Wonderful weekend with Angela

Forgot to write about this past weekend, my second as a single mom and the first without family around.

On Saturday morning we went grocery shopping, an exhausting process because to save money we have to go to several low-priced places to find what we need. And just FORGET about the farmer's market -- too much of a hassle.

Overall, it wasn't as bad as I feared. We got home just in time for nap, and I got a chance to unload groceries and re-organize the refrigerator. Now Drew will have to organize it HIS way when he's back for Labor Day weekend. Tee-hee!

Then we went to the second block party of the summer, three blocks away. We arrived around 5, which turned out to be way too early, but Rachel definitely kept herself amused. Dogs roamed everywhere, a couple sniffing at her legs and she screamed in terror. I finally sat her down and explained that this was THEIR neighborhood and she had to respect that. She tried really hard but it was a struggle.

Toward the end of the evening, though, she had a great time. She grazed, food-wise, and when the fire truck came she was thrilled! She got a red plastic helmet and got to sit up front for a long, long time -- way after the other kids had left. She also got a popsicle.

We left after folks started lighting sparklers and setting off fireworks. Rachel did NOT like that AT ALL.

The next day we met up with our friend Angela and drove to a gorgeous swimming hole at a state park in Washougal, WA. It's right on the Washougal River. At first I was skeptical -- the path down there was really steep and Rachel was frightened after she slipped a little in her crocs. And when we got down to the bottom, all we saw were rocks and sun -- no place to set up a picnic blanket in a shady spot. We finally found a muddy spit of land under a tree.

And the folks there were all drinking beer and smoking and a fair number had tattoos.

But you know what? We had fun anyway. Rachel refused to go into the water (icy cold on contact but very refreshing once I swam around a bit) and spent time on shore in my lap (or Angela's or her friend Taylor's) tossing rocks into the swimming hole. We left just after the mid-afternoon crush started arriving and setting up propane-powered grills, ugh.

Rachel insisted she got wet "all over" like Mommy did, but that's not true so please don't believe her if she tries to tell you that.

THEN we delivered a late birthday gift to the daughter of a friend of ours and ended up staying for dinner. Meaning, I ate the delicious baked salmon, tomato and cucumber salad and rice, and Rachel refused all food. She's no fool - she was holding out for the food SHE wanted at home. And, yes, she got it.

Whew! I'm exhausted just writing this. We have another busy weekend ahead but I'm looking forward to it -- it helps remind me that Rachel and I are not alone.