All I want for Christmas...

Weeks of careful eating to avoid her lone front tooth are now over for Jolie. After much cajoling and needling, she finally yielded to the pressure and yanked out her own front tooth last night. Now we all can take great joy in listening to her say words like thistle and theocracy.

Finding the occasion an appropriate time for an impromptu photo shoot, we sat down and got a few shots at the dining room table. Of course, if I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times, "Taking lost tooth pictures is an irresistible way to attract camera muggers."

4th of July at the beach

Hey! On the fourth of July we went to the beach. It was a nice day. It was about 20 degrees cooler on the coast. We played on the beach at Devil's Punchbowl and ate at the nearby Mo's. For the uninitiated, about the best meal that can be had at Mo's is the Brucewich sandwich with a side of clam chowder. It's a good thing they don't offer a side of slumgullion with the Brucewich, otherwise I'd have to drive to the coast every day for lunch. That would be somewhat inconvenient.

We selected an interesting spot at the beach at the bottom of the 103 stairs that swoop you from the parking lot to the sand. It was a sufficiently windy day that a good number of visitors would park in front of the punchbowl, exit their cars, take in the view for a few minutes, and drive hastily away. A knowledgeable beach goer sidesteps this scenario, descends the stairs, and finds themselves in the calm protection of the cliffs above. Comfortable, if not a bit smug in our cozy environs, it did not take long after having set up the various umbrellas and blankets to notice a somewhat less than delicate odor wafting over our little stretch of sand. For a time, the conversation centered on the root cause of the problem. There are no port-a-potties on the beach. Sewage has not been dumped there for a generation. Everyone was properly bathed (this was considered inwardly among all present I'm sure) and the only diaper to be changed was fresh and new. After all of this careful consideration, it was decided that the fetid air must certainly be a result of the rotting sea lion carcass a few yards from our carefully chosen beach spot. It's always something...

On a related note, while we were gathering up our things at the end of the day, I observed a handsome brown retriever dog as it investigated the carcass. What a delightful find for a canine! I could plainly see, in the expression on his face, the near overwhelming desire to have a luxurious roll in that treasure. Years of experience with furious owners wielding the threat of untold baths must have been the only thing staying the urge. Of course there was but one thing for a self-respecting dog to do. He looked so proud and regal as he lifted his leg to pee on the rotting flesh and bones. After taking a few steps away and almost as if by afterthought, he turned back, repositioned himself and took a healthy dump in just the right spot. You've got to love dogs...

A time to camp

Somewhere, buried deep the Diamond Lake post, is a mention of a second camping trip to Klamath Lake. Well, we went. It would be a stretch to call it "Camping" per se, but we did stay a few days in the woods, near a lake. Some might argue that residing in a cabin (equipped with full kitchen and bathroom) in said woods, next to said lake would stretch the boundaries of camping, but let them talk. If anyone asks, we were camping.












The trip itself was very enjoyable. The resort we stayed at rents canoes and is located near a spectacular wetland area featuring canoe trails. The water was still high for this time of year, so we were able to make a few canoe trail of our own among the reeds and lily pads. The only annoyance of the trip were the abundant mosquitoes. We all returned with multiple bites on our legs, arms, and faces. Audrey looked like she had a case of chicken pox on her face for the next week. I recently became aware of a small repellent device that is worn on a belt loop. I think I'll try one (or 10) next time and see how it goes. On the way back, as evidenced by the photos, we passed through Crater Lake as well.

An evening out taking pictures

When the full, rich yesterday was winding up, I got together with Keith to have fun with some off camera flash shots. We started off at his house and then spent a few hours downtown incorporating some lights and textures of the big city into our flash pictures. OK, it may sound boring, but it was a good time. It was great to get out and shoot at an unusual time and place for no other reason than to get some interesting shots. Our only downfall was that we had to serve as each others models. Were it not for this short coming, we may have gotten some more pleasant images. At least Keith would have anyway...

Brownsville parade and fun

What full and rich day! We kicked things off watching the annual Brownsville parade, moved on to the Brownsville park to take in the boothes, food, and obligotory inflatable bounce castles, catepillars, etc..., and ended up riding "Guy" the horse at Poppy and Gigi's house. This was the first year I have attended the Brownsville parade. In a prior years I was working at HP and sleeping off the previous night of work during the parade. I'll chalk this up as yet another good reason to not be working there.

It also turned out to be a good day to take pictures. By the time the dust settled, I had knocked out 460 frames. For those scoring at home, that would be a smidge more than a 19 second film if viewed as such. This phenomena is made possible with digital images. With our old film camera I would have considered myself too shutter happy to have popped off this many frames in a year.

This pictures really demonstrates how Sophia tends to shut down her vision when she using her sense of touch. More on that in a future post...

Tadpole graduation

What can you say? For a whole week we knew them as our adorable tadpole friends and then one day, you look in on them and front legs have been added to back legs and the first forays onto dry land have been made. Before we know it, they will be dropping out of college, moving back to the terrarium, and mooching flightless fruit flies off of us.

On a more serious note, it has been really interesting watching these little guys transform from tadpoles to frogs-- going from herbivores to carnivores and breathing underwater and out of it. Call me sadistic, but I actually enjoy watching them sit stone-like, "hunting" their fruit fly prey before they spring into action and wolf them down in a single bite. They often will obviously be pretending to not look at the fly before the attack. It's the classic no-look scarf. This is pretty slick behaviour coming from an animal that, just last week, knew no greater challenge than grazing on boiled lettuce as it floated by. The behavioural metamorphosis is at least as fascinating as the physical.

Great Wolf Lodge group picture

I had a request to include this group picture from a trip we took in April to the Great Wolf Lodge in Washington. This is a pretty slick outfit. For about a grand you can get a couple of rooms for a night and about a day and a half of access to the indoor water park. It's not something I would recommend to anyone without kids, but it makes a nice treat for the kids every once in a great while.

For fun I have also included an action shot of the huge bucket of water that is periodically dumped on the heads of water park patrons. It is interesting what we will pay large bags of cash to subject ourselves to.