Walla Walla! Sweet!

Heading out of P-town

We folded the middle seat in the van down so Charles and Courtney looked like they were being chauffered.

Getting fuel in The Dalles

We saved $1.95 per gallon. Thank you, Fred Meyer for the awesome discount!

Henry's house

Henry's pool was filled for the first time this summer. He, Courtney and Charlie sent time in the water this afternoon.

Baseball game

Our first ever baseball game together. He didn't even know that I used to be on a softball team. I think I like playing better than watching but that's just me. Hockey and football are my sports of choice to watch.

The game started at 7 p.m. so we were under the lights before it was over.

A foul ball for Henry

Harlan was sitting next to Henry when a ball popped up high and toward our seats.  He caught it and gave it to Henry. So now Hens has an official ball from a Walla Walla Sweets game.

Save the pictures for tomorrow

Anabelle doesn't mind having her picture taken, but even she has her limits.  It was more her curiosity that killed this photo session but I am going to be taking plenty of photos on her birthday.

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It felt like a weekend...

Tuesday night at the movies

Harlan and I went out to the movies on Tuesday night. It felt just like a Friday night date. We checked out the new Cinetopia at the Vancouver Mall (which is called by some other name now that I never remember). We sat in the 21 and over theater so we had a menu and service to our seats. Pretty swanky.

 Blurry picture of me wearing the 3-D glasses, talking on my cell phone and taking a picture with my camera. I'm so high tech hey?

We saw "Brave" which was an okay movie. The 3-D was pretty cool. I would have liked a bit more character development but it' a kids flick so I guess they gear it toward them.  We wanted to experience the new sound technology that is built into this theater.  I really couldn't tell the difference but some people say it's pretty amazing. I'm just happy we got to go out and enjoy some time together.

Holidays are all about the food

I wimped out in the cooking department this 4th of July.  We ordered a BBQ Picnic Pack from Shari's. It included 5 lbs of barbecued ribs, 2 different sides, corn bread and pie. I made a potato salad to go with the beans and cole slaw that they provided. It wasn't as picture perfect as their sign but it was pretty tasty.

 Red, white and blue dessert.

Shari's cherry pie with vanilla ice cream and blueberries.

They tell me it was delicious.

Partying into the night

Courtney worked from 2-10 and we didn't want to fight the crowds at a fireworks show so we opted to stay home, watch some professional fireworks on tv and wait until the neighbors were all done with their illegal fireworks fun and then went to bed.

We did have glow stick flags and Old Navy t-shirts, proudly displayed by Krystle.

Hope everyone had a safe and happy mid-week celebration.

Heading to the Wallas to party with the birthday girl!

What a cutie!

Little Miss Anabelle Alyssa will be one.

Happy 4th!

Independence Day Treat

 We love See's candies in this family. So when I get an opportunity to spread the love, I do. 

This box went to Alyssa's family with Hayden.

I like the idea of customizing the packaging with a holiday themed sleeve on each box. They used to wrap the boxes for each holiday which left people to unwrap them if it was a birthday gift or such.

Good idea See's... and they're pretty too!

My weekend project

Alyssa commented that she liked this palette of fabric when I took a picture of it a while ago.  So when thinking about something I could send to her these quilt makings came to mind.

Still playing around with my embroidery feature on my sewing machine.

Lyssa said it was the perfect sentiment for a migratory military family.  Where ever their "nest" happens to be is home.  

Little Munchkin

I'm so happy that my sister, Kelly gets to mush up this little one on a regular basis. Also that Hayden gets to snuggle her for a month.  I'll wait my turn. 

 But Evie Baby you'd better be prepared when you come off that plane in October!

Gramma's going to be ready to kiss those cute cheeks!

Comings and goings of the tribe

Goodbye Jantzen Beach mall 

I knew that a new Target store was being built out at Jantzen Beach and that the old store would be taken down.  I did not know that they would be razing the entire mall except for Burlington Coat Factory on the south end.  It has remodeled and has a really nice exterior entrance now.

We went to Hayden Island to drop Charlie off at Courtney's work and on the way back to the freeway saw the destruction of the mall. The carousel used to stand just to the right of the blue wall in the first photo.  I don't know what the plans for it are but Jantzen Beach wouldn't be the same without it.

We'll have to keep watch and see what new construction is coming on the site.

Sure enjoy these SE Washington grands

Got some smooching and cuddling in with these guys when 

they got here yesterday.

Morning with Super Why

Anabelle, Henry, Uncle Hayden and for a few minutes, Uncle Rylan watched Super Why. It was a little nippy in the den as we had the window open all night. Belle-belle knew how to keep cozy.

Smiles everyone smiles!

 Aunty Joylynn stopped by after her dentist appointment and got to watch Miss Anabelle while Cherise was at her own dentist appointment. I'm so happy for Joylynn and her new and brilliant smile! She's got a lot to smile about these days.

Adventures await

Hayden was packed and ready to roll very early this morning.  We didn't have to leave the house until 8:30 but he was trying to get used to East Coast time.  He is going to be having a couple of kids waking him up early tomorrow so hopefully his practice works.

 We paused for a quick picture in the parking garage. Henry was pretty excited to be along for the ride.

The e-ticket check-in works pretty slick.  We no sooner paid for his bag to be checked and a Frontier Airline employee walked over with the tag and whisked the suitcase away. We walked Hayden to the security check point and after a couple of quick tips we watched him work his way through the line.

 This is his first time flying anywhere that he remembers. (He was 11 months old at the time he flew with us to Anchorage. That doesn't count.) Landed in Denver just fine. He has a flight delay there, but all of the things he goes through during this journey are going to make him a more well rounded traveler in the future.

Cameron's mini vacation

Cameron is going to Cherise and Kiel's for the rest of the week.  He'll be hopefully helping with the kids on the way back there today. Henry was a wiggle worm before they took off. Walking back and forth, back and forth along the porch railing. 

Everybody got loaded into the "new car" and they motored off. In a couple of days, Harlan, Courtney, Charles and I will be joining that group. 

We're looking forward to celebrating Anabelle's 1st birthday on Friday!

In the meantime we are experiencing a very rare episode of silence and inactivity in our house.

Very thankful for all of the activity that makes this lull so special.

Gustav and Gustav's = fun weekend

Birthday party for Wyatt's friend, Gustav

Before school got out a few weeks ago, Wyatt got an invitation to his friend, Gus's birthday party. Gus has been a great buddy this past year so we wanted Wyatt to be able to attend the party. Wyatt had a blast getting to see lots of kids that were in his class. He got to hang out for almost 4 hours. I am going to be arranging for Wyatt to have more play dates this summer.

I'm sure both boys will be looking forward to those.

Gas prices going down

 We have a new card that gets us 35 cents off per gallon at Fred Meyer gas stations for the next few months. It's sad when $3.039 per gallon seems cheap. I know people all over the world pay much more for gasoline but I am excited for a little break in the "pain at the pump".

Coffee date

While Wyatt was at his party we took advantage of the time we could hang out, just the two of us.  We had a bite to eat, went to Guitar Center and Lowe's.  We rounded out our time at Starbucks in the Interstate Fred Meyer. We sat at the wall overlooking the grocery department.  We actually didn't ignore each other for the whole time.  We were looking up stuff on our Kindle and iPad and talking about them. Free WiFi is a nice perk at a coffee shop.

July is the beginning of summer

 July has a few celebrations for us.  First of course is the 4th, then Anabelle's birthday, our anniversary and Charle's birthday.  July is one of my favorite months because it's kind of a lazy month. Last month we were rushing to finish school, next month we will be getting ready for a new school year but this month is purely open to our whims.

Does anyone have any ideas for things to do with preschoolers and elementary kids?

Gustav's with the boys

 I usually drive on Sundays so it's usually my decision on where we go for lunch. Since Hayden is going to be gone for the next 4 Sundays, I wanted to go somewhere special.  We ended up at Gustav's over in Vancouver.

We had a nice lunch and the guys packed up some leftovers so they could have dessert. Gustav's desserts are amazing!

The guys and  Gustav!

 I think Wyatt will get a kick out of Hayden and Cameron having a picture taken with a guy named Gustav this weekend too. 

Two weeks 'til our 33rd

I don't know if we are going to get to do anything special for our anniversary this year.  We usually go to a movie and out somewhere.  A friend is in a band that is playing at a street fair that night so we might swing down there to listen to some good music.  That is something that we've never done before.  Sounds like fun.

Isn't this picture cool with the heart cutout between us. Hayden took the photo of the two of us... I took the other heart photo.  It could be the photo for the Titanic theme song.

"My heart will go on and on"