Our Saturday - Dave went to work early, I made pancakes ("Light, mom, like Dad's. Not dark. Ok?") and then I did some volunteer work for the schools, then we went for a hike in the rain and wrapped up by hitting the market. Here is a roundup of the day.

I think this is the rainiest winter in 118 years? I read that a few weeks ago when it was only October. Here’s hoping it turns into snow soon! I’d much rather have that. The “puddles” here are just unbelievable. They rival the best puddles we found in Hawaii. There is less good muddin’ though – it is just kinda frowned upon. And I find that I am either more prissy, or I just don’t like being both wet AND cold, but I’m not pushing strollers through mud with Sam on a mountain bike going through a massive “lake” here like I did in Hawaii. Have I lost my grit? I didn’t think so – we do other nutty things. But maybe I have? Yesterday we were on an outing with one of Sam’s friends in Battle Point Park. It got very wet, very quickly. As we started walking around, it started just pouring. Sam and his buddy had a great time walking through a “puddle” that was 2 1/2 feet deep – truly. They traipsed all over with guns and cammo (in the near-dark – it is black out at 5pm) with me, the other mom, her dog and little Ben all in tow. Ben was such a trooper – he has a neurosis about wet pants. He wants to change clothes if his pants get wet walking home from school after dropping Sam off. So to trudge all over in the pouring rain – he was a strong guy. I wasn’t thrilled – I was cold to begin with. I didn’t know this is what we were doing so I wasn’t dressed for it. Tamara knows if there is anything I don’t like, it’s not being properly prepared, gear-wise. When we went sliding down playground slides on Lego bin lids (in the rain – for speed) we had trash bags on our butts (like knickers) and helmets on. Have you ever SHOT off a slide on a Lego bin lid? I still remember watching Tamara do it! She really flew! Anyway – when we finally got back home we were all soaked. I managed to go down in a big puddle after deciding – what the heck, I’ll just RUN through this one (because Sam said it was fun)! I forgot my Muck boots have zero tread. I went totally flying and landed on my rear. By then it was laugh or cry – so the choice was clear, it was pretty funny! Sam and his buddy thought so, too. Ben was silent on the matter.

I was invited to write a column on chickens – Coop Scoop – for a local magazine (InsideBainbridge.com). Here is the first article. The next one is on…you guessed it…sick and injured birds. I’m invited to include some humor – so it could get interesting. I have plenty of VERY funny chicken friends to draw on, too.