What Clark's Phone Saw

Clark just had me dump all of the pictures off his phone onto the computer.  And it was pretty entertaining - seeing as he hadn't done it since he got the phone 18 months ago, it was a walk down memory lane.  So, here's the last year (and a half) in review, as seen by Clark's phone.

Behold the waterfall!  Dupont Forest never gets old.

We got a puppy.  A poodle puppy who looked like he was covered in fake fur for the first 9 months of his life.  We love him.  A lot.

It snowed.  A freakish amount.  On Christmas Day, which seemed completely magical.

Headed off to the Christmas show at school with Sam and Shii.

Sam does his first 5K.  Runners take your marks! (Yes, he did wear his Chucks to run.)

My first tri with an ocean swim in Myrtle Beach.  The good news:  I run my way up to second place woman overall.  The bad news:  by the finish I felt just about how I look.

I start making lanterns.  I love the lanterns.  I explain for the 9,999th time that the tea light will not melt the shell.

Boy at the beach.

Sam's first All-Stars team.  This team was very proud of its status.  It didn't win a single game.  No one seemed to care very much.

Sam turns 8.  Many water guns are involved.

Still growing flowers for market.  This goes back a ways.

Before the swim start at Xterra Tsali.  My off-road Tri.  I'm not quite sure what I'm getting myself into.

 The finish of Xterra Tsali.  Very happy.  Very muddy.  The good news - 3rd place woman overall and 2nd fastest run.  The bad news - the first fastest run (and overall winner) put 4 minutes into me on a 5 mile run.  Ouch.  Fortunately she's about the nicest person you'd ever meet.  Plus she once finished on the podium as a pro at the Xterra World Championships.

Sam discovers his one true love.  Sushi.

Yet more flowers.

And - the best dog of them all, Georgia Smith.  May she rest in peace.

A Quiet Afternoon At Home

Here's what a quiet afternoon at home looks like.  At least this is what impersonates one at our house.  To be fair, first Sam went with me to restock at Woolworth Walk.  He was a doll - patient and easy.  Partly that's his nature, and partly that's because I bribe him with treats from the soda fountain.  You've got to do what you've got to do.

But then when we get home he's ready for some action.  And his most frequent partner in crime is me.  Which, I have to admit, is a whole lot of fun.

First, we explore both of our budding football careers.  You might think I'm a little late to be learning to throw a football, but I'm sure I read somewhere that new experiences are good for the soul.  Lots of personal growth.   And Sam will tell you I'm getting much better at it.  Ok, he's still better, but I'm working on it.

Next we move to to his true love - baseball. Except we live in town, so instead it's whiffle ball.

  

Here's my observation point.

Yep, lying down watching through the net.  Fortunately this is one man whiffle ball, in which I just have to admire the line drives.  Why the net, you might ask?  Because he can really hit a line drive with a whiffle ball.

Then the trudge to retrieve the ball.  

If I was a less lazy mom I'd go get it for him.  Instead I hang out with the third base coach.

Or sometimes I chat with the first base coach.

Sometimes there are dramatic reenactments during the walk back and forth.

Eventually whiffle ball runs its course - and then the first base coach, the third base coach and I all take cover.

The Week in Pictures

Here it is - the week in pictures.

Candles, candles more candles. And a few lanterns. This was most of Tuesday.

Half of the labor force of Spotted Dog Farm. (aka my dad)

The other half of the labor force at Spotted Dog Farm. (aka me) I know, fetching outfit, right?

Little League Night at the Tourists game. Soooo fun. And cute. Have I mentioned how cute Little League is? Thought so.

Version 1.0 of my next big idea. There'll probably be a version 2.0 and 3.0 before this totally comes to fruition, but right now I'm wearing version 1.0 and loving it. I even went running with it on to test out the construction - it passed a hot and sweaty 4 mile run with a bunch of harder efforts in the middle (aka to those that run, but not to those with middle-school humor, as fartlek. Seriously. Look it up.) And since it made it through all of that with flying colors I'm thinking I'm on to something here. There will be more beta testers. I'll report back.

And now I'm off to bed. You think that tent just puts itself up at 6:30 in the morning? After it loads all of the flowers and plants in the van and drives it over to the market? If only it did. Maybe I should look into an upgrade.