Monthly Archives: August 2013

The Postal Service

In July, one of our favorite bands, The Postal Service, commemorated the ten year anniversary of their first, and only, album by touring. Coincidentally, we celebrate our ten year anniversary this summer too. Of course, we had to see them!

Funny story: about ten years ago, I was raving to Jonathan about the Postal Service. I loved their music, they were so awesome, etc. etc. Meanwhile, Jonathan was like, “no, no, Death Cab for Cutie is so cool! I love their music!” We learn a little about the bands, and, turns out… same guy!  The lead singer of the Postal Service, Ben Gibbard, is also lead singer of our other favorite band, Death Cab for Cutie. And what a small world… they’re from our college town! During our college days, Ben and the other band members of Death Cab were recording music just blocks from us! We probably passed them on the streets of Bellingham back in the day and didn’t even know it! We “discovered” these bands right after college, and by then they’d hit it big and were in California doing their thing. Throughout our twenties, and into our thirties, we’ve enjoyed listening to their music and sharing it with our kids.

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Fourth of July

We had a nice, fun, mellow Fourth of July this year. In the morning we decorated the boys bikes and rode in the local parade. After that, we enjoyed some activities at the fair that followed. In the evening, we set off a few fireworks, roasted s’mores, and went for a short walk.

During the s’more roasting, we were visited by what turned out to be “the elusive mountain beaver.” We didn’t know what he was at first. We were literally just sitting there around the fire when he scurried out of the woods and into our yard. We followed him around for a couple of minutes, trying to figure out what he was, before he decided he better get the heck away from us! Was he a rat? A mole? A gopher? After some googling, we decided he must be the latter. Then a few days later, a forester came to cut down a sick tree beside our yard. We told him our story, showed him pictures of the furry critter, and he said (in his British accent) “Ahhh, you were visited by the elusive mountain beaver! You’re very lucky! Not many people get to see ’em!” He then went on to tell us all about mountain beavers (not actually beavers).  So here’s some video of what we saw:

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Getting ready to go on the zip line with Daddy!
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Kieron prefers to eat straight out of the garden
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We don’t have a fence up yet, and Silas likes to scurry off into the front yard and get chased. We’ve trained Avery to bring him back for us.
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Sparklers
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Silas seemed to really enjoy the fireworks, and wasn’t really bothered by the noise
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Happy hour service
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Summer

I am waaaay behind on blogging again, and feeling overwhelmed by pictures and to-do lists. Here are some cute pics from June & July.

Andrew & Avery
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Another Home Depot project
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Jonathan, Avery, and Kieron went to a Mariner’s game
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Last day of school, playing tug of war at field day
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Here’s Kieron eating kale! And it’s not even juiced! He will only eat it fresh off the plant, picked by himself (talk about a “picky” eater).
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Fresh blackberries, picked by Kieron
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The boys enjoying popsicles at Wiktor & Fryderyk’s
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Avery helping out with one of our latest backyard projects. The sand table now lives on these pavers, and Jonathan and I have reclaimed the patio.
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A deer neighbor, which reminds me of a funny story from a couple weeks ago. Kieron was in the back yard by himself digging in the sandbox, and I was in the kitchen. All of a sudden he starts screaming hysterically, and I think he must have been stung by a bee or something. So I rush to the back door, and Kieron is already there, freaked out, in tears. I ask what’s wrong, he has to catch his breath before he can reply, “a deer!” It must have really snuck up on him! And I have to admit, I’ve jumped too, unexpectedly seeing deer in the yard. Now Kieron likes to check for them before going out. I’ve tried explaining that they’re more afraid of him than he is of them, but I don’t think that matters much.
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Silas at the sand table
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“I’ve got your iPhone Mommy!
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S’mores with friends
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Silas makes this face a lot
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Playing in the sandbox
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Silas playing his favorite game in the back yard, “come chase me around to the front!” I can’t wait to get a fence up, but in the meantime, Avery enjoys retrieving Silas for me.
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Avery’s t-ball team
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Boys Camping Trip

In June, Jonathan and the boys went camping on what has become an annual father/kid excursion with a few of his buddies from work. This year they camped at Shaw Island, in the San Juans. They had a fabulous time! I’ll let the pictures tell the story:

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On the ferry
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Beth grinding coffee
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Kieron found a caterpillar
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Costco chocolate chip cookies, nom nom nom
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Water fight!
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Father’s Day

Father’s Day was a big success this year at the King House, and there’s a funny story about it. After the move, Jonathan and I talked about how it would be nice to get a fire pit for the back yard. I decided this would be the perfect Father’s Day gift. There was one problem thougb: in the weeks between the move and Father’s Day, Jonathan became hell-bent on buying a fire pit! When he’d bring it up (it seemed like daily), I’d try to brush it off or think of reasons to delay the purchase, but he kept on bringing it up (eye roll). It finally got to the point where I worried if I didn’t say something, he would buy one (little did he know there already was one in the playroom closet). I ended up dropping a pretty clear hint that he’d better hold off on the purchase for one more week.

Well Father’s Day finally rolled around. The boys gave him home made cards, hot dogs and s’more’s fixin’s, and there was a fire pit in the back yard with a big bow on it. That evening as we roasted marshmallows with a thunderstorm approaching, Jonathan uttered the words “this is the best Father’s Day ever!” Whew!

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Thing 1
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Thing 2
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And Thing 3
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Mesmerized by the flames
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Thunder?!
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