Ever Been To McCall?

McCall, ID is a gorgeous little town north of Boise that sits next to Payette Lake. Old family friends live there and early August is a great time to visit. Daddy took Grammy this time because Mommy was working and because Grammy hadn't ever been there before. After a flat tire and two days of driving, we made it. Of course, Luna wants to read books right away with Aunt Cathy only taking breaks to chase the kitty.


Daddy set up some computer stuff while Aunt Cathy and Luna played on the slide.


Later we walked through Charlie's Garden. This is apparently someone's backyard that has been turned into sort of a park. As you can see, it's a beautiful,tranquil little place. I could spend hours here.







What kind of lilies are these? Marvelous.


Oh and the Columbine!


"There's Luna!"


One tuckered out kid.


A visit to McCall wouldn't be complete without a trip to the farmer's market. It's small, but Y-U-M-M-Y.


We love you Aunt Cathy (and Uncle Donnie, too!)


There was a day when daddy was a lot smaller than Aunt Cathy. Not so anymore.


Always sad to say goodbye. Already looking forward to next year's visit!

We had a visitor hang out on the windshield during a stop at Costco in Clarkston. "Look daddy. BIG bug on the window!"

Donnovan and Avi Visit

The first week in August, daddy's good friend Donnovan, and his youngest daughter Avi, came to the 'ham for a visit. Luna and Avi hit it off right away. "Hold hands!"

Luna quickly introduced Uncle Donnovan to Lovey, Baby, and Teddy.


The girls laughed almost non-stop. In this picture, they look like they're up to no good.


Avi was a great big girl friend. She helped Luna do her pig tails.


She also helped her with her pizza.


After dinner, it was time to play in the kitchen.


Then it was Avi's turn to take some pics.


Love that smile. Love that Uncle Donnovan.


"Read a book!"

On our epic walk to Fairhaven, we stopped for some fun at Broadway Park.


Donnovan and Avi going HIGHER. Yikes.



Avi was a trooper. "I'll help pull Luna!"


Near the end of the day, enjoying the play equipment at Boundary Bay.


Bath time!!!!

And then story time. We really enjoyed our friends' visit.

August Fun 2010

What would summer be without a trip to Mallard's Ice Cream? Couldn't resist this pic of Luna's first hot fudge sundae. Sooo her daddy's child. :-)


This summer was also made lots of fun by Sunday Night Trivia at Boundary Bay with Jenny and Mike and Marcus and Jada and whoever else happened to join us. Here are Luna and Jada givin' love. Yes, that's Jada's tongue!

Daddy: "Ok, girls, they make good music on occasion but Madonna and Brittney Spears are not good role models."


Luna is pretty cute, but HOW CUTE IS THIS GIRL?


Susan and Norah!!!! We are very sad that the Myers clan has moved but we were lucky to get one more evening to hang with them. Luna still wakes up in the morning and says "Want to see Norah today." :-( We miss you folks very much.


Marcus helping Luna drink from the "big cup."

Random July Pics

How is everyone doing? On the last day of my "freedom" (we report to school tomorrow - kids start next Tuesday), I thought I would try and get this as updated as possible. It has been a great summer that, as usual, has gone by much too quickly.

July was fun because it was the only month of the summer we were really home. I taught summer school, but we made the most of the afternoons and weekends by heading to the Farmer's Market, the Elizabeth Park Music Series, Trivia Night at Boundary Bay, and regular bike rides downtown to our favorite ice cream spot: Mallard's.

Luna continues to grow. She grows "out" for a couple of weeks and then seemingly overnight shoots straight up. Her vocabulary is rapidly increasing. Luckily, it doesn't (yet) include anything that is going to terribly embarrass mommy or daddy. Something really cute she does right now is to mix up "my" for "I" and "you" for "me." Her favorite phrase right now is "MY DO IT!!" I'm thankful that another of her favorites is "Daddy hold you."

Well, on to the photos. Thanks for visiting.

The girl is getting better about using a spoon, but...

"My drink it."

Early July patio party. Yes, our little foodie is enjoying O's and a bowl of hummus. Mmmmmmm.

A dip in Lake Whatcom. It's the place to be when the temp goes above 80.

Strolling to our swimming spot on the North Lake Trail.

Ahhh. Sunsets in July as viewed from the back deck. What a wonderful place we live in.

A Thursday evening at Elizabeth Park.

Our boy "Dus Dus"

The girl enjoying her new pool.

Such a sweetie.

July 17 was our 5th wedding anniversary. My incredible wife let me participate in this wonderful community event and allowed us to briefly postpone the celebration of our special day. The community event is called The Sunnyland Stomp. Folks in the Sunnyland Neighborhood open their homes and showcase their artistic talents and creations. It such a great idea and a fantastic way to bring people together. Not having any visual art talent to speak of, I made some food to share: grilled pesto chicken, a spicy Asian slaw, black bean and mango quinoa salad, and chocolate chip cookies (7 dozen of them). The food items were chosen to pair with our friend Chris' terrific beers. He's a homebrewer and brewmaster for Grant St. Brewing. His wife Lauren shared some of her stunning photographs.

Here is little Miss Luna with Oma. She and Papa had just returned from a fabulous trip to the Gulf Islands in B.C.

Posing with some of my tremendous former students. Cool man.

Mommy and Luna. One of my favorite pics of them.

Face painting by Erin.

I can't remember where we are here, but I love thinking about the possibility that this is our boat and we have escaped to some far away island.