Auntie Rachel's here!!

Rachel Jones, one of my very best friends in the whole wide world, is HERE! She lives in Nairobi and had a workshop/conference/presentation in Seattle to attend, so she decided to spend four days with us here in Portland and we're having a wonderful time.

Today Drew took Rachel to school while Rachel and I sat around the kitchen table and ate homemade strawberry bread (mine) and bacon (from the Farmer's Market). Then we went consignment store shopping (Rachel bought several beautiful things but I found NOTHING that fit; how depressing!). We then grabbed our bathing suits and went to the soaking pool at the Kennedy School and had a fabulous time talking and soaking for two hours. We picked up cupcakes and Thai food for dinner and we're waiting for Drew to put Little Rachel to bed until we eat dessert. Then maybe...watch a movie? I haven't felt this relaxed since..since..Drew came home.

***

Little Rachel constantly admonishes us to not talk with food in our mouths. She also watches to make sure we eat enough food. "Please eat, Mommy," she said after I was full from the pad thai I'd ordered. "It's OK, Rachel, I'm just resting," I said.

***

I was telling Little Rachel about the soaking pool and she wanted to know why we went there.

"Well, a soaking pool is good because it takes away the aches and pains," I said. "The hot water makes the aches and pains go away."

"No wonder she talks like a professor!" Big Rachel said. "It's the way you both talk to her!"

***

Tonight Little Rachel shocked us with a colloquialism that could only have come from school.

"Hey, duuudes!" she said suddenly. I looked at her in astonishment. "Where did you pick that up??" I demanded.

"Lila taught me at school," she said.

So for the rest of the evening, each of us said, "Hey, duude!" but the only time that we all cracked up was when Little Rachel said it. It sounded so cute, we couldn't help ourselves.