Texas in August

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






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Snoqualmie Tunnel

Jen, Oliver & Bjorn came to visit in early August. One afternoon we hiked through the Snoqualmie Tunnel on the Iron Horse/John Wayne Pioneer Trail. We tried to go a couple of years ago, but it was closed due to falling debris. It reopened in July after renovations were completed.

The tunnel is 2.3 mi long (each way), and quite chilly inside. The boys had an awesome time, but I’m so glad we did this with friends. I don’t know if Avery would have been such a trooper without a buddy. Kieron enjoyed himself in the backpack. He fell asleep on the way out, and on the way back he spent much of the time making noises and listening to the echoes in the tunnel.








The Smiths


The Kings

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At Brianna’s Birthday Party

Avery’s sweetheart turned four this summer. We had a great time at her birthday party, and Avery and Brianna were inseparable most of the day. What cuties.




Riley, Avery, Benjamin, & Brianna



Coloring a picture together



She’s grinning at Avery here

Sharing a chair

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Jake and the Neverland Pirates

Avery’s favorite TV show these days is Jake and the Neverland Pirates. It’s a cartoon about three little kids who go on various adventures with Captain Hook and the other pirates from Peter Pan. So naturally, Avery gets fully into character, frequently sporting a red bandana (just like Jake from the show). We can’t help but think he really looks like a little gangster, especially on this particular day when we took the pics. I swear we had nothing to do with the missing shirt, saggy pants, and bling around his neck. We did eventually turn his bandana around and prompt him to give us some tough guy faces though.





“My big brother is crazy!”

We couldn’t resist turning his bandana around and taking some “Tupac” pics


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Summer Days

The old kiddie pool finally broke, so it was time to pick up a new one. Here’s a few pics of the boys breaking in the new pool.

“Here Kieron, let me cool you off”




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