Under the Dome

Is anyone watching Under the Dome, a 13 episode summer series on Monday's at 10 pm on CBS?

I am.

The kids introduced me to the series when we were in Sunriver on vacation. I caught up on episodes via Amazon Prime and Comcast On-Demand.

The series is based on a Stephen King novel, but according to readers the show is different from the book. Some is good. Other parts silly. The rest falls in the middle. But we're enjoying it.

I like the idea of a show not dragging out for years. I find the actual dome thingy interesting more so than some of the drama going on, but maybe that's the engineer in me. The show's focus is the characters reacting to being under the dome, but I'm still trying to figure people out on the show. I will likely read the novel once the miniseries is over just to see how King wrote it. I'm curious to see the characters in the book vs. those in the show.

Are there any summer shoes you're watching and would recommend?

Sun and H2O

SHARC at Sunriver

Yesterday was all about water! We spent the morning at SHARC. Fun times. The picture is my son making his way across the pool using ropes and floaty log thingys. It was a little too easy for him so hubby decided to tip the logs to make it harder for him.

Not sure if you can see all the blue sky in the pic, but it was a gorgeous, clear day. Another hot one, too. High nineties.

On the food front, we discovered a great place in the village. The Sunriver Brewhouse. It was being built when we were here last year. We ate lunch there. Great atmosphere and food and customer service. Our meals took a really long time to arrive so the manager gave us our drinks for free as well as 10% off the check.

In the evening we went to the Juniper Swim and Fitness in Bend so the kids could get in a swim practice with Current, a local USA swimming team. The pool is 50m long so it was a great opportunity for them to train given the long course state championships coming up later this month! The coach and team were very welcoming and friendly. Finn met them at another pool this morning at 5:15 am to get in more practice and had in spite of the early hour.

Hope you're having a great day!

Vacation!

Dinner in Sunriver Village

The family and I (dogs included) are taking a much needed vacation this week. The cats are at home with our housesitter extraordinaire, my dear friend Jenny, who takes such good care of them I don't have to worry one bit.

We arrived in Sunriver, Oregon yesterday afternoon. It's our same time, next year vacation. We're staying at the same house we stayed this time last year. The kids already had sleeping arrangements planned and didn't need any help getting settled.

The weather is gorgeous, but hot. So glad the house we rented has a/c.

 My kids are big on traditions so we ended up eating dinner at the same place we did last year our first night here, El Caporal. Something new this year was the kids having to take pics of their drinks and food. We've been invaded by Instagram!

This morning hubby and I went for a jog before the kids woke up. We'll be spending the morning at the pool before it gets too hot. Of course, with state swim meets coming up, the kiddos will be doing a few swim practices with a local USA Swim team in the area. But I think they're looking forward to that. At least Finn!

Hope you have a great day!

Summer Take 2

The sun has returned to the Pacific Northwest. After all the rain and gray skies we've had, temperatures soared above ninety yesterday. Our second glimpse of summer this spring! Fingers crossed it continues. I'm tired of rain!

I love grumpy cat. Feeling a little grumpy myself this morning, but I hope it passes. I have lots on my To Do list including attend my swim clinic class. I'm now on the 3rd session. Now to build endurance so I don't die when we have to do 50m or 100m. I much prefer 25m at a time!

Hope you have a wonderful Wednesday!

The End of Summer

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Summer is drawing to an end. The kidlets are getting ready for school to start, and I'm trying to figure out where July and August went. I was really hoping to take a big family vacation, something we haven't done in a couple of years. There's so much else I wanted to do, too, but I doubt I can squeeze it all into the next few days especially with my proposal due on Friday.

Oh, well...there's always next summer! Or weekends once soccer season ends in November.

But the kidlets are happy with how their summer turned out. They love hanging out and play with the kids in the neighborhood all day. Water balloon fights, sprinklers, Nerf gun battles. We had twelve kids over on Friday night to watch Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam. So I guess our summer was a success when you look at it from a kids' perspective. Sun, play, water, friends. That's what matters to them.

Did you do everything you wanted to do this summer? What was your favorite thing about this summer?

Heat Wave

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The Pacific Northwest is facing a scorcher of the week. Lucky for me, I picked 8 am for the kids swim lessons. We just got home from the pool. I was thinking it might be too early, but it was a perfect morning.

Rose hasn't had swim lessons since she was 2 so I realized I'd better enroll her before the summer disappeared. She was the only one in her Level 1 class so we'll see if anyone joins in as the week goes on. The older two are also in classes. They're working on improving their strokes and just having fun.

My nephew's team from Cascade League is in the Oregon State tournament for Junior Baseball. We sat in 100 degree heat to watch them beat a team. They were ahead by more than 10 runs in the 5th so the game got called. There's another game today, but it's a later start so I'm hoping it'll be cooler!

I ended up sleeping downstairs on the couch last night because it was so much cooler than upstairs. Chaos and Rocket joined me. I think I'm going to have to force Spirit to stay downstairs. She looks so miserable. The kidlets aren't bothered by it at all.

Not much else to say. If you have cooler temps, send them our way please!

Hot, hot, hot

Summer has arrived. It was so hot yesterday, over ninety, the kidlets had a hard time sleeping. Today I need to figure out how to turn on the sprinkler or our yard is going to die. This weather will be here for a few days.

Of course, we've got a ski trip planned for next weekend. Not sure what the snow on Mount Hood will look like by then!

I figured this quiz was perfect given the current weather:

You Should Spend Your Summer on a Road Trip

For you, the summer is all about possibilities. And you're not going to be tied down. This is the time for you to embark on an epic road trip, with no ultimate destination in mind. You know you'll have a ton of crazy adventures... at least until you run out of cash!

Where Should You Spend Your Summer?

I'm a bit in a panic about the book so I'm making this short so I can write this morning. Have a great Friday! And tell me where you should spend your summer!

Buckling down

With a huge item checked off my To Do list this past weekend, I can finally focus on the book. On Friday I got an email from my editor. The proposal was accepted with no changes. Of course, that doesn't mean I won't be changing those first three chapters. That always happens as I get deeper into a story and learn more about the characters, but it means I'm on the right track. Huge sigh of relief.

So this morning, I'll reexamine The Plan and amend where I am and where I need to be accordingly. I'll also look at my To Do list since a few things have been ignored for too long and need to get done.

I'll finally have the time even with a deadline. The year is already winding down. I only have two more Monday classes to teach, too, so that will free up a big chunk of time each week.

My Sunday class ended last week. I have to admit, it was nice not having to run to the church last night, set up the Atrium for Sunday night class then after class take it down again. I missed the kids and the actual classroom time, but not all that was involved to get us there. I already told them I'm taking next year off from teaching on Sundays. I've done it for three years and need a break.

And only a month and a half until the kidlets are finished with school. I can't wait until they are home with me! We have lots of plans for the summer. What about you?