This was our first time visiting Texas in August, and if there’s one word to describe it this time of year, it’s HOT. You certainly wouldn’t know it here in Washington, but there really are heat waves going on in much of the country! The day we travelled, we experienced a 40 degree increase in temperature, which was fine by me!

We got in lots of visits with Uncle Scott, Aunt Manivanh, and Nicole & Andrew. We also visited with my cousin Laura, and her family. I got out with Grammy one day to see a movie (The Help) and and have lunch with her Garden Club. On our anniversary, Grammy and Papa watched the boys and we went out to a nice French restaurant for dinner, but forgot to get a picture.

As you’ll see from the pics, we spent the majority of our time in the pool goofing off. Avery made great strides with his swimming. For the past month he’d been talking about how he was going to jump in the pool this year and launch off Daddy’s shoulders. Then when it came time, he froze up and wanted no such thing. On about the third day, we remembered Nicole’s old swim vest was in the pool bath, so we put it on Avery. It was all he needed to transform into a full-on stunt devil. This was Kieron’s first time in the pool, and he took to it like a natural. He really loved floating on his back, I think because the water felt good in his helmet. He also enjoyed observing the mayhem from his turtle raft.

Nicole, Avery, Kieron, & Andrew




Coloring paperdolls

Last weekend we drove up to Bellingham to visit friends. We always look forward to our trips back to the town where we went to college, fell in love, and started a family. We visited as many of our favorite spots as we could with two little boys under tow.

As usual, Avery and Bjorn had a blast together. They went on bike rides, played on the slip ‘n slide and in the sand box, and ate all the currants from Jen & Oliver’s back yard. Notable conversations we overheard included one about where babies come from. Avery insisted you could buy them at the hospital, while Bjorn had a more accurate understanding of what goes on. Also, Bjorn, who believes the monsters from Where the Wild Things Are are not real, was surprised and alarmed when Avery told him they are in fact real, and live in the forest on nearby Lummi Island.

On Sunday, Jonathan met up with some co-workers at the Brewers by the Bay Beer Festival. He had a great time visiting with his coworkers who he doesn’t get to see often enough, and enjoyed sampling many of the great local microbrews.

Avery and Bjorn

Checking out the garden

So cute reading together at bedtime. Too bad they wouldn’t quit talking and go to sleep!

The lovely organic produce at the farmer’s market


The boys enjoyed a nice bike ride down by the water

Lindsey and Jennifer


Jonathan’s co-workers, Tom and Jayson

Vanessa and Tom

Here’s a fun video about Bellingham

We didn’t get enough beautiful sunny days in June, but we did get a few. We spent this one in downtown Snoqualmie checking out the little shops and the railroad museum, and ended up at the brewery for lunch.

Here’s Avery hamming it up in front of a mural of some logging trucks








Someone got tired and took over the jogger

Almost walking!

Pointing out a dinosaur by the Snoqualmie River