Jody's:

LOVE Thai iced tea!

Jody's:

Riley made these spiders when he was about 6 or 7 - I love 'em!

Riley's

Cat tails!



Peek-a-boo!

Woody Woodpecker!

This pileated woodpecker was on the telephone pole near our house - such a beautiful bird!

Dessert!!

Riley picked out some dessert at the store for us today. Riley decided that we each needed our "own" little carton of Ben & Jerry's, so he picked out each of our faves - Half Baked for me, Karamel Sutra for himself, and Cherry Garcia for Ed.

Riley's:

Jody's:

We discovered a new park near our house today that had wonderful hiking trails through an old growth forest. There was a sign at the entrance saying there had been a recent bear sighting, so to be sure to keep your dogs on a leash. We made sure to make lots of noise, cuz we didn't want to startle any bears! There were lots of different kinds of mushrooms in these woods, so I captured a few with my camera. Awesome park - we plan to go back next weekend!

Ed's:

We all went for a brisk walk down to the beach today - a beautiful evening. Along the way, Riley found a caterpillar which became his pet for the duration of our walk. He finally released him back to its natural habitat so it could continue its life journey.

Mt. Rainier was in her glory tonight!


Riley's "pet":


Riley's nose was cold, so he used the headband I had in my pocket to keep his nose warm - worked like a charm!


The clouds were amazing!

Long time no see ...

It's been ages since we updated this blog! Life just gets busy sometimes, and we forget to take a moment to capture it with the camera.

This first picture is one I took of my current knitting project, a scarf to go with the hat I made for my grandniece Eva, who turns 2 today! Happy Birthday, Eva! Well, I guess she'll be getting her gift a bit late this year - oops!!



Riley took this one of Miss Bleu looking oh-so regal!!

Jody's:

Rocket is such a sweet cat. He lets Riley do some things that most cats would just not tolerate! I took this photo right after Riley was spinning Rocket around and around in an office chair. Right after I took this photo, Riley rubbed Rockets feet, which he loves. During these foot rubs, Rocket spreads his toes as wide as he can, seeming to love the attention.

Jody's:

Now THAT'S a creative position for working on the laptop!

Jody's:

Ed's:

Jody's:

Happy Birth Day, Sophia Camille Anderson!

My new baby grandniece was born today!  Congratulations, Jeff, Amber and Eva! 

Do the Puyallup!

You can do it at a trot

You can do it at a gallup

You can do it real slow

So your heart won't palpitate

Just don't be late ...

Do the Puyallup!!

Ed & Riley went to the Puyallup Fair today!  Here are a few pics that Riley took.

What a good lookin' pigeon!

Kopachuck State Park

Jody's:

Coming out of our laundry room, I saw this ghostly image on our wall. The sun was shining through the stained glass on our front door onto the wall, while a shadow was cast from the berry wreath on a nearby wall. I thought it was so pretty!



Rocket is sacked out!!

Giants

I'm fortunate to have an awesome Whole Foods Market just a few blocks from where I work. Whenever I go there, I love to look at these awesome statues of giant people right outside the main entrance. Today I finally took my camera so I could get a picture of them for my photo blog. I especially love the statue with the baby on the back!

XBox Live!

Today was a BIG day for Riley. For several days, he and his dad had attempted, without success, to get him hooked up to XBox Live. Today, they finally got it to work after many frustrating hours of research and failed attempts. Riley had a blast playing with other players online today!

Nisqually Wildlife Nature Reserve

Today Riley and I drove to the Nisqually Wildlife Nature Reserve, near our state capitol of Olympia, and met with my childhood friend, Toni (whom I've known for, ahem, 40 years!), and her twins, Andrew and Alissa. We walked for 5.5 miles and had a great time! Some beautiful scenery and abundant bird life here.







Overlooking the Nisqually River

Pitter Patter

Kitty prints on early morning dew

Jody's:

These are some old fortune telling cards I've had for years. I got them from my great great Aunt Genevieve. The copyright date on them is 1932 - they're so cool!

Jody's:

Fun game of putt putt golf!



We got SO hot playing putt putt golf, we just HAD to go to the new Ben & Jerry's ice cream store for some refreshments! Riley got a nummy banana strawberry milkshake, I got a Mango Teazer (made with white tea, ginger and mango), and Ed got the mango smoothie - Riley pointed out the name of it, so I just had to get a picture - Life's a Beach - the name of our blog!!

Jody's:

Jody's:

Jody's:

This is some of my favorite artwork in our home - watercolor paintings by my wonderful and incredibly talented Aunt Shirley. The first one was her wedding gift to me and Ed, which we cherish. We have a total of five of her paintings, all in our bedroom, so they are the first things we see every morning when we wake up. I even painted our bedroom to match her art!

Jody's:

Happy Birthday, Rocket and Bleu! Five years ago today you were born!! We're so glad you're part of our lives, bringing us so much laughter and joy (and cat hair!).

Jody's:

When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's Amore!

Riley's:

Mom got really close to a deer we saw in our driveway when we went for a walk. It must trust us really well now because we've been feeding it apples whenever they come into our yard.