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My parents have been in Seattle visiting for about a week now (of 3.5 weeks total–apparently retired people need more vacation time than the rest of the working world). Matt decided it was time for a big adventure and we went white water rafting out of Leavenworth yesterday. It was a 4.5 hr rafting ride that was a Class III ride–which was plenty exciting for my first time (I’ve done some rapids in kayaks and canoes in MA). Jesse and Deborah came too and we rafted through some HUGE drops and avoided crashing our head on some rock and concrete bridge pillars. The only person that fell off was some lady that wasn’t with us, and it was on the first set of rapids. It was very hot outside and the river was very cold, which are my ideal standards for swimming, so I was content.
Our river guide was a 22 year old guy that was living out of his truck for the summer and told us before the ride that he’s had two brain surgeries and is a cancer survivor. Even though he confessed to almost killing other customers on the river, he took good care of us and didn’t flip our giant raft. We did ram into a few kayakers on purpose He let us swim through one set of rapids and that was fun, except I was mostly underwater the whole time. I got to go through one set of rapids sitting on the bow of the boat like a mermaid-it was fun seeing everything up close like a roller coaster.
The swallows flew along with us and ate any bugs that gathered–I think I’d like to train a swallow one day for a pet and it can just eat the mosquitoes around me when I’m outside. But I don’t have much of a need for one now, the mosquitoes are quite an endangered species in Seattle. My parents survived the ride, they were smiling at the end, and I think I screamed more during the rapids than my mom. I’m so proud of them, trying a new adventure that is definitely out of the comfort zone. Deborah and I are ready for our second time to be a class IV—but I’m not sure if I can be the front paddler yet.

Hooray! My first blog entry and I get to share my new passion. I’ve been taking aerial classes for the past few months and just performed in my first show. I was worried I’d be nervous or pee in my leotard while hanging from the rafters…but turns out only the anticipation was scary. I LOVED being on stage and doing my thing. I was in the group piece at the end of a two hour show…so hopefully people were awake to enjoy my tutu power. It went really well, considering we only had one group practice where all 7 of us were there together. Maybe I liked it so much because it was so physical and I could concentrate on my moves, rather than remembering my lines and stage location. Acting was fun, but I think I enjoyed the community much more than all the other stuff. I was much more at home doing the aerial routine, and I wouldn’t have been there if it hadn’t been for Matt and his primo birthday presents. This year it was seeing Cirque du Soleil (awesome) and getting a home-cooked meal every Monday night so I could actually make it to aerial practice instead of getting lost in the kitchen for two hours cooking and forgetting about practice alltogether. Special thanks to Alyssa, a girl who can hang by her toes on the trapeze and still smile. She held me by her toes and didn’t drop me, as well as being present for my moments of utter frustration.
But no circus for the summer, my teacher is travelling with Circus Contraption and can’t teach classes. I’ll miss it, but it’s a good excuse for me to stop so I can try to lose some of this muscle mass in my shoulders because I don’t fit into my wedding dress anymore. Silly how that works. I guess it’s a summer of chocolate bars and sunbathing.