Laura's rule of life #117

If you ruin dinner (in this case by using stale arborio rice to make risotto and don't figure it out until you start tasting the risotto half an hour into cooking)...



You can always order a pizza!

The Stanwood-Camano Community Fair

Last week while we were back in Seattle we went to the Stanwood-Camano Community Fair. Every time we go Robert and his family regale us with stories of Megan showing sheep, running the Republican ice cream stand and performing in the parade. Having grown up in a huge city instead of a small rural town I still get a kick out of it all.


Here is Gray and Aunt Megan after going on the "scary" ride. He spent the whole ride curled up in a ball but wanted to go again afterward.


Riding the Ferris Wheel with Dad. When they got on the ride operator very seriously told Robert not to rock. Every time they got to the top the whole thing creaked and popped, maybe we should have called this one the "scary" ride.


Eating ice cream with Papa.


Aunt Megan, Cousin Wendy and Gray with a Goat. We also got to feed an Alpaca, and we petted a bunny and a dairy cow.

Happy Birthday Nana

First a Tulsa Shock game.


Then dinner and cupcakes. Happy Birthday Mom. We love you!


Someone REALLY likes chocolate cupcakes.

This morning we drove out of Tulsa to the Thunderbird farm.


There we picked our own blueberries.


A very proud little boy.


We bought eggs and honey from Farmer Don.


Then we came home and used our eggs, honey,


and blueberries to make


muffins. Yum!


Not a bad way to spend a hot summer morning.

Dr. Mom

I have spent the last 2 days trying to come up with some funny or clever way to post about my big news. However, I have come to the conclusion that there is nothing funny or clever about it!
To that end:
I PASSED MY DISSERTATION DEFENSE!
This means that (except for turning in my paper on August 11th at 10am - yes I had to make an appointment for it) I have now earned a Ph.D in Experimental Psychology. This also means that Robert intends to call me Dr. Laura for the rest of my life, which he thinks is a lot more humorous than it actually is!
Now I am going to sleep for a month!

Big Boy Bed

So, as Gray's parents we have utterly failed at potty training...thus far. In a sad, pathetic effort to feel better about ourselves we decided to move him from his crib (where he was totally happy and from which he never even attempted to escape) to a big boy bed. You know, so at least he's progressing a little bit. If this works we will feel much better about ourselves! We are also planning on several trips this summer and he has outgrown portable cribs (even sleeping at a diagonal)so he will have to sleep in real beds. We thought that having some practice would be a good idea before we left.

Meanwhile, from Gray's perspective "I have a big boy bed? Does this mean I am a big boy? That would be so cool - no bedtime, all the popsicles I can eat, and Toy Story 3 on demand. Wait doesn't that also mean taxes, vegetables, and the occasional jury duty? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"



"Sweet, my bed is lower to the ground so the chubby cat can sleep on the other end. Wouldn't be soooo bad except for his snoring. Thanks Mom and Dad"

The Tulsa Shock

This year Tulsa got a professional women's basketball team called The Shock. We bought two season tickets and my mom (who is a huge women's basketball fan) bought the two right next to them. Robert and Gray have gone with Nana and Uncle George before but I had not had the chance. Last week Nana and Uncle George left for an Alaskan cruise so we had all four tickets and went on Saturday. Gray doesn't really get the game yet but he loves Volt the mascot and the dipping dots (which I had not had since the early 90's at the old Pasadena Mall). Let me tell you, these women do not hold back. I attended many MBA Sonic games back is Seattle (before they became the Oklahoma Thunder, coincidentally) and a few WMBA Storm games. For families I highly recommend the WMBA if you have a team in town. The tickets are less expensive, crowds are usually lighter and more families attend so the between play entertainment is usually family oriented.