Flexgames.com on the Flex

Our car has officially become the Flexgames company car.

Enjoying our small yard

The dog was so quiet and calm at the shelter I feared she would not be playful enough for the kids and Joe. As soon as I brought her down to the yard she started running laps around the yard. Finally we have someone who can really enjoy what our little yard has to offer.

New dog

I read online that Seattle had an abundance of cats and kittens at the
shelter so they were holding Catapalooza event. I decided to take the
girls to look at the kittens with a slight possibility of adopting
one. The kitten we wanted to see was being adopted by someone else so
the girls asked if they could check out the dogs. There were quite a
few dogs — most of them sleeping or barking at us. Then there was this
dog who just stood proudly and quietly looking at the suitors. Of
course the girls wanted to see her. I asked if we could check her out
but we found out that someone was considering adopting her and that we
would be second. The dog had been on TV that morning and their were
several people interested in her. The woman really wanted her but her
husband wanted another dog so we had our chance. She seemed like a
very good dog. She was given to the shelter because the people that
owned her were moving out of the country. She is a 2 year old fully
grown poodle mix weighing a little over 9 pounds. The girls started
begging and I paid to put a hold on her so I could have more time to
think about adopting her. After bringing Joe down and debating it long
and hard we are now officially dog owners.

New principal at IVE

Our new principal started at Issaquah Valley Elementary this summer.
She had the PTA board members and their families over to her house for
a homemade lunch. The kids loved meeting her plus she had a
professional sized trampoline and 3 young pygmy goats. Monti decided to

skip her last day of choir camp to go to the luncheon. She explained to Joe,

"Dad, how often do you get to go to the principal's house?" We all had a good

time. Her yard was gorgeous — full of beautiful trees and fresh herbs. For

dessert she served us lavender shortbread cookies containing fresh lavender

from her garden. I was excited to hear about some of her plans for the new

school year. I am very optimistic we will see some positive changes at IVE

with her at the helm.

Bored hot gorilla

We watched the gorillas for nearly an hour. The baby gorilla was so bored and her mom had no energy to play with her. I could totally relate. The young gorilla finally discovered that the kids on the other side of the glass could be very entertaining. Dahlia would hold up her hand against the glass and the gorilla would imitate her. I wish I had better pictures but I found myself simply just enjoying the interactions between the two of them.

zoo during the heat wave

The zoo was very empty when Dahlia and I went. It was in the 90's but
in the shade it was fine.

more heat

Seattle just isn't equipped to deal with extreme weather. An inch of
snow cancels school and shops close down in 100 degree temps. In Seattle's
defense most people don't have air conditioning and some don't even
own a fan. Several of my friends booked hotels to stay at after their
crayons started to melt in the house. We all moved in to our master
bedroom where we had a small window air conditioner to keep us cool.

Hot, Hot, Hot

We had several days in Seattle where the temperatures reached into the
triple digits. New records were set all around the city. The DJ's on
the radio were having fun with the high temperatures playing any song
with hot or heat in them.

trying to find a cool spot to hang out

Monti attended a choir camp in Seattle during the hottest week of the
summer. I had planned to stay in Seattle between 9 and 3 with Dahlia
instead of making the round trip twice each day. We tried roller
blading and bike riding on some paths in the city but it was just too darn hot.

Playgrounds were empty and Seattle has only 2 public pools so we found a

couple places to cool off at including the Green Lake wading pool.

Monti goes first

She tries to put on a brave face but she is so very worried and
scared. I hated the waiting but I knew once you get it done you don't
have to worry about doing it again.

Torture

This series of pictures just breaks my heart. The girls really wanted their ears pierced. After deciding to do it they had to wait a couple of hours so that Claire's would have 2 employees able to pierce at the same time. I know Monti was just stressed waiting all that time. She decided to go first. She did a really good job being the brave big sister. She simply looked stunned afterwards and said "that really did hurt." Dahlia had a tougher time keeping the tears in but both said they would do it again if they could go back in time.

Twilight marketing

The Olympic peninsula is trying to make the most of the Twilight
series popularity. Forks, Port Angles and La Push all try to lure
Twilight fans their way. The town of Forks celebrates Stephenie Meyer
Day on the same day as Twilight's Bella Swan's birthday, Sept. 13.

Hoh Rain Forest

We hiked through the Hoh rain forest in the Olympic National Park.
This area of Washington gets about 12-14 feet of rain. Overall I
thought the rain forest in Mt Rainier's national park was more
impressive than this one.

on the coast

We made it to Washington's Pacific coast for the afternoon. On our way
home Monti collected the remains of a variety of sea creatures while
Dahlia enjoyed writing her name.

Modeling

The girls did a little modeling for me when we went to the temperate rain forest.

Walk-a-thon results

One of my last jobs for the Walkathon at school was to put together a
bulletin board that displayed the results for the students. We
exceeded all our goals this year. The kids at the school raised over
$31,000. I like to think Joe's Blues Brothers interpretation helped
rally the kids around the fundraising goal.

strep throat

Poor Monti had fever and a horrible headache. She also felt sick to
her stomach so she made her home in our bathroom. Our camping mat
works as a great temporary mattress. The next day she tested positive
for strep throat at the doctor's. The doctor only tested her for strep
because it is the only sickness she could give me anything for.

Deal with the face painter

The farmer's market had lots of other vendors. One of them is the face
painter lady. Monti drifted on over there and started talking to the
lady. I was determined to not give her money for any face painting. I
wanted her to stay focused on her goal of selling baked goods. After 5
minutes of conversation the lady started painting her face for free.
Monti came back beaming telling me she had made a deal with the lady
to help promote her face painting in exchange for free face painting.
Monti did live up to her end of the bargain.

2nd Grade Bake Sale

Monti's 2nd grade class has been learning about the rain forest. Her
friend Knicole had the idea of having a bake sale to raise money to
protect the rain forest. The moms baked the goods while the kids put
on their cutest faces and sold the goodies at the Issaquah Farmer's
market. The kids had a lot of fun and they made $500 which was enough
to protect 10 acres of rain forest.

a total of 54 feet

My parents left Chicago in May to head up to Alaska for the summer
months. They are pulling a trailer camper that will be home for them
the next 5 months. Their total length is 54 feet which completely
changes your perspective on driving and dining choices. Many campsites
in Washington could not accommodate a trailer of this size. My dad
will become an absolute pro at driving this beast.