A taste of summer

It was really hot last week. We had a couple of days in the high 80s, and that is pretty miserable for people who are native to this Pacific Northwest climate. For me it wasn't quite so bad. I really enjoyed the warmth.
Sean and his neighbor friend Kyle played with the water hose a lot, and even formed quite the mud puddle. I let them just have fun, but required that the puddle be filled back with dirt so we wouldn't have a pond in the yard. Honestly, I was happy he was able to play in the mud.

We spent the day with our friends Shane and Jacob-Joshua on Saturday. It was warm, though not quite

 as warm as it was on Thursday and Friday.  

We saw this deer as we entered their neighborhood. Shane says the new homes are on land that was wooded, so he deer is probably a bit confused. 

I kept wondering if he would go into the newly constructed home. He didn't, and instead he crossed the road and headed for the shrubs in the neighbor's yard.

The boys had fun playing in the pool while Shane and I looked through catalogs and chatted.

summer, finally

I'm wearing a tank top, and it feels so nice. We finally have some 80-degree days here.
We've shifted into summer attitudes and are a little more relaxed about everything. We're doing some fun things like trips to museums, etc.
A couple of tall ships docked in Port Orchard first, and then Gig Harbor back in June. We made the trip to see them in Port Orchard, but it was late in the evening and they weren't open for tours. We didn't get to do the tour in Gig Harbor either. We were at the Tall Ships Tacoma event in 2008, but I don't know if Sean remembers much about it. These two here offered sailing with cannons firing for about $65 or $70 I think. Fun, but not in my budget.

At the dock in Port Orchard.

Sean has been wanting a pair of roller blades. We stopped in for an impromptu quick look around at our favorite thrift store last month and found a pair of roller blades for $3. They looked like they had never been used, and Sean and I were pretty excited about the find. They adjust to four sizes. 

He started out on the carpet in the living room, then moved to the kitchen floor as he got more confident. Within about a day he was just rolling all over the place.

Taking a spin on grandma's carport. Believe it or not, this was taken in mid-June. 

Yes, we were still wearing coats. 

Sean took a two-week vacation to Calif. to visit with his dad's family. I stayed here and worked a lot, and made some new friends through a local women's meetup group. 

Today is hot for us, in the 80s. The poor dog is miserable, so I went out and clipped a lot of her fur today. I didn't get a photo of that. I don't think you'd even want to see how much I cut ;o)

Ahh! What is that, I'm blind!

Talking about the weather is so boring. I hate to do it, but we have had a lot of gray days, so when we get a sunny day it is a really BIG deal to us. It always seems so bright when we've had so many days of gray and the sun finally appears.
Saturday was beautiful. First day in many that the sun was shining.
We went to the zoo with some friends and played for a while. I was pretty disappointed when Sean had had enough and wanted to go home. We spent a little time at his friend's house, and the boys wanted to play inside and watch cartoons.
Go figure.
I was able to capture a few shots at the zoo, and Sean took a lot of photos of animals.

I'm cheating a little on this one. I took one of this stained glass window in the aquarium during our last visit to the zoo. 

We love to visit the touch tank. There are always star fish, sea urchins, anemones and sometimes hermit crabs. We like to see what each one feels like, but boy is that water cold. It's pumped in from Puget Sound, and the temps are about 50 degrees on a warm day. 

We've never done this dress up activity before, so that was something new and fun. Sean was an octopus and his friend Jacob-Joshua became a sea urchin. They had lots of really cute sea creature costumes.

It was a busy day, and we were invited to dinner with other friends. I didn't get any photos there, and wish I had. My friend Kevin spent the evening playing outside with the boys while his wife and I talked. We had a great time.

This week will be busy too. Meetings, social engagements and stories to write.

A favorite boy

Today my oldest celebrates his 25th birthday.
Time is funny. Sometimes it seems to go by very slowly, and in the case of children growing up it goes so quickly.
When he started Kindergarten, I couldn't believe David was already going to school. When he entered 6th grade, I was sad to see the elementary years gone so quickly. As he made his way to the high school campus, it was difficult to imagine that I had a kid in high school.
Sitting beside him as he practiced for his driving test was surreal.  He was a great student, and always had high scores on his tests, scoring in the 95th percentile or above usually.
Before I could turn around he was old enough to vote.
Now he is shopping for his first home, and he is clearly a grownup.
I always told him, "You're my favorite boy Dave." Which was kind of a joke, because back then he was my only boy. Then he became my favorite young man. He has always been a great kid, and I'm so proud of him. Not just because he's smart, but because he's such a great person.
I've been searching for some earlier pictures, but this is the earliest one I've found so far. He's about 10 months in this one, sitting with my brother.

Happy Birthday Dave! It's your day, and I am so blessed to have you as my oldest son.

Anticipation, excitement and nostalgia

In about seven months my daughter's life will change, and I will add another name to my list of titles. Jewel is 12 weeks pregnant, and I am excited for everything that a baby will bring for her. She is happy, Bjorn is happy and I welcome this new role for myself with open arms. I wonder if I'll be Grandma, Granny, or what name this new little person will give me. My mother was grandma to all three of my kids until Sean pronounced her Nanna when he was 2.
I wish I could live closer to Jewel. That will be a difficult part of this new chapter of life, I'm sure. There's nothing like the day-to-day living that bonds a family, but I am thankful for telephone conversations, and all of the things like Skype and Facebook that keep us connected.
David will be celebrating a birthday on Sunday, and he is looking for a home to purchase. I'm excited for him too.
I know it is such a cliche, but it is amazing how fast time flies. I have enjoyed all of my children at each stage, but I am keenly aware of how quickly childhood passes as I watch Sean experiencing things.
He's at a stage now for making rules to games. I remember studying this stage in child psychology. They enjoy games, and want to make up their own games with their own rules.
I've been blessed to have such kind and wonderful children. They are all lovely and caring and so intelligent. I don't think I could have a better set if I had been able to place an order. Each one is unique, and  the only thing I want for all three is that they live to the potential that God has planned for them.

Reptile Zoo

For Mother's Day we took a little road trip to Monroe, Wash. to the Reptile Zoo. It was our second visit, but I think there have been improvements since we were there last year.
We saw so many snakes it was overwhelming. Sean loved it, of course. He loves to study about them and when we took our library load back today we came home with his favorite snake book- again.
I'll let the pictures tell the story.
WARNING:
If you are not the parent of a little boy, or are not yourself interested in reptiles, some of the images may be disturbing.

Pretty cool stuff so far, huh?

Now we'll make our way to the cousin of the monitor.

This guy was enjoying the heat and sun at the window. He was eyeing us the whole time we were near his pin.

This is the Alligator Snapping Turtle. They hail from my home of Tennessee, and I am happy to say I've only seen one--this one--contained. 

I think this is the Green Tree Python, but I don't have Sean here to set me straight. Could be the Emerald Tree Boa.

Best buddies. These pythons were snuggled together in a large pin. The yellowish one is an albino.

Sean was really happy with this rosey boa.

The albino corn snake was friendly. But it was also determined to go where it wanted to go. In the picture above, the snake had slithered into Sean's sleeve and when he tried to pull it out it worked its way out the back of his shirt, but had it's tail gripping the sleeve.  It's tangled in the shirt in that photo, as you can probably tell, Sean was a little concerned.

We definitely recommend this place for all families interested in reptiles. There were tons of other photos that I didn't share on this post. Some of them were too messed up with light reflected in them because of the glass cases and all the heat lamps. There was a huge green anaconda, some rattle snakes, lots of different cobras, (one even struck at the glass a few times-yikes!) The reptiles look well cared for, and the people who work there seem to really love these guys. There is no guided tour, (not really big enough for that) but if you have questions there are people there to answer them. The man who owns the place does a program for schools, etc.

Reasonable entrance fee too, $6 for adults $5 for kids.

I have mixed feelings about zoos and places like this, because I don't like to see animals in captivity. It's a chance to educate people about the many different species. It amazes me how many different species share the earth with us. 

Easily amused

I recently purchased a new camera. I got last year's Sony H20. It's different from the other Sony camera I had so I'm still getting used to it.
I love the zoom.
I am easily amused. I spent quite a while today taking pictures of an inchworm that hitched a ride on my shoulder while I was out working in the yard.
I enjoyed watching him through the zoom lens. I assume it's a he, I don't know for sure. I didn't zoom into that area, plus I don't know how you tell on an inch worm.
They're really very cute. I've always loved inchworms, but I've only seen a handful in my lifetime. Sean held it for a while and I took a few pictures, then I brought it to my desk/office area and started shooting away.

If you look closely you can sort of see his little antennae in this one.

He hung out on my finger for a long time.

Then he was on the move again. He was looking at me in this one.

Inchin' along.

He's still here at my desk, munching on a piece of lettuce. 

I've always had a bit of a soft spot for inchworms. I used to have an inchworm riding toy back in the day - the 70s.

I was hoping we had a picture of it. 

It looked like this:

I loved that thing. I guess I've always been easily amused.