I downloaded a bunch of shots Erin took yesterday at the park where Nathan practices soccer and loved them so much that I decided I had to post a bunch of them to the blog.  I just couldn’t choose a few!  Don’t these capture Cole’s little spirit so well?  BTW, sorry there aren’t more of Ian but I’m told that he wasn’t in the best of moods yesterday

I’ve also uploaded each of these pictures to Flickr in case you want to download the originals to print.  If you have time, leave Erin a comment below and let her know how good of a photographer she is!

Serious Cole

Got apples?

These apples? 

Cole resting on a rock

I’m told that this is Ian throwing his apples up into the air, probably to try and splat them on the pavement below

This year, Nathan and Ian are both attending the same school!  Ian’s starting 1st grade and Nathan’s entering 3rd grade.  Today was day two and so far so good in terms of them both liking their teachers and the other kids in their class.  Tomorrow, we’re pulling the kids out of school just before the end of the day to travel to Camp Orkila with several other families.  The funny thing is that when Erin told Nathan that we would be picking him up around 2PM tomorrow, he was concerned because he’s really excited to learn cursive writing and he doesn’t want to miss anything

Ian and Nathan just before they walked to their first day of school

Erin outdid herself once again by putting together a party to celebrate Ian’s 7 years.  Battle lines were drawn in the backyard and once teams were chosen, the kids went through probably close to 400 water balloons while also dousing each other with super soaker squirt guns.  I think it’s safe to say that the kids were in heaven.  Click on any of the pictures below to see a slideshow with a bunch more!

Ian in combat mode

Nathan strategically lobbing a water balloon to the other side

Cole getting in on the action

Ian wanted cupcakes this year instead of a cake.

Looks like it takes a birthday to get me to finally update the blog.  We’ve been enjoying the summer although between the unseasonably cool and wet weather combined with the kids going back to school next week, I think it’s safe to say that it is officially over. 

Picture of the birthday boy

Ian showing Nathan one of his newly opened presents. 

It’s never too early to look forward to the next Olympic games.  Thanks Aunt Amanda!!

One of my mom’s work colleagues and his wife have a beautiful home overlooking the sound on Alki beach.  They invited us over to witness one of the lowest tides of the year that happened to occur just after noon on the 4th of July.  Even better, they are less than a couple of hundred yards down the beach from the ferry terminal/pier where tons of sea life is exposed when the tide goes out. 

Here are a bunch of shots I took during the afternoon and more if you click here or on the pictures below. 

the starfish were everywhere!

6+ starfish on this one piling alone!

Nathan and Ian exploring the sea floor

Cole checking his net for captives

Cool looking starfish

These mussels were attached to a ladder that is completely submerged when the tide is in

Cole shifting to look for sea glass on the beach

I love it when Erin’s freckles come out in the Summertime

Well it only took me three years to finally cave and build Erin her retaining wall for her flower garden.  She has been after me to build it since we moved into our Sammamish home back in March 2005. 

Lowe’s dropped off a palette and a half of landscaping bricks, 35 bags of pea gravel and 50 bags of sand (for the wall foundation + the kids sand box) on the 1st.  After some good progress on Tuesday evening after work, I jumped back in on Thursday evening, this time with the help of the kids. Ian was especially helpful, filling up the wheel barrow and then setting the bricks once I hauled them to the back yard.  Here are some pictures Erin took while we worked; there are more in a slide show here.

Ian helping to set the bricks

Ian and the tamper; no steel toe boots, but he was careful

Nathan got in on the action long enough to set a couple of bricks

All three boys helping dad

After a full day ending with a parent/son baseball game with Nathan’s team over at Pine Lake park, I decided that I needed to try out a couple recipes from the books that I got for father’s day.  As a main course, I chose to make Asian spice-rubbed pork chops with wild mushroom-soy vinaigrette from the Bobby Flay book.  As a side, I whipped up some Risotto coupled with grilled asparagus wrapped in pancetta with Citronette; chosen from the Mario Batali book. 

We paired a bottle of 2006 Cinsault (columbia valley) limited release Chateau Ste Michelle with the meal and the results were off the chart.

Of course, I have to include some gratuitous shots of the food.  Guys, remember that the best way to continually justify the purchase of a Big Green Egg is to grill dinner often for the family ;-)  I think Erin would have let me spend 10x the amount on a green egg had she known ahead of time the kinds of meals that she would be served throughout the year.

Be sure to get thick 1+” chops

The wild mushroom-soy vinaigrette zaps the taste buds and tastes amazing with the grilled chops

After you wrap the asparagus in pancetta, refrigerate for an hour and you’ll get the best results when grilling

The citronette sauce gives the asparagus a tangy flavor that pairs well with the main course.

Here’s my plate just before I consumed every bite.

I am a spoiled soul.  Erin and the kids made a huge breakfast feast on father’s day with sausage, eggs with peppers, home made coffee cake, strawberries, honey dew and hash browns. In addition to the handmade cards, poems and Ian’s plaster hand print, the kids hooked me up with a couple of awesome BBQ books and grill accessories. 

The first book is Italian Grill by Mario Batali

I can’t wait to try the Beef Braciole “Pinwheel-style” recipe that is a variation of one of my favorite summer recipes; flank steak pinwheels.  The pork shoulder Braciole also looks like it could be a winner. 

The second book is Boy gets Grill by Bobby Flay. 

It is going to be a busy summer in our back yard!

After the great breakfast, my mom stopped by and all of us drove over to Tiger Mountain to hike about 3 1/2 miles to see the Talus Rocks.  Here’s a few shots I took during the hike; click on any of them for a short slide show. 

Despite all of the energy the kids expended on the hike (I think they probably ran 7 or 8 miles back and forth despite the 700+ foot change in elevation), we later met up with Ian’s t-ball team back in Sammamish for a family picnic.  Needless to say, there was not a single complaint last night when bed time arrived

I woke up early on Saturday to get a fire started in the green egg to smoke four slabs of baby back ribs.  I have a new recipe that turned out amazing.  By the time I took them out of the smoker at 1:30, the meat was falling off the bone.  At 9:30 Saturday morning, we went over to Beaver Lake Park for Ian’s last t-ball game.  It’s a league wide jamboree, so they only play a single inning, but they really go out of their way to make the kids feel special with the star spangled banner at the beginning, announcing throughout the ‘game’ and medals for all of the kids afterwards.  

As busy as the morning was, the afternoon was the opposite.  After a huge lunch of baby back ribs, hazelnut brown ale, pasta salad and corn bread I went into a food coma in the hammock for an hour.  It felt great to just relax and know that Sunday would be much of the same, so I thought….

Today is the day that thousands of little leaguer’s and their families descend on Safeco field to watch the Mariners.  Last year we missed it because we were vacationing in Florida and the year before that we didn’t take the kids on the ‘parade’ around the field.  So this year, we got an early start, picked up my mom in Bellevue and headed over to the stadium an hour before the game so that the kids would have a chance to walk around the outside of the field.  I’ve got to say that even for big kids, the scale of the place is impressive.  I couldn’t imagine hitting a ball more than 400′ and I certainly couldn’t come close to fielding a ball and throwing it from the back wall into the infield. 

And you know that I can’t go anywhere without my camera, so here are a few shots of the kids with a bunch more here (or click on the pictures below). 

I couldn’t choose from all of the great shots of Cole, so I posted several.  He had a great time and promptly crashed on the way home.

It was cool to see Ian hanging out with his friends.  He is quite the ham; talking non-stop, telling jokes, and having a great time. 

Here’s Nathan without his coat.  It could be 20 degrees and he’ll refuse to wear a coat.  We got stuck in the food line for the better part of an hour and the wind chill was kind of bad given the fact that the little league block seats are in the nose bleeds (not that I’m complaining or anything).  He was shivering pretty badly by the time we got back to our seats.  But he still didn’t want his coat.  No idea whom he inherited the stubborn gene from