I Love Our Fridays

 Fridays are my special day with the girls.  I might see them briefly during the week, but we know Friday we have an appointment for lunch and the afternoon to do whatever takes our fancy.

I called to get the McDonald's orders, and they wanted burgers this time and fruit punch slushies.  Ryan asked if they really wanted a toy since the latest ones have just gone straight into the trash - as opposed to hanging around a day or two before going to the trash.  Both of them thought just a few seconds and said, "No toy."  Such grown-ups!  

Every time I get out on a beautiful day like this, I always wish that I would get out and drive somewhere every day.  It just cheers me up so much to see the blue sky and clouds and the mountains sparkling in the background.  Not so yesterday when it was comparable to a day in late November, and no one can be blamed for staying inside.  

This is the only picture I took on the trip to North Bend, and I can't quite aim the camera and look for pedestrians too, although it's sure different nowadays in downtown Snoqualmie.  Usually by Thursday, the visitors are filling up the town and shopping and going to the Falls.  I know some of the shops are open but not all of them.  It makes driving a lot easier, but it still makes me sad.

After lunch, the girls wanted to ride their scooters somewhere, so we decided to go back to the apartment and see if we could find some friends to hang out with.  

We did get a few blackberries on the way.  I'm not totally comfortable with them riding anything on my watch.  They're just so fast and confident, and Katherine especially will ride way ahead, out of my sight.  I feel like I'm always toddling along yelling, "Katherine, come back!!"

We passed by a house where a little boy about 4 years old was jumping on a trampoline by himself, just the cutest.   I'm sure a parent was nearby, but he stopped jumping and said, "Hi.  My name is _____.  How are you today?"  We stopped and exchanged names, and he made sure he pronounced each of them and asked where we lived and where we were going.  Then he said, "This is my house.  It's huge.  I'm sure it's much bigger than any other ones, even yours.  I have a brother.  Do you have a brother?"   Graysen said something to me as we passed by him with a hedge between us, and he said, "I can still hear you talking, you know."  Haha.  Then he said.  "It was nice to meet you.  Come back and talk to me next time you're walking by."  These days are rough for little kids when their only brother is a baby.

I think we picked the wrong time of day to try to find friends, but we sat on the bench in front of the office, and the girls immediately started playing a game - school, ponies, unicorns, lunchboxes, etc.  Tom, the maintenance man, drove by on his golf cart and brought them out a Capri Sun.  He's the most popular guy around.  We were hoping to run into Lunala the cat or the Jones children, but it was as quiet as could be.  Katherine took some pictures for me.

A salad.

Carrots and sushi.

We decided to go play in the garage where it would be cooler and there would be some old toys to play with.

They immediately found several boxes of donations that Ryan had brought over, and Graysen was telling her old baby clock "Hiiiiii, little clocky.  Why are they giving you away?"

I sent the picture to Emily and asked her, and she said, "Probably because they never used it even one time."  Funny how precious things become when you don't have them any longer.

Like Bella, the yellow cat.

And the crawling tunnel.

I got tired of '80s Ken and his pirate outfit, so I changed his clothes.

It's so nice to have the girls old enough to share my sense of humor, and we were laughing so hard and making up our own stories - three different ones.

The Jones children did show up later, and they rode around with them a little bit on their scooters.  Thank goodness it didn't last long, because those kids ride crazy fast.   Or probably just like normal kids!

Behind the bush is my sunbathing neighbor.  I don't know him at all, but I do know almost everything ABOUT him, whether I want to or not, as he talks on his phone a lot right there.

Once we got to Steller, Ryan and Emily were working in the yard, and I read some more of the latest Geronimo Stilton book to the girls.  Ryan has been working like crazy on the yard, but he forgot to replace a slat in the fence, and Quincy, the neighbor dog, came over for burger leftovers.  She's a sweet girl, and they all love her. 

Walking Quincy home.  I'm not sure whey thy didn't send her back through the fence.  I guess because she wouldn't have stayed.

Bye, Mimi!  I can't compete with Quincy.