camping

Camping was awesome! We went to a place just off of Lake Cle Elum. I believe this area is actually under water when the water level is high. We had tons of room, and we were right at the water's edge. The water was FREEZING though, so no swimming for us. However, the weather was absolutely perfect for hanging out. We got to try out our new tent, which worked perfectly, and I wasn't even too cold at night. Also, I mastered the art of peeing outside-something I have never been very good at.

Also, Whiskey had something ELSE happen to him... :) All of a sudden, he started walking around with his tail straight down, but he seemed to be acting normal. Today, same thing-acting normal, running, swimming etc, but had his tail down. I thought maybe he broke his tail (only MY dog, of course), but Matt remembered reading something about "Cold Tail Syndrome". I guess sometimes "working dogs" can get this when they go into really cold water and for other random reasons. Well of course Whiskey was having the TIME OF HIS LIFE when we got to the camping site, he swam in the water like 48 times in the first 10 minutes. The water was FREAKING COLD, but that never seems to affect him. It wasn't until later that he started with the tail tuck. So weird. Thank God Matt thought of it as being a possibility or I would be getting more xrays again!

See how straight down his tail is?? He looks so sad, but seemed to still have fun!

On an unrelated note: This random man came over to us while we were hanging out with his Potato Gun and a growler of beer. He wanted to show us his gun in case we heard it from afar. It was soooo weird! He gave us all a turn with the gun and also let us have some of his beer.

Chris/ty: Matt got a pipe and enjoyed it while sitting at the campfire-we thought of you!

Amanda and Bryan. Can you tell we got a little sun??

Whiskey in his happy place on his bed

Another straight tail picture

When we were getting ready to get into the tents at night, we kept hearing something huge in the water which was right next to our tent. I was really freaked out and thought that maybe they were large fish jumping. Then we thought that maybe the Potato Gun Man was shooting his potatoes a little too close to us. This morning we figured that maybe they were large frogs that we must've spooked. I get spooked easily too!

PW

I look at this blog often: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/ and I LOVE it!

I have cooked many of her recipes and have loved every single one! I made this Shrimp Quesadilla last night and it was delicious!! http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/09/quesadillas-de-camarones/  I used a bag of frozen pre-cooked and pre-shelled shrimp, and just heated them in a skillet with taco sauce. I needed no other spices to make this good!

I also plan on making the Tres Leche cake tomorrow. For what?! No reason. Just to make a cake. Because I can. And I have the ingredients. Yay!

On another note, Matt's brother Bry got engaged last weekend to Amanda-yay!! We all went out to dinner after their scavenger hunt!

Happenings

We were fortunate enough to go see the Broadway play Wicked this afternoon! It was just as good as everyone said it would be! The actors were impressive, to say the least. They were all incredible performers and singers, and the storyline was awesome. If you don't know, it's like a side story to the original Wizard of Oz, featuring the witches as opposed to Dorothy. GO SEE IT!

Yesterday we went tailgating at the Husky game, then went to the Knarr Bar on the Ave to watch it. We were going to try to get tickets but we decided against it because we had at least 5 people to get tickets for, and we would have probably been separated-boo. We did have a good time at the Knarr though...it's always an interesting experience :) Despite the loss, the Husky game was awesome and did not disappoint. We are very excited for this season as they seem to be looking good!

It is raining SO hard right now and my dog is desperate for some exercise and attention. So Matt has been trying to chase him around the house since we've been home. I can hear them upstairs right now playing fetch.

Thank the Lord for low census at work! I would have normally had to work this whole weekend, but I put my name on the list and got lucky! Yay for not having to go to work when you're supposed to!

camping

Camping this weekend was awesome to say the least! I never once took out my camera, but am reliving many great moments in my head. Case was the life of the party and was oh so tough out on that beach! He actually growled at some crabs. See? Tough. And Whiskey became ultimate protector of the campers, and he loved every second of it! He and Case became the best of buds-especially because Case is right at Whiskey's stealing level. He got more food by stealing it right out of Case's hands this weekend! I have a feeling we'll be doing this again!

Sorry no pictures today :)

Patio

I came home from work yesterday and saw that Matt and his Dad had finished the firepit patio!! We used random Pennsylvania Bluestone (the main patio area is Dimensional or rectangle bluestone). It's still a bit dirty, but I think it looks soooo good! We are looking for a large concrete bowl for the actual firepit....

TRI

WOOHOO!!! I did the Sprint Triathlon!! The whole race was set up at Genessee Park in Seattle right at the Stan Sayers pits. I had to swim 0.5 mile, which is 18 laps at a pool, or 36 lengths. It took me about 21 minutes. I then had to run out of the water to my transition area where my bike was. I took about 6 minutes to run there, take off my wetsuit, dry off and put my running shoes on. I also got some water and some energy stuff while I was there. I then ran out with my bike to Lake Washington Blvd where I biked 12 miles across the I-90 express lanes. This took me about 43 minutes. Once I got back, I got a quick drink and off I ran. I was EXHAUSTED! My legs felt like rubber and were soo heavy! I think the first mile took me forever! I had to stop like 3 times for some water and to rest my legs a little on the first one alone. Once the second mile hit, I felt like I got in a groove. The problem was, I had to pee the entire time I was running and that really slowed me down! I crossed the finish line and kept on running to the portapotties. The run took me 30 minutes, so about 10min/mile.


Matt was great and tried his best to catch me at each interval. There were over 5000 competitors and each had people there to see them, so he was in a crowd all day! He missed me get back from the swim, but he made it to all of the others! It was so hard to find him at the end of the race.





Here I am preparing my transition site at 6am.




Putting on my wetsuit at double o early





wetsuit again



NERVOUS picture





Running out of the swim.



Putting my bike back, getting ready to run




You can barely see me in the distance on my run...this whole portion counts as my "transition" between events, so I tried to be quick.



Sprinting the finish

close up of me at the finish

All done and taking everything back to the car


The Ultimate Supporter


A couple of the girls from work who did it with me...we're on the first place block. I cannot see because the sun is my eyes (good excuse for a bad pic)

yard

Matt worked all weekend by himself on the yard. He used this crazy contraption that he rented to dig holes in our clay-like soil, and carry loads of dirt.


He planted all of these plants (finally!!) with the use of that crazy drill! Thank goodness, because it would have taken much more time by hand!


The wall is all filled in behind now and we will hopefully get some plants in there soon!


Random rocks in the dirt will have a better place once we have more plants.


wide view

I am SO proud of how much he got done this weekend!

pictures

I borrowed my friend's road bike the other day and the rear tire needed some pumping. This is what we saw when the tire was taken off. They think the tube was defective...ha!



Here is the infamous retaining wall. Matt will be backfilling and adding soil this weekend...more pics to come.


Close-up


Firepit

Bees on my oregano

start of the steps

steps

Wall

"Another picture, Mom??"

the mother load

vacuum, that is.

I got a brand new, fancy pants vacuum! It vacuums WAY more than my other Dirt Devil did! It also comes with a shampooer attachment and I LOVE IT!!!

Here is a picture of the massive mosquito bites all over my back and arms. It's hard to tell, but they're there. Also, on the back of my left shoulder is a bruise that Whiskey made trying to swim with me in the lake.