4th of July, pt.1

Some of these daylight shots are actually from the 3rd, but who cares, they seem cohesive.

Pre-bbq hanging out.

Tricia and John played balero. It looks like she was going for the crotch.

More balero. 



This is now from the 4th.  Again with the pre-bbq warm up...

Jeff, now we're even for that goofy picture you posted of me (though this isn't nearly as bad)

I think there were 22 or 24 kabobs, and we ate every last one.

Tricia's light sabers

Still working on the food.

Melissa about to light the TNT Flashing Fountain!

Natalie chose the Mach 3 Fountain...

I opted for the Jade Flower...

Good choice! (Notice the lawn on fire behind my head)

Timber was not into the fireworks.

She was fine when the food was on.

technical difficulties

Having trouble posting 4th of July, pt.1.

Look for it sometime tomorrow or whenever it's fixed...

4th of July, pt.2

More from the 4th of July...

Timber, irritated by the fireworks...

Jeff with the grand finale.

Smoking above a bunch of fireworks...

It looked a lot better in person, the flash really kills the splendor.

Believe it or not, this photo took 3 tries to get - Jeff being scared of John's powerful Uno hand.

Melissa & Tricia waiting for us to get that last stupid picture...

After all the fireworks were done, Jeff lit 10 sparklers at once...

God bless America! Barbecuing and lighting stuff on fire is pretty fun!

The next day, everyone got to meet Finch.

After the Pug event, we went to breakfast.

then we said goodbye...

and drove back to Seattle.

John & Tricia in Seattle

Last week, John & Tricia came to visit Seattle for a few days.  We did a bunch of random hiking, exploring, bbqing, etc. We were having a heat wave, so that took a lot out of us.

Here's a bit of what happened (for some reason I wasn't taking as many photos as usual...)

Hiked down to the beach at Discovery park. Pretty spectacular views with the mountains in the background and the forest behind...

John played with a stick and we walked to the lighthouse in the sand.

Stopped in Ballard for a drink on the patio at King's Hardware (thanks for showing me this place Bill!)

Wine and chat in our yard.

They braved eating at this crappy little restaurant by our house.  I've since found a place that's much, much better - sorry guys, next time.

Salmon are swimming through the locks now.

Golden Gardens - no defecating allowed, but passive panhandling is okay.

Tricia, Duck, John.

Them are submarine fins!

I took them on a half-day adventure to NOAA headquarters to see a famous sculpture called Sound Garden. When the wind blows, its supposed to sound like a pod of whales singing. It was the biggest waste of time/pile of crap ever. 

We met up with Tricia's family for dinner at the most amazing chowder house. I had the lobster chowder (also known as "The Dutchess of Chowders"). The photo is before her family arrived...

Sunset from the restaurant.

Before going to Portland, we walked around Fisherman's Terminal. You can tour one of the boats from that show "Deadliest Catch".

More to come. I have to go figure out our new weed whacker...

Finch!

We took a trip to Portland for the 4th of July (I'll post photos soon). While there, we got to spend time with the dog we're adopting through the Pacific Pug Rescue. 

His name is Finch, he's 1.5 years old and he's very athletic (likes to run/hike/be active). 

He had a bad case of mange when he was surrendered to the shelter, but in 2 weeks he'll be off his medication and ready to come home with us...

John & Tricia

Our friends John & Tricia are coming to visit for a few days before heading down to Portland. They're in the air as I type and will have the warmest weather I've seen in the last couple of months...