Random summer in a nutshell

4th of July was loud and festive, as always. Vancouver City Council actually just banned personal fireworks beginning 2017, and it will be interesting to see if that affects the Armageddon mentality of those of us who live outside of city limits. 4th of July (and the days preceding and following it) is CRAZY here. Every kind of firework is legal, and it feels very much like a war zone.  

But first, the day started with our little Felida fair. It was cute and small-towny.

Afterward we got ourselves some Tropical Sno to cool off.

And then we prepared our backyard and home to host a barbeque for our good friends the Kartchners and Harringtons. 

As it started to get dark, we moved to the front yard and witnessed at least three huge fireworks shows within half a block.  At first it was fun.

 But pretty soon it was way overwhelming. These smart boys brought out noise canceling earphones, sleeping bags to huddle in, and a big umbrella to shield the from falling embers.

 Before long, our guests gave up and cautiously inched their way out of the warzone on our street to return home to some peace and quiet.  The next day we picked up well over 300 spent firework shells in our yard. Who knows how many are stuck on our roof!

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The next week Aubrey flew back to Utah, so Joseph was an only child. Each night we tried to find something fun for entertainment.

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I'm not sure whose phone this picture came from, but how fun that the Brandon and Bailey Coke bottles were right next to each other!

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Joseph spent several fun afternoons at the Crusans house, sometimes doing cool stuff like archery and beebee gun shooting.

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When Aubrey got back in town, she and her friend Emma did a fun photo shoot one day in the field behind our house (where 150 homes will soon be built. Sigh.).  I love so many of the pictures of our beautiful Aubrey.

But I especially love that she has a sense of humor and posted this picture as the picture on her home screen (and she posted it and other bloopers on Instagram).

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 The third week of July was Cub Scout Camp, at, which I was a parent helper. I love the enthusiasm of 10 year olds!  

These boys have been best buddies since they were babies.

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Other exciting news . . . Aubrey got her driver's permit and began her reign on the roads. She has settled into being a good driver.

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Aubrey also did something really challenging, and we rewarded ourselves afterward with BlueStar donuts in Portland.  She contacted the Oregon Children's Theater and arranged an audition for their Young Professionals Theater Company. It was such a grown up thing to do, and she was very impressive. It was a good experience all around, and she was proud of herself for doing it.

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The second week of August I spent a few days in Boise with two friends from childhood, Julianne and Rachel. We had a great time reconnecting and had lots of adventures (such as the ridiculous airbnb accomodations, where we weren't allowed to talk after 10 p.m. and we shared our space with two huge dogs  . . . . floating on a raft down the river . . . . watching Shakespeare's 12th Night at a cool outdoor ampitheater and agreeing it was the most ridiculous adaptation of the dumbest Shakespeare play . . . walking the streets of the historic part of Boise and ogling the architecture of some of the houses . . . . eating delicious food every meal, including the Boise Fry Company - 3 kinds of french fries and 30 different sauces!)

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While I was gone, Dan talked the kids into going with him to the Clark County Fair to see the Kansas concert. Afterward, Aubrey went on rides with friends and Joseph and Dan won a humongous stuffed bear and rode all the non-spinny rides.

There are some other big pieces of our summer I haven't covered yet, but I'll handle those in separate posts!