Sentimental Journey

We've been trying to enjoy little weekend outings as much as possible this summer. Today I took the boys to see a 1944 B-17 bomber that was visiting the local flight museum. Kai was a little intimidated about climbing up into the plane, but was very proud of himself after he did it.

Happy Birthday Ben!

Ben turns 19 Today! That's a lot of candles!!!


Here are a few recent pictures of Ben...

Ben and Kelly


He gets that 6-pack from his dad! (Not! LOL)


Flippin Good Times!


And one from 19 years ago...

Saturday in the Park

On Saturday I walked to the park near our home with the boys. I snapped a couple pictures with my phone of them climbing on the rock and playing in the big tree...



This "tree" is actually a tight cluster of trees that have grown together but a space remains inside the ring that you can play in. You can see Shen in the bottom left corner to get an idea of how big the tree is.

I've got to wash her, she's dirty!

Kai insisted the other night that he had to wash his bike. What made Tina and me laugh though, was that he kept referring to his bike as "her" and "she". I have no idea where he got this as neither Tina or I ever refer to vehicles as "he" or "she".

But he got her all shined up!

The Builder

Kai loves blocks. Loves them. We have a big RubberMaid bin full of old wooden blocks from when Cam and Ben were little. We keep them out in the living room as there is no point in putting them in the playroom or the boys' bedroom. He would be dragging them out all the time anyway, most mornings he's building with them before breakfast.

I used to build towers with him to show him how to make things balance, but now I try to stay out of his way. He has developed his own style of building that is often quite creative. Recently he's focused more on structure and symmetry. here's a couple pictures of some recent buildings...

Tina's Flowers

Happy Adoption Day Shen!

Two years ago today we got to meet Shen and our family was complete! We have spent the last couple days talking a lot about that time, and both Kai and Shen are really beginning to understand what it's all about. Shen was thrilled to have a special day just for him. Cam and Brittni came over for Chinese dinner and we had a chocolate cake for desert.

Another tradition we enjoy with the boys is having them try on the clothes and shoes they wore when we met them to see how much they've grown. Here are a few pictures of Shen from the day, and the video I posted from China two years ago today...









Two years ago today...

Back to The Present - Sunday 8/2/09

Taking a little break from my repost of Shen's adoption travel story to post some pictures or our day trip to Port Townsend today.


We stopped and took a picture of the bridge at Deception Pass in the mist on our way down.


We had a picnic lunch at Fort Casey and played a little on the old military bunkers and guns.


They have a new, smaller ferry at the Keystone/Port Townsend crossing. We walked on so it was very inexpensive.


A gentleman on the ferry let the boys check out the spyglass built into the handle of his walking stick...


There was a nest of baby seagulls on top of the pilings by the ferry dock. They were almost ready to fly.


It was beautiful weather for our crossing.




We checked out the little playground in Port Townsend.


We window shopped at 3 different toy stores before asking each boy to choose something we would go back to buy for them. Kai's choice was $5 racing helmet he had seen back at the 5 and dime by the ferry dock. So on our way back we stopped and got it for him. He wore it on the ferry.




We stopped at Deception Pass again on the way back home to take more pictures...