Fall Leaves are a BIG Pain

I imagine this spider feels a little differently about the fall leaves than I do. A leaf crashing into her house is like the whole tree crashing into mine. She worked for about 1/2 hour to get it out. I watched the whole time, wanting to help, but pretty sure that me pulling the leaf out would have done more damage than just letting her do it. She got it out, did some minor repairs and was back to waiting for more house crashers.

Water Polo School - Help T Score

This was T-man's first year of water polo, and he had not yet scored a goal, so during the tournament this week, they launched "Operation Help T Score". This is how the operation went down.

First they tried just passing him the ball. Whoops, he missed, and the race for the ball was on.

Well that did not work out so well, T basically looks like he got run over by his opponent.
This move was repeated before a time out was called.

During the time out the plan was re-explained to T by J-dude. He was supposed to just go hang out by the goal and they would get him the ball.
BREAK!

So the third time was the charm - he hung out down by the goal, they got him the ball and he gave the ball a toss.

There was no "THWAP" sound, but in it went, and "Operation Help T Score" was a success. The photographer got a little excited about the operation and lost focus and the ability to take coherent pictures. We would fire her - but wait - that's me. After the game, and win, the whole team celebrated the success of the operation, and somehow T got player of the game. In my opinion the success of the operation says a lot about this team, they had to work hard to make that happen, and repeated the operation with some of the other younger players. Everyone felt good about that and had a great time, and THAT is what it is all about!

Water Polo School - The Steal

Next we will demonstrate a steal.

First you approach the opponent stealth-fully, keeping your eye on the ball.

Next, give the ball a little tap, right out of your opponents hand.

Finally swim after the ball to complete the steal.
Try not to make it look like you dunked your opponent when you made the steal - because you will get a foul called on you. If your opponent is a good actor you will get a foul called on you anyway. Practice the "faking getting dunked" move - it comes in handy!

Water Polo School - The Block

The block is very important - done properly you can make your goalies life way easier.

First - stay close to the person that you are guarding, so if they do try to make a shot you can mess it up for them. Again - you want to hear the "THWAP" sound, this time on the arm of your opponent.

Second step is to go after that ball that missed the goal. Relief for the goalie, ball retrieval for your team, sore arm for your opponent. Everybody wins. Well, everybody on your team anyway.

Water Polo School - GOAL!

Welcome to J-man's Water Polo School. Today we will demonstrate how to score a goal.

First make sure there are no defenders around you and that your shot is clear.

The second step is to throw. Hard.

Third - you should hear a loud "THWAP" sound as the ball hits the back of the goal. The sound is important because when you throw hard there will be a large splash that you will not be able to see through, you need the sound to know that your mission was accomplished!
GOAL!

A Perfect Place to Sip Sangria...

Our old deck had rotting boards and needed to be replaced. So we decided to spring for new one. Isn't it pur-dee?

We also replaced the back aluminum sliding glass door with a new vinyl one. Now the windows match.

Mandi likes the new deck, or maybe she just likes having the use of the back door again!

And of course some bird had to poop on it already. Seriously bird, can't you wait and let ME spill something on it first? I think I am going to spill some Sangria on it this weekend. Probably something else too, but we won't go there.

A Sign that Fall is Near!

It was 95+ degrees outside for the 3rd day in a row, but it was our last chance to go check out the "New and Improved" Seahawks at training camp. I was going to bring T-man, but he came down with a little bit of pneumonia, so he had to stay home. He was kinda mad that he missed it, but I promised him that I will take him next year with out J-man! Deal!

We sweated through the practice, and then we got to shove some people around. Okay, I admit it, I shoved them toward the first one. After they got that first autograph, they figured out how to maneuver to the next one, and the next one, and the next one.

It was hard work for those boys to get in there!

But I brought home 2 happy boys!


I'm looking forward to seeing what 112 roster moves (or however many they made) can do for this team! Go Hawks!

Seafood Fest Summer Fun 7/10/2010

So we have finally got some sun here! We had one really hot week (to try and make up for the cruddy June?) after the 4th of July. Now we are back to normal 70's and sunny. So we headed to Ballard for the Seafood Fest.

T is making sure that he will not over heat. Very Important to stay cool in the summer sun.

J-man saw the sign for the alligator on a stick and insisted that he had to try that. The verdict? "Tastes just like chicken. Only a little dry." Our little food critic!

The Viking crew that we had at the seafood fest. Of course we had to get them the Viking hats and pose for a picture by the huge salmon. What is a seafood fest with out that?

Oh wait. You can actually climb up into the big salmon! It looks hot in there. I'll just wait out here. I would rather eat the seafood than crawl around in it!

Can we put the Gortex and fleece away yet?

That is T hiding under that sweatshirt, because it seems like summer is never going to get here!

We need sun. And warmth. And Vitamin D.
Any help would be appreciated!!

My first trip to Disneyland!

Here is a tip if you ever take 2 little boys to Disneyland. Get 2 maps. They must have their own!

The plotting, the planning!

The rides!

The ice cream!

The Villains!

The characters!

The nephews!

And somebody always ends up in jail.
Oh wait. Wrong vacation, nobody ended up in jail - only the Dog Pound at Mickey's Toontown.

Had to Go Get Me Some Sun

T-man and I took a little trip down to Southern California with Aunt Spoilsmerotten and our nephew Z. Just thought I would post some highlights of our trip.
The Dolphin Encounter - definitely a highlight. Both boys could not stop talking about it. They gushed facts about the dolphins for days.
T: They felt like rubber!
Z: They talk out of their blow hole!
T: Not their mouth!
Z: Our dolphin is a Mom!
I could go on and on. They did!

The guy standing behind me while I was taking pictures asked me if I had my camera on Ninja mode. Apparently that mode is when you take 200+ pictures in 15 min. I told him my camera is always on Ninja Mode.

Did you know that April 25th was world Penguin day? Well it was. And you see that little cutie blond in front of the penguins? He is my newest (and cutest, shhh) nephew. It was nice to get to spend a couple of days with him. I would just like to apologize to my sister-in-law for messing up his nap schedule for those couple of days, I hope he is back on track now!

We also saw Shamu while we were there, the Sea Lion Show and got drenched on a couple of water rides. Good thing it was sunny and warm in San Diego!