Birthday season is soon upon us... in the meantime

I have been very neglectful of my blog.
I have also not taken near as many pictures as I usually do.
But I do have a few from the past couple of weeks to share.

Joylynn's kids have been coming over to our house a couple of days a week when she is working. Wyatt is notorious for bringing some sort of toy or treasure along with him.
Last week it was a back pocket full of crayons.
He was "Rainbow Man".
I am always amazed at what is going on in his head.

Last Sunday we got to go to celebrate the birthday of one of Cam's buddies.
Levi Markham turned 13.

Here are a couple of cool guys. Levi (13) and (Cam almost 11).


The "kids" got here earlier than usual yesterday so we were able to take them to the free movie at the mall.
We spent a couple extra hours there afterwards to avoid the extreme heat of the day.

Genevieve enjoying her pretzel.

Danika enjoying her pop.

We took them to the children's section of Barnes and Noble.

Wyatt quickly found a book about one of his favorite shows "Yo Gabba Gabba"

Genevieve still enjoys Dora.

Hayden showed Danika a book that had different textures featured on each page.


After the mall we came home and got into swimming suits and headed for the "Water Park", at least that is what Wyatt and Genevieve call it.
It's our local park and there is a water play area... thus waterpark.

Last but not least...
It's back to school time. Hayden's curriculum came in the day before yesterday and Cam is scheduled to get his tomorrow.
Too bad we can't use some of this stuck in the house avoiding 106 degree temperatures to get a head start on the year.
Alas we cannot.

There is one subject per carton.

I think this is going to be a favorite.

I'm sure we will appreciate it when it comes to insuring this young driver a year from now.

Stay cool. Stay in school. & Swim in a pool.
or something....

Thirty years of marriage... or Har & Tam's Big Adventure!

Thirty years ago today we started on a journey together. We are still having fun, thank God! Our anniversary was spent exploring an area of town we rarely get to so it was like going away on a bit of a vacation.

We went out for breakfast and then spent a some time at Clackamas Town Center. I used to really dislike that mall and Har really liked it so I decided it would be a good thing to go there together today. Marriage is like that sometimes. We do things together even if one of the people isn't super enthusiastic.

We walked the mall and went to a movie in their theater and spent some money (notice the new pearls around my neck?). It was surprisingly nice there today. We didn't have crowds to fight and their new addition is really well done. It was like being in a totally new place.

We did some more exploring and had van related adventures. Fun stuff.
Dinner at the Olive Garden was lovely as was coffee and dessert at the Reinlander.

Here are a few pictures we took today.

Beautiful landscaping...

Stopping on the road to Caver.

I love this picture.

Produce purchase.

We have been to Rocky Butte many times to sit in the van and eat lunch together...
but this is the first time we walked up to the park at the top.
It was a beautiful day even though it was a bit hazy.

I took dozens of pics of vegetation...

Bougainvillea climbing a fence.

We had daisies at our wedding.

Our day couldn't have been nicer. We are now home and will kick back and watch a bit of television and "hatch and plan" for the next decade.

Fourth of July weekend

We got to spend a 6 day holiday week with Lyssa and Logan and Rowan in Lacey, Washington.

Of course when in Lacey you must go to Norma's for a burger.

It is one of the most patriotic restaurants I've been to.

They support our troops all the way.

Hayden orders the "John Wayne 'Duke' Burger"

Yes that is a slab of ham on there.

What would the 4th be without watermelon...

We picked a good sweet one.

The rest of the week was filled with good food and fun times. Here is a peek at some of it...

They have the coolest wading pool. It is great for kids and adults.

The water was chilly. Straight from the cold hose faucet.

Rowan still had to do chores even when company was there. Here he is washing Dad's car.

He is such a great helper.

The guys getting the tribal fire going.

The girls sun and shade batheing.

Logan and Alyssa have set up a place to practice archery. It is very cool and right up Harlan's alley. Wish we had a big yard for him to be able to shoot his bow.

He used to shoot quite a bit when Rylan was a little guy and we had a huge yard in Aloha.

Nice grouping...

He's not all that rusty after 27 years.

Our vehicles have been giving us nothing but problems.
The car intermittently refuses to start. It happened a week before we drove up and happened again while we were there.

Logan trying to persuade it to start.

We ended up leaving it up there and driving Logan's rig down. They got the car started yesterday and brought it back to us. It is a real puzzle.
We have to get it out of it's temperamental mood. We have a baby arriving in the next few weeks that we want to go and see.

Adventures and more adventures to come.