Goat Shenanigans

With three kids, a LARGE dog, two goats, and a husband whose idea of helping is watching me carry in groceries (OK...that's a slight exaggeration..slight), I have to find humor in the little things or I'd lose my mind. Tonight was no exception.

So our goats, French Fry and Snowball are complete pains in the asses....not a day goes by that either husband or I don't say, "What a shit show" (our current favorite expression) regarding our goats and the endless annoyance they cause. They were escaping multiple times a day from their fenced in pen, so we scratched the pen and simply put a long leash and harness on them. Problem solved and they both seemed happy. Until they started tangling their leashes around anything and then managing to escape again....Along with their Houdini escape acts, they are gay brothers who spend the majority of their day humping. Both husband and I got a little chuckle out of this until it provoked questions as to what they were doing by TJ and Beau.

Anywhoo's, tonight the boys and I returned from the store to find the goats climbing on the front retaining wall. An hour later the entire family had joined in the chase as we were working to corral them into the corner of the yard. What a shit show. In the midst of this fiasco, Snowball was apparently feeling frisky because he started humping French Fry. To which Finny said, "French Fry loves giving Snowball piggy back rides...all the time!"

Oh I lost it...in her squeaky little girl voice those words were just what I needed to have a super belly laugh and be reminded of how hilarious my life can be!

So we finally caught them and I've assigned husband the task of making them a 'super deluxe' pen this weekend, while I've officially changed their names to Sigfried and Roy.

It's Hot...Hot...Hot!

Summer in the Okanogan Valley is here...it's HOT out! Thankfully at Casa de Sackman we are enjoying central air...yeah! What a wise investment this past winter, however we haven't received our first PUD bill yet, so time will tell! We had avoided turning on our central air until last week because both husband and I are way tooo cheap, but then the temp's hit the high 90's/low 100's and we said, "Screw it" and turned it on! There is really no need to go outside anymore...



However we did spend the entire day boating on Omak Lake yesterday. Husband's sister and her family joined us for some cousin fun; water skiing, tubing, lounging, and snacking. Finny and Diesel play very well together, while Quincy fits so well in between TJ and Beau. Everyone water skied and soaked up tons of rays.



My goal this week is to wrap up my my master's portfolio. I've spent the past 5 weeks totally procrastinating on this project. Subconsciously I think I let myself get to this point because I work way better under pressure. That's not to say that I haven't been a bit manic today. Yelling at husband, the kid's, the dog...even the poor goats. I'm just stressed and I let myself get to this breaking point where this Sh** needed to be done YESTERDAY! So I totally neglected everything else today...let the kid's watch way too much TV and play the Wii in order to play catch up. Made the mistake of drinking coffee around 2pm in order to stay motivated...only made my manic-antics worse. In order to calm down I spent a good hour power cleaning the house...felt so much better. I think I'll accomplish my goal of wrapping it all up by Friday...husband gave me a tried and true tip for filling dead space of one particular reflection paper, "Just change the font to 14." Brilliant...is that what you learned with your expensive private college education?



So I'm going to plug away until 10pm, at which point I'm going to let my brain rot away with a good episode of Real Housewives of NJ before I power on.



Wish me luck....

Tick Tock, Tick Tock...

So I dropped my camera in Banks Lake two weekends ago and therefore am camera-less for a while. I don't know why I spend any money buying electronics, sunglasses, cell phones, department store lipstick, etc. because inevitably it all ends up broken or lost (despite my best efforts)....so I'm now blogging picture less, which isn't very fun at all.

I can't believe it is almost August! Summer is flying by, however I feel very relaxed as our days have been leisurely and enjoyable. We've gotten a lot of use out of our boat since we've returned from Cannon Beach, a purchase both husband and I are so glad we made last summer!

All three of the kid's have been in swimming lessons and today Tanner passed onto level 4! I knew swimming would "click" for him when he was ready, and the growth from last summer to this summer is tremendous! He'll jump off the boat into the middle of the lake without any hesitation, snorkel into deep water alone, and eagerly work on his water skiing skills. I'm a big believer that kid's set their own pace for things...the more parents worry about benchmarks and milestones (and comparing their kids to others) the harder it is....kid's will do things when they are ready.

Beau's comfort level in the water is getting better...his goal prior to swim lessons starting was, "Not to get my hair wet." He quickly moved past that and is doing really well floating, using the kick board, and socializing with the cute girl's in his class. Always the ladies man...

Finny is in a class with 4 other girl's her age...the poor college girl instructor....it's like watching someone herd cats.

I'm trying hard to keep the kid's busy sans TV, wii, or clubpenguin.com....we go to the park, play in the tree fort, build Lego forts, blah blah blah...all of which is very fun. I will admit there have been a few afternoons when the little kid's are napping (THANK GOD for naps) and I'll let Tanner put on a video or play a wii game, while I lay outside with my US Weekly and Diet Coke. Summer time peace and quiet!

Tomorrow, Husband and I are going to SpokeCompton for the weekend because he has to take some test for his master's program. I'll force myself to go to the Nordstrom sale while he's testing for 4 hours...it's dreadful, but I think I can manage! Of course he had to give me some snarky comment about, "What could you possibly need?" to which I tried to formulate a response but realized it would be in vain. Husband doesn't understand the Nordstrom Sale or the significance it holds for women. I can't wait until Finny is old enough to join me in this time honored tradition. Besides my shopping, I'm looking forward to a night away with just him...I don't think we realize how little time we actually spend alone. It will be lovely to go out to eat (at a non-Omak restaurant) without children!

The kid's and I will be heading to SIL's lake cabin early in August for a few days of girl time and cousin shenanigan's. Cousin Gage will be coming back to Omak with us for a while after that...for more cousin time!

I have to be honest, I have started thinking about school. I'll wake up in the middle of the night with an idea or thought about something for the year. I try to compartmentalize this so that it doesn't consume my thoughts, but there isn't a teacher I know who doesn't think about school during the summer a little bit. I have only stepped foot into school 1x since June 18th and I don't plan on doing it again until mid August...

Scooting

The boy's wanted to ride their scooters yesterday afternoon...it wasn't too hot or too windy, so they strapped on their helmets and away we went. I bought Finny a pink 3 wheeled scooter a few months ago (simply to stop Beau from screaming each time Finny touched his scooter) but up to this point she has been happy enough to push it around the patio and remind Beau when he comes within 1" of the pink scooter that it is hers. Yesterday however she wanted to ride like the big boys. She lasted about 1/2 a block from our house before she was done and needed mommy to carry (the scooter), while she ran ahead. This was when it got funny.



Finny is big into wearing princess dresses. Anything with tulle, silk, satin, puffy sleeves, skirts, sequins, etc. If all her princesses dresses are in the "wash" (or I just hid them) she resorts to her large collection of pink, purple, and blue tutu's which she will wear over anything...including PJ's. Anywhoo's....Finny was, of course, wearing a white princess dress on our scooter trip. Nothing I could say was going to persuade her to put on something more appropriate. Along with the gaudy dress, she had on pink sport socks, blue Nikes.... and to top it off, a blue Curious George helmet.

As the boys were zipping down our neighborhood sidewalks on their scooters, Finny was running with all her effort to keep up...as her helmet flopped around on her head and her dress blew in the wind. We had many passer by-er's give a chuckle or wave to "Special Finny" (who most definitely looked a bit like she rode the short bus) and I was laughing to myself the entire time as I watched her. Sadly I didn't have my camera....but it was hilarious!

Are You Ready For A Good Time?

TJ left for his first summer camp experience at Camp Zanika Lache on Lake Wenatchee....three nights, four days of summer camp shenanigans. I dropped him off yesterday afternoon, along with cousin Gage who is also there. Two other classmates (girl's) of TJ's will also be there, so I know he's going to be fine....The mom of one of his classmates texted me after drop off, "Pretty Rustic..." That would be an understatement.

First of all, if you've never been to Lake Wenatchee, they have mosquito's unlike anything I've ever seen! SWARMS. Karli whispered to me as we walked to the cabins, "I'd be packing up and running to the car if my mom told me I had to stay here."

Besides the bugs, Camp Zanika is classic summer camp! Think 'Meatballs' mixed with 'Friday the 13th' (location wise...not hockey mask wearing murderer). TJ is in cabin Chelan Chalet, while Gage is in Miller. There is a boy's side, girl's side, dining hall in the middle, along with the recreation area, and swimming docks, etc.

To be honest, the head counselor did remind me a bit of Tripper and I can just imagine Bill Murry laying in his bed with the intercom saying, "Well, it's, uh, seven o'five in the AM and it's, wow, forty-three degrees on the old Camp North Star weather dial. My name is Tripper Harrison and I'm your head counselor and this is my wake-up show. I will be coming at you every morning, about this time, hoping to make your summer camp experience the best there is available...in this price range."

Tanner's two counselors are Viper and Big Foot, apparently they relinquish their real names for "camp names" upon signing up for a thankless summer of bratty kid's, minimum wage, and mosquito's. God Bless them!

Anyway, Karli and I departed after a quick "Goodbye" and giant HUG. The camp encourages parent's to stay positive and don't linger around so kid's can't go, "WAIT, take me with you!" I was a bit sad last night putting only two kid's to bed...and it has been weird all day having just Beau and Finley. Sissy keeps asking, "Tanner come back today?"

I'll pick him up on Saturday and am eager to hear about his adventures!!!

Sidenote: If you haven't seen the movie Meatballs...or its been a while, go rent it! A classic that won't disappoint!!!

"Here's an update on tonight's dinner. It was veal. I repeat, veal. The winner of tonight's mystery meat contest is Jeffrey Corbin who guessed "some kind of beef." Congratulations, Jeffery. You've just won a brand new Chrysler Cordoba and you can pick it up at Morty's office."

Friday

TJ is my sushi loving child!

Surfers at Short Sand's

Serious muscles on the beach!

Grrrr....

Buns on the beach

Lift TJ...Lift!

So many super cool trees in Oswald West State Park!

Cinnamon rolls at Waves of Grain...yum!

We started today off with a walk to Waves of Grain Bakery for the most delicious pastry/latte breakfast. I highly recommend this bakery...more unique pastries than the CB Bakery in town that has typical doughnuts, etc. We then bid farewell to Nana who made the long trip back to Omak.

The weather was overcast so we packed up the car and headed to Short Sands Beach in Oswald West State Park. The surfers were out in abundance and I kept my eyes peeled for Bodhi and Johnny Utah, but didn't see them...darn it. We saw amazing sea life, hiked around the rocks, and played in the water as the weather cleared up.

From there we headed to Manzanita, my favorite hippy town, to hang out and watch the wind surfers.

We didn't have any dinner plans but had to hit Safeway in Seaside for a few groceries. We decided to find a place to eat in Seaside and ended up at a yummy sushi place. We all love sushi, but I'm really nervous about fish from places I'm not familiar with. It was fresh and delicious and as of now no one has gotten sick....

Downtown is really getting busy with the 4th of July holiday so we plan on sticking around our place and enjoying the rest of our time here.

Daddy's Here!

Husband arrived early on Wednesday morning!!! He took the 6am flight from Wenatchee which landed him in CB around 11am (via MAX and Greyhound). I was suppose to pick him up at midtown around 11:10, but as we were loading the car Beau started screaming, "I SEE DADDY" and sure enough Nick had arrived earlier than planned and walked up the beach to the house.

We all ran screaming down to greet him and then enjoyed an awesome day together. Nana and I ended a lovely day with a trip to the 9pm showing of Eclipse...oooh Jacob how I love you! Edward has nothing on Jake and Bella drives me BONKERS , yet I continue to partake in this teenage obsession.

Anywhoo's, we headed to Seaside today for bumper cars, put put golf, tilt a whirl, ski ball, Pronto Pups, and Fascination. I could honestly skip this part of our beach trip as Seaside is GROSS, but the kid's have a blast and I feel like a terrible mom by depriving them of this fun tradition. I have already brainwashed them against the Stampede Carnival....we can't forbid Seaside too...though pretty much the same gross people are in both places.

We had rain this afternoon and then husband and I headed into town for a "date" (Thanks Nana for watching the kid's). Happy hour at the Lumberyard, followed by a stop at the Driftwood for the best Bloody Mary's in the world.

A good day!