Ben's Birthday and New Glasses

After realizing Ben had the vision curse of both parents, he visited the eye doctor and picked out some cool glasses. Mom & Ben were able to make a long lunch during school to pick up the new specs and grab a birthday bite (not the official birthday meal of course). We celebrated the evening with birthday dinner at Sweet Tomatoes, of course.

Cape Lookout Trip

We were really spoiled in this cabin! They had all the amenities, great location in the woods on the beach and awesome weather. Cape Lookout Link

There are only 3 of these in this state park vs. hundreds of campsites.

This is the view from the porch toward the beach.

Less than 2 minutes before the first one got wet, but that's why we're there!

The diggers are at it!

"You guys aren't getting wet, right?"

"Okay, here comes another one!"

Steve
Tom
Steve testing the depth.
Jeff's turn...

My brother!"Hey Dad, bet you couldn't cut this down with your Leatherman!"

"Dad, look at Jeff's head."
The tide came in and we saw some of the rough surf too.



"Hi Mom!"

"Okay, I think I see another one coming in!"

"Look, there's one!"

"Alright guys, that's close enough!"

"How about another log?"

"Hi guys, what are you doing?"

"Hey Jeff, what are you doing?" (They often call each other there own names - no idea why...)

More Summer Fun!

Cleaning the moss off the roof. Great view but not fun.

Bet you didn't know Bob was the best chessman in the neighborhood, eh?

We had a trip to the zoo.

Good thing this wasn't a ram...

"Jeff, please only pet the end that bites."

"Horse riding" in the stable.

Having fun outside the monkey cages. Ironic, isn't it?

This a 10" x 14" wasp hive in the ground that Bob disturbed when he was powerwashing in shorts & a T-shirt. It only took a trip to the ER to recover from a numberof bites.

He wasn't taking any chances this time... It was in the mid 90s this day. No more wasps now.

Summer Catch Up

We're catching up from where we left off. Busy summer, what can I say?

Jack's Birthday party at the house.

Our trip to Eagle Crest (Central Oregon). The guys rode about 8 miles in about 95+ degrees. Dad was elected to ride back (uphill) and get the van to pick everyone back up again. Another celebration with cake and popsicles!!! The pool was a welcomed site too. There was a really neat river running through the backyard down to the lake near the pool.

Can you tell we don't have cable at home??

Not every day you can see 3 mountains in the same view. We definately had a great time here.

4th of July

Wow, we have been out of touch! Here are a few July photo updates.

Jack and Ben in the neighborhood 4th ride.

Here are Jeff (on the bike) and Steve!

A Few Adventures Lately

Well, Jack finally found a bike worthy of succeeding his old (now little) one. This has to parallel shopping for just the right wedding dress - it has been a 7 month endeavor! Although I didn't capture it yet, this was large grin material.

We took in a baseball game in downtown Portland for work - the guys loved it, even the baseball part. 2 big pretzels, popcorn, sprite, peanuts, 5 licorice whips (compliments of the co-workers). The train ride before and after was an added bonus.

We also stopped at a park adjacent to a Fire Station that was just awesome, right up the street from the Nike Campus. The park has an obvious Fire Service theme (you park in their lot). This entails a lot of "swing pushing" which is a great upper body workout for those of you looking for a gym alternative.

Then there is Jeff...he is our youngest mechanic/electrician. Between his natural ability and curiosity, he gets into a lot. I still think he might be able to see through walls because I am pretty smooth when being covert so he won't watch how to undo what Dad doesn't want him to see. In addition to the many homemade drawer locks, hiding places for keys, electrical gadget stashes, etc., I occasionally have to disable some of the PCs in the "computer lab" (one of Julie's many sacrifices) in the dining room. Those of you that have seen 6,000 keystrokes in your password log in box know what I'm talking about.... I get an automated note at work when the Media PC is turned on so imagine my surprise after disabling it (powered off, power supply shut off, mouse and keyboard unplugged) and getting the note at work. Had to call Julie right away (half puzzled, half proud if indeed young Sherlock had put it all together). Sure enough, Jeff was near the PCs with the all to often guilty look and line "Hi Mom!". I am sure when he turns 3 he'll be less of a challenge, right?