The Little Princess

The kids were reading a new book last night - The Little Princess. 

Catching Up

We had a great time in Vegas with Jeff and Missy celebrating our 50th birthdays this year.  Temperature outside was 115F during the day so we spent a lot of time in the pool.  A friend from San Diego got us free blue man tickets which was a fun show.  We won on the first night which made for a good weekend.

We found another nice park in Plano.  It has a nice wooded section following a creek.  There was signs that the water along the trail was above our heads in the storm.  As the creek was 15 feet lower in a ravine it gives the sense of the dangers of flash floods.  Also nearly stepped on a copper head snake.  It turns out there is a bike trail to the park from our apartment so we did this this weekend.

We attended July fourth at the Laos temple.  They had about a two hour firework show and concert.  The grand finale was great.  I think fireworks are cheaper in Texas.

Tui has started work,  She starts every day at 6:00 so I have been getting up at 5:00 and making coffee.  She got her first paycheck yesterday.

Today we went back to our favorite place, the Dallas Arboretum.  Lots of new flowers.  The Crape Myrtle really is blooming well in Texas.

 

 

 

Great Visit with Kalyani, Hannah, Jo and Susie!

Here are some highlights from Kalyani's visit last week. So nice to see them.

 Reflections on the EMP

 Pondering Chihuly

 Good way to cause a family feud is to rent a triple kayak!

 This year's sockeye run through the Ballard Locks.

 BOB.

 Tough Girls.

 A quick dip in Puget Sound (or, now who's tough?)

4th of July Parade

Kids had a great time in the Santa Monica Main Street fourth of July parade on Saturday.

And then we went to lulu's Mexican Restsurant for lunch after. 

 

Happy Birthday, Ben

Happy Birthday! to my wonderful, funny, thoughtful, smart, playful, baseball player.

The day of your birth was a joy for me. (Well, except the C-section part.) (Oh yeah, and then there were the 5 years of mornings that started at 4 AM.)

 

New home away from home.

 Happy Dogs on the way to the lake.

 Liam, Kirsten and I surveyed part of Shadow Lake yesterday. We are volunteers in the invasive weed watcher program for King County. Last Saturday Bob, Liam, and I attended our training session, and got our clipboard and sampling rake. Shadow Lake is quite healthy, although this is a photo of primarily fragrant water lily, an invasive.

 

 Our arrival at night with the Tinier House.

 Kirsten and Liam working hard yesterday to resituate.

 Final resting ground. The shutters all hinge up or out, but since we were only there for a day yesterday, I didn't take the screws out. I need some sort of locking security on them. I also need to finish supports for the deck and awning. (Always something to keep me from swinging in a hammock.)

Two great days with UK relatives

Friday, Judy and Derek took us to the Black Country Museum, a Victorian era village that has been reassembled and is at the site of an old mine with miles of tunnels accessed by canal boat.  Afterward we had a very hearty dinner at a Carvery. We all had a very good time.

Derek is missing because he is taking the picture.

The garden behind the apothecary shop

Yesterday, Richard and Julie and Jamie, Ben, Adam, and Jack took us to dinner at one of the oldest pubs in the UK.  The food and the company were excellent.  Also visited the St Albans Cathedral and the Roman Museum and then went to their house.  We all had fun and Ben especially enjoyed the backyard play.