End of summer fun

Here are the boys last week in Idaho. We had fun on our final road trip of the summer....now we're getting ready for school to start. Andrew's soccer team started this week, and they are playing in a tournament tomorrow. We bought some school supplies this week, and are trying to get back to the going-to-bed-at-a-reasonable-hour routine!

Sam's turn

This blog has been all about Andrew lately, so here's a Sam update. Sam attended a sports camp last week, and loved it. He played basketball, soccer, baseball and lots of games like dinosaur tag. Sam loves anything athletic. He's gotten pretty good at throwing a ball up for himself to hit (he calls it his "one-man baseball game"), and he throws pop flys for himself too. Sam's reward for good behavior is 20 baseball hits, with Mom or Dad pitching (he prefers Dad because he is better at keeping it in the strike zone).

Sam also continues to show a knack for remembering uniform numbers. We sometimes play a game where we name random numbers, and he tells us what player wears that number. Dad has been schooling Sam in baseball history, so he now will name Joltin' Joe Dimaggio for #9, Babe Ruth for #3, etc. Last night we were watching the Mariners, and #6 hit a home run. I said, "Oh, was that Adam Jones (rookie, and recent call-up)?" Sam replied, "No, he's #10. That was one of the Jose's." And, he was right. The Mariners have 3 guys named Jose, and that was Guillen. Pretty funny.

Andrew's Book 1 recital

On Tuesday evening, Andrew played his first solo

recital. He played all of the songs in Suzuki Book 1 (16 total) for a group of friends who gathered in our home. For the occasion, he had written a story, and the songs were incorporated into the story. Andrew's friend Ben read the story at the performance. The story featured a music-loving shark who didn't have enough food and ended up eating the "Happy Farmer" (by R. Schumann) in the end!

After he played we had ice cream sundaes, toppings picked by Andrew and Sam. Then the kids went out and played baseball. I was thinking that more concerts should end that way....with ice cream and a ball game!

Icicle Creek weekend

We just returned from Leavenworth, WA and the Icicle Creek Music Festival. Leavenworth is situated high in the Cascades, about 3 hours drive from our home. I had to play a couple of rehearsals and a concert, and Alan and the boys came along to keep me company and have fun. There were lots of opportunites for them to climb around and explore (i.e. play "Man Vs. Wild"). The location where we stay, the Sleeping Lady Mountain Retreat center, also has an amazing swimming pool that we enjoyed. It's carved out of the side of the mountain, surrounded by rock, and has a waterfall. Here's the website to check it out - www.sleepinglady.com/home

The party continues....

Last night we hosted a 7 year old birthday party for Brielle, Ben, Andrew and Abby. The kids and moms have known each other since they were babies, about a month old. It's been amazing to see them grow up, and for us (the moms) to grow as friends.

The kids don't see each other all that often anymore, but when we do get together they still have a blast! They had tons of fun in the backyard last night, despite a constant drizzle.

Libby brought the cake last night, which is worth a close-up. She took two pictures into Albertsons bakery, and they were able to put them on the cake. My favorite line of the night was when Emma (little sister of Ben) said, "I want to eat Ben's head."

Early Celebration

We celebrated Andrew's birthday a little early yesterday, with a bowling party at our favorite local alley, Acme Bowl. The kids had a great time bowling, eating pizza and cake, and hanging out together. Andrew called it the "best party ever", and is happily working away at some of his new Lego sets today.

We've returned from 8 days of vacation, still a little tired from travel, but happy from having a good change of scenery and pace. Some highlights of the trip:

• Seeing lots of family, and spending time with our friends, Paul, Shannon, Elizabeth and Brett.
• Taking a road trip to Troy, Montana. This was Paul's idea, in his quest to find out if the Troy HS mascot is the Trojan (it is). The drive was gorgeous, and we visited Hope, Idaho, where Shannon's mom grew up, on the way back.
• Lots of swimming, and days hot enough to make the cold lake water feel good!

Here are a few favorite pictures -

The Cedar St. bridge in Sandpoint at sunset

Paul at the entrance to the town of Troy, MT

Andrew and Ryan, 3rd cousins and best buddies

Elizabeth, Andrew, Sam and Brett on the Long Bridge in Sandpoint