Mukilteo Musings

Weeee Wii!

Spokane was fun. Always, I get a kick out of my husband's family. They have a genetic sense of humor passed on to them through their mother and get togethers are entertaining. Dave's sister turned 60. She lost her husband to a brain tumor 8 years ago but there is a new man in her life and her hopes and dreams have been restored. Dave's physician brother is about to retire from radiology. He is trying to figure out what he will be doing day in and day out. Golf is a huge interest for both Dave's brother and sister. As a result, they have acquired the Wii video game system which includes golf along with tennis, baseball, and bowling.

I do believe that my friend Chuck had trouble finding a Wii system for his son in the Seattle area because my husband's family bought them all up from Helena, Montana to Post Falls, Idaho to Spokane. There weren't enough left on the trucks by the time they reached I-90's end in Seattle. Dave and I were the only folks at this family reunion who did not have a Wii system and had never played it.

The reunion centered on two houses--Dave's sister's house in Post Falls and his brother's in Spokane. All together, there were 18 of us. Dave's sister has three daughters in their 30's and they were all their with their families. The oldest lives in Helena with her husband and two boys ages 8 and 10. The middle daughter also lives in Helena with her baby girl now four who was born three months early and is a Down's child. The youngest lives in Spokane with her husband, 7 year old daughter and three year old little girl adopted from China a year ago. Dave's brother and his wife have four children in their 30's as well but only the youngest girl was with us over the weekend. Spending time with four of my daughter's girl cousins made me realize how much she is like them---the things they say and their humor.

It had been a while since I had seen Gracie with Down's. Life continues to be a struggle for her. Just getting a cold requires her to be hooked up to an oxygen tank and she is still fed through a tube into her stomach. But she is darling, happy and responsive. This was the first time I had been introduced to Abigail born in China. A year ago she had heard nothing but Chinese and only knew a few Chinese words. I was reading books to her and she was babbling a fairly significant English vocabulary. No problem here with development or spunk or personality, that's for sure!

For the first time, I tried Wii. To be honest, I was pretty good at the bowling and came in second out of four players beating my husband. Dave had some trouble and I think it is because the bias is in favor of right handed people. Even though you can pick your player to be left handed, he had difficulties with ball direction. The following video is left handed Dave on the right playing Wii tennis with his brother on the left. Dave's brother is normally and rather quiet mild mannered gentleman until he plays Monopoly and evidently Wii.

Be sure and watch for the curious cat!