Summer Solstice: A look at the day from Trish

I love June 21, Summer Solstice, and now so does Piper. She was counting down the days to 'summer' since like May. Here is a look at our day here is my Piper at 9 AM for her first day of Ballet in the Grass in Alexandria. Then I took my brother and mother in law to Old Town Alexandria, there we found a 50% off mug with Brad's name, none of our names were on sale, ha ha. We also found a piano for Jeff to play and we took some pictures at the court house.


In the afternoon we went to the Mall and saw the WWII Memorial, it always takes my breath away and on Monday it was HOT too!

After that we walked to the Vietnam Wall Memorial; onto Starbucks at The George Washington University and finally the White House. It was so hot that Piper didn't even want to get out of the stroller, so she took the pictures of us at the White House. Pretty good for a 5 year old I think.


Then it was onto the Nationals baseball game; where we watched the Nationals beat the Kansas City Royals. Livan Hernandez did a great job pitching. Here we all are at the game and in the ball park seeing some of our favorites.


Here is Pudge Rodriguez taking an at bat and Abe winning the race...again!

Kaitlyn's Graduation from Landstown in Virginia Beach

This past weekend, not only did we celebrate Father's Day but we also celebrated a milestone in life for Kaitlyn. She graduated, with honors, from Landstown High School in Virginia Beach. as you can tell her dad and brother, Brian, were very proud of her. So was her little sister, Piper and me too.

We also had some time to hang out in Virginia Beach, so we went to the Virginia Beach Aquarium, which was good, not as great as Berlin or even the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, IL, but still entertaining and fun. Here is Piper with the scuba diver that was cleaning the tank. Seems to me he has a pretty fun job. We also goofed around a bit and found a set of Shark teeth!


Then we hit the actual beach with Brian and his friend, Matt. Pretty fun for Piper!





Finally, we went to Kaitlyn's house for a graduation party with friends and family. It was a really nice time and we all had a fabulous time. Piper learned to play bean bag toss and we all made new friends. Piper is in the picture playing with Christina, who also gave her silly bracelets that were princess themed. Kaitlyn has a lot of nice friends and it was good to see them and we all enjoyed delicious food and a great graduation cake.
We are really proud of Kaitlyn! We just didn't see her much this weekend, so we will have even more pictures of her as the summer goes on!

Then it was Father's Day, Brad got a new fabulous shirt, a black bull figurine from Madrid, Spain and a pedicure. Then because we love him, we let him cook dinner too. That was after he had to drive 4+ hours home from Virgina Beach while I read to him how we will both get into fantastic shape, by the end of summer by applying the ideas Dara Torres suggested in her Gold Medal Fitness book.

The Porch Girls Go Out!

The last time the Porch Girls got together we picked a new book to read, The Art of Racing in the Rain, by Garth Stein. We also discussed how Harry Connick, Jr. is such a cutie patootie. So...we thought we would try to go, but...no luck, there was only lawn seats by then. No lawn seats for the Porch Girls, we are, after all Porch Girls, not lawn girls.

Last night, while that hottie Harry Connick Jr. was crooning away to hundreds of fawning women just like us, we went out to dinner and discovered a new restaurant in Kingstown. It is called East Moon Asian Bistro, and it was pretty good. They even deliver, a huge thumbs up for that feature. The restaurant is really cool, very well decorated and we all admired the bar, which is beautiful, and currently empty, no liquor license for another 3 weeks. The food, it was good. We all shared crispy spring rolls, and then Carrie and Jeannine had sushi while Ann and I had Panang and Peanut Curry Sauce, both with Chicken. They kind of looked the same but the cute presentation of rice with a pop out orange is worth noting, as is the fabulous plates.


Here we are at dinner, Ann, Jeannine, Carrie and myself. We have a 'hood party coming up, the 4th of July, and then a Porch Girls get together where I have to choose the next book. I need to figure that one out because it will be hard to follow The Art of Racing in the Rain, it was great.

My Sister, Meg's Surprise 40th Birthday Party

I pulled off a successful surprise party for my sister Meg on Saturday night. My parents were so great; a lot of help and a fabulously remodeled house to show off as well. Meg was so surprised and I think a little thrilled. Many of the cousins came over from Bellevue, as well as Auntie Peg Lemieux and Aunt Franny Moses too. My Eternal Buddy, K.sue came with her girlies and they had a ball playing in cousin Kristin's tent. Here are a few pictures:


I am going to just post some cute pictures of all the family and friends that came to celebrate with Meg. What a fun group of gals, and few guys too.


Then after all the festivities last night we had a big brunch this morning which gave us a chance to get some pictures with the cousins and Aunt Franny.




Finally, I will end the Sunday brunch with a few more pictures. The day was a huge success and a lot of fun, the pictures tell a great story of love from family and friends and great memories.

A Trip to Ellensburg and Jeff's HS Graduation, Conifer CO.

I have been sitting at the computer most of the morning, playing catch up more or less since the trip out here isn't exactly going as planned.

Where do I begin? We had a great flight, great weather in Seattle the first day. Then the next morning, poor Piper got sick driving over to Ellensburg. We thought it was food poisoning but the only thing she ate that we didn't was blueberries at the girlies house. Anyhow we spent a few nice days, but with rain, (where the heck is the sun out here???) in Ellensburg before we drove back to Seattle and flew to Denver, Colorado to meet up with Brad.

Weather in Conifer was great, and we enjoyed Jeff's high school graduation in a beautiful sunny day. So proud of him and all he accomplished in high school and now he is off to Cornell University to study engineering!



So, fabulous trip, all going well, until I get some crazy 24 hour worst case of flu ever!!! UGH! I lost 10 pounds in 2 days, but I don't recommend doing this. We had to push our flight back to Seattle a day, and Brad left on Monday as planned to fly home to DC. I was so lucky to have an awesome mother in law to take care of me (she got up at 3 AM and brought me more ice chips!) and Piper had both Grandma Donna and Uncle Jeff to play with and entertain. Here is the Lincoln log house Piper and Uncle Jeff built:

Now we are back in Ellensburg, known for it's wind, but got to tell you, all it's done is rain this week. I hear it is beautiful, hot, humid and sunny in DC. I am still recovering, so I have not worked out in over a week, still down 10 pounds, mostly from dehydration but thinking I better get it together soon so I can get back to my usual life. Although laying in bed until 9 AM isn't too bad, and look what Piper gets every morning from her grandparents:
We did make it to the ranch to see the cats and look into a smelly sewer pipe, always something going on there. That will require a whole additional blog post, there is a lot of of history with the McManamy Ranch and homestead buildings.

So far the trip is good, not exactly what was planned, not making it to The Gym and seeing everyone in town like I wanted but I did manage to get a great pair of sunglasses made by my girlfriend, Lynn Sullivan. Check out her website: www.cowgirldivaz.com. I think this weekend will be more active so stand by.

Finally, I would be remiss if I didn't say this: a few years ago, on an August Saturday morning I was driving with Brad and Piper over to Lake Washington to watch my eternal buddy, K.sue, and her sister, Laurie compete in the Danskin Triathlon. As exciting as it was, what I remember most is the news that came across the radio, Jamie Moyer had been traded to the Philadelphia Phillies. I was shocked, he was an icon in Seattle, he had the Jamie Moyer Foundation, with his wife, doing all sorts of good for kids in the area, he was an upstanding guy and a great face for the Seattle Mariners. Who cared that he was in his early 40's? (Looking back now, who did care, he has been an asset on my fantasy baseball team every year he has been with the Phillies and I have enjoyed watching him play against the Nationals for 3 years). So, it was with great sadness that I watched King 5 news yesterday and learned along with everyone else that 'The Kid' Ken Griffey Jr. was retiring after 22 years of professional baseball, most of them in Seattle. I came to Seattle as a freshman at the UW in the fall of 1987, he had just been drafted and was making his accent to the pros at breakneck speed. By the time I was a senior in college and interning at KIRO TV Channel 7 he was the face of the Mariners, along with his dad, Edgar Martinez, The Big Unit- Randy Johnson and Jay Buhner. I watched all the games from the press box, logging them for KIRO. I was in the locker room when he had a bad game and his dad couldn't decide to be his dad or another fellow player. I watched he and his dad play the outfield together, hit the iconic home runs back to back. I watched and celebrated when he helped secure the first AL championship win over the Yankees, he has been my favorite player, he is the one I grew up watching, and now he has retired.

People tend to remember where they were when President Kennedy was shot, where they were then the Challenger exploded, or 9/11. I remember those events that I was alive for too, but I also remember when my players retire, and this I won't forget. He is what 'The Franchise' Floyd Little is to the Denver Broncos. He is the reason baseball is still in Seattle and he is the reason SAFECO Field was built. He is a first ballot Hall of Famer and I can't wait to cheer when he is inducted. Thank you Ken Griffey Jr for all the joy you brought to baseball and the Seattle Mariner fans.