These beauties were at the side of the road today retuning from my mom's house with mom in the car. I'd been mentioning earlier that morning how I needed to find a dresser or set of dressers for the girls room.

Just proves you really need to vocalize your wants in this world. And free is an excellent price!

The couple who had placed them there said they'd belonged to the husband and he'd had them since he was born.  They just didn't have the space where they were moving to. The husband helped me load the dresser into the car and offered to tuck the desk back in the apt courtyard until I could come back and get it. Which I did immediately.

We think at least the dresser is walnut...but one thing is certain,  they will have a new, long life in our home and they are already loved!

(The desk makes a great buffet/sideboard in the dining room!)

 

This is quakie, our beautiful Quaking Aspen. We have loved watching the leaves develop in the spring and rustle and shake with the wind. Mesmerizing! The sound of the leaves reminds me of water in a stream...

 

Unfortunately, as much as this tree has brought us audio and visual joy, it's also brought sorrow. You may or may not know, but Aspens are one of the few varieties of trees that are water seekers. Which means, their roots will go out from the main tree, great distances, in search of water. They don't care if there is a house foundation in the way, or a fence, or a sewer system. All that matters, is finding a water source at whatever cost. These trees do very well in fire prone mountains, as they can quickly repopulate forests from their massive underground root systems in a short period of time after a wild fire.

 

And since Quakie here was planted too close to our house (not to mention our neighbors) at some point prior to our moving in, next to the property line and above our sewer system (replaced 5 years ago when we moved in because of the sewers age and major tree roots inside the sewer line) and our neighbors sewer line, we made the decision to remove the tree.

 

It took a 4-man crew an hour to take it down today. Eddie worked from home and was impressed at how quickly they worked and got the bulk of the job done.

Now, we'll get more life out of our roof in that corner when we replace it in the near future and begin our attic expansion...We'll also have more sun in the backyard, and we've minimized future root damage to our house and our sewer system as well as our neighbors.

Always a good idea to keep up good neighborly relations where possible, right?

In less than two weeks, the company we hired will return to grind out the stump. Meanwhile, Eddie will get chopping and we'll have future firewood for next year after it seasons.
 

 

And we'll enjoy the quivering Aspens in Sunriver each year, instead...

Bacon Hello Kitty waffles for breakfast!

Bean has a favorite book, called 1,2,3 Boo! It's a small, pop-up board book, and it's gotten a lot of love in our house between Lulu and Bean.

The other night I snuggled in next to Bean to read it to her and found the first page was missing it's pop-up flap for the number 1.

"Oh, Bean...This is gone!" I exclaimed to her. I wasn't surprised, like I said, they have both loved this little inherited book to death these past few years. "Who did this?" I asked outloud.

"Lulu!" said Bean, immediately throwing her big sister under the bus like any self-preserving younger sister would.

"No, I don't think Lulu did this," I replied, in a voice questioning her answer.

"It's a mystery..." was Bean's response, very straight-faced and with an even voice.

Girlfriend wasn't going to incriminate herself if that was my intention!

She definitely got the poker face and voice in the family.

This was on the checkout table when I came to pick Bean up from daycare last night.

 

 

Yep, the ponies are far away.

Last week Bean, Eduardo and I joined my mom and brother at Sunriver for a few days of R&R. My mom took Lulu over with her a day early, so we loaded Bean and her posse into the car for the trek:

 

As we drove through Bend, we stopped at Boneyard for vacation growler re-fills and a tap for the Man Corner at home in the kitchen.

 

 

 

Once in Sunriver, we spent our days swimming, visiting the bounce houses and the mini-train in the Village, visiting the Lava Lands caves and of course, taking Bean for her pony rides. She got a ride on Houdini, then a ride on Chauncy.

Then it was off to learn some roping technique from Grandma. I had no idea my mom knew how to toss a lasso...incredible!

We also did a family bikeride the last full day of our stay before dinner. Lulu rode behind me on a tag-a-long and Bean got to experience a carrier. She loved it, if you couldn't tell...Little princess!

Her chariot awaits...

Saturday morning we packed up the car and headed back to the Village for Lulu to experience the bumper cars. Out of town, we stopped in Redmond for gas and to see if The Bear was still standing guard at the Polar Bear Gas and Wash. Alas, we believe he disintegrated sometime between when we saw him last (April 2004) and present day. Here he is when we last visited in 2004:

 Jump to 2013, no more espresso and no more bear. Just an empty glass display case...Boo!

However, we discovered some EXCELLENT Mexican food in Redmond at a restaurant called Diego's Spirited Kitchen. Unbeknownst to us, there was a bike race in Redmond that morning so streets were closed off and parking was interesting. But we parked behind City Hall and checked out this great public space fountain.

 

Diego's did not disappoint!  This is the back patio and our choice for lunch seating.

 

 

The mild salsa was incredible and flavorful.

Margarita's!

 

 

The girls fries were very good, too. It must be their fry oil! 

 

 

I ordered the Pork Carnitas Soft Taco's, recommended by reviews online.

 

It.Was.FANTASTIC!

 

 

 

Eddie got the Chicken Mole and while good, he felt my entree was sublime compared to his. I agree!

 

 

 

Yum...yum...super yum! Diego's will definitely be on our list for future visits to Central Oregon.

 

 

We stopped at the Summit rest stop to checkout if the tadpoles Lulu had spotted with Grandma, in a super small creek by the parking lot, had become teenagers yet...

 

 

 

Nope, still tadpoles.

 

 

Bean fell asleep while "writing" in her journal the last 30 minutes before we got home. Too sweet!

 

 

 

A nice way to end a sabbatical, don't you agree?

This little girl just loves horses SO MUCH!

Last night, with Lulu ensconced at Sunriver with my mom a day early, we picked Bean up from school to finally see the ponies up close that we wave hello and good-bye to on our drives to preschool during the week.

To put it mildly, Bean was blissed out upon seeing them! She lights up like a 600 watt bulb, no?

She rode each one and then we said good-bye and went up the block to have dinner with "the pigs" (aka Russell Street BBQ) where we had a mess of delicious BBQ. This is the joint where Lulu famously tried to prove she new how to spell cheese sticks to me a few years back...

After dinner, she HAD to see the ponies again. She sat on each one, pretended to ride ("I'm a cowgirl, I'm a cowgirl!" she called out between megawatt smiles) and then gave each one kisses before going to the car to go home.

This week she'll ride real ponies at Sunriver on a short horse-shoe trail...she is so excited!

I have a no animals rule for the kitchen bar. Bean tried to negotiate this morning with me on her Nunu and Comfy Horses behalf but I won the battle.  Instead,  she set them up to look in at her eating breakfast!

I pinned this picture from Pinterest awhile back with the full intention of doing this in the near future. Nude polish with silver glitter tips:

Whomever this is, she has beautifully shaped fingertips and nails!

Yesterday, I finally decided to hunker down and do it since my nails have gotten longer than I'd realized. I have enough nail polish colors to open my own salon, but my silver glitter polish was too fine to copy the look so I opted for this instead:

The OPI is called "Glints of Glinda" (a color to coincide with the new Wizard of Oz movie this spring) a nude with no sparkle and then Sally Hansen "Strobe Light" which is a lavender/mauve/pink glitter polish.

Voila! A more subtle version on me than the persons example I copied, but still a fun look. I don't like to do crazy nail combinations with my polish, especially on my fingernails, and I tend to keep it simple and more classic as well. This is a perfect compromise!