Let Summer Begin!

What a gorgeous week ahead of us! We'll be in the high 70's to mid 80's through the holiday weekend, which is gorgeous for us. We're gearing up this week for Shawn's departure for Honduras on Friday. For those concerned about his safety there, he is not going to the main part of the country which is in political unrest. He is going to the outlying island of Roatan, which is safe. I'm not exactly sure how he'll get from the airport, but the State Department has assured him that travel to Roatan is safe.

While Shawn and I scramble to get everything done before he leaves, Ian has a fairly normal week ahead. Shawn hopes to take him out of school early tomorrow to take him to REI for a sleeping bag. We've promised he can have one for his big boy bed, which will be assembled on Saturday. He is most excited about pillows in the shapes of a truck and bus, which he picked out at Pottery Barn last week. He asks daily when he gets his pillows and sleeping bag. I can't wait to report how he does in his first nights.

We're hoping he'll have a chance to see his cousins Cade and Taylor again, from Fairbanks, before they head home next week. We're thinking of meeting for a picnic at a local park on Friday morning. If not, I plan to take him to the zoo, which would be fun. It's been a year since his last zoo trip!

I've been doing a lot of hiking this month, finishing June with 52 miles hiked! I joined a Women's 30's & 40's hiking group a month ago and was asked to be an organizer within days. I've organized 6 hikes so far and have several scheduled for July and August. The organizing is as much or more work than the actual hike. I always have a ton of fun once we get hiking, but the job of corralling a dozen or more women is pretty tiring. I am undecided whether I'll continue organizing long term or will just develop a group of friends from it and pair up from that smaller group. We'll see.

Shawn has been doing as much diving as possible in prep for his week in Roatan with his brother, Matt. I hope they have a great time. It will be Shawn's first tropical dive eventhough he has become fanatical about diving and underwater photography here in the Northwest. He is convinced that learning in our cold waters will prepare him to be a better warm water diver. All I care about is that he comes home safe and gets a lot of great pictures!

Below are some pics from the past weekend, mostly from Ian's stayover at Grandma Trish & Grandpa Tom's house. He had a blast with Cade and Taylor. There are also a couple of "around the house" pics. Shawn saw a Cat In The Hat hat and had to buy it. Ian was not a fan, but allowed us a few pictures before flinging it across the room. I also put him back in the bathroom sink so I could get a "then/now" picture. Amazing how much he's grown! I don't even remember him being that small.

Hopefully we'll get some good sunshine pictures this week. Ian's strawberry plant has fruit and we're just waiting for them to turn red.

Hanging out with cousins Cade and Taylor

Is it just me or does Ian look a lot like the alien? Nice socks, Taylor!

So when Ian is playing and says "Let's drink wine Glug Glug Glug"... I know where that comes from! Good going Grandma!

Ian & Cade

Not really what I was hoping for when I dropped him off! No wonder Grandma asked for a medical card.

Learning to ride a scooter. This one has training wheels. Cool.

I think I know now why he was so over stimulated when I picked him up on Saturday! Whee!

Reading bedtime stories

Wearing his new Cat In The Hat

Sitting in Shawn's bathroom sink in December 07 (20 months) and now (3 years+) It's hard to believe how much he's changed!