a good summer day begins with poop and ends with poop...

My friend Kim and I have a tendency to choose activities with our children that most sane people avoid. We thought nothing of hauling six kids to Ikea to shop for desks and as chaos broke loose, we were fairly good-natured as we fed the children junk and watched our crowd accidentally knock over displays (that we picked up, mind you). We did not laugh, though, as Kim was overcharged about one thousand dollars and we were so harried we didn't even notice. At first.

We also instigated a random trip to Chuck E. F*&%$L@ Cheese, which we enjoyed immensely for about an hour and a half and then quickly rounded up the kids, drunk on video games, and drove them home as they talked about what good moms we were. (Seriously, they really did do that. Who knew there was an upside to the loudest place on earth featuring robots dressed as rats?)

So when Boaz and I thought going to the Fremont Solstice Parade was a fun idea and our friends asked us what we were up to, we thought them perfect candidates to join us on a crazy day. And we basically knew it would be when, about 30 seconds after arriving at our house, Josh had to go home and change because Sophie suffered a serious diaper blow-out.

After clothes were changed, we all went to wait for the bus since that way we wouldn't have to wait for parking. The kids were thrilled with the idea of bussing it--it's funny how kids seriously love buses. And adults, well... I know I should love riding the bus, and I definitely love the idea of the bus, and I like not looking for parking, and I suppose there is some interesting people watching on it, and you get to be a part of the community, and blah blah blah, but there are also lots of big bumps and odd smells to help accelerate motion sickness, and it's worse when you're responsible for those smells, but I'll get to that part later.

There were 12 of us in all, including Bo's parents, Myra and Moty, visiting from California, so it actually gave us an amazing ratio of 1:1 adults to children, so things were very calm. The kids loved the two bus ride to the parade as much as the cool bus stops with painted murals and etched glass.




The parade was so packed that we couldn't see much, but the three boys squeezed their way into the front for a better view. There were dancers, people on stilts, colorful costumes, cool floats (my fave was the monkeys on the bed), and nude bicyclists. Yup, nude bicyclists. But they're painted. The boys' faces were a sight to behold. They went from confused to shocked to amused, but really, after the initial shock, you barely noticed the nudity. Not really.



After the parade, we walked with the crowds to Gasworks Park where we sat and ate lunch and hung out watching the people and enjoying the first day of Summer. And it really, really felt like Summer.


We all felt like we were on vacation--I don't know if it was so much sun after being holed up all Fall, Winter, and Spring, or if it was such a nice change to be out of our own neighborhood and regular daily ruts and routes, but it was lovely to be out and about with good friends and family.

And then came the bus ride home... The regular routes were changed because of the festivals and we ended up trekking six very tired kids under eight about twenty blocks to catch the bus. Luckily, a tuckered Sophie fell asleep after the first bus.

And it seemed fitting that just as we were getting on the second bus, Naomi announced to the world very loudly that she had a poopy diaper. And then once we were on the bus, she continued to inform us and everyone on the bus of her status. But by then, nobody really needed to be told anymore. We did not make any new friends on the bus ride home, but we all did get our own seats! :)

Happy Summer! Seattle is so glad to see the sun!