Read This

If you do one thing today - read this post. It's awesome. Just plain awesome. So drop what you're doing and read this. You won't be sorry.

The first foray into the forest - overnight!

I've really wanted to take Monkey camping for a while but last year it just wasn't in the cards (and before that I was not up for the challenge of camping with a toddler or baby). All along my husband has thought that I was insane. So with Mr. Monkey out of the equation, I planned a mom's camp out with an experienced friend (thank God for her!)

We smashed the kids into her car and then shoved in all the gear. We were only going for two nights but I'm pretty sure we could have survived weeks in that car if a disaster had hit. We stayed at Moran State Park which I would highly recommend for kid camping! We were at the North End campground which doesn't afford a lot of privacy but it's very close to the wonderful Cascade Lake day-use area (swimming area, playground and boat rentals) and easy hiking trails. We hiked, explored the campsite, roasted marshmallows for s'mores, swam in the lake and kayaked. We really packed it all in. Monkey LOVED it and was so sad that we had to leave. We will do it again - but maybe in two cars!

Takeaways

1) If you don't have a lot of gear - tag-a-long with a friend who does! My camping guru had a camp stove and everything else I don't have or would have forgotten.

2) Start small (close to home/civilization so you can bail if necessary & not too many nights for your first time). You WILL be exhausted!

3) Bring wipes! A roll of paper towels doesn't hurt either.

4) Pack some of those wipes and some ziplocks on long hikes - let's just say we had a bathroom emergency about two miles away from camp . . .

5) Even if the weather feels like summer (which unfortunately this year it hasn't) bring some warm layers as it's colder in the trees and after the sun goes down. It's tough to sleep when you are freezing.

6) Have fun and get dirty. Realize that your back will probably hurt and you won't get much sleep but it's all worth it!

Right Now - March

Wow, I can't believe it's March already. Monkey will be starting Kindergarten this year and I've been going on school tours. All this rumination on starting school has made me really conscious that time is speeding by (again) so I sat down to think about our Summer plans and such today. I thought I should probably calm the heck down and just live in the present for a bit so here goes:

Right Now . . .

Watching . . . Ponyo (delightful) with the kiddo and Dexter (disturbingly delightful) with the husband after Monkey is asleep

Making . . . lists of activities for the Summer

Smelling . . . freshly popped popcorn (it's movie night tonight and Monkey insists on it)

Reading . . . just finished The Stone Diaries and next up is some pulp fiction (Darkside) the last in my stack of free books

Planning . . . the next book exchange party (this time adding clothing and kid's books to the exchange madness)

Listening . . . to my Pandora Mumford & Sons radio station - LOVE those guys!

Missing . . . lazy days with Monkey and friends in San Diego

Coveting . . . a vacation without Monkey!

and you? Where are you right now? I'm off to watch Ponyo again!

FareStart Rocks

You have a few hours left for 2010 donations and FareStart is a wonderful cause. Check out this video for an overview. And if you're not in a place to donate - do check out the Thursday night guest chef dinners - great food, great price, great cause!

LIVESTRONG Challenge

I haven't been posting much lately (who knows if anyone is even reading this . . .) but I thought I'd let you know about a cause that's pretty important to me and that's the LIVESTRONG foundation.

My husband Mark is an avid cyclist and way back in our pre-marriage days we took a trip to France in 1999. We looked at some castles, drank a lot of wine, met some cool French peeps but mainly we watched cyclists whizzing by. That's right, we were lucky enough to follow the Tour the first year Lance won! It was pretty exciting. We started out in the mountain stages (which frankly were the best to watch because you can watch them coming up the hill for a while and not just whizzing by in a split second). The col du Tourmalet in the French Pyrenees was my absolute favorite. We camped out on a great spot overlooking some switchbacks. We got some good swag pre-race on that stage too. It was a really fun trip and really exciting to see the Lance momentum build as we followed along to Paris.

In 2005 (4 months before our son was born) Mark was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He was 44. Two weeks after I gave birth he had surgery to remove his prostate. Needless to say it was a stressful time for all of us. He's been fighting the disease ever since and on June 20th he will ride 100 miles in the LIVESTRONG Challenge (he did it last year too - don't worry, he was insane like that prior to the diagnosis). I will be attempting 45 miles - and if you know me that's a lot!

Last year Logan wore LIVESTRONG bracelets constantly - and insisted on calling them his rings. So this year we formed the team "Logan's Rings". It's not too late to join! If you're in Seattle consider doing the run or walk (no fundraising minimum) or heck, cycle with us ($250 minimum). Join us!

Food Revolution

Not sure if you've been watching Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution but I am. I admit, it's a bit contrived since Jamie is always "biting off more than he can chew" and then amazingly gets it done by the end of each episode - but I don't care how they do it as long as it gets people talking about the state of food in our schools. My jaw DROPPED when I saw the head of the school lunch program have them bring out the fries because there weren't enough vegetables in the healthy stir fry Jamie was serving - what??

Anyhoo, I'll be watching to see what happens next and hoping for change in our own community. Sign the petition here to show your support of the revolution.

Paper Dragons

Everybody's talking about "How to Train Your Dragon" these days and I've been considering taking Monkey to see it (not in 3D) but am waiting for the full report from a friend. He's never been to a movie theatre (since the mom & me movies he slept through) so I'm a little apprehensive. But all that aside I saw these free printable dragons on HP's creative studio and thought I'd share. I haven't made them yet. I am working on making invites for my parent's 40th anniversary party - so I am surfing while waiting for my sloooow printer. But I wanted to share because frankly - by the time I make them I will forget to post! So if you do make them let me know how they turn out!