This weekend...

Was brought to us by the letter P...

P is for Playfort that was free on Craigslist...and is now re-assembled in our back yard...


P is for Pulley...set up by Sabine and Bret...


and P is for Panniers...sewn by Carolyn for the Yuba Mundo bike (note the black ninja kitty on the bike)...


I found the fabric at SCRAP (I think it was $6 -- and I have some left over -- it is a thick, lined material...formerly curtains), the straps were left over from a sewing project I did for our friend Bud back in Wyoming. I did have to by $6 worth of "D" rings once I finalized my design (I had a bunch, but used them all...). Much less expensive than Yuba's (albeit, nice) ones at $119 each.

At the coast

Went to our favorite spot last Monday -- it's a bit of a hike in -- but great spot with views of surfers, logs to play on, and shallow water for splashing.




Many rocks were collected...


Kites were flown...

Sand castles were built.

Ducky Derby

So the crazy-fun folks at Bret's office have an annual ducky derby. You pay $2 per duck (a two buck duck...) and can race them in either the stock or modified races. Of course, being the mad scientists that we are, we wanted to modify our 5 ducks.


Here's Bret -- assisting Sabine with her bamboo raft creation -- which won FIRST place in the people's choice awards. $25 for Sabine.


Vivan with her ducks...


Sabine working on her other creation - bicycle innertube to duck flotation device.

Fortunately, one of the ducks that Vivian helped create won FIRST PLACE in the modified race, netting her $50! We felt a little guilty about sweeping it like that...but quickly got over it.

Zucchini Lemon Loaf

Just added this recipe, mainly for Kat...whose garden overflow-eth with zucchini grown by Chris! You can also scroll to the bottom of the page and see the recipe (and other favorites)...

Looking forward to cooking in our NEW KITCHEN...granted, it won't be done until (knock on wood) Thanksgiving...demo starts on our 13th wedding anniversary (September 20, in case you're interested...). Many thanks to architect Michael Howells for the design, and Mike at ReCraft for taking on the project! Whaoo!!!

Ice skating, tooth fairy visit

The girls just finished up several weeks of ice skating lessons...Sabine didn't want me to take her picutre on the ice, but here's Vivian:





And another couple of the second child with a special gift from the Tooth Fairy -- Vivian now has 5 teeth missing (and she turns 5 in early October). TF thought that was good reason for a specail gift of an Ugly Doll. Happy girl.

We are cyclist...

Our friends Dave and Karmin just returned from two weeks in Japan. They brought back all sorts of interesting treasures...including the following shirt for Bret:


[In case it's not legible, the tiny words on the bottom say "we can run without gasoline"]

Karmin also got to dress up like a Maiko (an apprentice Geisha) and they brought back darling cotton kimonos, socks and shoes for both girls (Vivian had a melt down and thus is not pictured here...) but I think Sabine looks pretty darn cute!



Karmin said she was told to not show her teeth while posing...



Not the best photo, but sabine's "toe socks" have a picture of a dragon on them, with the word DORAON. Might be a special Japanese lizard???