Chapter 379

And we are going to find us some sun and cacti in Arizona!

Seeing as how I can throw sticks into the lake in our backyard, you can see how we want to see a bit of sunshine for a few days.

If the lake didn't convince you, this yellowing lawn and dead snowman should. We need sun! We are so pale you can see through us.

We are so fortunate to have Chris in the Air Force and the McChord Air Force Base just a teeny bit closer to us than the kids' house. We love our weekends with Reagan (and Chris and Roo too). This weekend I made a chocolate cake with Reagan to keep her occupied while Carissa rested. Cooking is a treasure-trove of sensory time-killing experiences. After Reagan cracked the eggs for the cake (and I fished out the shells), she was enjoying the feel of the egg yolks and she played with them until, one-by-one, they all became mysteriously scrambled. Reagan also liked to pet the designs I put on my mixer while her hands were slippery with egg...

After we added all the ingredients (except the oil, I saved that for last), it was time for mixing. There was quite a bit of mixing and licking going on here. I'm glad we weren't cooking for company!

Saturday Carissa and I took Reagan to Discovery Playtown in Maple Valley. It was a cute little place that was well-kept and clean. These things are always a bonus when there are tons of kids touching everything during flu season.

Reagan enjoyed showing the doll how to drive the fire truck. It had lights, spinning wheels, a fire dog, and full turn-outs. As you can see, the fire volunteer in the back of the truck is a real princess.

 There was a cute veterinarian office with doors at the bottom for dogs and cats, bunnies and ducks, guinea pigs and ferrets...

and a door upstairs for birds.

Reagan went on a totally tubular slide and always came careening out the spout with little control.

Getting her technique down a bit better.

Uh oh. 

Then we stopped at Reber Ranch to get Bear Dog some food. Darn Reber's cute little dog bone display. It catches me (and Reagan) every time. Reagan got to pick out a mix of bones for Bear.

Then she put them in her little cart, stopping long enough for a bite of the free popcorn offered at the door. Man, Reber has this destination activity figured out! They have a dog park and after the dog park, it seems like everyone brings their dogs in for a treat, food, or toy. 

Since Reagan's little cousin-me-down, as JoAnn calls things, rocking horse is almost too small, Bob suggested we get the girls' "heritage" Wonder Horse out. He tried once before and it scared Reagan too much so back to the attic it went. This time when he told her about it, she was ready to see it. He brought the pieces down and Reagan shows up with her "quiet" (due to no batteries) power drill to help Grampa put her horse together.

She enjoyed the horse more than we thought she would.

Since it was nice out when the kids left, we headed out to catch a cache and find a Travel Bug to take to Phoenix to turn loose in a  Phoenix cache. It's a good chance for us to help a Travel Bug to get some mileage. We had a nice hike in the woods while finding the cache. 

Next Sunday is I'll be hiking in the desert!

Ironically I found this 7' x 9' southwest photo tarp. I can't think of any patio situation in Washington that this backdrop would fit into. Fortunately we don't need no stinkin' fake cacti this year.

After our trip to Lowe's, we made another cache grab. This weathered birdhouse just blended into the landscape and wouldn't even be noticed by a "muggle" or non-cacher but it was an eeeasy grab if you have the eye of a seasoned cacher.

When we returned to the car, I could see Bob's freshly-washed car had been crapped on by an innocent air born creature. 

While I was inspecting the first crap, I see more crap. This time by a not-so-innocent land-bound creature. Damn that is a deep scratch. Damn that land-bound creature and their cart! Why do people have to be so thoughtless?

But, there is always a bright side to everything. Now that the scratch needs to be repaired, the big ol' dent we got immediately after we got the car can be repaired at the same time. 

Look, I finally saw some sun! So it's just one spot on a stand of trees, but it's something!

Have a good week, everyone!