June 2016

June was another full month!  I've already shared our travels with you.  Here are some other photos from the start to summer!!

Thomas was at a friend's house, Brennan was at band, so David and I went out to eat at Tre Bicchieri and sat outdoors.  Heaven!

Susan and I took our 16 year olds to Indy for a beautiful Sunday afternoon for lunch and for them to take a Segway tour on the canal.  The inventor of the Segway also started the high school robotics program that Neil and Thomas have been a part of for the last two years.  They had a ton of fun!

Lord have mercy, the boys have their own car.  After much research (Dad), contemplating (Dad), test driving (Dad), and many discussions (all of us), we got a 3rd car that the boys can use!  It's a pretty Jetta.  Just 3 months to go until Thomas officially has his license and can drive Brennan.  (6 months after that he can drive friends).

Marching Band started for Brennan in early June.  We attended the Parent Preview on a pretty night at the football stadium.  Brennan's enjoying a 5 week break before band starts up in full swing!

 David and Brennan have been doing some weekend hikes together!

We spent a fun 3 days in Nashville with Grandma and Grandpa.  We rented a house and cooked together, put together a puzzle, went to the Johnny Cash Museum, ate at some yummy restaurants, and even experienced a black-out during a thunderstorm.  Grandma and I shopped together - my favorite spot was Draper James - Reese Witherspoon's store in Nashville!

This sums up our weekend pretty well...

Mike and Mary went all out in June, hosting Litwits and our wine club!

Their wrap around porch at the farm is just perfect for summer evenings!

We enjoyed 80s food when discussing "Ready Player One" with the Litwits!

And David and I dressed up for the wine club Shrimp Boil - attire was "Hampton Chic".

Oh, Mary.  It was just gorgeous!  What a great night!

Mike R., Mary, and Pam

We celebrated Thomas's 16th birthday before our trip.  He had a great time at Indy Pop Con with Brennan and Benjamin, plus some extra spending cash.  Plus Segway, plus a new car (OK, it's Dad's new car that the boys can drive), plus some new books and high school t-shirts.  He was a happy camper!

Bailey helped.

And we attended Joshua's sommelier event at the Savory Swine before packing for the Pacific Northwest.  I was so glad David was in town for this event.  He's missed some good ones.  This rose was surprising, a little tart, not sweet, and refreshing.  Perfect for summer.

Seattle - June 2016

After a few days in Vancouver, we headed south crossing the border into Washington State.  The border crossing had a beautiful park and monuments there.  Nothing like the Mexico border crossing!

We decided to take scenic Chuckanut Drive for part of the way from Vancouver to Seattle.  It starts in Fairhaven, Washington - a cute little town where we had a coffee and muffin.  It was a really beautiful day for a scenic drive.

There were great views!

We toured Seattle the next day and got to see so much.  It was a very full day.

And it was Thomas's 16th Birthday!!!

On our group tour we first headed to Snoqualmie Falls, passing Mt. Rainier.

And we toured all the different neighborhoods of Seattle including Fremont Neighborhood.

And the public art Troll under Fremont Bridge.

We went to the locks where salmon were running.  We saw blue heron and seals.

We went up to Kerry Park for the beautiful views.  This is the view from Frasier Crane's condo. 

His condo would have been up on the right side. :)

We saw the original Starbucks!

Then Brennan and I explored Seattle Center where the 1962 World's Fair was built, and we went into two museums there.

Here's a cool shot of the Space Needle.

We spent time at the Chihuly Museum.

Brennan and I highly recommend this museum!

We also toured the EMP Museum right next door.  Great displays on science fiction, the Seattle music scene, and other pop culture themes.  Only got this one outside shot because my phone died at that point!  The very cool building is designed by Frank Gehry.

We got to see Mikayla Stewart for dinner!  She's stationed at Ft. Lewis and spent Sunday evening with us.  It was great to see her and hear about her experiences in the Pacific Northwest.

David took the boys to the Boeing Museum.  Here they are at an older Air Force One.

We went to the Microsoft Headquarters too!

And the Nintendo of America headquarters.  They don't have a Visitors Center like Microsoft had, but we quick stopped for Brennan to have a photo.  The Microsoft Visitors Center is fantastic, by the way.

A really great trip to Seattle!!