Tire swing on Park

Testing testing... position 1 got a little entwined in branches overhead and was over the picnic spot of choice. So position 2 is in the 'orchard' on a motley branch that held steady with the test adult.

UCI Bike Race, Richmond VA

It came to Richmond at last and it was incredible. The streets were cleared, we cycled everywhere and the teams & crews sped through town. Up Monument, past confederate generals, over cobbles and down back through the city and up Church Hill.

The flaggers did an unintentionally amusing display of their wrong-side-of-history views and I breathed on land as art of a performance art moment. It was an intense few days and finally we got to ride the route ourselves, though our camera crew was not balanced so crazily on the back of a motorcycle.

Sylvanian families on Park

Sylvanian families welcoming a new orphan to orphanage owned by one lady. The man teaches the children and two poor people have had to give their baby to the orphanage.

There are two big kids and one kid who lost her leg, called Megan, and five 4-6 year olds and 8 little kids who are 1-3 years old. In total there are 16 kids all singing the welcome song, "Lets welcome it to the home of us!".

NB: The new baby is in the rocket base.

Oktoberfest 2015

We're now just a stroll away from this annual gathering of stein-wielding, beer drinking, sauerkraut consuming folk.

We loved the long communal tables, German band, fairy lights and the GIANT pretzels! It wasn't quite the Christmas market at Kleve...

After School, Texas Beach

Catching toads and the current in the evening sun...

First Day of School, 1st & 4th Grade

We are on bikes this year which would be cool if it wasn't so darn humid. Hats, bikes, baskets, backpacks, locks and lights... Check

Looking back...
2014
2013
2012

End of Summer on the river

Was the last day of Summer holidays, we went to our favourite Texas beach. M in spare swimwear thanks to leaving her gear goodness knows where and one sock because the shoe rubs where we repaired it. And J with I can swim attitude, though this was her first swim with river flowing current. We're not in the third picture here, it's the view up-river of our fellow bathers, with hula-hoops and beer.

There were rumours of a Water Moccasin (Cottonmouth) sighting nearby.

We had our own beer at home, and closed-out the day relocating the camellia to its new home. Good luck camellia.

Movie Night at Granite

Everything was awesome, swimmers poised on the edge of the pool, at the start of the film the whistle blew and they all jumped and dived as the intro music swelled. Later the children bobbed and floated on inflatables, all watching the movie, as we suspected were the lifeguards, so we watched our girls. Hot popcorn for kids and cool gin and tonic for parents.

Yard Day on Park

How do you rid the world of 25 pots of half-used paint from across a few style phases, without poisoning it?

We've gone for an open bin for curing away from chipmunk and squirrels' paws that potentially is going to fill your basement with fumes but in the long run should dry into a benign mass.

Goodbye...
sweet pink,
cafe creme brown,
sage & avocado green,
fresh turquoise,
lumpy white,
deep red
and
classic pale grey.

Indoor parkour...

This is the spider climb.