Max

Jason's best friend, Max's going away party was at the Sidebar and Grill.  He's moving to Anchorage, Alaska on Sunday.

 Misty, Bill, Kathy and Jason

 Max opening the gag gifts from Jason.  I found this gift bag with a kid picking his nose that says "picked out especially for you" .. I knew Jason would love that and it fit with his gag theme.

 Everyone got a good laugh over the bacon air freshener for his jogging shoes and the Canadian breath spray.  But I think Max liked the bear spray and bear bell the best though!  Something he can actually put to good use in Alaska.

Max and Greg

 Bill, Max and Greg

Max, Jo and Greg

Ryan

I watched Ryan Friday, while the rest of the family went kayaking for the day.  Connor and Ryan had a blast playing together.  Now that Ryan's femur has fused he can army crawl.  He actually gets around pretty good.  Two more weeks until his cast comes off.

 The boys played with Ryan's pirate ship

 cars

 our cute little Ry-guy dressed up with his crown

 for lunch I brought his bean bag chair into the kitchen and used a stuffed animal to help prop him up.  Worked great!

 After lunch the boys relaxed and watched the Little Mermaid movie

 Then it was time for more playing!

Story time.  They both love books.

 playing cars.  They did so good playing together and sharing all day long.  Connor would put the cars at the top of the track and drive them down to Ryan at the middle of the track where he would take over and drive them to the bottom.

 Music time.  Ryan on vocals and Connor on keyboard

 We set up Ryan's little people car track and the boys played with this forever.  It worked out great.  We put Ryan in the middle so he could easily spin around and reach everything.  Connor and I were on the outside.  Ryan would drive the cars to me, I would drive them to Connor and he would drive them back to Ryan.  Great team work!  We had such a fun day playing with Ryan.  I love to see my two favorite boys bonding.

Mall

Connor ran some errands with me at the Northtown mall.  We had to exchange the remote helicopter he got from Matt and Peyton for his birthday.  We stopped at Rue 21 to say Hi to Lauren while she was working.  Then hit the play area for some fun before my appointment to get my hair cut.

 Yeah!  the new helicopter works!

River Front Park

We joined Jason's friends, Bill and Max at River Front Park to cheer on the finishers of a half triathlon.  Bill and Max are both avid biker and runners.  Max completed the Iron-man triathlon a few years ago.  Both of them compete in mini and half triathlons too.   They volunteered with the race this morning and then relaxed in the beer garden to cheer on the racers as they crossed the finish line.  Bill's favorite motivational cheer "You gotta wanna suffer."  We all laughed at that cheer.

 While the boys drank their beer and cheered on the finishers... Connor and I played on the playground.

 gazed at the waterfall

 checked out the Spokane River

 splashed in the water

 rode the carousel

rode a pony named Tinkerbell

 and helped the guys cheer on the last finishers.  Connor found some acorns that he carried around the park.  Bill kept telling Connor to look at the big picture.. it's not an acorn, it's a Maple tree.  Good advise, but acorns turn into Oak tree's, not Maple tree's.

After the race Bill and Max took off for their own ride.

 We stopped at the Steelhead bar and grill for a late lunch.  Another one of Spokane's hidden secrets.  Great food!!  And lots of it too.

 Then we stopped into Boo Radley's.  Boo Who? Why Boo Radley's of course! Named after the character in "To Kill A Mockingbird," who collected unusual and sometimes wacky items, this novelty shop is a one-of-a-kind trip to visit!
Connor found these octopus tentacles..

 but decided on a plush octopus instead.  Which has been by his side 24-7 for the last week!

 Jason bought Max (his best friend that's moving to Anchorage, Alaska) Bacon air freshener to strap to his shoes when he goes for a run.  Alaska has a lot of bears... so the air freshener is to attract them or maybe to make Max run faster?  Maybe Jason is prepping Max for the Olympics?   And since he has to travel through Canada he bought him Canadian breath freshener... so he can look and feel just like a Canadian.  Jason can't say good bye without at least a few gag gifts.  He also got him some actual bear spray and a bear bell that is suppose to keep you safe in bear country.  Both were highly recommended when we went to Glacier.  If it works for the bears in Glacier.. it should work for the bears in Alaska too.  Max is going to be staying with family in Alaska... they have a mama bear and 3 cubs that play on their back deck.  The bear spray is a must!

 My goofy boy enjoying some peanut butter crackers.  He didn't want to get the sticky peanut butter on his fingers so he was eating them off the plate with no hands.  Goofy kid

Mark and Stephani

Jason's brother, Mark and his wife, Stephani came over for a visit.  Mark had a golf tournament in Spokane on Friday, so Connor and I went swimming with Stephani at their hotel, which had 4 swim pools.  Lauren stopped by to say hello too.

 Friday evening Mark and Steph came to our house to visit.  Connor loves his Aunt Steph!

 Connor surprised Uncle Mark with a fireman's carry wrestling move too.

 And he showed them his Tag books and took a few pictures of them with his new camera.

 Aunt Stephani and Uncle Mark

Jason and Mark went golfing Saturday morning before they had to leave to drive back to Olympia.

Jason and his brother, Mark.

M. FI. R.

~ Mobius ~

~ Flying Irish ~

 The Flying Irish theme was beach night, so everyone came in beach gear and the hotel opened the pool for swimming after the run.  The water was pretty chilly though, so my boys took a quick swim and then retired to the lounge chairs to warm up.  Jo and Greg joined us to visit next to the pool.

~ Rollerblading ~

 I dug out my rollerblades, which haven't been used in the last 11+ years.  I made it down our block and back, then around our neighborhood once without falling!  Connor rode his bike and Jason walked the dogs.

Jason was disappointed that I didn't fall a single time.  He was waiting to capture the moment and since it never happened he made me lay in the grass and pretend to fall.