House poor . . .

And cash rich! Praise the Lord, I signed the paperwork to finish the sale of my house in Nederland today. Apparently, I'd paid more on the mortgage than I realized, so we should be getting a nice cash infusion here shortly. Of course, it'll immediately go towards Michael's mortgage, so we won't really see it, but it is such a relief to be done with the house. Much as the liquidation is nice, I'm almost more excited about the fact that I no longer have to worry about upkeep anymore. No more lawn mowing for me!!!! :-D

Post-cruise fun

I had a training class in Seattle the week after the cruise (which means my company paid for my flight there and back. Score!) but it didn't start until Tuesday. Rather than hang out all by my lonesome in Seattle, I went with Peter and Melissa to Oak Harbor for the evening. Sunday we didn't do too much besides get home (after a reather stressful time navigating getting everything to the van after getting off the ship), do a little unpacking (them, not me!) and watch a movie and hit the hay. Monday, I took the kids to McDonald's for breakfast and play time and then to the neighborhood park for more play time. I had to take the shuttle back to Seattle on Monday afternoon so I'd be ready to go bright and early Tuesday, so it wasn't a very long time with them, but any extra time with my babies is a plus in my book! Coincidentally, the shuttle driver knew Peter and Melissa and had been in a Bible study with them. I made sure to give him plenty of dirt on Peter!

Hard to catch him looking at you!

David did NOT like this slide. I ended up having to climb in there and rescue him. Not so easy to get through those tubes when you're more than four feet tall!

Sarah, on the other hand, loved it!

There I got his beautiful face

She INSISTED on pulling the wagon

Visiting Garfield

Michael and I flew to Seattle a few days early for our Alaska cruise (posts coming soon, I promise) so we could spend some time with his good friend Garfield and family. Garfield was Michael's teacher at TJ (history, I believe) and they have kept in touch. They even went to Jamaica (Garfield's home) together with a few other former students once! We had a blast with Garfield, Eddie and their adorable children: Montrey and Sanaa. Activities included attending the local Duck Daze parade, riding to the top of the Space Needle and learning how to play Carcassonne. It was great to meet them and to have a few days to adjust to Pacific time before hopping on the cruise!

Ah, this brings back memories!

They stopped and did a routine right in front of us . . . so fun!

Proof that Michael occasionally get behind the camera

Sanaa, Garfield, Eddie, and Montrey

Yep, we're going to the top of that!

Nice view of Mount Rainier and the city

Ah, the beautiful site of industry

Somewhere down there is Melissa's favorite Chinese place

Is that our cruise ship? May be!

Proof we really went to the top . . .

And to Pike Place Market!

Another Rainier shot . . . this time from a moving vehicle

Opal Wedding

For Memorial Day, Michael and I took a mini-vacation to Nebraska. Now, if you are not a Nebraskan, this may seem like an odd destination . . . unless you happen to be a huge Taylor Swift fan and wanted to be there for the first North American concert of her world tour, held in Omaha! Woohoo!! Oh wait, we aren’t Taylor Swift fans and we weren’t there for her concert and we did have to deal with hordes of jay-walking teenage (pre-teen? They all looked young to me.) girls wearing ridiculous jean skirts and cowboy boots. Plus jacked up parking prices. Despite the takeover, we really liked Omaha . . . especially the steak. But I’m getting ahead of myself! Let’s start over . . . 

For Memorial Day, Michael and I traveled to Nebraska for the wedding of our dear friends, Deanna Sandman and Frank Opal. The wedding was held on Sunday in Lincoln, but because we were flying into Omaha, we stayed there at a hotel near the airport. Not only did we get to see Frank and Deanna tie the knot, we also got to catch up with good friends. Saturday, we were able to spend time with Justin Rucker (who recently moved to Arizona) and with Kelly Shepherd and Melanie Spradling (who is slumming in DC). Really, though, the highlight of Saturday was making the requisite visit to an Omaha chophouse. Yummy! Although, expensive! But, it was good steak!

Sunday, we woke early to go to the first service at Trinity Cathedral, so we could get to Lincoln early to spend more time with Mel and Kelly before the wedding. They ended up helping Dee get ready, though, so weren’t available as soon as we got there. Making lemonade out of lemons (or rather, wine out of grapes) we took the opportunity to visit a local winery. After the tour (well, really, just a tasting), there was just enough time to grab lunch with Mel and Kelly and head to the wedding. The ceremony was beautiful, the reception a blast and the attempts to blow up water balloons to decorate their honeymoon suite a truly dizzying experience. But enough of me jabbering . . . let’s get to the good stuff!

Hanging out at the Gene Leahy Mall in Omaha on Saturday.

Beautiful bride . . . guess the groom 'tain't bad neither!

Here's a PSA: water balloons are not designed to be blown up by air!