More Seattle photos

This was right when we arrived. Had a nice direct flight to Seattle.

The kids and I decided to give the Big Wheel a try. It was kind of cool.

We had a blast at the Mariners game and we went spur of the moment.

Bub and me taking in the view at the Mariners game.

 

Birthday bike ride

 

These photos are from Bub's actual birthday... but today (Sunday) we all went out for a nice bike ride.

Adro and I walked with the dog, while the kids biked the path. It was Craig's Crossing or something like that... off the Woodland exit of K-10. We biked it last year.

Nice afternoon. Beautiful weather here.

Happy birthday Bub!

***

Thursday or Friday, I was in the HOJ and Boyd parked his bike. He's wearing this long sleeve Batman T-shirt, new to me... maybe Kelly Jones art? Or Norm Breyfogle? 

I looked at him and said, "Dude. Awesome shirt."

He walked by me and said, "Awesome bike!"

***

I'm glad he likes the bike because I guess there was some discussion about him getting a working cell phone for his birthday. But he seems quite pleased, and thankful, for his birthday gifts, etc.

***

We had a sleepover party last night, for Bub's b-day. I survived! 

Attendees:

• Joey (previously Joseph)
• Tom (previously Thomas)
• Pancake (previously Nolan)
• Brady (still Brady)
• Aiden (though he didn't spend the night)

All is well.

***

Say... nice bike.

Watchdog day

For Boyd's birthday I'm here volunteering at his school. It's 1202 I've been in the lunchroom for an hour and it is CHAOS. 

And I'm starving. Boyd gets here in 13 minutes.

Pictured is art class. One of the more relaxing hours so far… 

Indiana days

 Here's a pic from my mom and dad's photo album, of Jess and me with Dad. I'm guessing 1980? The other photos in the batch were of the year we built a snowman on Easter day. 

All about Boyd (5th grade)

9 holes at Eagle Bend

 The kids and I had such a great time at Eagle Bend two weekends ago. I let Boyd drive my cart (where it was safe) and we all had highlights. Evey had a great tee shot over the ravine on No. 8. Boyd had a few nice chips. None of us made any putts though!

***

I took a mini-vacation to Minneapolis with my old friend Andre recently. We went and did a fantasy football draft then played 18 holes at Rush Creek the next morning.

Friends, my putter was HOT. I dropped one of 20+ feet and two or three more around the 10-15 foot range. I finally cooled off on the last six holes but by then the damage was done.

I would like to play like that again but with some co-workers next time!

***

Took the kids to see WWE Raw on Monday. We had so much fun! I took a few photos, they aren't great (like these golf pics) but I'll try to post them soon.

***

We celebrated Adro's birthday recently! I took her to Hollywood Casino for a bit of day-gambling, then What-a-Burger for a late lunch. There were some other gifts too like flowers, scratchers and an AMAZING painting. I'll share the painting (by Evey Jones) soon.

Drive-by trucker

So this was a first for me... as I was driving with Boyd, heading to his parent/teacher conference ... I saw a familiar car approaching me... it was my own daughter, driving by me, heading home! She waved, I waved. Crazy.

***

Photo is of the kids both doing homework (OK, Evey doing homework) on the back patio. The cat is hanging with them. Koko wanted to come join, but as soon as El Diablo Rojo (what Boyd calls the cat) saw Koko, she started scratching at the glass door to scare Koko away. Adrianne brought Koko to the front, so she could hang.

***

I grilled cheeseburgers on the flat-top after work today. They turned out great! Adrianne gave me a nice compliment at the end of dinner, about how good they were.

On the menu was cheeseburgers with grilled buns... and grilled onions and mushrooms (for me and Evey.) We decided to watch TV during dinner (we don't do that very often) and we put on the season finale of Rat in the Kitchen, this cooking show the kids (especially Evey) love. The last episode was actually pretty fun.

Will the show return for a season two? Chef Ludo puts out his hand and drops a thumb... down? (That's my guess.) The co-host said they would be back for season two.

***

Breakfast burritos for the kids before school today. Gonna try to fire out ham and egg and cheese croissants tomorrow morning. 

That's my A-game in week one of school. In two more weeks, it'll be cereal! I hope not, I like making the kids a decent breakfast before they go to school. And I can make a small egg meal in like 10 minutes.

 

 

First day of 5th grade and sophomore year!

 

 Evey is driving to school now, in her own car! She is driving Adrianne's old Tucson... just about the perfect wheels for her.

And yeah, she's still 15. Crazy!

We worry about the idea of her out there as a young driver, but she is also SO RESPONSIBLE. We trust her to pay attention and be careful. It's nice that it's all country roads from home to her school. But still, stressful.

Love you kids, have a great year!

Waterfall at Mt. Rainier

 

Here's that photo of the kids by the waterfall...

Right now we're in South Padre Island. Kids are still asleep, I'm on the back patio. My back is toast from two weeks in foreign beds...

Between Seattle and now a long Texas trip, we've been on the road almost three of the last four weeks!

We miss Grandma, our dog and our home. Evey and Adrianne also miss Mittens.

We're going to go do another day on the beach. The beach just beats me up. I'm not as young as the kids but I still try to boogie board with them and that workout is hard on me. It is fun though, in the moment. It's the before and after that I dread.

Evey and I walked around Port Isabell last night and scored a couple good root beer floats. That was a good close to a long day.

Oh, and we returned to Wanna Wanna and the burgers, like always, were amazing. 

Mt. Rainier

We took a tour of the mountain. It was pretty cool. The most memorable part was the 2-hour drive home in an unairconditioned bus… 

But the lunch on the trip was also great. And we hiked a lot. I think Evey enjoyed the woods. I don't know how Bub felt about it all. He was cooperative at least.

I have some cool pics of the kids by a waterfall I'll share soon. 

Mexican meat market

I did pretty good managing my way through the Mexican meat market down here in the RGV. Bought $30 in marinated chicken, $20 in marinated skirt steak. Away game grill but it turned out nicely. And plenty of leftovers!

I think they liked seeing the Silver Fox in his Mahomes T-shirt at the meat market.

Or, maybe I was charged extra. 

AYE AYE AYE AYE AYE!!!

My favorite photo

From the Alex and Emily wedding Is this one!

 

And I've got a lot more amazing pics coming soon! 

Kids + Grandma

Man, these kids love their grandma! 

Ok, we all love Judy! I think even Mittens likes her! 

Evey is mowing… and growing!

Yes my sweet Evey is mowing the lawn for me! She wants to help out and I was happy for the help! Allows me to do other yard work while that is getting done.

Also, she got her license the other day (I buried the lead there) and as they were putting her information in, the DMV lady was like 'uhhh you're taller than 5'3"." They measured her and sure enough she is taller now! (I'll have an official height soon!)

Happy B-Day Judy!

Wow, G'Ma Judy had a landmark birthday recently! I was out of town the day of, so we finally all got to go out to dinner last night...

Happy birthday Judy! We love you!!!