Big Water

The annual Kinnaman trip to Clarkston has come and gone.
It is always great to see so much family, all in one place. The greatest disappointment is coming home after only one long weekend and leaving everyone there to enjoy the great atmosphere.

The weather was poopy all day Sunday, but that did not dampen the spirits of anyone there.

We played games, took long naps, and caught up with old friends and loving family members.
"Big Water" has become a very special institution and a rich family tradition that my kids look forward to each year. Idealy, we would stay longer and have Kevin and Holly along for all of the good times. Soon the world will be perfect and we will enjoy those things along with everything else that is great about spending days at Cheif Timothy...our home away from home.

A-shopping we will go...

One of the perks of being a teacher, is the flexibility that summertime provides. The kids go to a magnet school that has a funky almost-year-round schedule (they only take July off), which means the boys don't get out until June 26. Will's Kindergarten class took a fieldtrip to the local Albertson's grociery store and I got to tag along as he loaded up on produce, learned about the bakery,

touched a lobster

and check himself out at the cash register.

It was actually quite a cool trip--seeing how the grociery store works rather than just rushing through, trying to hustle to the next errand. It was really fun to just spend a little time making Will feel important.

Catch n release

I don't fish. I am fish repelant. When I was a kid, our time on the water was spent on skis; no patience for watching a bobber. Had I caught anything other than twigs, I would not have known what to do with it. However, my kids dig fishing and they are all three quite prolific fishermen. They like fishing with their mom and E-pa. The other day they hit the pond and landed (and threw back) a ton of fishes, with Abby pulling in the most.

Square-foot Gardening

Lisa is now an official gardener. Her good friend Amy has been planning to gift her a garden for her graduation, signifying that she now actually has time to manage and grow a garden. She arrived Wednesday afternoon with her "pre-fab" garden boxes (built from her recycled deck) and her pickup bed filled with a plethora of soils in order to mix the special recipe called for in the Square-foot Gardening book.

She presented Lisa with tools, a bucket, the book, and gloves. Et viola, Dr. Lisa's garden gift is planted.

Happy Birthday to Will

What a comfort to know that there is one birthday (beside my own) that I will never forget. Will was the best belated birthday gift I could ever have asked for, with his landing just 6 days after mine. We had brainstormed all kinds of ideas for him about ways we could celebrate. When presented with our genius, he said that he just wanted his cousin, Dylan to come over, to have McDonald's for dinner, and to have the entire evening to play the playstation with Dylan--without their mothers telling them to turn off the games. "Done." Everybody wins with a plan like that. He loved his gifts. With two recent birthday celebrations marked off of the calendar, summer has officially begun... too bad it has been raining since school ended.

Happy Birthday to me...

Lisa suprised me with a birthday excursion to Lincoln City.

We spent Sunday, Monday, & Tuesday over Memorial Day just hangin out on the beach (as you can see.)

Back in Boise May 30th, we had a pool-party with Dickies BBQ and she took me to a fondu restaurant in Nampa called, "Mona Lisa" for dinner. I felt special for an entire week. Boy, did I feel loved.

YES!

We have finally done it... NO MORE SCHOOL! Lisa graduated today, with her Doctoral Degree, from Boise State University. I finished my certification for school administration. I am so happy. (And now, Grandma, I will have more time to keep up on my blog)

Good Friends

Ryan and Will were invited to an end-of-season hoops party with their buddies.
These kids are the children of refugees from Darfur and have become good friends with Ryan and Will through Sunday School. Most of the boys were older, but Will managed to hang in there with his "mad" ball-handlin' skills.

Abby played jump-rope and ran relays with the girls. Ryan had a great chance to play both with, and against his good friend, Bismana.

Hoopin

BOYS-N-BASKETBALL

We have not one, but two mad-hoopers in our home. We completed a wonderful season with Ryan and Will playing together on the same team. I helped Jason Chan, their assistant coach.