Day 102 of bus driving on an 85 degree day, and even hotter inside the yellow "bake oven" on wheels. I wore a skirt for the first time in this job -- it was just too warm for pants. My shorts are all too short to meet the dress code because my legs are so long, so I can't wear shorts to work. 3 minutes after taking this pic 68 sweaty students and 2 wasps joined me in here.
Love it when a giant moving truck is parked in my turn-around spot. Called for help over the radio and two other bus drivers in the vicinity parked their buses and walked into where I was stuck and backed me out. Love how we all help each other.
After 8 months of waiting, I finally got my very own route... just in time for the last few weeks of school. During the summer the routers will be busy consolidating routes to maximize the number of available subs, so I'll probably find myself back in the sub pool when school starts, but for now I am very happy to have kids to call my own and a set schedule I can rely on.
Mother's Day. I keep these three photos by my bed and look at them every night as I get ready to sleep and marvel at how time flies. I took these photos of each of my daughters when they were 5 months old. K & A are wearing a gown that my maternal grandmother wore almost 100 years previous.
On Mother's Day weekend we visited a botanical garden we hadn't been to before. They were having an event with activities around the garden for children, including building "fairy houses."
Natural materials were provided in a central location, and children were encouraged to find a "special spot" and create a fairy home of their own.
The best play structures are of the natural variety... Redwood root whirl at Kruckeberg Botanical Garden.
Discovered an enchanting alpine garden on one of my evening walks. Even more interesting was meeting the elderly Belgian woman who lovingly tends it, and hearing her stories of growing up during WWII and living in Switzerland, which was the inspiration for her garden.
Mom and me on Mother's Day. She wanted to go to a Mexican restaurant. She's feeding me fried ice cream. Fun times.
Birthday dinner at Seastar... Dungeness crab chowder, crab cakes, halibut, cedar plank roasted wild mushrooms, and house-made chocolate truffles and caramels for dessert. It pays to get older!
With my bus driving schedule I wasn't able to attend many of Little K's track meets, but I did make it to one between a route and a field trip, and the final meet on an afternoon when I got off early.
K is the one with the long stride, leaping ahead.
K at the final track meet of the year, held at the high school.
Neighborhood picnic dinner time! Love, love, love my neighbors. The men sat around in a circle sharing fishing stories and favorite ways to prepare their catch, the women talked gardening and summer travel plans, and the kids rode bikes and played badminton until dusk. And the food! Yum!
I know you're probably sick of me raving about my wonderful neighbors, but here's another example of how lucky we are: One dad was cleaning out his garage, getting ready to sell the bicycles his college-bound sons had outgrown. Another Dad (the resident cycling expert) mentioned that our girls were growing like weeds and needed a bike. Together the dads overhauled the bike, giving it new tires and gears, and tonight surprised the girls with the gift of a new bicycle. This bike could have been sold on Craigslist for a couple hundred dollars (it's a top-of-the-line model), but they gave it to us instead. We are so grateful!
Daddy and all 3 daughters together for Father's Day Pond Boating, with Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI) in the background.
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