Memorial Day Weekend

If this year's Memorial Day weekend had a theme song, it would be "Rainy Days and Mondays." I think we've somehow claimed Seattle's weather for ourselves! We fled south to Richland on Friday and Saturday to spend some time with Brett's parents and to see if we could still recognize sunlight.

We could.

Just barely.

Don't let the pastoral look fool you. This swan had an attitude problem.

Audrey's beautiful climbing roses cover both stories of their deck.

The only thing Cam likes better than swinging is swinging with his eyes shut.

Bliss.

Believe it or not, Natalie loved playing this game with Max and happily got knocked over time and time again. (He was very gentle with her.)

I guess its no wonder her pants kept falling down.

Camille and Natalie at the Playground of Dreams

Cute Dalia

Cousin time

Tram ride around Columbia Park

Grandma is in there somewhere

Cameron's First School Program

Tonight was Cameron's first school program. It included all of the typical and special needs children that attend our district's Early Learning Center preschool.

The stage lights and audience are a tough atmosphere for some of these kids, but they did really well. Cam didn't really sing, but he did do some of the actions that went along with the songs.

The babies on the bus go wah, wah, wah.

There were sometimes some signs that he just wasn't interested in what was happening.

Like flashing his belly to the audience.

Or sitting down in the middle of it all.

But, he liked it more than his face sometimes showed.

We are so grateful for the wonderful staff that have worked with him:

Our friend Karen Hawkins, who was his nursery teacher,
gets to be one of his aides periodically during the day.

Debbie Volkmann, who is Cam's preschool teacher.
Can you see how proud she is?

Amber Stuart, Cameron's special ed teacher.
She is just as fantastic with the kids as the picture implies.

I am so grateful for these wonderful people that dedicate a big part of their day and their hearts to loving and teaching our kids.

And we are so proud of Cameron for the great progress he has made this year.

Just for fun

This is what big sisters and little sisters do together when everyone else is gone.

They ride skateboards down the driveway on their belly . . .

or on their bottom.

It's hard to go wrong on a skateboard.

Or with your big sister.

Even if she wants to sword fight with you.

By the way, Max was at scouts that night. Brett had taken Cameron and Elise fishing at Liberty Lake. While there, Elise caught EIGHT fish with her pink fishing pole and Cam reeled more than one in on his new birthday pole.

Riverside State Park

I love discovering new places . . . especially when they are nearby, allowing us an excuse to get out of the house on a Saturday afternoon. This week it was Riverside State Park just to the west of Spokane.

Max, our geologist, finds some igneous rock

Swinging Bridge

The real secret to getting your kids to hike is to make really awesome trail mix for the turnaround. The secret ingredient is M&Ms.

There must be lots and lots of M&Ms. Dried pineapple doesn't hurt, either. Or cashews.

An edible wild mushroom

This stick was, strangely, one of the highlights of the day. (In fact, it is sitting in my garage right now.) We counted at least six or seven different varieties of lichen growing on this small branch.

Click on the photo and see how many types you can spot.

When you are married to someone who did his dissertation on lichen, you start to pay attention to them a little. They are really beautiful in their variety. It just makes me reflect on just how miraculous and beautiful our world is.

All things testify of Him.

Windermere Marathon/Half-Marathon

Saturday, May 16th, Brett and Melissa ran the Windermere Marathon and Half-Marathon. Melissa ran her 26.2 from Post Falls, ID to downtown Spokane. Brett ran his 13.1 from Mirabeau Park in Spokane Valley to the same finish line. Brett had originally intended to run the marathon as well, but had been struggling with tendinitis since the first week of February. Fortunately, lots of physical therapy had helped him continue to train enough to run the half marathon.

At the Start.

Doug and I saw Brett off at the start and then ran support for him along the race route.

The great thing about a good local race is seeing lots of people you know, including Emily, Shannan and Abby. Abby is 20 weeks pregnant and still ran a smokin' race! Good work, ladies.

View of the Spokane River from the finish line.

Brett at the finish.

I was proud of Brett's tenacity in training for and running this race. He'd been in pain for months and never gave up, even when he started cramping during the last three miles. Still, he ended up with a more than respectable time, even if it wasn't as fast as he'd hoped for.

As soon as Brett was done, we hopped back into the car and found Melissa around mile 20. She looked really strong, though later she told us that she felt like she was struggling.

After checking in with Melissa a couple of times along the trail, we drove to the finish to wait for her.


And here comes Melissa!

Or you could just call her Super Woman, because she beat her previous marathon time by an hour.

Nope. Not a typo.

An HOUR.


Afterward, Melissa stretched her legs out while vowing to never, ever do another marathon (at least for another couple of months). Brett limped around. Doug tried not to fall over. I took pictures and tried to park close to pick up the invalids.

Gimme your game face!

They are Hard Core!

Gentlemen . . .Start Your Engines!

And with that, Cameron's Pinewood Derby Birthday Party was off to a roaring start.


Each guest got to choose a pinewood derby car that we had already built and decorated. Then they got to race them over on the 30' track Brett made. They were delighted to take their cars home with them.

Even on a stool, Cam could barely see to place his green car.

These were some very excited little boys, waiting for the race results.

Even the girls got involved and loved racing.

It all ended with pinata candy, cake, ice cream and presents.