Backyard deer

"Cautious mother with her two fawns looks at a two-legged non-threatening biped holding a small black object, while standing together in the garden".
These animals are so lovely, that one would never imagine that last year in the US alone they caused approximately $1Billion in damage to cars, 10,000 personal injuries in 1.5 million collisions, and 150 human deaths (not to say, possibly 1.5 million deer deaths). In 2009 worldwide there were 61 shark attacks on humans and 5 human deaths.

Happy Birthday Sarah

We hope you have a great day Sarah.  Dad is home now and feeling good.  We took a walk up the street which is the extent of what he is supposed to do for the next few days.  Next week he can start to exercise again but build up slowly.

GP Jim

The angiogram and stent insertion went smoothly and Jim is now feeling fine and sleeping off the anesthetic.  They found 90% blockage where the right coronary artery joins with the aorta, inserted a stent, and all is well.  No heart damage.  They went in through his wrist instead of his groin so that part is easier to take. It all took about an hour and a half.  He will stay in the hospital overnight and come home in the morning.  He can do normal activities except no lifting with his right hand for about 5 days and no strenuous exercise.  They also found a 50% blockage point in the left coronary artery but the doctor said that is nothing to worry about, they will treat it with meds.

Summer vacation 2010

Another great vacation.

Summer vacation picture

Great Family Reunion!

I tried to post many more photos but it somehow confused the blog so I'm limiting this post to 3 good ones.

What a great time we had. Such a beautiful park, and ideal for the kids. Both boys say their favorite part was swimming. Thanks Mom for taking Liam out to the dock on the last day. That was very memorable for him, so much so that that was the first story he told Bob when we got home.

Ben's suitcase is still MIA, but the rest of our things came in the middle of the night last night. We're hoping Ben's suitcase doesn't arrive late tonight as both Bob and I are feeling quite sleep deprived.

Georgia and South Carolina

It was a great week but our pictures of the family are not worth posting.  Does anyone have any good ones?

Ben is 8 years old today

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEN!!

The Sockeye Are Running at the Locks now

We went to downtown Ballard this morning to see the beginning of the Sockeye salmon run. The adult salmon come up from the Sound, and jump up the ladder to reach Lake Union. The ladder is to the right in the photo. The fry (baby salmon) come from Lake Union and beyond, and travel back to sea through those white shoots. I guess they go through tail first to somehow minimize injury. Quite incredible. When you stand on the walkway over the shoots you can't hear the person next to you over the force of the water.

We were also very happy to discover a new heron rookery at the locks. We discovered it by noticing some bushes that appeared to have been painted white. I looked up to see where all the poop was coming from and discovered a 4 foot nest with giant baby birds in it. We could hear their beaks knocking together, and see huge wings extending over the edge of the nest. We counted 4 nests. Woe to the baby fry coming out of Lake Union.

What Are Little Boys Made Of? Frogs and Snails....

Boys are crazy about Star Wars! It seems that the battle between Good and Evil is as much a part of a little boy's make-up as fighting is. I guess Star Wars offers such obvious opportunities for heroicism and villain play that kids are forever attracted to the characters and story. Anyways, Ben wanted Darth Vader to come to his birthday, and he now says it was his best birthday EVER! (Personally, I prefered the bugman who brought cool insects for the kids to look at and touch.)

So, Darth Vader came to Ben's birthday this year. He played tag, Simon says, hide and seek, and a Star Wars version of Duck, Duck, Goose. Darth was very high energy, and kept the party going for the obligate hour before cake and ice-cream was served,and presents were opened. We parents were quite happy to sit and watch on the side lines, and to NOT expend the energy that Darth did....