The Happiest Place on Earth

Since the Boone/Robinson clan left us for Disneyworld and Epcot, the Happiest Places on Earth, our neighborhood is pretty sad, or at least, darn quiet. Mary, Eve & Eli have been world travelers, already logging 2 weeks this summer in Manchester, Iowa. Now Mitch won't be left out of the big trip to Florida.

MIcky, Minnie, Eve & Eli look like they are ready to take on the park. It's pretty hot in Florida, but these 4 look fresh as daisies and ready to go!



Eve got to spend a little time with Mary Poppins. I wonder if she learned that flying over houses with just your umbrella trick. It could come in really handy if Eve is running late to school on a rainy day.



Here are the 3 princesses.



Wonder if Mary & Eve got the special tour of the rabbit hole with Alice?



Cinderella & Prince Charming??? Hmmmm, Mitch is Mr. Click around Tacoma & a celebrity in his own right. But Prince Charming??? I'm not so sure. I guess only Mary & maybe Cinderella would know for sure.



Beauties and Beasts. As you might have noticed Mitch didn't send me a ton of pictures of Eli, or himself. Those Robinson men can become pretty elusive when the cameras come out. Eve, Eli, getting any ideas for what you to want to be for Halloween??? Thinkin' Beauty and the Beast might be a good look for you.



Looking forward to your return back to Tacoma next week. Have fun!!!

CLICK! + SOTA = local entertainment!!!

It's CLICK! Day in Tacoma. CLICK Cable TV, the local choice that we all love & adore.



I am so excited about the unveiling of the CLICK!/SOTA Music Video. Mitch, VP of all that is important at CLICK!, needed a catchy song to commemorate CLICK!'s 10 year anniversary. Enter Paul, mentor of the talented students at the Tacoma School of the Arts. Paul put it out to his kids and boy did the deliver! Sam Anderson, 18, and Harrison Allen, 17, wrote an infectious tune with smart lyrics. With the help of Zach, another gifted SOTA instructor they recorded this song and back to Mitch. Mitch and everyone else loved the song. What happened next was straight out of a "Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland time to put on a Show!!!" movie. Matt, talented director, & Kate, gifted choreographer, joined the party to help produce a fun music video guaranteed to put a smile on your face!





For more info check out the TNT's story.

BIG CONGRATS to all of the very talented people who were involved in making this happen!!!!!

The Houseboat has gone to the dogs!

Sydney & Duncan left their comfy Tacoma digs to embark on a great adventure to Portland where their backyard is a river.

Sydney's 2 questions were: "Where's the grass?" "And how does one chase a goose without getting wet???"



Duncan is modeling the very attractive canine PFD that I bought them & make them wear on the dock. Just wanna make sure that if they venture off the dock unexpectedly that I have a handle to pull them out by. They do look very sporty in their PFDs.



"Look at me! Look at me! Look at me! I'm Lassie the Rescue Dog, just give me someone to save. Or maybe just bark at."



A girl and her dog. Katie gives Sydney some good advice about the geese. Something along the lines of don't try it or you'll make Mom really mad! Good advice!

No Pictures Today!

Today, Jewel & I took a little bike ride. It was soooooo UGH-LY that pictures would be too much for you to take.

First of all let me point out that today is July, not March, not October, so when we embarked on our ride we didn't expect it to be 54 degrees!!! It was cold!

I picked the route, a fun little ride out to Sumner. Chris and I have done this ride a bunch of times & really enjoyed it. First we had trouble getting out of Tacoma with construction every where we turned. When we finally made it to Levy Road, trucks. Giant semi-trucks whizzing by as Jewel and I struggle to hold our own hugging the 3 inch shoulder. So we adjusted the route and headed toward Puyallup.

Have you ever been driving across railroad tracks at the instant that the warning bells start to sound? Just a bit startling. Let me tell you that the same experience when you are on a bike can be an underwear changing event.

When we finally faced the hills of Tacoma we hit an unbelievable head wind. C'mon, can't we get a break today. Apparently not. I think Jewel thought I was trying to kill her off. Sorry Jewel, better luck next week.

Take Me Out To The Ballgame!

True confessions, it's probably been 3 years since I have been to a baseball game. So when Paul called me last night with an extra ticket to a suite at the Mariners game, it didn't take me long to say yes!






It was one of those beautiful, warm, sunny, blue sky kinda summer days in Seattle. A perfect baseball day. Of course on those days there are a lot of outdoor options for Seattlites. As you can see, the battle of the bottom dwellers of the American League didn't fill up the Stadium.




But those stats didn't keep Eve from her hot dog. Summer, baseball, hot dogs, Eve has her priorities straight. She was also very helpful with explaining the game to me. She knew exactly what the Mariners were supposed to do, unfortunately, the Mariners didn't have that clear of a picture. I kept telling Eve she needed to head down to the field and tell them what to do.



Doesn't matter where the Mariners are in the standings because there is always Ichiro. You can always tell when he is up to bat or a ball heads out to Right Field, there is excitement in the stadium wondering what he might do.



This was Paul's first visit to Safeco Field. Not the big Mariner fan that his younger brother Dave used to be, but Kate is getting him into the spirit. You can't resist the power of the Foam Finger!!!



Ouch! Did the Mariner Moose just land on his head???? He must have looked at the scoreboard. Yikes! Big Ouch! (Final score Indians 6 Mariners 2).



Yeah, it's the SOTA music video team. Ouch, it looks like Kate just saw the scoreboard too. Hey Mary Boone up in the back row, wave at Iowa!!!!!

Katie in Tacoma?

Katie has been so busy with school and work that she has only made it to Tacoma a few days this year. But after the arrival of Madison, Katie couldn't stay away any longer.



The girls had a lot to talk about. Mostly how to best handle their mothers. Madison is doing great and handling her new Mom well. Though Jenn still looks a little tired. Get used to it Jenn, Katie's 22 & I'm still tired.



Madison showed us her dream of being a dancer (after she learns how to walk of course).



Madison is also a very good sleeper, which she enjoyed demonstrating to us. Nighty night baby doll!

What's in a name?

I think every living hippie has moved to Oregon to have their children.

Yesterday, I met Katie after her class and we went to lunch at Mother's, our Portland comfort food restaurant. Our waitress's name was "Promise". Next I had to go to Walgreens. I went to the pharmacy and told them what I needed and the helpful person there said it was on aisle 3 and if I needed help to look for "Happiness" in the blue shirt. I found both "Happiness" and the item I was looking for. (If you ever find yourself in need of "Happiness" I can tell you what Walgreens you can find her in). Finally, after Katie got off work we walked to her favorite McMenamins watering hole. the Ram's Head. There we chatted with her good friend and favorite bartender, "Freedom".

At that point I began to wonder what ever possessed me to give "Katie" such a weird name.