4th of July tie-dye and an unexpected journey

 After our trip without daddy the kids have been feeling very "spend-time-with-me" oriented.

David is such a good dad.

He climbs and bounces with Megs and games and plays badminton with Kiernan. He hugs me after rough work days and he takes the dog for walks.

Three cheers for David!

Megan is having a rather hilarious take pictures of me with daddy instead of making me eat my dinner phase. 

This is the face of a man who is about to insist on some dinner eating.

My World Cup jersey came just in time...

for Germany to be knocked out of the tournament.

WWWAaaaaaaa

Mom had a very long Doctors appointment so I got an unexpected day with the kids.

We went hiking and had pizza and I got a long weekend into the deal.

Kiernan's dance of joy says it all.

On the weekend I did something I haven't done for ages and took the metro downtown.

Mom and I joined the "Families Belong Together" immigration march.

I thought it looked crowded when I got off the metro.

I was happy about all the big water containers because it was amazingly hot!

Then I went to find mom and discovered the real crowd.

We walked in the heat and chanted:

After it was over we went to Union Station (my old stomping grounds) for some great food.

Then we had my Cousin Wendy and her family over for a cookout brunch.

Her kids are younger than mine and super cute. We had fun although Pax has finally met her match in Rosa...apparently there can be such a thing as to much attention.

Both kids have been out shooting. Its a little bit to get Kiernan ready for Cub Scout Camp and a little bit because archery is so much fun.

I'm watching my tomatoes com on with relish.

Now that Germany is out Davids Fathers Day shirt arrived. 

 Megan is super jazzed to have matching outfits with daddy so its all good.

Dad and Mary finished their closing (only to be rear-ended on the way out of signing in the car they are trying to sell!). They went down to TN to say good-bye and to rop off some stuff.

They celebrated their anniversary and had some family time with no lifting or packing.What a relief!

I got the best news in the world.

Krishna is back!!

I didn't cry when she left but i sure did when she came back.

I'm so happy.

I feel so much safer and happier when she is around.

We went out of the office and lit things on fire and it felt like the world had returned to normal.

For 4th of July mom was invited to a pool party and brought me and Megan. It was at Elise's house. She left the goat place and mom left right after her.

Megan told me she was going to be a little shy but by the time I left she was on some dudes shoulders whacking people with a pool noodle and having no interest in going home with me.

She and mom stayed to do their social thing and I dropped by Haven and went home.

At home we were having a quiet game day with the sort of cookout that only David would think up.

He dragged the grill to the back door then stood in the air-conditioning with the occasional opening of the door to flip burgers. He tells me this way we can have delicious grilled food without all the nasty nature interfering with our nice air conditioning.

hahah

We did fireworks and sparklers.

We did some louder ones too.

It was raining but not too hard and it made me feel safer about fire risks.

My gardenis loving the heat and rain. Look at this bee butt!

We had 4th of July tie-die on the 7th. The middle of the week was just too much for my poor addled brain.

I had work friends over and we all hung out. We ate grilled food we did tie-dye and some of us drank  mead. Thank you Geoff for the mead!

We got some good ones this year.

After the party we collapsed into a heap to relax.

While we were telxing I texted grandma Mary to see arrange my next day trip to visit her in New Market.

She said "Oh dear!" and let me know that she was leaving New Market after breakfastthe next morning!

3 hours later Megan and I were in Virginia at my aunts house.

Megan headed straight for the hot tub.

We spent the night and had a cookout and fireworks and s'mores.

The next morning we got up and went down t the river and listened to the birds.

Turn your sound up for this one.

Aunt Becky, your place is magical thank you for having us!!!

Then after breakfast we got in the car and drove down to Bracey.

We surprised my grandparents and had Chinese buffet and went back to their place so Megan could pool.

...that poor water deprived child...

My grandma convinced me to stay the night so we dried out Megans ears (please stay away ear infection...so much water) and made ourselves at home.

I called David and asked him to go into work late so that he could take Kiernan to Spanish immersion Summer Camp in the morning. He said that he would and told me about a great sounding father son sushi and gaming day they were having.

I went down to the dock and looked at the lake (Gaston).

I thought about not being able to see Dad and Mary without a long flight and I thought about how great it was to be on this trip seeing my family.

I love so much to travel and to see these precious people.

The next morning we headed home and Dad and Mary headed to their flight.

Megan was a great travel buddy and I see many a road trip in our future.

When we got home she got right into the pool.

hahaha

We've gotten some good bonding time in this girl and me.

Kiernan is now in camp.

He is extremely ambivalent about the entire summer school feel of it.

On the other hand he is loving the Latin class.

Megan is doing some learning of a separate kind.

In one of the boxes I got from the move was my old skates. I cant get the kids off them so I ordered a few pair that actually fit for them to try out.

Here is her first go in her own skates.

I got a text from my dad that they landed safely in Kona and that they were on the way to Costco.

Aloha