One thing about Washington that I'll miss. Summer. Not Spring/Fall/Winter but yes, I admit it...Summer. When Summer came this year (July 4th...exactly.) we've had a mix of warmish to very warm days. Half have been in the high 60's to low 70's and the other half has been between 75 and 80 degrees. That makes for some very mild days. On one of those warmer 70's days I took the kids to the park. Robert had Jason in Nevada, getting him fitted for hearing aids so I was able to lounge around with the big kids. We had such a relaxing time just enjoying the weather and gorgeous green park.

Here are a few random shots from this last week.

Jen came into town for a concert her band was putting on downtown Portland.  The day before we met up with her and her boyfriend Matt for lunch.  She had just recently cut off all her long hair and donated it.  The rest she dyed platinum and blue.  I have to say, she was looking wonderful.  We had a fun time eating and we hung out at a park for awhile.

Here are just a few silly pics of the boys entertaining Jason.

And Austin reading his morning paper...

We had a really cool harvest moon right at the beginning of July.  I still can't believe how big it looked that night.

Rob and Jason.

And finally...Alaina.  First off, I must say, that child even manages to make bed-hair look awesome.  How does she do it?

And to finish this little random post off, I'll leave you with two 'Laina stories.  The first was a little conversation we had just after she got ready for the day.  It went a little like this:



Mom - "I see you took a shower by yourself."

Alaina, quite self-assured - "Yes."

Mom  - "And, you washed your hair by yourself."

Alaina, still pretty sure of herself - "Yes."

Mom, upon closer inspection, and a little impressed - "And you even did your own hair."

Alaina, still very cool and sticking to her one-worded answers - "Yes."

Mom, fishing for a little love, and over-dramatic as usual - "Well!  What do you need me for?!"

Alaina, not cracking a smile and very matter-of-fact - "To make food."

Hmmm.  It's good to know my place, I guess.   Just say it how it is, girl.


The day we took Jason to get his ABR test, Alaina opted to stay at the hospital with me to keep him entertained the two hours until his appointment.  At one point we went into a store and closely looked at each little piece of novelty that was being sold there.  On one shelf was a whole bunch of sweet little children figurines.  She studied over them and finally stated.  "That one looks just like me, doesn't it."  I tried hard to see the resemblance, but she was pretty sure.  After a few more minutes she pointed to a smaller one and said, "And that one looks like Austin."  Upon closer examination, she realized that the figurine she matched Austin up with was a little smaller than the one that looked like her.  "No.  That one could be Jason I guess...that bigger one really looks like Austin.  Don't you think?"    I guess, they looked a little similar.  I mean.  They were figurines of cute children and Alaina is a cute girl but there was, I thought, something that set them apart.  "Look closer," I said, "Do you see any differences?"  Alaina did look closer.  Real close.  After a real good, real long look, she came back and said, "Nope.  I think that one looks exactly like me."  It was at that moment, squirmy baby in one hand, obnoxious stroller in the other, that I took a good look at Alaina, and I decided she was right.  She did match the pretty little figurine pretty perfectly.  In the end, the fact that every figurine on that shelf was of a little black child never even occurred to Alaina as being in any way different than she is.  She only saw the similarities.  It is one thing to live your life believing that all people should be treated equally (which I very strongly feel.)  It is a gift, however, to be unable to see the differences in the first place.

I am always truly amazed at the life-lessons I learn from my children.  Lead on, little ones.  Lead on.

Here's a little something funny. I was looking through some websites reporting about Ridgefield's 4th of July celebration, and who did I see gracing two different sites?  That's right, my Ethan is famous.  Guess the shot I got was too good for others to pass up on too.  Here is one of the pictures I found

So, I don't know if I should amused that his handsome face is plastered all over the internet or if I should be upset since I wasn't the one to put it there.  Regardless...it looks like he is a pie-eating star.

The 4th of July!

Happy Fourth of July!!!

We spent the 4th of July at the small town of Ridgefield again.  The boys were actually in the parade this year with the cub scouts.

Alaina and I had front row seats to catch all the action.

 What makes the parade in Ridgefield so awesome is the fact that it is so small-town.  It had rows of old rebuilt cars, firetrucks, and of course Miss Ridgefield herself.  I guess the main company here is a towing company because they had their entire fleet in the parade...about twenty different vehicles.  Here are a few...

 We also saw a very impressive number of farmers roll by on their tractors.  They ranged from old-timers on their regular ol' John Deere's to some very huge, fancy tractors.

After the parade we walked over to the Derby road where local people make their own Derby cars and race down the hill.  We didn't get any pictures of the races but we did catch the funniest race.  When all the racers had finished, two guys on their golf carts went up the hill, turned off their engines and raced down. 

Everyone stayed to cheer them on as well.   Our little group was the loudest.

  After the races we went back to the part for the kid activities which included the same snake-guy that we saw last year.  He was just as cool this year bringing out tons of different snakes and letting the kids hold and touch many of them.

But the best part of the day - the part that the kids have been waiting for all year - was the pie eating contest.  The three big kids entered this year and the boys got very close to winning.  Alaina is too dainty of an eater to really be a threat.  All three chowed down like pros and we cheered like crazy people in the crowd.  

This was my favorite picture of the day.

Jason wanted to join in but we think we'll hold him off at least until he can eat solids.  :)

That night Robert got some great pictures of the fireworks.  Not too bad for a backyard display.  (Every year this guy at church hosts fireworks and a potluck at his house. People pitch in what they want to for the fireworks but the guy must spend thousands of dollars on the fireworks.  It is a pretty impressive show.)

And finally, to wrap up the Jones family reunion spectacular, I'll leave you with the pictures we got at family photo day.