High Hopes

Unfortunately, we didn't get our full day off of school. We had to settle for a late start on Monday and Tuesday. I'm not complaining...a nice early morning nap is a pleasant thought.

Two Hour Delay!!!

Fingers crossed for a full day

A dry heat

Picture Perfect

Can you find the differences from these two photos of our backyard view? Pretend you're reading Highlights magazine and enjoy the game.

We're Back

We finally have our digital camera and we're back in action.

Big News.

Well, we broke the 1,000 visit mark recently. I know, milestone...not quite a quagmire, not quite a grim milestone...just a milestone. So,if you were recently visiting from St. Paul, Minnesota...thanks for padding our stats. I know it's been kinda boring lately, but we're trying. I'll try to get arrested so I can post my mugshot. That should be exciting.

Numero Dos

Make that two...

shucks

Well, we had to relinquish the digital camera. That means our blog will be without pictures for a while. Or, we'll just recycle old photographs. This does not mean that those of you on probation are off the hook. Perhaps I could just start googling images of people named danandliddy and post those. We'll just have to see.

'Zona

We came back to a complete mess. The roof over our bedroom had leaked and the resulting water damage totalled our mattress set and our bedroom chest. The bathroom toilet (circa 1952) needed to be replaced. The cooler had to be cleaned. The roof had to be repaired. Meanwhile, we had to spend time shopping for replacement furniture and prepare for the upcoming school meetings. Well, the stress got to me and, unfortunately, I had to take it out on someone...or something. Here you see me dancing a victory jig over the carcass of a dead pack rat. He took up residence in our washing machine; and after a thorough cleansing I realized I had to kill the monster. And, yes, I did it all in my boxers.

Coolest Billboard Ever

You should silently say "Boogaboogabooga" in your head.

The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind, The answer is blowin' in the wind

85(!?) mph winds came through Oceana county yesterday (according to WZZM 13). Here are a few shots of Pentwater.

My aunt and uncle's home...very little serious damage.

The Candlewyck House Bed and Breakfast.


Down the street



A trailer near my sister's home

Michigan

After our "near-death" experience with the misplaced fabric swatch, our summer has slowed down considerably. There's a backlog of pics to share and I'll try to share the superspecial ones. But, no promises...I'm not going to let you dictate my schedule. I'm on vacation.

Uneventful trip...

Q: Besides surgeons, what professionals need to count their tools to insure that nothing was left inside the patient?

A: Mechanics

Before



After

No camera tricks, folks. The "after" photograph is an oil rag that hitched a ride to Michigan. I had just arrived at my sisters house and was inside enjoying the air conditioning. I looked out at the truck and noticed a puff of white smoke leaving the engine compartment. When I popped the hood a big puff of white smoke escaped. It was our little friend up there. I popped it out with a stick and it burst into flames.

Kicking around Tucson...Three trips to Show Low...2100 miles to Michigan...perfect timing.

Other neighbors...

This guy also showed up on our porch...not so cute. But, I'm no anti-reptite.




Meg, want to start a new theme for Bryn's room?

Adios, Show Low

We finished up the graduate class in Show Low last weekend. As we drove through the Salt River Canyon for the final time we noticed quite a few cars pulled over looking down. So, we stopped and looked down.


Oops. That's all that's left of a tractor-trailer...or semi-truck, if you will.

Show Low camping

Well, here we are. We've spent the last two weekends at this campground. Rather nice. We were next to a family with two children who disguised themselves as monsters for the weekend. The 11 year old boy lost his purple ball over the cliff and went into hysterics. After stomping his foot and kicking a nearby boulder, he stomped his way into his camper. Nice. We retrieved it for him. Self-sufficiency was a new idea for him.

Among other reasons...

During our weekend touring around Show Low we found another reason to stay in the truck while taking photographs.

"If you can show low, you win"

We've been attending a weekend class in Show Low, Arizona for the past two weekends. This quaint mountain village (think Hillsdale in the mountains) received its name from a card game between two settlers. In any case, the drive to Show Low takes us through the Salt River Canyon. Most of the photos are taken from the truck because its too darn hot to get out of the air conditioning...among other reasons.

Babysittin'

Well, we had the niece over for an afternoon of watchfulness. I want to draw your (all you who have yet to visit) attention to how "child-safe" the Fort really is. No glass shards, poisonous arachnids, or swords...almost as safe as a union shop. Anyway, she ran around being cute. That's all you can really do at her age...run and be cute. Someday I'll teach her how to run and be really, really, ridiculously good looking, but she just isn't ready for that yet.

New Neighbors (No, "youknowwho" hasn't moved)

Well, here are our new neighbors. They're quiet, polite, and don't expect us to act like their personal assistant. We aren't sure when the itty-bitty babies were born, but they have been crapping all over the place. As you can see from the last picture, one of the chicks didn't appreciate the paparazzi. He was pretty angry at the world...or just me.