Good Times With Jill Bug

 I thought I would celebrate the birth of my favorite sister by finally posting all the picture that I took while she was here with us in Eugene.  Unfortunately for me it just made me feel depressed that she doesn't live here permanently.  She earned Sainthood by making the mini-van trek between my two homes.  Anyone who knows me is not surprised that I can talk for 13 hours straight, but anyone who knows Jill may be surprised.  It was awesome.  We talked about everything, and by that I mean every single thing that either of us has ever thought or experienced.  Of course I have completely enjoyed making that drive with my wonderful husband but I did always wonder how it would go with someone who would converse with me across three states.  Let me just tell you a little secret, I loved every second of it.  Jill might not have felt the same because she was on kid-duty for a lot of the whiny hours.  She devised a game of hiding goldfish crackers in a DVD case that kept Rosy from wailing for several hours.  Once we got there she was rewarded for her sacrifice with a week of dealing with grumpy, dramatic girls who were missing their grandparents. 
There were a few moments of redemption though, one of which was the Whiteaker Block Party.  No camera in the world could catch the feeling of this place.  I imagine that it is similar to being at Burning Man but with a little bit more clothing.  She also got to be there for the first episode of Bachelor in Paradise with the Hot Mamas which is a lot more fun that it sounds.

We also had a picnic on the beach that coincided with a ridiculous amount of wind.  Luckily we were able to hunker down in the last remaining driftwood shelter in Florence.  The Spaghetti salad that we hauled in our cooler still tasted great even with a little bit of sand flavoring.

 Something about this picture makes me think of Moses. 

 It was freezing cold and absolutely beautiful. 

 We went to the Cascades Raptor Center and saw a lizard...and some birds.

 I took advantage of Jill's greenhouse experience this past summer and made her help me harvest my potatoes.  They were the only plant that really took off this year.  We got a lot of peas early in the summer and yesterday I picked a strawberry that managed to grow, but other than a bunch of squash blossoms the potatoes are basically it.

 This made it possible to fulfill my dream of making purple mashed potatoes.

 And the Grand Finale was the Scandinavian Festival which has taken us 6 years to finally attend.  It was amazing.  I wanted to eat something from every single booth but we ran out of money.

 When I look at this picture of the gates I can see that I should have known that trouble was brewing.  The Rigby girls were partied out.  I knew that they were tired but I thought that buying some snacks from the vendors would cheer them up.  Boy was I wrong. 

 The more fun that Jill and I had the worse their moods got.
They would cheer up for a second or two immediately after eating something sugary, but then it would descend into a deeper funk.

Everyone was finally happy when we got the sno-cones.  I realize now that the problem was that we should have gotten three. Sharing a sno-cone on a hot afternoon just is a really evil thing for a parent to do.
Daisy got me back once we got into the car and she threw the one she was holding from the back seat of the van.  Her aim was better than I would have expected and it splattered all over the back of my head.  Bits of ice and sugar syrup flew all over.  I was completely shocked.  Daisy is usually a pretty even tempered kid.  It was like the sno-cone represented 4 years of holding back and it came out in one ugly act.  First everything went silent and then Jill and I just looked at each other and finally kind of burst out laughing.  I don't even know what you can do when your kid throws a sno-cone at your head.  This is serious business.  We drove in a weird, tense silence until we got to the airport where we said goodbye to Jill.  I really wanted to get on the plane with her and give up on parenting forever.  When we got home I sent Daisy to her room and she fell asleep for 5 hours.  When she woke up she just kind of shrugged her shoulders about the whole thing.  We moved on.
I sent a text to my mom that said, "Sorry that Jill for sure won't want to give you any more grandchildren after spending so much time with my kids."
Before her plane took off she sent me this picture.


That is when I realized that she really understands what it is like having children.  You just forget the crap and remember how sweet they all were for that one moment.
I love living in this place but I just wish that I got to hang out more with my sister.  She is the best.