Where's Waldo: Part 4

This week we visited the last 4 shops on our Waldo passport, which were all up in the Northeast side of town.

 

First we stopped at Barrett Orchards, also known as Washington Fruit Place and The Big Red Barn. Tyler easily spotted Waldo hidden among the Liberty water bottles.

Next we went to Revolution Cycles.

Tyler found Waldo before anyone else, who was smartly standing near the air conditioning unit.

At Sharky's Pizza Waldo was well hidden. It wasn't until we were sitting down eating our lunch that Tyler happened to glance up and notice him in the mouth of a shark.

And lastly, at the Kid's Castle Waldo was hiding at the snack counter.

 

Now that our passport is complete we'll have to head over to Inklings and turn it in for some coupons, an "I found Waldo" pin, and enter into the prize drawing.

I thought it'd be fun to dress in costume for the party/prize drawing at the end of the month, so I bought red and white striped shirts for all three of us and made Waldo hats by recycling a few old t-shirts I never wear anymore. I used some red yarn to make pom-pom balls for the top of the hats. Both Tyler and Rick were amazed by the pom-poms, but really for someone who made countless yarn dolls in Girl Scouts...it was no big deal.

I think we can all agree: Tyler makes the perfect Waldo!

Pool Time

The temperature around here has been around 100 degrees for a week straight and from the looks of the forecast, it's only going to get hotter. It supposed to be 108 degrees by next Wednesday. Yikes!

 

So in an effort to keep the boys cool, I went to a couple of stores looking for sprinkler toys. I just wanted something that I could attach to the hose, that would spray water around and the boys could run through, but everything seems to be sold out for the season. The next best option was to fill up Tyler's old kiddie pool for a few days, but that's not something I can leave out long term on the grass. Next week we'll probably have to break out the water balloons.

 

I left the kiddie pool out for about 3 days and Kyle had a great time...in fact he kept going outside and getting in the pool all dressed in his regular clothes. Since he was being a renegade and not listening to the rules, which were that he needed to be wearing swim clothes and that he needed me or brother outside with him, I just had to empty the pool.

In the evenings on Tuesdays and Thursdays Tyler has swim lessons, which is nice for him to cool off, but meanwhile Kyle and I roast over on the side of the pool. So hot! They need to set up some misters for all the parents that are sitting around.

And that's when I had the idea (blistering away at Tyler's swim lesson) to go to the public pool afterwards for the open night session. It seems kind of silly to go from one pool directly to another, but the plain fact of the matter is that we're not members of the gym and can't use the pool except for Tyler's swim lessons. So off we went to the public pool.

Ahhhh, sweet relief!

Where's Waldo: Part 3

On our ongoing quest to find Waldo in Yakima, we were able to visit six more stores this week. This time we hit the stores along Summitview, then Ron's Coin and Book downtown which was closed last time we tried, and then the museum on Tieton on our way home.

 

Our first stop was at Johnson's Orchard. Once again Tyler found Waldo before me, but he totally gave it away when he went into this trancelike stare.

Next on our list was Black Bear Frozen Yogurt where Waldo was easily spotted in the corner of the store.

The idea of going into an ice cream store and not buying any ice cream is out of the realm of understanding for the boys so we filled up some cups and enjoyed an after-lunch treat. In the past Kyle has always had to share with Rick or I, but this day Kyle claimed the cup all for himself.

Next up: The Pet Pantry.

Tyler found Waldo hidden in the soda machine before I could even get through the front door. More time to browse the store I guess. I ended up getting a few gigantic sprays of millet for Max.

Then we went to Off The Record, a music store with a real hipster vibe. Thankfully Tyler has finally learned to whisper otherwise offensive comments, as he informed me of how smelly the place was. Much to everyone's relief we quickly found Waldo in the window of the front door, but he was disguised with a beard and mustache and black stripe shirt, almost like Odlaw with no yellow.

At Ron's Coin and Book we found Waldo up high.

Our last stop of the day was at Yakima Valley Museum and since we knew that Waldo would be hidden in the gift shop we skipped buying admission to the museum since neither of the boys are into that sort of thing. We just went right into the gift shop and found Waldo without too much trouble.

Now our total is up to 21 out of 25 stores. Almost done!

The Funny Center

Last weekend we went to The Family Fun Center (or "the funny center" as Kyle likes to call it) for two reasons: Kyle had been asking to go incessantly and also it was one of the Waldo locations on our passport.

 

The arcade has finally modernized and now instead of tokens and prize tickets everything is done with cards, so both boys have their own card loaded up with money that they swipe to play whatever game they want and the card keeps track of the prize tickets so no more walking around with bulging pockets full of tickets. Kyle loves to play basketball, or any ball game for that matter.

We planned to do some of the outdoor activities as well as playing in the arcade so we parked on the back side of the facility and came in through the back door and coincidentally found Waldo within a few seconds. See him?

Tyler played the Red Hot game where you have to get all of the six balls to land in the red slots. He's really good at it and won the jackpot twice on his last visit and again on that day.

Once the boys blew through their arcade money we went outside to do the bumper boats.

And in an effort to use up some old passes that were sitting around the house, Rick took both boys, one at a time, on the go karts. First was Kyle's turn.

The time clock wasn't working that day so I'm not sure if Rick and Kyle came in first place or if they just gave Kyle a flag because he was the smallest competitor.

Kyle took his flag and cheered on his brother.

Look at that vision of green! What a color coordinated pair.

Then on our way out Rick used up a few old passes for the batting cages.

Riveting stuff!

Where's Waldo: Part 2

The first 8 stores on our Waldo passport were easy to visit since they were all in the same shopping center, but the rest require a bit of driving around town. Last week we were able to visit the stores on Nob Hill and a few more downtown.

 

The participating stores are supposed to have a Waldo sticker on their front door so you know you're in the right place. When we went to Ted Brown Music there wasn't a sticker on the front door so I asked one of the girls at the counter if Waldo was hidden yet to which she promptly hurried off to the manager's office. Next thing I know Waldo suddenly appeared on the shelf next to the trombones, which coincidentally is right outside his office door. So our first stop of the day was a little anticlimactic as Waldo was hidden right in front of our faces.

Our next stop was at Valley Cycling and Fitness, also known as the most competitive business in the group. They would never forget to hide Waldo...in fact they pride themselves on hiding Waldo so thoroughly that it would be impossible to find him in anything less than 20 minutes. Indeed, last year they were voted the store that was the hardest to find Waldo and apparently they plan to claim that title again this year. Tyler and I spent so much time looking that more than once I suggested that we just leave and come back another time. Even with a hint we were unsuccessful for a long time. Then maybe by a stroke of luck Tyler finally spotted him in the back of a jersey on display.

At Jake's Bicycle Shop we easily found Waldo sitting on a bicycle hanging from the ceiling.

Next we stopped at Encore books where we realized our stamina was waning. We'd spent way more time at the bike shop than planned and were a little bit behind schedule. Still the boys took a break and played with the Legos in the kids section while I browsed around the store. One of the employees told me where Waldo was, on a display shelf near the register, but Tyler still managed to find him on his own.

Our next stop was at Yakima Bindery, a store I've never been in before and it was way bigger inside than I was expecting. They have every office supply you could possibly imagine. We toured the entire store, but ended up finding Waldo in the front of the store near the registers on top of a sticker display stand.

Our last stop of the day was at Northtown coffee, which recently relocated to the old train depot downtown. The boys took a quick look around, but really everyone was too hungry to care all that much about Waldo anymore. So I ordered a coffee for myself and some apple slices and crackers for the boys. Again the girl at the counter told me where Waldo was in case I needed to hand out hints.

We took a break in the kids playroom, which is actually the old ticket booth.

When the boys were fully recharged we headed back out into the main area and Tyler was able to find Waldo without much help. He was placed on an old black and white photo on the wall of the train station back in the day.

That makes 14 out of 25 complete. Only 11 more to go.

4th of July

Rick drew the short straw this year and had to work the holiday so the boys and I just spent the day at home, which was actually very relaxing compared to all the running around town we've been doing lately looking for Waldo, swim lessons and such.

 

We wore our best red, white and blue.

Put the flag out on the house.

And indulged in some delicious food. I didn't grill or do anything special for dinner, we just had spicy black bean burgers that I made on the stovetop. The boys were more interested in dessert anyway: cherry pie. Yum!

Also I made a batch of festive red, white and blue muffins made with cherries, blueberries and white chocolate chips.

 

Later in the evening after Rick got home from work we headed over to the arboretum to get our usual seats for the fireworks show. While we waited for it to get dark the boys tossed around a glow in the dark Frisbee.

The fireworks show started right at 10:00 and hey, I even remembered to bring my long camera lens this year.

Twenty minutes later the show was over so we packed up our things and headed home. The roads leading to the freeway always get so backed up after the show so Rick had a plan to drive some of the back roads and hopefully find a quicker route home.  No luck, our efforts didn't pan out and it still took an entire hour to get back home.

Where's Waldo: Yakima

For the 3rd year, The American Book Association and Candlewick Press are teaming up with independent bookstores and local businesses across the country for Find Waldo Local, which promotes shopping at local independent businesses. The event lasts the entire month of July and the participants meet at the end of the month for a party with cake, games and prizes.

 

Tyler and I were anxiously awaiting the start of the month and on July 1st we headed over to Inklings to pick up our passports and find the first Waldo. This year Kyle is participating right along with his brother, but he needs a lot more help so instead of making him search the whole store, I wait until Tyler or I find Waldo and then have him look in that vicinity.

Tyler found Waldo at Inklings sitting on top of a book carousel. That's 1 down, 24 more to go.

Next we went to Ohana Shaved Ice, which is always the easiest Waldo to find since their shop is just a tiny outdoor shack.

At Oak Hollow Gallery Waldo was down low in a display case and actually this is the first Waldo that Kyle was able to find since it was down at his level.

At the Cake Decorator Shoppe both boys were able to find Waldo fairly easily.

Next we went to Gasperetti's Floral shop and found Waldo hiding on a table in the back of the store.

At English Country Market Waldo was hiding so good that none of us could find him without a hint from the store owner and even then it took awhile to find him. The hint: He blends in nicely with red, white and blue.

At Boehm's Chocolates Waldo was sitting on a shelf with stuffed animals.

And at Loo Wit Gardens Tyler found Waldo on a high shelf and was able to give hints to Kyle until he was able to spot him.

The first 8 stores were easy to visit since they're all together in the same shopping center, but we have a little driving to do to visit the remaining 17 stores.