Dusting Legos

I remember the day when I was challenged by purposeful, thought-provoking, world-changing dilemmas.  But that was, dare I say, over 20 years ago when I was a student of the world and my main ambition was to change it for the better.

Skip forward 20 odd years and my current title is "house wife" and so by interpreting that title I find that I am married to the house.  Which means I'm supposed to care for it, right?  Which translates by all dictionaries as meaning I'm supposed to clean.  I hate cleaning.  There, I said it and I feel better (slightly) for admitting it to the world.  The problem is, admitting it still doesn't make it go away.  See the thing with cleaning is it's like a bad boss - relentless, a slave-driver and never satisfied.  There really is no point when everything is actually clean, is there?  The toilet may be cleaner after I pour half a bottle of Lysol Toilet Cleaner down it, but it still isn't clean.  And I can get down on my hands and knees and scrub the floors until they sparkle - and then the dog walks through to his water bowl and I know my efforts have instantly been erased.

But the biggest challenge I find with cleaning is Legos.  Can anyone out there relate???  I mean I love Legos.  I played with them when I was a kid and they have brought many hours of enjoyment to my kids (and to me for they are quiet and busy while playing with Legos).  But Legos are not something you play with and then put away, at least not in my house.  Legos are something that you play with, create an intricate structure either from the kit directions or from your own imagination, and then proudly display on your shelf.  And that's where the problem arises!

In my house I have shelves and shelves of Lego creations.  Cannon's room is the worst; he has the biggest collection.  London, following his big brother, has some Legos, but not the museum-quantity that Cannon has.  And even Emmy gets into the act every now and then and creates something.

Shelves of Legos

Emmy's creation (note the broken wing...yep, that was my dusting)

So what's the problem? Well, have you ever tried to dust a Lego creation? It's gotta be the most impossible chore there is. For every time the Swiffer cruises over the structure, something falls off. I mean I try my utmost to be gentle, to cradle the figure while lightly passing the cloth over it and then, a piece falls off. Damn! Where does that go? And while trying to put that piece back on, whoops, there goes another piece. Shoot! Where does that go? And then heaven forbid that I might drop a creation and it shatters into a million little Lego pieces that used to resemble a dragon and now resembles, well, a pile of Lego pieces. *$$%#Q! Curse the makers of Legos!

 

Now where does this go?

And while trying to figure that out, I knocked off that little yellow thing.

Fortunately, for the most part my crime goes undetected since the kids don't see what happened.  If I did get called out on it, I suppose I could always blame it on the cat (of course that alibi is defunct now that I'm confessing it on the internet).  But as I was "cleaning" today, I did have to stop and think about the crazy turns my life has taken and how I am standing here contemplating not how to solve the world's problems, but how to dust a Lego.  And I wouldn't change a day.

Seattle Aquarium

The kids and Stevie are still on break so we headed up to Seattle again today to try something different - the Seattle Aquarium.  The aquarium sits right down on the water and is a host to some pretty cool exhibits.

This month they were featuring the octopus so had lots of exhibits geared toward them.  I love London's face on this picture - he's all boy!

I hope I don't see a photo similar to this later in life (with an matching profile shot...)

It's like snorkeling in Okinawa!

Riding on the back of an orca

Warming up at Starbucks - it was brisk down on the water front!

 Just across the street from the Starbucks we spotted this restaurant!

The kids giving it their best Oki peace sign.

It didn't look like it made the cut, but then one block over we spotted another location...

We'll have to go for lunch next time we're in Seattle.

Blewett's Pass

After packing up from the hotel, we headed out of Wenatchee and then made a quick stop in the neighboring town of Cashmere.  In this dinky little town is the world famous Aplets and Coplets factory.  Now doesn't everyone know about these little treats?

Aplets and Coplets are a candy (similar to the European Turkish Delight) that are an institution in Washington, I'm not sure how many others know about them, but they are yummy.  Kind of like those orange slice jellies you get in the candy aisle, but with nuts and flavored with either apples or apricots.  I thought the kids might like the advertised "free tour and samples".  They go nuts for that show, "How It's Made" and this was like a live version.  After waiting 20 minutes, the tour took 5 minutes, but on the plus side we got to wear these cool hats!

I maintain that if I ever end up in H*ll, I'll be doing this job...

It is beyond me how anyone can stand at an assembly line and pack 4,000 pieces of candy in a plastic tray in an hour.  Stevie and I took this as an opportunity to emphasize to the kids that they must stay in school and go to college!

After our factory tour we drove on to a place called Blewett's Pass where we found a lovely sledding hill and cross-country ski trail.  We took a little hike on the trail until the going got a little treacherous and then spent a couple of hours on the sledding hill.  We all thoroughly enjoyed it, especially Mick who got into the game chasing the sleds.  He caught London once and tried to "herd" him by grabbing his hood.  We all thought it was hilarious, unfortunately London didn't see the humor in it!

The drive to Blewett's Pass

Hiking the ski trail.

He's growing up!

Mick, waiting to herd London!

Stevie's turn

We got the longest runs in together.

He caught us!

I think this is her smile...

Mick wearing his "snow crown" courtesy of Emmy.

Leavenworth

Paw Paw and Nana headed out early this morning for the airport and we packed up to leave too.  I had read about a cute little town in the Cascade mountains called Leavenworth and so we booked a two-night mini vacation for this February break. 

Leavenworth used to be a logging town, but in the 1960's, with the market sagging, it reinvented itself as a Bavarian haven complete with sleigh rides, brats, beer and costumed maidens.  It's a three hour car ride from our house over the "Snoqualmie Pass" and through some potentially hazardous roads.  We got prepared by buying chains for our tires and packing extra food and blankets.  This, it turned out, was unneccessary since the roads were perfectly dry.

We rolled into Leavenworth about mid-afternoon and first headed to a park to stretch our legs and give the dog a time to run around. 

Emmy, my warm-blooded child, who won't keep a coat on!

After some exercise, we walked around the downtown strip of Leavenworth.  It was very cute and quaint with all the shops and hotels (and even McDonald's) built with Bavarian architecture.

As you can see, the mountains behind had snow, but unfortunately, the town had barely any.  Yes, the winter wonderland we had anticipated was not there.  In fact, the lady in the visitor's center said they hadn't had snow since December.

So after visiting all the shops, we headed over to a neighboring town, Wenatchee, to our hotel.  The drive there was through some interesting topography.  I couldn't decide if the hills had all been logged so there were no trees left or if it was the way this area was.  Turns out this is called "high desert" and there were no trees to begin with.

Wenatchee is the "Apple Capital of the World" so there were thousands and thousands of apple trees planted in the valley.  Apple trees are kind of creepy when they don't have leaves - like something you'd see in Hansel and Gretel when they're walking through the forest - but I'm sure they're beautiful in a month or two when the blossoms come on!

The kids thoroughly enjoyed the hotel, mainly because there was a pool and hot tub, and our dinner out for more Mexican and movie night.  Sometimes kids are so easy to please, aren't they?  Stevie and I decided, though, that we'd change plans and head back home tomorrow.  Sometimes the best laid plans just need to be tweaked.

Sunday with Paw Paw and Nana

After a busy Saturday, we took it at a slower pace on Sunday and enjoyed an afternoon around Gig Harbor and the house.

Gig Harbor proper is a cute little maritime village with lots of little shops and family restaurants.  We ate our fill at our favorite Mexican restaurant for lunch and then toured the "downtown" area.

Yep, no denying it, Father and Son

Paw Paw and the grandkids

I think Stevie and Emmy were trying for the same face!?

Saturday with Paw Paw and Nana

Saturday was another pretty day and after breakfast we headed up to Seattle for a little tourist action.  We stopped first at, you guessed it, Pike's Market!  It was lots of fun, as always, walking around the market browsing and doing some shopping. 

The market area has some really talented street performers who play guitar, sing, play piano, etc.  But this guy really took the crown - he was playing guitar, singing, playing harmonica, playing jingle bells on his feet all while doing the hoola-hoop.  In addition, during some songs, he balanced the guitar on his chin and hopped around in circles (all while doing the hoola hoop!)  Pretty talented.

We had lunch at the market - clam chowder, of course - and then went to the Pacific Science Center.  We joined this museum around Christmas to see the King Tut exhibit and wanted to go back.  Besides, it was the only way we could bribe the kids to come with us to Seattle!  We didn't stay that long since it was getting late in the day, but we did make a stop in the butterfly garden to see all the beautiful butterflies.

This butterfly liked Nana's head.

This poor butterfly landed for a drink, but the koi attacked him and he couldn't fly because his wings were wet.  Stevie came to his rescue!

With the rescued butterfly.

 

Paw Paw and Nana visit

Friday afternoon, Stevie's dad and Barbara flew in for a quick weekend visit.  The timing was perfect as this was the kick-off to over a week off for the kids and for Steve (the schools are out for "February Break")  It's been over four years since we've seen them so we spent the afternoon catching up.  Fortunately, the weather was beautiful (read: sunny!) so we had a fire pit and let the kids play out in the yard.

Beautiful sunset