The Bouncy House Hero

Well, my relationship with William was brought to a whole new level today when he came to my rescue in a bouncy house. This morning William and I went over to Bellevue to check out 321 Bounce. I had a Living Social coupon for the place and my sister Carrie highly recommended it! At first glance it seemed like any other warehouse full of bouncy houses (there are a lot of those in the greater Seattle area) but then William went down his first slide of the day and flew down it so fast I thought he'd fly right out the door. 

It reminded me of this:

I asked one of the workers why these particular bouncy houses were so slick. She explained they spray them with some sort of shellac to make them slippery (I wonder if it's Clark W. Griswold's non-nutritive cereal varnish?) so the slides are faster and more fun. William was having a blast slipping down the slides, shrieking with glee, running from one slide to another. Then he decided to try one of the obstacle course houses that rewards with a HUGE slide at the end. Well, a quarter of the way through the obstacle course I could see that he was having trouble and seemed stuck. I wasn't sure if adults were allowed in the houses but he seemed pretty discouraged so I told him I'd come in and help. 

In order to clearly paint a picture of what happened next let me walk you through step by step of what I had to do to get to him.

I had to throw my body up and into a hole to get into the house, then I had to use steps and a rope attached to an inflated mountain to climb up and then slide down to the pit where William was stuck. Keep in mind the 'blocks' or steps attached to one side of the mountain are in no way made for an adults foot (they are miniature) and forget about them actually supporting more than 70lbs. So I basically flip-flopped and floundered my way up the mountain all the while laughing and praying no one was filming me, just to upload to Youtube making me the next internet sensation. Finally I got to the top of the mountain and slid down to William.

William was stuck on the 'squeeze' section, pictured above. The squeeze section required you to jump up onto a smallish mountain, then squeeze through while a tube on top of you pushes down because your weight is forcing it to collapse a bit. Right when I saw it I knew I was in trouble. The smallish mountain came up to my chin, so I'm not sure how any child is supposed to jump high enough to squeeze their way through. I picked William up and pushed him through and then I started trying to get through. As I mentioned before the bouncy houses were slick so it seemed like no matter how high I jumped (and I know I can't jump high) I couldn't find anything to grip onto that would allow me to pull myself through.

After several failed attempts I realized William was long gone and I really began to wonder if I was going to have to be 'that' adult who ruins all the fun for all the kids. I pictured the whole place needing to shut down so they could let the air out of the house just so I could get out. Ha. Ha. Ha. Then I started worrying that William might not know where I was so I started yelling his name. It was pathetic. He eventually came back into the house, and I was able to explain to him that I was going to need his help. I picked him up and pushed him through again and then told him he needed to try and pull me through. After several attempts we finally did it! We were laughing so hard that we both just collapsed on the bouncy house floor and laid there for a second. 

Then William popped up and said, "ok, now follow me!" He scurried and I dragged through some tubes and we finally made it to the big slide. Only problem was there was yet another mountain with tiny miniature steps and ropes to climb before you got to the top. Of course William practically flew to the top, I told him I'd be out in a bit. As I was struggling with my second mountain of the day I saw another mom coming through. I asked her how she fared in the squeeze section, her whacked-out hair and exhausted looking eyes gave me a better answer than any words could have offered.

For the record the slide at the end was spectacular! Fast, fun and totally worth all the work. As I got off the slide William came running back over to me and said, "wanna do it again?" I said, how about next time and then suggested a much easier looking slide!

I'm planning to go back to 321 Bounce during Natalie's week off before Thanksgiving. I figure I'll give the big slide another shot then. :-)

Portland!

Ben and I decided we wanted a mini vacation this summer with just-the-two-of-us. So, I started thinking about cities near by and swayed between Vancouver B.C. and Portland for a while, finally settling on Portland. The Portland food cart scene was the biggest draw for us... don't make fun... we love food. So one Saturday morning we headed south on I-5 for a fun 30 hours in Portland, OR.

 Now when it came to where we were going to stay, I scoured the web for a steal on a great hotel. (I'm a bit of a hotel snob and proximity to the food carts was very important.) We ended up at The Governor and with a little sweet talking, once we were there, we scored a corner room that came with an awesome view and the hum of the Portland street car. It was awesome! 

After we checked into our room we headed back out for some food. The hotel is located right next to a Pod of Food Carts, think one city block with 30-ish carts parked on it...

We both decided on a Greek gyro, Ben lamb, me chicken. It was tasty, but way too big.

I was a bit bummed at the size, mostly because I was so full afterwards I couldn't try anything else at the other carts surrounding us. We decided a trip to Powell's might help us work up another appetite.

 After 4 or so hours in Powell's (if you didn't click on the link, it's one of the largest bookstores in the world taking up an entire city block) we were hungry again and decided to check out The Living Room... pictured below.

The Living Room is a restaurant + a bar + a theater, they were playing a few movies I'd heard of (Ben probably new about all of them) so we decided dinner and a movie would be fun. 

 We saw this movie; if you like movies filled with good looking food, gorgeous scenery and a ridiculous about of banter you should see it too. We loved it. 

 The next morning we got up and hit the streets for a day full of more exploring. First stop, Voodoo Doughnuts a doughnut shop that has been featured on the Food Network. As we were walking up to the shop there was an enormous line. Since we didn't have anything else to do, and we were right there, we decided we'd wait with all the other crazy people in line for what better be a dang good doughnut.

I left Ben in this line, we were told it would be about 45 minutes, to take a few pictures and walk around.

 I came back to the line with a Hot n' Fresh (super tasty) waffle and orange juice for us to share. Yes, I know we were in line for a doughnuts but we were starving and this butter and sugar waffle sure hit the spot.

 Then we waited and waited and waited and waited some more for the doughnuts.

Dad, I thought you'd like this sign. 

 Finally doughnuts!

Me: Triple Chocolate CoCoa Puff (no, that's not dog food on top)

 Ben: Neapolitan, chocolate doughnut, vanilla frosting, strawberry dust and three marshmallows

 Worth the wait?

Not really.

I know, disappointing right? We think all the hype around Voodoo Doughnut's must be their inventive flavors because when actually eaten they seemed a bit dry.

We're sticking with Seattle's Top Pot Doughnut's & Jersey's L&M for our favorite doughnut spots.

 After our *sweet* morning we decided to walk around the weekend market down near the river. It was a gorgeous day we ended up covering a lot of territory before we needed to get back and check out of our hotel room.

 Once we checked out and got our car back from the valet we decided to find the Portland Aerial Tram. We had heard about the tram when my sister and her family lived close to Portland... after many construction detours, many wrong turns and studying our map we finally found it.

The tram connects the two campus' for OHSU Center for Health and Healing and is mainly used for commuting students/medical professionals. We were told it was a great thing to do as a visitor to the city because it would allow for unique views of the city.

 Ben and I highly recommend the tram if you're ever in the Portland area. It was only a few bucks and ended up being a really fun ride. Plus the views from the hospital on top of the hill (where the tram takes you) were stunning.

 We had an awesome weekend in Portland and hope it's not too long before we go back!

Summer 2011

This is how I've spent my days nannying this summer. 

They enjoyed a week long intense soccer course down at Greenlake. Of course, the week we were there it was miserably rainy until the very last day. One day while I sat and watched William run around I was laughing noticing that every spectator was sitting out in the rain (misty rain) with no umbrella and some without hoods. Ben tells me this is only a Seattle thing. Apparently people from other states carry some sort of covering for them when it rains.

Super fast Natalie!

'In your face!'

Once again we've dedicated a summer to swimming lessons! While it's a lot of work getting suits, sunscreen, lunches, towels, etc. together, it's worth it! I have seen three kids go from non-swimmers (basically would sink if you dropped them in the water) to proficient-independent-confident-swimmers! I'm grateful I've been able to witness this before I had my own kids. I now know that dedicating a few weeks to this every summer has really paid off!

I have tried to capture William's excitement for swimming lessons all summer long. He's like a little puppy jumping up and down waiting and waiting and waiting for 'his turn!' before lessons start. One day as I was tossing our stuff on a chair I told William it was finally 'his turn' and he bolted off. I quickly turned around and managed to catch him with a huge smile on his face mid-air jumping into the pool. There were tons of people around so I was a bit bummed with the photo. After I zoomed in a bit and did a funny focus thing on it I feel like you can get the idea of just how excited he is!

 William has worked hard this summer! Just today he swam 1/2 the length of the pool back stroke and free style! He's learning how to breathe in between strokes right now and it can be quite funny watching his little body try to remember to move his arms, legs and still get his head out for a breath!

Here he is, doing his all time favorite thing: being thrown up in the air for a 'cannon ball!' 

And Natalie, well she's a PRO! I think her biggest accomplishments this summer are, being able to tread water for quite some time and learning how to dive! She's been diving off the starting blocks this week, swimming the whole length of the pool and learning how to do a flip under water so she can swim all the way back! It is crazy to think just a few years ago she was growling at her instructors because she was so scared of going under water!

Natalie also LOVES the toss in the air!

Every once and a while they get popsicles and every once and a while we stay after lessons for a few hours of free swim. I have to say this year's free swim is much less stressful. I don't feel like I have two kids (with Andrew, sometimes three) who could potentially drown at any second. Swimming with them reminds me of all the swimming I did as a kid with my sisters. This summer we've had 'tea parties' under water, given under water High-5's, dove for pennies, Natalie and I've tried out a few funny hair-do's... I have to say my job ain't too shabby! :-)

Natalie starts 3rd grade tomorrow!! (Unbelievable!) So I've been working hard to get this post done before school officially starts and summer is officially over.

Not the beach we all were expecting when we booked a trip to the Olympic Peninsula in the middle of July.

Oh well, that didn't stop us from having fun!

Since my sister Bree and her family were visiting for the whole month of July we decided it would be fun to go somewhere for a weekend all together. We decided on a great house on the Olympic Peninsula since everyone thought it would be fun to be near the ocean. Unfortunately we didn't get the best weather while we were there but we had fun anyway. 

My Aunt Debbie and cousin Kelsey also joined us on the trip, as a surprise belated 60th birthday present for my mom. My mom was super surprised to have them there and we thoroughly enjoyed their company!

Even though the weather wasn't the greatest, we were at the beach so we had to at least walk down to the beach and spend some time there... Here are a few of us with shovels in hand, ready for some fun in the sand!

I thought the Fire Danger Level set at extreme was extremely funny considering the cloudy misty day we had!

Run! Don't let the waves get you!

My dad being the beach lover that he is, was in the water clear up to his knees by the time we left!

Chach and Coco always make for some fun photo opts!

The sand castle that Lydia, Nona and Opa worked so hard on... shortly after it was complete a wave came and swept it away. I wish I had a video of all of us running to grab the shovels, pails and shoes... it was a chaotic 'Treusch' moment at it's best! (The only thing that would have made it more complete is if someone had fallen in the water.)

Momma, with her three kids! (We missed you John!)

Everyone minus my cousin Kelsey who wasn't feeling great and decided to stay back at the house... rather than spend a few hours out on a rainy beach!

Finally, the BEST picture of the weekend! 

As we were preparing to leave the beach I thought, 'you know what would make my beach day complete? A picture of all three kids together!'

Now, I know when these kids see me coming with the camera the must get so annoyed, but one day they'll thank me! Right? And see, I didn't need the 'perfect' photo I just wanted something that captured the moment we were in... and if you ask me it doesn't get any more perfect than this!

The sun managed to come out a bit for us just as we were leaving to get warm and dry!

 After our morning at the beach the sisters and spouses decided it was time to scope out some local fare. 

Fun day... fun vacation!

I almost forgot to post the 'twinners' picture Lydia was so excited about. Lydia loves to have her hair braided by my sister Carrie... she does a mean head band braid. So one more Lydia, Carrie and I decided to have the same hair-do. 

Wish I had a photo with Chach too... then we could have been 'tripleters'!