The Hazard Chronicles

This morning, Rachel and I were sitting on the deck (as is customary) eating our breakfast of avocado toast (living up to that millennial stereotype) and enjoying time together before kids and work took over the day. It's a nice way to start. Anyway, as we talked, we both realized that this last week was pretty full of good stuff. Many little things and one very big thing which, ironically, we didn't get any photos of. 

The most important part though, was that Rachel interpreted the play she's been working on. She got a bio in the playbill and everything, and it was very well attended. She always puts in a lot of hours and hard work when she does these things, and it is definitely a labor of love- love for theater, love for a language, and in a way, a certain love for performance. This last one isn't supposed to be acknowledged though, because...politics? But seriously, I think that the performative aspect of interpreting a stage performance cannot be overlooked.

Anyway, Rach and I went to the show together on Friday evening, and then Addy and her friend went on Sunday to watch Rachel at work (and to see the play). This seemed fitting since both girls are very into musical theater at the moment, and both of them, as a summertime "hobby," have recently enrolled in ASL classes together. By all accounts, Rach did a great job and is ready now to relax a little bit.

Besides the play, there were many other little things about the week. Mostly though, we just seem to have found our stride with this summer vacation thing. 

Happy 4th of July to everyone, and have a good week!

I laugh so hard at this picture! Context: Rachel always makes fabulous cakes for the kids birthdays. Honestly, I think she does a pretty good job. She actually recently raffled off one of her cakes for like a hundred dollars, which seems ridiculous to me, but it speaks to her talent.

That said...this one didn't exactly turn out according to plan. What you see is supposed to be a fire breathing dragon. What it looks like is a fat, hastily made dinosaur, who is smoking a cigarette. Even more tragic is that as this picture was being taken, the head fell off. Like, seriously. In the end Rachel was putting a lot of time and effort into a cake she did not like at all. When it started crumbling she grabbed Lindsey and took a picture, then happily went climbing with us.

You win some and you lose some. Lindsey had a great birthday in spite of the cake problems.

Here is the actual party. Notice the small store-bought cake that we pulled in at the last minute? It worked. But the dragon cake tasted better.

Party people

It was supposed to be a makeover party, but it quickly turned to stage makeup and dress-up.

We spent some time this weekend up in Wallace. They have opened their public pool which is just down the steps from our house and gives us yet another reason to love this place. The pool is free and, for a borrowed sandal, they will lend a pair of goggles to the kids.

Pool time

A legit climbing gym has opened in Post Falls! It has been a long time in coming, but it is finally here. We are all excited about it, and we are excited for the owners who we consider to be friends. We went there for the first time a few days ago and I am actually super impressed with the quality of the holds and the sets. What it lacks in vertical height (hopefully a short-term limitation) is completely made up for with everything else. This is easily the best gym in the greater Spokane area, and it happens to be less than ten minutes from our house. I love it!

The gym will have its grand opening this coming weekend. Rach and I are helping with some of the organization and staffing of this one-off event, and it should be super fun. If anyone in the area is reading this, you should come down and check it out. Even if you aren't into climbing I think it would be worthwhile to come just to see this amazing facility that we have in our area.

Happy 4th!

And here is a random picture of Evelyn. She recently got her hair cut. She doesn't like it, but everyone else thinks it's cute.

Have a good week!