On Public Display

Madalyn's artwork was chosen to be part of the art collection on display at the District offices. Woohoo our young artist!

She has been vested in developing her artistic talent starting at the age of 2.
It started on the side of our new piano.

Lucky me, private "gallery stroll" with the artist.
I am betting on getting the first print edition personally signed.

This Be Yur Warnin Shot

Seafair pirates are landing here soon. Storming Alki Beach they be searchin for their loot. Or kicking of the regions biggest summer festival - Seafair.

We got our loot - bags of taffy, pirate hats, and light up pirate swords. Perfect for the upcoming torchlight parade.

We, along with thousands of others, waited for the pirates to come.

It was our first time going to see the pirates land, so we wanted the best view.

Best spot. A few inches in ankle deep water.

Then the tide came in.

But we were assured the pirates were almost here.

We waited.

It got up to our ankles.

We waited.

It rose up to our shins.

We waited.

Oh, my it was up to our thigh.

(Remind anyone of Shel Silverstein's poem Boa Constrictor?)

Kind of felt that way too.
Cayleb and Kenzie were hoisted up on our hips to avoid further submersion.

But we ended up front row. Or front wave. Whatever you call it.

Either way, it was the best water spot.

Guy in the left corner, taking pictures for the Seattle Times.

Other guy filming for local news channels.

It was fun. For the 5-10 seconds the pirates splashed past us up to shore.

Swashbuckling and "argh", "arghing".

ARRRRR me little maties and I thought.

That was a long, wet wait for a short show.

Entertaining and fun but....

Next year we be tradin in our sea legs for dry land.

All the local mateys movin their booties back to shore.

Biggest turn out evah! About 60,000 people.

This little crab was moving along too.

With flip flops in hand and kiddos on hip, we were all hoping the live crabs

didn't feed on pinky toes.

Afterward, we took a tour on the ships.

I just finished reading Flags of Our Fathers, about the invasion of Iwo Jima, a book I got for my WWII know just about everything dad. With that framework, I could almost envision the boat packed with young men heading into the thick of one of wars bloodiest conflicts. Definitely a perspective setting moment.

Because of young men and women like that then and now, my family can smile and tour the boat. Thanks armed forces families!

Randy muscled into Pegasus Pizza for the cheesiest pizza. Absolutely hit the spot.

Afterward, Randy, Makayla, and Cayden put on their helmets and went off scootering and running down the Alki Boulevard. Stopped to watch the University of Washington high jump team compete on the beach.

Meanwhile, the other kids got an all day pass to jump on the blow-up toys. We just had a round of being in the 90's, so the lower 80's for today felt better but still hot. Sounds so wimpy. Especially to my sister in Phoenix. However, when you don't have air-conditioning anything over 80 is too hot!

After awhile Madalyn was done, but she was a trooper and kept going with Makenzy to help her out. I love my "big sister helpers".

On the way back, Cayden spotted his dream car!

Randy said he would help out with the gas. I'll chip in too.

We've Been Flocked!

We've had been seeing the pink flock landing around the neighborhood. We were wondering if and when they pink flock would take up residence in our shady front yard. Then it happened.

We were flocked!

But birds are not clean animals if you let them stay around too long. So they had to move on.

It took $5 for their "handlers" to come remove them, $5 more dollars to send them to the yard of a friend of our choice, and $5 more for insurance to keep them from landing again.

As it happened, two of the neighbor kids were over, liked the pink flock too and asked if they could come to their house. So the Allen's were the next resting spot.

Ultimately it was a fundraiser for a team of ladies in the area doing the Susan G. Komen breast cancer 3 day walk. I thought it was very clever. Very pink. A fun, new twist to fundraising with a guaranteed $5 to $15 donation.

Crab Soccer World Cup

Inspired by the soccer world cup, came the closing institute activity -

crab soccer world cup.

The amazing championship cup was designed by Randy - oh so cool!

The kids (not really kids anymore, but saying adults sounds weird too, so students?), so the people who came were assigned to teams, Team England, Team Germany, Team USA etc.

Teams faced off. Kicking the ball into the goals. Todd kept track of the brackets. Teams were eliminated and advanced to the final.

Before the final match up, there was a break to eat the food from all over the world that people brought. With many already serving missions, they brought in some pretty tasty dishes they knew how to make. Yum, I love potlucks!

Some serious goods from the vending machine. My change goes to my sweeties to buy sweets.
Now what country are these goodies from?
Final game between Team Germany (stacked) and Team Spain.

Some serious work to keep in those crab positions.

Comfy at daddy's work, no shoes but all smiles.

Anniversary - 15 years!

Loving each other in Victoria. Celebrating our 15th anniversary.

We stayed at the Westin Bear Mountain Golf Resort. Our hotel room looked out over the 1st hole and we had dinner overlooking the 18th. Pretty little community. Casual drive over from the ferry dock "in the mountain."

Parliament House at night.

The lights celebrate Queen Victoria's golden jubilee - her 50th birthday.

Butchart Gardens. #1 tourist attraction on the island.

This actually was once a lime pit. Amazing, I know!

This is one of my most favorite pictures I took! It helped that the scenery was so perfect! This is exactly what I want our backyard to look like.