1 The coaches are dads who jump off the ferry and race to practice, throwing their skates on. Sometimes they don't have time to change clothes! I think it's a good look :)
2 A video of Sam skating - he's been working on his crossovers.
3 Hockey practice. Sam is out there early before practice starts getting some skate time in.
4 A nice night out with my friends, and sending Lauren off to her new home in Bellingham.
5 Sam won the third grade Math Kangaroo contest. He got to bring home some "hardware" ;)
6 This is the awards ceremony.
7 Sam entered a few math competitions this year, along with some of his buddies. They did quite well!
8 Boys having a Friday afternoon Nerf war. They are planning the rules here in this picture.
9 I thought this jewelry was really cool - made out of wrecked luxury European cars!
10 Ben spilled water on the kitchen floor and went to get a piece of paper to draw us a caution sign! He even folded it so it would stand up!
11 That is totally his spelling - so funny! Love the falling guy!
12 This is a cute video of Ben skating around with a 4th grader named Josh, who sprained his ankle so he couldn't skate this practice. He took to coaching Ben quite readily!
13 For my birthday I love to line up activities with friends who I don't get to see enough - this day we went for a jog along the water then a coffee. It was so fun to see Christine!
14 At guitar/uke lesson last Thursday. Ben is so cute - sometimes bringing Grownup Eagle to things still. I hope we get to keep bringing Grownup Eagle around. I will miss him when he doesn't come along.
15 Sam was Ben's age (6) when he started with Randy. I thought a picture was in order to celebrate three years of study with Randy! Great job, everyone!
16 Sam talking to some audience members later - people who were so encouraging.
17 This man is in the lead act which comes on much later.
18 Sam playing a classical piece (a waltz by Ferdinando Carrulli) at an open mic on Seabold Second Saturday. He did great! A bit nervous with that spotlight on him and a piece he hadn't yet perfected. Good for him for being brave enough to give it a go! Dave is working on some great ukulele tunes. He says "Maybe sometime" he'll play at open mic, but I have to tell you, he's ready next month. I will put his name in the hat!
19 Emmy and I after a lesson. Emmy was a little nutty this day maybe because of the rain. She spooked three times on the way up the driveway! We ended up having a great lesson. I decided not to lunge her first - that lunging was really more about me than her (i.e., getting her ya-yas out in advance of hopping on gives me a psychological boost but may not be necessary now that I have more experience).
20 These alpacas were very quiet until I showed up!
21 This is how I found Grownup Eagle this morning, Ben's last day of school. All tucked in!
22 And look at Dave on skates!!! He was quite good after a 10 year hiatus!
23 Ingunn and Esther were having a dirt-eating contest. Esther won!! ;)
24 This appears to be a hockey family now :) Look at all those sticks!
25 Mom found these shears somewhere in our garden. They look good with this pot!
26 This is the RV backing in. I took this picture because I thought Richard might like to see his big rig pulling into his cool spot with hookups. Then I noticed Mom in the background, directing him. But...I am unclear on the signals. Are you? It looks vaguely Gangnam style.
27 Where is mom?
28 Oh! In the ferns again! Where are your hearing aids???
29 Richard hooking up the RV - he is trying to open up a hose. I like the face!
30 Richard saying "Huhmmff...what are you lookin' at?!"
31 See the power and water station? Yay!
32 I am not sure what is going on here! Mating? Sibling rivalry? Dave said..."Well, that was an awkward sound."
33 Sam skating over at Wilkes - first free afternoon of summer! No plans, just fun! Look at how solid he is on skates now. WOW!
34 Sam unpacking his first phone! We got him a no-contract GoPhone like I have. Not a smart phone, but has camera and can talk/text as needed for $2/day.
35 Ben is telling Sam how to install the battery. Ben does that a lot with his phones (old flip phones I used).
36 Sam is texting already! Gramma is loving it (from across the deck!).
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38 We are at the Pacific Science Center - Daddy made a photo booth print!
39 Ben eager to see it!
40 Nice, guys!
41 This guy climbed right up me in the butterfly house!!
42 Watching a movie about lemurs in 3D!
43 This is in the Experience Music Project in Seattle. More really for grown-ups, but the boys liked these massive LEGO builds of famous structures.
44 This front building (Flatiron building?) is one Sam actually used for inspiration for his Father's Day card.
45 You can also make your own creation and add it to this "city." We were there for an hour building while Dave explored the museum.
46 This was cool!
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48 Sam's project in the middle. Very symmetrical.
49 Our neighbor Ingunn and her husband Colin got me this GREAT axe for my birthday! Esther likes it, too! THANK YOU!
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53 Meeting a distant cousin (?) Quinn at Cathie Moody's memorial service last Sunday. She will be greatly missed by many. Glad we were able to get to the service and the family gathering afterwards. Looking forward to seeing more WA family this summer!
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55 Instant connection, I'd say ;)
56 Typical WA ferry ride - very nice departure from the hassle of driving. We enjoyed the Kingston-Edmonds trip.
57 I still love the profile of Ben's head. What is that bump out in the back for? What does he keep in there? It is flat on top, too. It's kinda boxy. I LOVE it!
58 Rainier was out! In distance in the middle, over the other two people's heads.
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60 Not as windy down here!
61 We had a great dinner at Agate Pass Cafe. Literally ate half the menu. Daddy really spoiled us! It was so good! Sam loved the clams with a little spiciness. Ben liked the clams and fried olives. They liked the calamari - even the tentacles! We tried all three desserts. This is how we celebrated afterwards.
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63 Unscripted...this is just a series of snaps capturing them while Dave was paying.
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66 Mom and Richard taking on one last job - getting rid of a few problem trees! These guys are good. Can you find the one in the tree? He looked like a lemur hanging sideways!
67 They thread it out through the other trees. Didn't hurt a thing in the garden.
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69 Taking a walk for more brush pickup with Juan - of the Mendoza crew.
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71 Mom and Juan got to be buddies!
72 Great ribs just before leaving for our camping trip! Thank you, Dave, for grilling these up! They were so good!
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74 Ben has been really working hard to make his clothes right-side-out before putting them in the hamper. Each night he goes one step beyond. This time I had to take a picture. He thinks because they are all folded, they'll come out of the wash folded "So Gramma doesn't have to fold as much." Isn't he PRECIOUS?!
75 Washing his hair 6 times. Because he wanted it to be clean.
76 Hi little guy! You'll be really clean for camping!