Fall Soccer

What are things that you like about practice?  I like doing sprints because I like running a lot.  I like dribbling the ball up the field and crossing it and scoring.

Have you made new friends on this team?  Cody, Colby, and Kale.  

What is different about this team than the team you were on during the spring?  I think we're more focused on drills.  

Why do you like to play soccer?  It's learning the new skills and doing exercises (the warm-ups). 

Are you going to play soccer when you're grown up?  I don't know!!!

Backpacking and Bees

Briton, Talmage and Sydney hiked to Elk Meadows for their annual backpacking trip.  It happened to be the same weekend the entire metro area was blanketed in smoke from Washington fires.  Nothing like getting out in nature for some fresh air.

 They found this abandoned cabin in the woods made out of gingerbread:

This scene may evoke a sense of calm, unhurried living.  Don't be fooled.  Word has it that this place was infested with bees.  The humans made a beeline (heh heh) for the tent and hung out there ... the rest of the weekend.  Good thing they had provisions.  Like astronaut ice cream (a tradition now), and cards ...

... A new generation learns how to play Golf.

[When they got home, Talmage and Sydney were still in Golf mode.  A lot of Golf went down over the next few days].

Mt. Hood 2015

A Hare Story

Trust me.  This is a horror story.

Talmage and I figured Julia was a girl because of what we learned on The Internet about how to tell (don't ask).  And then, when she escaped from her cage (again) we watched the wild bunny become rather friendly with her.   Julia was definitely a she.   As soon as she came of age, we asked the Fajardos if we could arrange a little wedding between their grandpa rabbit and Julia.

The kids decorated their honeymoon suite (above) and we stood by to witness bunny love.  To our utter amazement, no sooner had the last reverberations of church bells dissipated into the winds, then Julia took charge and started climbing on top of grandpa.  Confusion set in as we puzzled over whether this meant Julia was, in fact, a he.  Becky took a picture of her/his (? -- who knows at this point) particular parts and sent it to her husband who is an expert on being able to tell the difference between a boy and a girl rabbit.  "Male", he declared without hesitation.  Rats, I thought.  (I mean, I wasn't mistaking Julia as a rodent, I just mean, I was bummed my bunny-market, money-making scheme would not play out).

Fast forward a few more weeks and Julia(n) makes another escape.  She was found by a high schooler who, get this ... is crazy about rabbits.  She shows them for 4H and has a backyard, fence to fence, full of rabbit hutches.  She knew all about the proper ways to carry a rabbit (not to mention house them so they don't keep escaping) and told us, in no uncertain terms, that Julia was a ... ready ????  ...a SHE.  And also, that to be responsible, we should also wait another month or two before marrying her off, for health reasons.  Julia's health, that is.

We just got back from Utah (October) and Julia is missing again.  So I don't know if she is being sowed some wild oats, or if the rabbit neighbors took her in, or if she is dead in the collapsed hole she tried to sneak out of.

In all the confusion, one thing is certain ... I am not a responsible pet owner.

GTMH