Zoopa

There isn't much I miss about living in California. In fact, I can probably name what I miss on 3 fingers.

Finger #1- Family

Finger #2- Watching the Angels on TV for free
and

Finger #3- Souplantation/Sweet Tomatoes

During basketball season Papa goes down to Oregon a handful of times. The hotel the team stays at is right down the street from Sweet Tomatoes. He gets to eat there twice during the weekends he is in Oregon. Sometimes, Brother Bear gets to go on the trip with Papa. Which means Brother gets to eat at Sweet Tomatoes too. Brother then likes to call and tell me that he just ate at Sweet Tomatoes.

Brother didn't have school on Friday, so, Brother, Sister and I went up to a mall near Seattle that has a Mariners team store. You can buy your tickets at the store without the ridiculous service charges. Down the street from the mall is a restaurant called Zoopas. Zoopas is otherwise known as Fresh Choice and Fresh Choice is definitely not as good as Souplantation/Sweet Tomatoes. But, Zoopas is as close as I am going to get to Souplantation. So for lunch that is where the three of us headed. Since I haven't had Souplantation since the summer of 2008 I was pretty excited. We filled our bellies and headed home.

Baseball Days

The Angels have had some great weather for playing baseball lately. The season started out slow but has picked up. We could finish the regular season in second place. Brother Bear has spent most of the season playing catcher. He's pitched a few innings also.

Game of Duck Duck Goose

Fire department burning down a house during the game.

Nice face stuffed with a snack



Hanging out at 3rd

Bunting



Brother Bear as catcher. Always makes me a little nervous with batters at the plate who look like #10

Mothers Day

Happy Mothers Day.......A lit late!

For Mothers Day we went out to breakfast and then headed up to Seattle to watch the Angels play. It was a gorgeous day out! We got to Seattle early, but not early enough to get the free parking by Krispy Kreme. Neither of the teams took batting practice out on the field, so we just watched some of the pitchers work out. Brother got 3 Angel pitcher autographs. Unfortunately the Angels lost. It never fails, whenever we go to a game here in Seattle they lose but then win the ones we aren't at. After the game we stopped in at Krispy Kreme for a post game donut. The kids enjoyed watching the donuts coming out on the conveyor belts. Sister tried to keep her eyes open on the way home but she finally gave in and crashed. When we got home we spent some time playing outside. We had a nice family day together.

Mixer

One time when Papa and I were first married I was making chocolate chip cookies. I was stirring the batter and I remember him walking by and telling me that his mom uses a mixer. I was like "well, I don't, I stir it by hand." That's how my mom made cookies when I was growing up. She only used a mixer for cake mixes. We got a blender from someone as a shower gift. It's a very simple, no bells and whistles, no frills mixer. I can probably count on both hands how many times I've used it and we've been married almost 15 years. I made these Oatmeal Fudge Bars ( http://www.mamamanifesto.com/2010/05/sinful-copycat-starbucks-oatmeal-fudge.html )and it required using a mixer. So, I pulled out my mixer and got to work. These bars are supposed to be like Starbucks Oatmeal Fudge bars. I've never had one so I don't know if they taste like the Starbucks ones or not. They turned out pretty good. I sent most of them to work with Papa because they are too rich to have at home. Oh, I bet I could have frozen them to save for later.

Blue Milk or Brown Milk

We get out milk delivered every Monday from the milkman. There is a little box outside of our front door. Usually we get four blue milks and two brown milks. It's pretty darn tasty and lasts a lot longer than store bought milk does. Brother Bear, who is not a milk drinker, loves their chocolate milk aka brown milk. At dinnertime Sister Bear requests two milks in her cup....blue milk and brown milk. Sometimes I catch Papa drinking right out of the brown milk container.

Rainiers Game

We spent Sunday at the Rainier's Game with Brothers baseball team. All of the teams in his league come in uniform and go out onto the field before the game for the National Anthem. It was a drizzly windy day for baseball. Luckily we were under the overhang so we didn't get wet from the heavy drizzle. The boys had a grand ole time. They each got a voucher for a drink, hot dog and chips and then they all managed to eat more junk during the game.

Cornhole and Smores

We had a nice Sunday evening at home. Papa finished putting the finishing touches on the cornhole game. For Christmas, David and Nicole gave us the makings for the game. Nicole made the bean bags for us in Angel red and Dodger blue. We had some friends come over for dinner and a little bit of cornhole. Afterwards we got out our fire pit and had some smores. Sister Bear said she liked camping.

Here are a few rules and terms for playing cornhole.

1. Decide who goes first. This is usually the ugliest person.

2. Clean the area of debris, especially dog poop

3. Cornhole, Holer: A bag that ends up in the hole.

4. The Great Cornholio: A person that throws 4 bags in the hole. All present are required to bow down to this cornholer.

Princess Party

Sister Bear had a little birthday party at our house the weekend after her birthday. She wanted princess plates and napkins and to paint her toenails. So that is what we did. She had 3 friends over last Sunday afternoon for cake and ice cream. This time the cake was chocolate with pink icing and two of her princess figures on top. I'm not sure what happened with the cake this time. The cake started splitting after it was frosted. Oh well, they just wanted to eat it. The girls did a little craft and then they all had their toenails painted. Brother Bear disappeared with the brothers of Sisters friends and we didn't hear a peep from them until it was time for cake. When the cake was over they were gone again. After cake and ice cream Sister opened her gifts and gave each of her friends a hug. She's not a huggy person to other kids so it was pretty funny. Papa said he didn't think that he would ever be surrounded by so many Barbies or princess figures. After everyone left Brother and Sister played so nicely together. Later that night Sister told me she really liked her princess party.

Humor

What does a green light mean?

Go

What does a red light mean?

Stop

What do you put in the toaster?

BREAD

not toast which is what some people say.

What do you get when a big brother teaches this to his little sister?

A little sister who repeats it to her mom ALL DAY LONG!!!!!!!!!!!!

She's 3!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday Sister Bear!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Can't believe our little girl is 3 years old already. I can still remember Brothers 3rd birthday like it was yesterday. Sister was very excited for her birthday. She knew what day it was and every time she heard someone say April, her ears perked up.

Sister wanted Minnie Mouse for her cake. There was a serious back and forth between Princesses and Minnie, but in the end Minnie was victorious. She picked out her cake mix at the store. Funfetti. So I made a funfetti cake with pink frosting.

After Papa got home from work she opened her presents. Then after dinner it was yummy cake time!
Lucky Sister she gets two cakes. Next weekend we will have a little birthday party at the house with a few of her friends.

Sounders Game

The weather on Wednesday was great.

The weather on Thursday......not so much!
We were headed out to the first Sounders game of the season.

Qwest doesn't have a roof like Safeco does.
Oh well.

The drive to Seattle was mostly drizzle.

By the time we got to our seats, which were four rows back, it was raining pretty good.

I brought some bags to put on our seats. We didn't need them. People stood the whole time.

Poor Sister, she couldn't see.

But she was a trooper, eating her way through first half of the game and trying to collect the big pieces of sparkly confetti which falls from the sky.

I brought sandwiches which we had to eat fast so they didn't get soggy.

We were given club level passes. So at halftime we went up to the club level which had an inside restaurant and big viewing area.

Dry.

Warm.

But we weren't four rows back anymore and couldn't hear all the chanting and cheering.
Dry and warm though!

Sounders win!

On the walk to our car we encountered a very LONG freight train we had to wait for.

Brother tried to sleep in the the car on the way home but Sister talked the WHOLE way home.

First Game as an Angel

Brother Bear is playing for the Angels this year!!!!!!

He (and I was, too) was very excited for that the Angels were going to be his team this year. Well, the Angels are his team every year but this year he is actually playing on the Angels. Sister and I will be be well outfitted as we cheer on Brother. We have plenty of hats, t-shirts and sweatshirts. I saved some of Brothers old t-shirts, so Sister is able to wear them.

Just like last year Brother is playing catcher. There isn't anybody else on the team who wants to play catcher. This means Brother will get to play that position most of the time.

The day was great for the Jamboree Games. SUNSHINE!!!!!! Sister and I didn't even wear a jacket or a sweatshirt! Some of Sister's friends are gone this year. The boys moved up and had to go through the draft again, which broke up the little sister gang of the Blue Jays. That's ok...Brother is an Angel!

Basketball weekend

We spent Friday and Saturday night at Papa Bears work for the last two basketball games. Friday was Think Pink Night. Brother sported a pink polo and was looking pretty spiffy. Sister had on a dress with her pink sparkle shoes and every necklace she owns. On Saturday night the guys all gave Brother a card with a gift card in it. Sister enjoys helping out her dad too. She pulls coolers and puts ice bags in the coolers.
Brother ended up not feeling well Saturday night so he didn't help past halftime. He went into the training room and laid on a table and watched tv.