Family

As I mentioned, much of the Baumgartner clan got together for Steve and Missy's anniversary (Mike, you were missed!). Getting my family together is always good camera fodder, even beyond my nephew's photobombing skills. Speaking of, Ray has some of his own:

The rest of the family cleans up pretty well...



Some are better behaved than others. No comment on my own.

It was nice to see (almost) everyone in one place! Steve and Missy, I'm working on a book and a CD. Soon.

Many Celebrations

My brother and sister-in-law had a special celebration at the church to celebrate their 20th anniversary. I'll skip the details here, as I feel like those are theirs, but I know several people are waiting for me to get pictures together. So.. guys. I got the pictures edited. Here are a few glimpses of the ceremony.





Congratulations on 20 years and best wishes for many, many more!

Celebration

Celebration was thin today but involved E flying in the air when it did happen, so I'm pulling a pic from a couple of weeks ago. Superstitious as I am, I was hoping my late post would help the Viks out. No such luck.

Next week, guys. E is pulling for you.

Vacation2011 Day 1: Seattle-Tacoma-Port Hadlock-Port Townsend

Yup, you read that right, I'm finally diving into the (literally!) thousand pictures from our vacation. Fortunately, Day 1 was very picturesque but short!

We flew into Seattle. I'll skip the cheesy shots of Mt. Rainier I took from the plane, but I'm guessing Ray had a great view from the cockpit. Or not, since he was looking over another pilot, poor boy. E and I enjoyed the view.

Ray did get to enjoy the view on the (surprisingly short!) drive out to Danny and Sara's... we're both exactly nerdy enough to get excited about this:

Bonus points if you don't need to google "Tacoma Narrows Video" to explain why.

We got really lucky and got to meet Danny and Sara at Danny's school, which was also hosting a sail in. Even luckier, we found Danny and Sara quickly.

(see the paddle boat? That's them!)

And even luckier for me, I got to go out for a quick sail with them - Ray kindly stayed with E, who was loudly and completely uninterested in going on the boat. It was a small boat, and the view was beautiful.

We also got to see some seals, but I didn't get any great shots of them... probably because I was supposed to be rowing or working sail at the time...

Once we got back to dry land, Danny showed us around.

The school is really impressive- the students are making some beautiful vessels, and I LOVED being around boats again. I can't wait to see where Danny takes this! In the meantime, I went nuts trying to get artsy shots...





Ohh, depth of focus... whee.

Sara very patiently entertained E.

Note his expression? Turns out he was starving, but he wanted to SIT to eat his raisins. Geez, people.

After all this beauty we hauled to Port Townsend where we found good beer and good pizza. All in all, a great first day!

Purple People Eaters

What's that you say? Football?

Yes, FOOTBALL!

C'mon, Dad, this is a serious sport.
At least until the guys start running. Any guys. GO GO GO!

The boys were disappointed last week. May this week go better. SKOL!

Cute

That's all. Sometimes he's sweet, cuddling, compliant, loving, my teddy bear. Sometimes, he's trouble, he's whiny, he doesn't listen. He's not unintelligent, and he uses it against us. And then, quite often...

We'll keep him.

See previous

As I made this morning's list and drawing of a family of ducks throwing rocks in a lake (just visualize that on your own, thank you), I realized it is a good thing Ray's parent hook us up with a lot of post-it notes.

Just sayin'

This is somehow the sweetest thing I've ever seen

Lately, E likes lists. I've made him a few since I came home to an empty house and this list on the counter. All by itself, it tells several stories, all of what a great dad Ray is. The biggest story is the fact that, first thing in the morning, he'll sit and make a list - and a teddy bear- for a demanding two year old. He is a good Dad.

Back In Purple...

... in more ways than one.

Yes, we're still alive. Sorry that I have been lax - life has been busy and I'm overwhelmed by the sheer number of photos from our vacation, Steve and Missy's ceramony, so many things. But I'm working on it, and for now I promise that I'll keep up one tradition...

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL?
Eamon has been ready  for weeks. This was two weeks ago, but don't worry, the boys are in purple even now.