This past week in (mostly) pictures...

This past week Auntie G visited us. The Sheriff had to leave to play war in Oklahoma for several weeks, so she whiled away the time with us. We packed so many things into a week, I'm having a hard time putting a post together out of them, so this is a very picture heavy post.

The first couple days she was here she cleaned my house and organized it as only Auntie G can. She is the only person who used to watch my kids while I worked, and I'd be guaranteed to come home to a non-sweaty, calm, cool & clean, nicely dressed, and make-uped Auntie G, in a SPOTLESS house, with dinner on, in a CLEAN kitchen, and both of my children HAPPY and playing with ONE toy. I don't know how she does it, I want to be her when I grow up. If you come home from work to my house when I'm in charge, the house might be clean-ish, but the girls room will be a mess, I'll have forgotten to change out of my gardening clothes, dinner will be ready in a half hour, I'll only have make-up on one eye, and the kitchen will look like a pack of raccoons got all helter-skelter in there. Anyway, I worked in the yard, while she worked her magic with my house and children.


While Auntie G was here, we went to Walla Walla to see both sets of our grandparents, with an afternoon stop by Moses Lake to visit our Uncle, Aunt, and Cousins. It was a quick trip... And that is about when I started taking pictures.

It is a gorgeous drive to Walla Walla... Kiki and Debris love it.... when I told her we were going to go, Kiki said, "YAY! We get to see the Snake River!" For some reason, they hold the Snake River in the highest regard. I think they believe it is full of snakes. Debris explained that she thought it should be called Shark River, because surely the sharks would have eaten all the snakes by now. Sigh. Anyway, they entertained themselves all the way there by running their hands down their faces every time I turned around, and dragging their bottom lip over their chins. They know I hate that, so they do it every chance they can, and giggle uproariously. ***Shudder!!!!***

And, being crazy!!

When we got to G&G M's, PapaPapa played his harmonica for the girls... Kiki likes it, but Debris LOVES it. She proceeded to steal it, and play it in every position possible...

Can I have it yet???!!!

Kiki is SO fond of these nesting dolls. She literally played with them every spare moment...

In the morning we went over to visit G&G N.

Then met Gamma Gamma M. for lunch at the gorgeous Pioneer Park. Coming to this town always brings back so many childhood memories for me, it's so fun to share it with my kids, and know they'll have some of the same "visiting Walla Walla" childhood memories as me. Except they have new playground toys. So sad, I liked the old-school toys much better. It sorely disappoints me that they got rid of the merry-go-round (called marriage-a-go-round, by Kiki and Debris)--I tribute my cast iron stomach to that thing to this day.

We visited Andy's--I thought it was boring as a kid, but now I just can't get enough... they have the coolest food in that store. I love all the whole grains they sell in the bulk section. Fortunately Kiki is enough of a foodie already--she enjoyed it too. :-) (Her mother gleefully rubs her hands together!)

We ignored the rules about when to transplant plants, and Gramma M. gave me a few boxes worth of perennials... I'm so excited!!

There's nothing like a few farm-style acres for a kid to run around on...

Kiki communed with the neighbor bull.

And then when we came back to Wenatchee Auntie G watched the kids for us on Friday night so we could have a date. Since we moved, we've fallen out of the habit of making time for just Frank and Me to leave the house and kids for a while, and focus on each other. So, we had a date, in an actual restaurant, without having to tell anyone to be quiet, eat their food, not climb under the table, not ask the waitress for things without asking Daddy or Momma first, having to take anyone to the bathroom four hundred times, not clean up water spills, actually pay attention when the waitress is talking about the specials of the day, and the wine she recommends for your meal, not tell 4 different people that your children are NOT twins, and so on, and so forth. It was lovely. We do have a few different babysitting options, so we have no excuse to not do it again soon. After dinner, we went in search of the best spot to view the sunset. Both sunrises and sunsets are mind-blowing in this town. It ended up being a mini-going losting trip, which just proves that if I'm leaving the house with Frank I should always wear, or at least pack, a pair of jeans and boots. I'm wondering when that will actually sink into my thick head. The Road we wanted to take up Number 2 Canyon Road ended up being closed by the forest service for "natural wildlife habitat preservation" but we did find so many gorgeous wildflowers and meadows and the like to enjoy. Handily enough, I had stuck the camera in my purse and forgotten about it for a different reason that day.

We also found a fresh deer leg. Hoof still attached. The rest of the deer was no where to be found. Yum. We took a pic for Kiki and Debris.

So, since we couldn't get to the top of that canyon stretch, we headed across the river to Badger Mountain, where we got front row seats for the glorious sunset. It really was amazing to watch. 'Scuze the plethora of pics, I couldn't pick just one.

Gratuitous Rovey shot. :-)

These pics have not been photo shopped in any way.

Saturday we took a quick trip up to Lake Chelan to show it to Auntie G, to check out a winery we wanted to visit, and since we hadn't been up there in a month or so, we felt the need. It was amazing, it always is. Lake Chelan is a must-see in the State of Washington. It is a natural, glacier fed lake, 55 miles in length, and the third deepest in North America, at over 1,486 feet deep. The north end of it, Stehekin (pro. Stuh-hee-kin) is so remote it can only be reached by boat--for the folks who live there, telephones, fresh groceries, neighbors and cars are not really part of daily life. It must be wonderful. :-)

This is my favorite pic from the week. Non-posed, and just enough to make a momma's heart melt.

The water is so clear, and so cold. Melted glacier, remember? :-)

After a trip to Lake Chelan Winery, where I honestly turned in a gorgeous pair of Prada sunglasses someone lost and Frank found and managed to snag one of the last bottles of their 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon (wow--so good!), we hit the local pizza parlor for some pizza, and arcade games.

Debris eats pizza very weird. I can't get her to see the sense in the normal, skinny end first method every one else on the planet follows.

When it was time for Auntie G to leave, Kiki and Debris began howling, sat on her to keep her here, and also began dickering for how many more nights she should stay, as you can see by Kiki's fingers.

Bye Auntie G! Thanks for coming to see us!

After she left, Debris snuggled up in her spider-blanket, and ate Auntie G's tortilla soup, feeling sorry for her lonely self, all the while. 33 pics!! Whew! Hope you're still with me! Have a great week!