em loves the emmy's...

sadly i totally forgot it was on...
thankfully
my sister texted me
so i did get to see the last hour or so...

today i'm googling all of the speeches...
& i came across the opening number on youtube
oh!
it's just so great...
check it out:



i love watching things that are so well done
& look like they were so much fun to make...

& i love the tim gunn part...
of course!

next year
i will write it on the calendar...

:)

:)

legoland road trip: tips, tricks & lessons...

(the force was with us...awesomely made of legos)

snacks
lots of snacks...

a mini dvd player is a friend to all
(ours only holds a 2 hour charge
so Q had to do traditional backseat stuff, too:
drawing,
games,
asking 'how much longer?' 236 times)

don't assume that your spouse brought the good camera
(just because you talked about it
the day before you left..ahem)

smile as you realize you only have
the old digital camera
whose card holds 75 shots at it's lowest resolution
10 on it's highest
with no cord to upload the pictures
onto your laptop

(fun fact: Q has been able to recognize & name
the eiffel tower since he was 3
...the boy likes buildings :)
...oo la la legos)

when you give your 6 year old the old digital camera
don't be surprised when you get 30 pictures of stuff
(not a single one of his dear parents who brought him on the trip
or even one of himself or his feet!)
or tons of the same thing
(legos & legos, of course :)

& smile again when the camera breaks
(after 5 years & thousands of pictures)
right in the middle of the day at legoland

buy a disposable camera
(for an unspeakable amount)
at the legoland store
& decide that you're going to
'click it old school'

console yourself:
at least you made up a good pun
instead of crying

embrace the challenge of 27 shots
that you won't see until they are printed
(i actually loved this!
i might buy a disposable to
keep in my purse...)

(Q's wish : a trunk full of legos
ha ha!
ha?)

a water park at 2pm in southern california
is worth the extra $12.
everytime...

always go on a ride called
'lazy river'
float around said river a few times

if you can't find someone to go on the big rollercoaster with you
(i don't want to embarrass the boys by saying
they were too scared...
but they were.)
go alone...
you won't regret it.

oregon water is the best water on the west coast

the best soundtrack is your kiddo singing
(we were treated to a fantastical mix of
star wars sound effects,
random thoughts to his own tune
& 'don't stop me now' by queen*
as we drove through the grapevine)

the grapevine sounds like it would be
lush & cool & green.

it's not.

(miniland...totally amazing!
Q took 20 pics of this.
before the camera broke...)

there are two kinds of people:
those who get stressed out when
the gas gets below a quarter of a tank,
& those who don't...
they are usually married to each other.

hanging out with your grandma
is always time well spent

(1st, 3rd & 4th generations...
not made of legos)

hotel pools save everyone's
being-in-the-car-for-12-hours
sanity

if there is a special kind of fast food
that you can only get in a certain area of the country,
get it in the first part of your trip
because by the end
even an in & out burger sounds awful
(sniff)

when you have two kids
it's way easier to travel with one
(especially when it's the 6 year old)

when you leave the 4 year old behind
(even if it is with grammy & pop
& she has the time of her life)
you feel like you're missing a body part
(everyday someone said 'i miss miss m!')

it was still a really good decision :)

(my awesome roadtrip partners :)

if you have the chance to roadtrip
do it!
there's just nothing better
(in my opinion :)



* when i looked 'don't stop me now'
up on youtube there was a thing that said
it was voted "The Greatest Driving Song Ever"
by viewers of the BBC television program Top Gear.
pretty cool
& appropriate...
& you can't beat hearing your kiddo sing
'don't stop me now
i'm having such a good time
i'm having a ball!'
at the top of his lungs :)

trippin'

road tripping, that is...
& i might just get the chance to
post a time or two...

we shall see...

:)

pdx with t...

what happens when your step-mom

is also your friend?

fun...

lots of fun...

thank you so much for
the super wonderful adventure, tam!
love you...

:)

boys of summer, part two: an older man

our anniversary is today
but we got celebrate on friday night
which worked out better for a myriad of reasons
that i don't need to list here...
i'll just say that it's always best to go with
the grandparents schedule
& when you know a sad anniversary
is also on the horizon
celebrating a good one first is nice
(cryptic enough?)

on friday morning
we weren't sure what we were going to do
& i said
'if you plan something, i will do it...
i'll follow you anywhere'
which sounds very jane austen
& is true, to be sure
but underneath the true
was the fact that i just didn't want to
try to figure it out
(especially because i had quite a big day ahead of me
with another guy, even :)
but it was no problem for MR. G!
which could stand for our actual last name
or for mr. google
because he was on it...
& he didn't even tell me what we were doing
until we were driving there
(big for him
he likes to spill the beans :)

first apps & drinks & good conversation
at steelhead
then a walk across the street for dinner & a movie
at the david minor theater


this movie house
has two theaters
one is (relatively) traditional
with rows of seats
the other has couches & comfy chairs...
i had only been in the row-y theater before
so it was fun to snuggle up on a couch for a movie
this time....
from the list in this picture
what do you imagine we saw?

that picture makes me laugh...
mr. high powered 5th grade teacher
can't even get off the phone to
pose for a photo with his wife...
so sad.
sigh.
ha ha :)
of course i love that detail
& the blurriness
& the tilt
& everything else that makes it
very real...
very us :)

we also stopped in at barnes & noble where
i was presented with a gift card
(he does know me well :)
to use however i saw fit...
& then we headed home...
(screen fades to black)

:)

ps
(of course)
we have a song...
our song
which i have documented
very well
here & here
(& probably a few other places)
but this one has become a new favorite
in the past few months...
an 'our song' runner up, if you will
should the first be unable to perform it's duties...

i could only find a coffee shop video performance of it
but i think that fits us pretty well, too :)



i love you, brian!
twelve down, forever to go :)