The Snow.

And this is the fun we had in the sun...um, I mean snow.

Bombs away, look at that arm!


Elise getting in on the action.


The snow was perfect for crafting this work of art. Imagine. In the snowy Midwest, one snowfall out of twenty was ideal for making snowmen, and here we are in the "rainy" Pacific Northwest building one from a chance snowfall.


And here's Esmé standing proudly by her baby.

Snow here of all things.

That's our lovely white Subaru (even whiter now). Darn, I forgot my scraper/snowbrush. Thought I wouldn't need it.


And here is the delectably sugared arboretum across the way.

A hallowed eve.

Sorry, I'm short on words, and this is from nearly a month ago. Please enjoy.


Jude was a pirate.


Esmé was a kangaroo.


I was a typewriter inspector.

At the last: apples and honey for all participants involved.

I'm not sure why Jude looks so surly here. But anyway, he picked all those apples himself. Despite the grimace, Jude did have a wonderful time at that farm. When paying fo the apples, Jude was getting excited about sticking various objects - mostly little decorative gourds - on the big scale that they had there. It was cute. We had 10 dollars, eight of which went to the beautiful 25 pounds of Jonagolds, and two of which went to homegrown blackberry honey. Mmm.

Apples, again. This is where I start to ramble.

We don't always remember our camera when going to cool places. Well, we brought it to the apple farm, and finding that the picking was so easy (big apples, only getting a heaping 5 gallon bucket's worth, most of the apples low enough for Jude to reach, and Jude's ready hand for picking the apples), I was freed to take lots of pictures. Oh, and the kids were extra cute that day (as on most days) and wearing bright colorful clothing, and Jude had painted his own face.

This is the reason you are seeing so many from this series. Note how blond Ezzie's hair has gotten. It seems to be getting blonder despite it being well past summer now. Jude's on the other only gets thicker and darker. No surprise there, I guess. He has just recently gotten his hair cut, by Elise, who does a wonderful job. Anyway, she did it special for his school pictures. He is going to be rather handsome in them, I'm sure. Can't wait to see them.

The Apple Cart Kids.

I'll admit that I posed them for this one. The cart was just so quaint and Esmé insisted on sitting in it though it was intended for the apples. Thanks to Sarah and Andy for the snappy boots, which they got her while in the Netherlands. They make for shnazzy pictures.

Hand-pick your own apples. Jonagolds.

"I picked this apple myself! Oh, and that fantastic face painting: that was a Jude original work of art."

Couch 2: The Davenport Disgrace.

A comment: Esmé in a rare display of obstinancy in picture posing. Something about that perfectly lovely pink polka dot dress adds to the character. Note: this picture is actually from the middle of August but I hadn't put it up like I thought I had. Now it is here for all of you.

A couch picture. Looking studious.

He just looked darn cute. This is from his second day of school. Isn't he looking skinny? He looks summery, too, like his mama.

Blues for three.

This was when we had a serious jam session.

School Day, Pt 3

Esmé cried when they left Jude at school the first day. She has learned to love her time with just her and mama.

School Day, Pt 2

School Day, Pt 1

This was the first one.

Finally, some new pictures.

For your viewing pleasure only.



Spidey, Jr. and his trusty sidekick KangaKid.

The Knit Sessions

Chronologically these pictures come before the previous ones (taken in North Vancouver). But whatever. The basic premise here is that our good friend Kimberley visited our place for the day and we had a lovely meal together, and then gave us a session in beginning knitting. It was good fun. The third picture is Kimberley and Jude together. Can't you see how much love Kimberley has for her godson? How cute.

These are pictures from our picnic on the shorerocks of North Vancouver.

In addition to Jude on one end and Esmé on the other, are Ava and Christian Quissy. We were trying to capture something similar to two years ago on Galiano Island. But that was before Esmé. Shotly after this photoshoot, or what happened to be the abrubt termination of this photoshoot, Esmé slipped off the log and into the water. It was a minor tragedy. She didn't go in or anything, but it was a little unnerving. I heroically plucked her out and delivered her to a towel and her mama.

It think this was before the incident. I just like the way the picture turned out.

This is a bonus picture for you all.

Esmé likes to layer her clothes. She's not too picky. Hey, Superman is cool.

Kewpie meets punk and has kids and puts them in the bath.

I can't claim responsibility for these two, though I wish I could. My kids have the best hair.

Kids in sweaters.

The beautiful sweaters Jude and Esmé are wearing came back with my parents after their visit to Ireland. These delicious photos came out of their irresistable photo-friendliness.

Jude and Esmé are having fun and feeling cozy in their warm woolen sweaters from Ireland. And they're very happy because they have a new piano. Jude happens to be a (folk & rock) compositional virtuoso. I'm glad we got a piano if only for a creative outlet.

Esmé sure likes to look at the water fountain and the sculpture is very cool to her. She loves being with her family, doing things like taking walks to the university, and so forth.

While walking, Jude cruised along on his "Razor" scooter, which I'm so glad we got for him. When we goes on foot he can be quite pokey and the walk moves along at snail's pace. But on scooter he zooms ahead forcing one or both of us to chase after him which of course provides a good work out. In this picture he is obviously going up a grassy hill, dragging the scooter along. I thought it looked like a good picture, but he wouldn't look at me. I liked the result anyway.

Known as "Teddy Bear Cove County Park" to the outside world.

This is part deux. Three more pictures of that lovely place. You might see even more later on, from the time I went with Jude and our friend Mark.

Jude willingly posed for this one. Lookit them mus-kuhlz!

Another Jude pose. But not exactly. He looks to be posing like a merboy... unintentionally of course.

Elise is looking tough and cool nursing on the beach. Someday I'll compile all of her nursing pictures and write a book called "Nursing is just cool."

A new place of escape.

Down at one of our favorite places: Teddy Bear Cove. You first drive along Chuckanut Drive which follows a ridge that runs along the coast. A twisting drive through the thick green trees, a precipitous drop on your right. If you are not looking for Teddy Bear Cove, you'll likely never find it. And the walk down is almost treacherous. A snake path designed more for mountain goats, or to keep the less adventurous (and non-nudists) away.

First picture is a miraculous shot of Esmé looking docile in her car seat. This has nothing to do with the Cove, but it was a good shot, and she is picturesque and photogenic.

Second is Jude running, if you didn't know. Shows the backside of our trusty Subaru, and a glimpse of the ocean through the tall pines.

Last is a shamelessly posed shot atop the rock looking out over the Cove. I planned the sailboat coming into view.

Enjoy.

The Dragon Wagon, Kettle Corn, and those Ubiquitous Peruvian Panpipe Players

Hello and more pictures for you all. This is "The Fair" series. We went to the Northwest Washington Fair up in Lynden and had a grand old time. I mentioned this outing in a previous post. It was Jude and Ezzie's first fair and they enjoyed themselves immensely. Lots of animals. The swine being the most forgettable - we were foolishly imagining a lot of "Wilburs" but they were just stinky and gross. Even Esmé came away saying "pig poop" while holding her diminutive nose. The goats and sheep were just lovely and compared to the truffle-sniffers, clean. I personally loved the beautiful draft horses. Such magnificent creatures. The bunnies were also a big hit. We'll have to get some someday.


Jude petting a darling kid. We had the distinct privilege of watching some goats being milked. That's cool stuff.


Mei-Mei looking tough on the Kobelco digger. They had lots of these utility vehicles set up just to look at and admire. Fun.


Look quick at the bottom for Jude living it up on the Dragon Wagon. He's wearing red.

Tidal crabs, part deux.

Jude exemplifying his best crab-catching maneuver.


A successful catch!

A short time on the tidal rocks poking around for crabs.

Yes, that's Jude giving us his best crab impersonation.


And, right again, that's Esme' practicing for the photo shoots that will accompany her superstardom as a rock drummer.

Dang, but those kids love popcorn.

Fresh kettle corn at the fair is an unparalleled experience. So sweet (and salty) and good. Oh, Ezzee was chowin' it the rest of the night. But Jude on the other hand... he took one bite and got a little hostile. He's a supertaster you know. Popcorn (in his superior estimation) should not be sweet. Only salty.

Here they have it the right way in the safety of our home.

Weak stomachs beware!

Eeeeuww! Bloody toe. Jude inflicted this upon himself while playing soccer in his sandals. Instead of losing it, he went home and took this picture. The blurred effect is part of the shot but it perhaps not a bad thing.

The kids just having fun, chillin', being kids, just loving on each other... blah, blah...