We asked Isaiah what he wanted for his birthday dinner tonight. Since it’s so hot here, we decided to go out, and gave him a few choices, based in no small part on the coupons we had: hotdogs or hamburgers from Weinerschnitzel, or a pizza from Little Caesar’s. I suppose we could have added the option of a tub of lard from Safeway, but fewer choices is generally better for a three year old. Expecially for one just newly three.

So he picked hotdogs, and we drove through Weinerschnitzel and then stopped at a park to eat. Below are some pictures of him opening presents before we left for dinner, and then some at the park.

I’ve already posted too many close-up pictures of the kids, I’m sure, but I love expressions and faces. Who was it that said “the face of a child can say so much. Especially the mouth part of the face.”

Tami and I had a chance to get away for about 24 hours, and ran up to Seattle (thanks, Mom, for taking JD and T!). Most of our time was at the Pike Place Market, since we love the colors, food, variety, and people. Here are some pictures from the trip (click here for more):

When the kids empty the dishwasher, we have them stack items on the counter if they can’t reach the place they are supposed to go. Tami and I came into the kitchen the other day after Timothy had finished emptying the dishwasher and found this on the counter:

My son has been cursed with some of the obsessive-compulsive problems his father has. Alas, poor child!

We’ve used a WhirleyPop popcorn maker for a long time and have been overwhelmingly pleased with the results. But we thought we’d try a slightly more convenient method to make popcorn, and purchased an electric unit from West Bend.

The first batch of popcorn, using the 1/2 cup of kernels and about the same amount of oil as we used in the WhirleyPop, was really bad. It was soggy and the popped kernels were small. I called Dad, since he and Mom have one of these things, and he gave some suggestions. So tonight we tried a couple more batches. I used the same amount of popcorn, and about six times the oil (!!), and the results were definitely much better. But still not WhirleyPop quality: the popcorn was a bit too tough and rubbery. So the results are, after three batches, we’d rather risk the unproven side effects of cooking with aluminum and eat great popcorn than risk the proven effects of too much oil with not-quite-great popcorn.

But that’s not the point of the post. This is:

We took a walk last night up to a set of rarely-used railroad tracks not too far from our neighborhood. My patient wife let me take some time to get some pictures. I have a lot yet to learn about Photoshop editing, since there are some things I want to do with these that I can’t quite figure out yet. But until I do figure it out, I’ll keep practicing!

This past Saturday we stopped by Fort Vancouver to check out the Soldiers’ Bivouac and the 1860’s vintage baseball game. It was a beautiful day, and the folks from 1st Oregon Volunteers and other area groups did a fabulous job. The ladies dresses were more than enough to keep Lindsey talking, and we pushed her to ask one of the younger girls about her dress (this particular girl had received hers as a hand-me-down from the organization, but they provide extensive assistance for any members who would like to make their own). And Timothy and Isaiah remained enthralled with the muskets and cannons.

Here are some pictures from the annual July 4th picnic at Uncle Mike and Aunt Bonnie’s. I think they forgot about leap year, because it ended up being on the 5th instead. But it sure was a production, and we’re thankful they were so generous in allowing us to come!

These are some pics of Tami’s mom with her two youngest grandchildren:

All of her grandchildren: