Moving to Seattle: We're in a grove now

We're getting into quite a routine here in Seattle. Friday mornings Genna gets up bright and early and puts on her sparkly purple Seattle Gymnastics Academy leotard and begs me to put in her sparkly purple hair scrunchy. I, on the other hand, do not get up bright and early and scramble around trying to pack snacks and water bottles for the kids, take a shower, eat breakfast, drink my cappuccino, grade my cappuccino (husband is working on latte art and he gets graded for both taste and design), smell my jeans to see if they have another day left in them before washing, and get Jonah dressed. I was so late this morning that I didn't have time to wet Genna's hair before the putting in the scrunchy, therefore allowing her cowlick to consume nearly a quarter of the top of her head.

Genna got another "private lesson" at gymnastics today because the two other little girls in her 9:30 am class did not come. I keep waiting for Coach Amy to tell me how talented Genna is at gymnastics and that if she works hard she can be a world-class gymnast. Clearly all the other little Hot Shots are just jumping around, but Genna has something special. But Coach Amy never tells me that. Coach Amy just gives Genna her little dinosaur stamps on her legs and says, "Okay, everybody for the 10:30 Hot Shots class, come on in!" A mother can still dream.

After gymnastics, I decided we'd go to the local germ swap, also know as, the community center toddler gym. The gym is a full size basketball court and must have over a hundred kid toys including the little Flintstone-like plastic cars, sit & spins, push toys, tumbling mats, balls, scooters, slides, hula hoops (they really should not have those; the kids just end up whacking other kids when they use them), and the ever popular blow up bounce house. For a toddler and a 4-year old, this kind of place is as good as Disneyland. Genna is so overwhelmed and excited by all the toys that she wanted to test out every one, and she demands that I try all the toys with her. Jonah, on the other hand, is happy just exploring on his own, pushing and pulling the toys from one end of the gym to the other. As much as I like his independence, it is a little nerve-wracking to have to constantly look for him amidst the sea of uncoordinated little rug rats.

The tow truck is one of the more popular toys

After all that activity, I don't understand why Jonah didn't nap, but Genna did, and I promised her that we'd go out to eat for dinner if she took a good nap. So, after nap time, a small snack, and some painful Barney songs, I packed the kids in the van, picked up Noah and we were off to Red Mill Burgers. For having what must be the highest per capita number of health-obsessed vegetarians, there are an awful lot of burger joints in Seattle: Burgermaster, Kidd Valley Burgers, Blue Moon Burgers, Zippy's Giant Burgers, and the list goes on and on. Apparently Red Mill Burgers have won local and national fame (i.e. Oprah - I'm not an Oprah fan, but that's for another blog). Anyway, the burgers were good, but I'm not sure I'd rank them among the top burgers in the US. Nothing beats a Thurman burger in Columbus.