Happy Dance

One more school year is over. I can't believe how fast it has gone. Seems like it shouldn't be summer, yet.
Ryan bikes on Saturday. He's looking forward to it. Says he'll finish in one hour since that's how long each training session has been. We'll post pics of him crossing the finish line.
Summer previews: Peru and the new Harry Potter...
What are your summer plans?

Countdown

I have only 10 more days of work in this school year and only 9 more days when the kids are there. This is my usual yearly countdown.
What do you countdown to?

A Weekend in the Hill Country

Last weekend we went to Fredericksburg, a cute town down in the hill country of Texas. The wildflowers were all blooming, so the drive was fantastic. We met Natalie and Norman and Kristen and Mike down there. It was a great time to go. We stayed at the Cottages on Limestone (really good breakfasts and tasteful cottages) and had a nice weekend.

On Sunday, we even made it out to Enchanted Rock for some hiking

Ryan and I aren't as smart as our friends, so we have the burns to prove it.

Kristen's 30th.

The guys enjoying the birthday party.

Kari & Ryan in front of our Cottage.

Norman, Mike, and a very big gun.

How Big is Too Big?

Driving around looking at houses in Dallas, we came up with a question. How big a house is too big a house? If one had large amounts of money, plenty to go around, how big a house would you want? At what point would your large house make others of humbler means uncomfortable to be in your house? Would that be okay? Is it their problem and not yours? Any thoughts?

Blankets of Blue

On Friday I used to my day off to head out to my garden to weed and kill bugs. Wanted to get some seeds in the ground, but with this cold front coming through here this weekend, that was cancelled until Monday or Tuesday this week. It is down parka cold here this weekend. BRRRRRRR. I think my toes are back to their permafrost stage right now.

Seems strange with it being this cold, but the bluebonnets are blooming. Ken McAdams is here visiting us this weekend. This is him taking pictures of them.

Here are more for those of you missing out on them.

Our Seattle Trip

Kari and I went to Seattle, WA for Jeff & Teresa's wedding. We showed up a few days early, and got to visit Kari's Aunt Diane and Uncle Hal, Kari's cousins Mark and Michele, and Kari's cousins Laurie and Steve. Trevor and Belinda's family was at the wedding, so we got to play with Dillon and Connor, and hold Halle.

We got to see Seattle from the ground, from the top of the Space Needle, and from a ferry boat.

It rained only when it wasn't drizzling, and the fish flew at Pike's Place Market. The most telling T-Shirt we found said, "Seattle Rain Festival, Jan. 1 - Dec. 31".

The happy bride and groom.















Halle turns 1!















Seattle skyline from the Bainbridge ferry.















Steve, Laurie, Diana and Brennan















Kari and Ryan at Snoqualmie Falls (taken from a point somewhere beyond a fence at the end of the trail, where we had to scrape by a sign that said something like, "DANGER! STOP! FLOOD WARNING! HALT! DO NOT CLIMB OVER FENCE TO GET A BETTER PICTURE!" Little did the sign posters realize that our name forms the last four letters of challenge.)

Destination Imagination, plus our first bloom of Spring...

This Saturday, Kari and I appraised at a Destination Imagination (DI) tournament. DI is a cool international program where school-aged kids work as a team for several months, without adult help, with a limited budget ($125-175, depending on the problem), to solve one of five challenges. The challenge all include a theatrical solution presentation, but the challenges vary greatly in terms of how much emphasis is place on technical vs. theatrical content.

You, too, can get one of the cool DI T-Shirts we are wearing by volunteering for your local DI competition.

At the right is our first new bloom of Spring. The new life is inspiring.