the Daily Durias

Mindy's saying goodbye to an HMC original today. Jenni is moving to Arizona for a year before she and her family (Gerald, Simon, Jillian, and Miriam) leave the U.S. to serve the Lord overseas. It's been a good ten plus years.

Boyz II Men's End Of The Road plays in the background...

Aidan (5) had three shots back on June 16th.  He always does well but he needs a bit of prayer and coaching through the whole process.  To help him, we talked up all the things he could do after he gets his shots.  He could be on a tee-ball team, go to kindergarten, etc.  And he wouldn't need to get any more shots until he started middle school. 

Well, they forgot one.

So he had to go back last week to get his last shot.  We were so bummed for him.  Talk about disappointing.  We sensed that he was fretting about it.  You could see it in his eyes.

After the doctor visit, Aidan told mom, "My heart feels better now."

Mindy was loading the kids up into the van after a visit to Rossi Farms when a car pulled into the parking space next to them.  The door swung open and out came an older lady who, very apparently, loved perfume.

Paigey goes, "Mom.  I smell the grandma."

Check out our first ever Special Edition Blog:  Parks-A-Palooza!

The Durias fam made the most of two recent Seattle trips and, with the help of Starbucks Guide to Puget Sound's Fields and Playgrounds, we visited eight parks in nearly as many days...

"Venture out beyond the property line and you'll discover public green space aplenty.  Thousands of park acres in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties, actually.  And Starbucks Guide to Puget Sound's Fields and Playgrounds is the complete recreational resource for it all."

Enjoy the photos and maybe you can use the info.  A special thanks to our writer, Makaena Marie (7), for sharing her thoughts on each park jaunt.

 

At Burgerville, Paigey (3) "took a sip" out of a pepper shaker.  Bummer.

 

Joshua Roth Durias.  Seven months old.

After surviving four days of uncharacteristic near-100 degree Portland heat, some musings.

::  If you don't have air conditioning, rent and watch March Of The Penguins.  It cools you off just as well.  Actually, it doesn't.  But it's a lot cheaper.  And if you get it from Netflix, you won't have to contend with our overly peppy though insincere Blockbuster Video friends trying to up-sell you at every syllable.   

::  Paige kept sayin', "I'm cold."  After unsuccessfully correcting her several times, I finally realized that our three-year-old was merely exercising PMA (positive mental attitude).  Rather than responding with "Paige, you're not cold" I started saying, "Yes, Paigey, I am, too."

::  If your fan breaks and you need to buy a new one during a heat wave, don't expect stores to have any in stock.  And some heaters look like said fans.

::  On Saturday, I was in our Eurovan with the AC cranked feelin' just fine. It was raining so I activated my German wipers (do the Germans pronounce it "vipers?") and had a clear view of a gray sky every one point three seconds. Arriving at my destination, I was reminded that it was 90ish degrees the moment I opened my door. "But it's a dry heat" didn't do my just-out-of-the-shower feeling justice. "But it's a weird heat."  Yeah, that's more like it.

 

The artist behind this piece of modern art?  Click image to find out.

No single play in baseball is more exciting, since furious activities are taking place in different parts of the park, only to conclude dramatically back at the point where the mayhem began nearly 10 seconds earlier.

I heart Art Thiel.

Aidan:  I'll be the guy behind the batter.
Mindy:  The catcher?
Aidan:  No.  The frumpwire.

Also, I wish I could put up some pictures of Mia and Aidan at vacation Bible school but our little Canon Powershot SD400 was no match for the windowless Central Bible Church auditorium.  Grin.  Regardless, they went and they loved it.  Aidan's teacher for the week was named Ric.  Aidan kept calling him Rock.