Cape Kiwana, Y!PP, Jordan, Sugar, Contradance replacement
This portion typed on Friday the 11th

On Saturday, the 5th, we went to spend the day at Cape Kiwanda. I think I'll start with the night before though. CJ went to bed early due to a headache, so it was just Jimmy, Jay, Jay's friend: James, and myself. Jimmy and I were playing Puzzle Pirates and I think we were on a pillage. I asked Jimmy to take me to Baskin Robins...a mere 3-5 minute drive away. Right before we took off, Fannon asked us to go on a Shurby pillage. Fannon is a good friend of mine in the game, Shuranthae is an awesome bnavver, and I've only been on a handful of his pillages (2 or so). So to me, that was a mildly special invite. Jimmy and I agreed to skip the first battle (it was a WB pilly) to get ice cream and pop on for the remainder. So we snuck off, and came back with ice cream. James and Jay weren't amused that we went off to get ice cream without them. Jimmy asked if they even had money. Their final answer was no. Part of me told me not to care. It's my boyfriend's little brother and his friend. Another part of me from the first half of my teen years screamed (in my parents' voices) that we should've at least offered, and I felt bad about that. And then I also have somewhat of a soft spot for Jay. And then another part of me was annoyed with James' repeated "that's gay," comments. The fact that we got ice cream was gay. The fact that Jimmy didn't want to pay for their ice cream was gay. The fact that Jimmy and I were playing Puzzle Pirates was gay. I was tempted to slap him and that also probably would have been gay. On the contrary, Jay was rather mature about it in my opinion. James' was stupid and babyish for telling us we were gay, and I found that I really appreciated Jay's stand on that. I appreciated it enough to get Jay ice cream...James got one because I was being polite. So I skipped a battle or two more to buy them ice cream cones.

I realize that Puzzle Pirates is just a game. But unlike a lot of games out there, the people in Puzzle Pirates are real, and I believe I have very real, very valuable friends there. And funny enough, this game gives me reasons to write and draw from time and time again in the forum contests. Unfortunately, I require inspiration, and the community of this game provides that.

Back to Cape Kiwanda: we woke up at 5:30 so we could get on the road at 6am. We drove the truck out to the coast, which filling half a tank of gas cost CJ exactly $50. I spent most of the drive enduring Jordan's music (there were a few I liked, a few that were okay, and a lot that I wasn't fond of) and supporting a sleeping Jimmy.

I found out that there were bunnies wandering the camp site once we got there. I enjoyed that :) It was there that we met up with CJ's parents, Katie and Levi, and CJ's brother, Kelley, and his wife. Oh yeah, and Cojack, Kelley's dog. Everyone was up by the time we got there around 8, but breakfast hadn't been started. So everyone 19 and under wander over to the playground to hang out. A game of tag was suggested, but the lack of a big playground and the sand shot down the idea. We left around the time when place was being swarmed by younger kids. That turned out to be pretty good timing because breakfast was ready when we got back.

After a wonderful breakfast of blueberry or chocolate chip pancakes, bacon, eggs, and cantelope, we headed to the beach. As an fyi, Cape Kiwanda is on the coast. So the "kids" (everyone under 20) walked over there...it was about a 5 minute walk. CJ caught up with us in the truck and got it stuck in the sand. So we spent a good amount of time trying to clear it and drive it out. CJ got pretty upset about that...partially since Grandpa and Uncle Kelley were both telling to not get it stuck in the sand, and gave her tips on how to prevent that before we left. It turned out that Grandpa couldn't get it out either, and wood ended up not helping. The sand level was right up to the truck body by now. CJ went off to call a tow truck, and grandpa allowed us kids to walk up the sand dune. Seconds after we started walking, a man stopped by and offered to pull out the truck for $20. Granny was the only one near the truck at that moment, and so when Levi said that he was going to go back, I went with him. Jimmy agreed, too...Jay and James didn't. I told them they could go by themselves, and the fact that we were walking back was gay.

Anyway, $20 was nothing in comparison to the fees for the tow truck, so after Jimmy and I worked on tracking CJ down (it took our run up the beach for me to realize that CJ and Jimmy both brought their cell phones on the trip) and tell her the man's offer. She accepted it, and wasn't charged for cancelling the tow truck in the end, which was good. Then the man pulled us backwards, and either CJ or Grandpa parked the truck in the parking lot. We noticed that many people were getting stuck in the sand that day, and it almost became comedic relief to speculate on whether a particular truck was going to make it.

We went into the water once we got the truck situation taken care of. I busted out laughing when Granny threatened CJ with a camera and she shrieked and took off running for the water, yelling something along the lines of "don't you dare!" I think she was more sensitive to the camera due to the fact that she was in a swimsuit. The ocean was predictably, and understandably cold. "Don't be a wuss," Jimmy told me. And I pointed out that everyone that was currently in the water--surfing mostly--was wearing a wetsuit. It was so cold, that my skin was soon stinging. I also became numb, and because of that, I didn't mind being splashed and I could be one of the last to come in.

After the water, we went to the sand dune to warm up and dry off. This sand dune...well, Grandpa informed us that it was 225 feet to the top. It seemed more along the lines of 300-350 to me. But anyway, all the kids except Katie went. After Jay shared a plan of how long to hike and when to take breaks, James made a bet that he could make it to the top without breaks...he made it halfway up. :P Anyway, there were two ledges. When we took a break at one, where I engraved "Bis + Jimbo" in the hard sand ledge. I also wrote "RM Rulz," but I didn't spend as much time on it. It was pretty warm on the way up, but once we reached the top, the wind hit and it was much cooler. It was a nice--and foggy--view from up there...er, when you can see it.

--side note: I'm typing this on the train ride home. I'm about 15 minutes from the Tacoma station and for once, I actually watched the movie on the train. Something about a spelling bee. Funny. I liked it. Mildly predictable, but I like predictability if it isn't as blatant and normal as two people falling in love. Of course, the semi-romantic theme in this was cute and consisted of pecks on the cheeks by 11-year olds that had more significance than the fact that they liked each other. /side note

We headed back to the camp after coming back from the dune. Katie and CJ were already swimming in the pool when we got there. I left to take a shower and wash off the sand...then felt dumb because I took a shower and came out to find that we were heading to the pool right then. I was hesitant because I wanted to warm up pretty badly...I didn't regret going to the pool though because I was reminded that the pool was heated. Ah, bliss... Anyway, I took my normal challenge of swimming the length (not width) of the pool underwater and made as I'm used to. Jimmy did it too. A few others attempted and didn't. Of course, I rode on Jimmy's back around the pool for a good while, and teasingly challenged him to swimming across the length of the pool with me on his back. He took it seriously though, and I don't remember if he made it or not. I was mildly surprised when he turned the challenge back on me...well, with him on my back, not myself. I was even more surprised to find that I made it. Of course, I felt like giving up 7/8 of the way, especially since I couldn't see the end...and then I found it :P

They soon herded us out of the pool to change so we could go to lunch. This would be at 2, 2:30ish. We were also informed to attempt to keep it at about $10 per person since it was somewhat of an expensive restaurant. Jimmy asked if we wanted to split the salmon. I hesitated on that, too. One, it was salmon; two, it had a ginger sauce on it. So it didn't seem too appealing to me. But I figured, might as well try it instead of wonder about it for the rest of the day. And then I ordered a bowl of clam chowder along side...er, just in case. And yeah, I didn't think the salmon was worth the $17. During lunch, Uncle Kelley decided to entertain himself (or show off, whatever) with the coasters. He'd place them halfway over the edge, use the top of his hand to flip it into the air and catch it with the same hand. Then the challenge was to stack multiple coasters and do the same thing. So Jimmy was making attempts all through waiting for our food, and both Jordan and Levi came over for tutorials. Uncle Kelley moved on to making little paper frogs out of the pieces of paper that held the napkin and utensils together. Katie horded 3, and Granny sent a request for one as well. She was offended when Kelley didn't make one for her right away. And I found it amusing when she pulled it out a couple hours later to admire it.

We got back to camp where the plan was to go back out to the sand dune before swimming again. Jimmy and I decided to take a nap instead, (which was gay) and the other kids decided to skip the dune and just swim. I was expecting to sleep somewhere outside. I was surprised that Granny offered the couch inside their trailer...and then she let us sleep together. Interesting, considering the crap CJ got about her parenting when people heard about Jimmy and I sharing a bed. Then again, perhaps she figured CJ was in the master bedroom and people would be around which would discourage sexual behavior. I dunno.

People woke us up at 6...meaning a 2 hour nap. For dinner, we roasted hot dogs...I was pretty hungry by then considering my light lunch. At Detroit Lake, there were these spinach and cheese hot dogs...those are my all time favorite. So much so that while a portabello hot dog sounded appealing, a second spinach dog sounded even more appealing. And those I can eat plain, too.

Moving on, we drove home after dinner. Jimmy had a sun burn, and Jay played a song with the repeated phrase, "Coz I'm an emo." I liked the guy's voice for some reason...it was somewhat of a weird voice. And he wasn't singing so much as talking with rhythm.

This portion was typed on the posted date.

In Y!PP, I was promoted to SO in Ransack Marauders on Tuesday, the 8th. I found it amusing because I was also promoted to FO in The Cartographers the night before. I was surprised by both, and rather pleased. And then I found out that the Cart promotion was time based. Of course, I left RM today and joined The Philanthropist. Shocking, isn't it? Actually, not really. This is a 12 day leave to participate in a memming event. I'm making an attempt to finish my map and this is the perfect place to do it :) On Coblat (yes, purposely spelled that way), I was crew hopping a bit. Went into Serial Pillagers for a bit, and while I enjoyed the company of one or two people, it was simply too large of a crew for me. I'm so used to acknowledging people when they log on and off, and that's something they don't do--with good reason. There's people logging on and off all the time...90% of the crew chat would consist of salutations and goodbyes. So when Fannon offered a crew invite, I took it...somewhat regretting that I didn't announce it before (or after) the invite that I'd be leaving SP. Meh, I don't spend a lot of time on Coblat anyway.

After somewhat of a low in my puzzling ability for sailing, I managed to bring myself back to full Ult tonight. I'm happy about that. Now about that carp... I'm also sitting in the 7th and 2nd position (ocean and arch) for bilge...something I never saw myself doing. That is, well in bilging. And then dnav...has somewhat dropped. How sad. Enough about this gibberish.

Silver Dawn participated in a blockade against Notorious Fandango at Cleopatra's Pearls today. Much to my delight, they made it sinking, and instead of hurting myself, I gained a couple of fish. Meh.

Kerrawyn has me hooked on a Game Gardens game called Sagashi. It's like Boggle. So far, he's pulled Jimmy, Pj, Chi, and a pirate in RM named Jedoy. Today, Jimmy had me try Stratego on Game Gardens, which was pretty fun except I found myself somewhat impatient with the wait time. I stopped towards the end when someone on Pirates needed help with damage control and I went to her aid. Sadly, the game logged us out due to inactivity. Jimmy would have won anyway since I was severely undermanned. I didn't quite register the bomb searching and miner strategy but I was called poop/butt nugget a couple times for killing his spy and then his marshal.

Jordan apparently likes my cooking. I was amused when he came back from his dad's this last time and asked for another bacon double cheese burger. I was also amused when he asked me how to make chicken. I showed him how to broil the chicken breasts that CJ had in the freezer since that's what he was referring to. To my mom's suggestion, I had made chicken tacos for dinner and apparently he really liked the chicken. So he made himself chicken for lunch the next day with only verbal aid from me. Now I'm thinking if Jordan can do it, then Jimmy can do it. One can hope ;)

Sugar would be the kitten I watched before coming back to Washington. She's so adorable...I really loved having her around. Of course, I get to hear her in the background whenever I'm on Skype with Jimmy...and I miss her. :\ There seems to be a joke that I love/miss the kitten more than Jimmy. And that if I had a choice, I'd pick the kitten. Hehe, yeah, not true. Sugar is so adorable....

I went disc golfing yesterday with Kaela, Karissa, and Stefan. That was a tremendous amount of fun. I want to go again. Any takers?

Well, I think I'll end here. I'm sleepy tired. I'm not allowed to eat any solid foods or drink opaque liquids today. Moo.