Pretty sure I have the cutest Pirates players of all time….they played their first game yesterday morning and each boy had a couple of hits.  Carlos made a great play at 2nd base and Levi held his own at shortstop.
They were actually playing, and by this I mean there were plays and hits at a level far better than they played last year.  It’s an older team, so it was fun to see how much they had improved.
They are excited to go out in the yard and play catch with us and we LOVE that, we’ve been waiting since they day they came into our lives for them to ask!

Our friend, David, was chosen to be a CNN Hero and he asked us to be a part of it all.  As a lesbian couple, we received guidance from Families Like Ours (David’s company) when we were going through the process of becoming foster parents and throughout our journey.
Thank you David and Conrad for all that you do to bring families together and help LGBT youth in care.
Here’s the link to the CNN Hero video – we have about 2 seconds on screen, pretty cool!

Another lovely day, spent the morning with Nana and Papa and some John Wayne Eggs (yum!).  Did a little egg hunting, hanging out and picture taking.  Beautiful family if I do say so myself!

We were lucky to get a beautiful Pacific Northwest day on Saturday when our plans included meeting up with friends on the Seattle waterfront.  Blue skies, good friends, what a treat.  Only had one melting down and that was cured by a bite to eat.
We ate lunch at Red Robin, rode the carousel and made a visit to our favorite pirate store.  Got a new bumper sticker for the van (To Err is Human, To Arrrr is Pirate), the boys each bought themselves a locking pirate journal and I bought a pack of play mustaches for the ferry ride home.  The boys got so many smiles and “nice mustache” comments that they want to wear them every day.

It’s what we do….5th (I think) year, super fun as always.  Here are some pics!

Ok, loyal fans…ready for a spinoff blog?  I just started the Dukan Diet today and didn’t want to fill this blog up with diet related posts.  So, if you want to know more.  Follow this blog!

I am sick and tired of being “big”.  I have tried Weight Watchers (which worked until we stopped and then it came right back on), Atkins (which worked until we couldn’t look at another piece of cheese or hard boiled egg and caved and went out for a stack of pancakes soaked in syrup…after that there was no turning back).  For the most part, we do eat healthy.  Lots of veggies and fruit and whole grains but also pasta and too big portion sizes and certainly not enough exercise.  Good food tastes good and is comforting and we are exhausted by the end of the day to exercise.
Anyhow, Mary found a diet that I think is going to work.  It will be really hard for the first 5 days, the Attack Phase, where we will only be allowed protein.  Yup, only protein.  With Dee, Mary and I all doing it together, though I think we can do it and jump start this new phase of our lives.
The recipes look tasty, we like protein and after the Attack Phase we will be adding vegetables and alternating veggies/protein and pure protein days for the next 5 months.  The cool part is, you can eat as much as you want of whatever (protein and most vegetables) you want so you can’t really complain about being being hungry.  I can have my latte as long as it’s fat free milk and sugar free sweetener (did it this morning and didn’t die!).  The hardest part for me is going to be drinking enough water each day.  I hate water.  But on this diet your body is burning weight quickly so you really have to drink it.  We also have to eat some oat bran, but I think this will be helpful is staying full.
Wish us luck, give us support and please be kind if we are cranky in the carb-detox phase.  If you want to join us and look fabulous, too….follow this link:  Dukan Diet. Also, we’ve checked in with our PCP and she thinks it sounds like a healthy plan.
Let us know, we’re starting on Monday!  The more the merrier, we can all reach our goal weights together and the way this is set up, it teaches your body that that’s the weight it really should be.

What a treat it was to wake up yesterday morning to sunshine!  Alice was with us for the day, so we took off on an adventure.  We stopped at a Beauty Society party that was being held by a friend.  I know you are thinking “you went to a beauty society party where a bunch of moms get together and do facials?” and the answer is yes, but I was honest about my reasons for being there.  I was there to chat with the other moms, have a mimosa and let the kids play with their friends.  It was exactly what I needed.  And no, I did not get a facial.
After the party we headed to a little park just North of the Hood Canal Bridge.  I can’t remember the name, but it’s a family favorite.  Great beach, playground and picnic area.  Spent some time on the pirate ship play structure until a mom (who was too busy smoking to be watching her 3 & 4 year old) came down and gave my kids stink eye for not letting her girls play with them.  They weren’t closing games, but they didn’t actively invite the little kids to come aboard.  I was watching, they did nothing wrong (and I will be the first ones to call them out).   That gave us good reason to hit the beach.  Grabbed the camera and took my new favorite family photo.  The kids skipped rocks, Erin explored the rocks and sand and everyone found a cool shell to take home.
We were all getting hungry, so we continued on to find lunch.  Had to stop in Port Gamble (love that little town) for some treats.  They have grab bins of candy ranging from 2 cents to 50 cents each.  I gave each kid a dollar and let them pick.  While Carlos, Alice and Trey got a decent amount and assortment of candies, Levi chose to get 50 little lollipops!  Smart boy.
Swung through McDonalds and fed the kids, then I went through Cup and Muffin for a tasty ham and cheese sandwich.  We drove to Lions Park (the kids LOVE that park and have been bugging me to go there for ages) and they spun themselves silly on the little merry go round.
Great day.