didn't want him out on his bike with out me outside. I also said no because Joey can't ride his bike with out someone running along side of him and I get sick of it so I just put the training wheels back on. So after dinner Mitch went out with J-man and took off the training wheels and yeah! he was riding his bike. Somewhat drunkenly, but he was doing it. Now he just needs to get out there every single day and practice, practice, practice. I think having his friends ride over here from their house on their bikes was very motivating! One down, one to go. T-man was out on his bike too. I see the training wheels coming off by the end of the summer. There is something to be said for having a big brother that you want to be just like!

What a week!

This whole last week was crazy, but it was the last full week of school for J-man, T-man's last day at Pre-school. Next week we still have 1 1/2 days of school, but then summer can officially begin! I move to my summer work schedule, so I can be home more with the boys. "Home" actually refers to the pool, where we will be spending most, if not all of our days at.
Bad weather be damned, we went to family float night anyway. First we invited friends to join us at the pool for pizza before float night, so we had 13 kids from 6 different families chow down with us and then all of the kids and a few of the parents hopped on floats and got it. I froze my butt off (actually, it's still there - dang) but I got in the pool and played with all of the kids anyway. It was fun, maybe 60F, so cold fun. The water was at least 80ish and I had the hot tub to look forward to afterwards.
T-man is scary how fearless he is in the water. He thinks he can swim, and he sort of can, but not enough to keep up with his brother and that is somewhat problematic. He kept just taking off for the deep end, and I'm not comfortable with him feeling so independent in the water. He also got out and said he was going to do a back dive and starting making the backwards motion of doing it (while the lifeguard was starting to yell at him!) and I had to grab him off the side of the pool while screaming "ARE YOU CRAZY!!!" He can't even do a front dive. Jake the dive coach is going to love this...... I am ready for summer swim lessons to start, it will be so much better when T-man is in the water practicing every day. I'm pretty sure four is too young for dive team....UGH.
Thursday was J-mans 2nd swim meet. Here is the freestyle.

Yes that would be J-man finishing that race first. It was the exhibition heat only so only for time, but it made him feel good to be the first one out of the pool! He also swam backstroke and the 2 relay's, and most of all had a lot of fun. I love the crazy swimmer hair! Goes well with the Pokemon obsession. Is this something that all little boys have to go through? The Pokemon thing that is, Drives me crazy. Wait - I was already there.....

And the sharpie art! That takes DAYS to wash off.

And thank goodness the weather turned out nice for the meet this week.

Somehow we also managed to go on a date Thursday. Ryan Shupe and the Rubberband were in town at the tractor tavern in Ballard, so I HAD to go see them. Mitch was excited about the Ballard part because he wanted to go to Peoples Pub and eat German food (groan). So we ate there (good food, but heavy pub style and don't go there if you are in a hurry - says right on the menu!) and then walked to the Tractor. I thought the live show was fun, Mitch said they reminded him of The Presidents of the United States of America (PUSA). He figured that is why I like them so much. I think he is right. I tend to like bands that are had to put in a genre and this is one of them. I was really excited to hear that they are putting out a new album around Feb 2008! Yeah!

It's been a long week. I stink like chlorine and I need a shower before I go to bed. But first I need to go wake Mitch up and get him off of the couch. I think we are too old for weeknight dates where you go see a band at a bar until after midnight, neither one of us is doing to well on our couple hours of sleep!

Race for The Cure

We had a great time at the race for the cure. Our team - Team Public Health - raised well over our goal of $4,000 and I personally raised $195. Thanks to all who contributed. One of the numbers I heard mentioned at the race was $1.7 million from the Puget Sound racers and they were still counting pledges!

Our outfits were fabulous. We all wore our Komen Race t-shirts and then added pink feather boas and pink energizer bunny ears. Next year I am going to add hats, outrageously decorated hats with lots of bling! We decided we need a new layer each year, and ugh, we are talking about running next year instead of walking. I think people should pay to see that....good comedy!

We started walking at 9am (took 5 min to cross the finish line) and finished our 5k at around 10:oo, slowed down by the crowd and a couple of people needed a honey bucket break at the halfway point. Everyone loved our boas and bunny ears, but I saw a lot of really cool hats and got ideas for next year....

After the race we headed into Qwest field for the after party (and free stuff!). My fabulous co-worker MJ was our hero in the survivors parade, a large group of the most amazing women (a few men too!) who were lead onto the stadium floor by the Seahawks band. When everyone was on the field we all danced to "I will survive". That was followed by the Seattle Women's Choir. Good after party!! Tons of survivors!! Very inspiring!! I can't wait until next year!!

Its not to late to donate. I donate to the Susan G Komen Foundation all year long (they send me pretty return address labels) as they are always working hard to find a cure and support women in their fight to survive breast cancer. I love that.

I walked in memory of:
Joan Claflin
Marilyn Crockett
I walked in celebration of:
MaryJo McTighe
Deborah Oester
Margaret Riter

In Loving Memory

Goldielocks

Born in June of 2004 died June 8th, 2007. She passed away suddenly and peacefully at home Friday with her mother at her side. Goldie was born in Lynnwood, WA and was adopted by the Perry family on November 3, 2004. She is survived by her biological mother, Gwen, her adoptive mother Michelle, her adoptive (although reluctant) father Mitch, her adoptive brothers T-man, J-man, Yukon Dog and Ditto Cat.

She was a loving guinea pig who spent her life eating hay, pellets and fresh veggies. She enjoyed the occasional apple pieces and loved to squeal when the food supply was getting low. She will be missed.

At her request, there will be no funeral services.

In lieu of flowers, remembrances can be made to the ASPCA.

Knocked Up

Not me, the movie! It was great, we laughed through the whole thing. Now this movie comes with a warning, there is quite a few scenes with drugs and sex and I would not let my kids see this movie, it is ADULTS ONLY. But if I were you I would definitely go see Knocked Up, especially if you needed to laugh really hard.
I actually went to see a movie on its opening night!! That is huge!! That has not happened, well, since 1999 at least - before the J-man was around. Oh, and there is a lot of really good movies coming out - there was 20 minutes of previews before the movie. Don't they know I am paying the babysitter by the hour and those previews cost me $3.50!