Butterfly visitor 2012

I had to share this beauty... We had just come home from playing Sunday.. we were walking up to the house from the back driveway when this little beauty fluttered around and caught my eye... I was able to get in the house and grab my camera for a couple of pictures. =)

I have only seen one little dragonfly this year so far but this pretty makes up for it. =)

Flowers 2012

 Last year I planted a little "window" box of Lavender and placed it on the little gazebo in the back yard... Here's a small sample of what bloomed this year... It has an absolutely wonderful smell... I love sitting in the back yard in the gazebo and smelling the lavender and gardenias... I planted some honeysuckle this year also...it's not very big yet...but it will be~

Here's one of 10 fushia baskets I have hanging in the yard! I finally was able to successfully "winter" some baskets from last year (completely by accident...albeit a happy one!) so I ended up with way more baskets than I usually have.. hopefully next year I will be as lucky!!

This is the wisteria that we planted in 2007... it bloomed for the first time this year!! I was sooo happy! This was literally a stick when we planted it...really... no root ball...no dirt... just a stick packaged in some sawdust... and now after 5 years of waiting it finally bloomed. =)

The camelia in the back yard. This one used to be in the front yard but we moved year before last to the back yard.. I wasn't sure about it since last year it didn't do very well... but this year it's covered in beautiful flowers.. so it must be happy enough.

Here's the little patio that George did last year... complete with my little swing and some pretty hanging baskets... I love to sit out here and drink my morning coffee on the weekends...or in the evening just relaxing... it's one of my little happy places... 

Fun night around the Fire Pit

 So.. after talking about these fire pit/ chimney things for the last 3+ years we finally decided to break down and buy one... So after a bit of assembly by George... we had our first fire in our new wonderful fire pit... in the rain.. well... not quite rain, but sprinkles... We set it up in the front driveway so we could hide at the entrance of the garage just in case the skies really opened up... but it wasn't really needed..

and there was fire!! the first time lit!

This may not literally count as a sunshine break..due to there being no sun...but sunshine really is a state of mind... so I think it counts in the metaphoric sense.. it made my brain feel sunshiny.. =)

Our friend Lydia came over to try out the new fire holder... and make smores.... Yum!

Bandit wants Smores.... he's feeling left out! spoiled dog any way!!! =)

Happy 4th of July!!!

 Happy 4th of  July!!! Hope you had a safe and happy 4th.... I tried my hand at taking some pics of the fireworks that were going off across the street and around the neighborhood...however with it being a last minute idea and I didn't take the time to grab a tripod...they are less than stellar! =) Oh well... they still are kinda cool... Had a lazy holiday..we went for a little putt-putt ride with Josh so we could get out and he could get some practice... and had a nice quiet (other than the sound of fireworks booming in the not so much distance) evening til George went to work.

Anyway... We hope you all had a fabulous 4th and that in the spirit of Independence Day you find yourself free of any shackles that are or were holding you back.

And of course... a big Thank you to all those that fought and fight for the freedoms we have. God Bless you.

Teaching Josh to ride...

So George is teaching his friend Josh how to ride... here's Josh trying on his helmet... 

Here's George and Josh discussing basics... getting ready for the first riding lesson... after having washed the bikes and getting them all pretty.

So we went for breakfast and a little ride on Father's Day.. here's Josh in the parking lot after breakfast.. heading out for the ride.

Josh and his new love... =) George created a motorcycle monster! LOL!!

On the way to Astoria ~ Mt. St. Helens & Seaside

Geroge at the Mt. St. Helens lookout.

Mt. St. Helens

We stopped at Seaside to walk around and kill some time before checking into the motel.

There was a really cool little mall area that had a bunch of fun shops and this carousel. This is one of my favorites, there was also a really fun ostrich!

Like I said we had a beautiful day and sun was soo bright and the water soo blue and the sand was blinding white.. you would think we were somewhere much more exotic than Seaside!

This one is a bit out of place but I wanted to share one picture of Mt. St. Helens.

Peter Iredale

 This is the skeleton of a once glorious sailing vessel the Peter Iredale which ran a ground here on Oct 25th 1906.. I remember coming here every summer with my Grandparents.. Grandpa and I would bring our bikes down to the park and ride the miles of trails.. ending here at the shipwreck... I always liked going down to see it..and there is soo much less of it now than there was when I was a kid...

If you really look at this picture you can see the last pieces of the tail of the ship..there's only two that remain. I really wanted to get pictures before she was completely gone.. last time I was here I didn't and I haven't found my old pictures yet...hopefully I will find them stashed in some old box..and in tact!

This picture was a bit of an accident...but I kinda like it... almost looks like a monster or a specter rising out of the beach.. a true ghost ship.

Fort Stevens Park

 Here's George checking out the big guns at Fort Pratt. This was at the military museum at Fort Stevens Park. We got there just before they closed but we had time to go into the museum and then we were able to explore the grounds for the rest of the time..

 More big guns at the military museum..

 This is Fort Pratt which is located with the military museum. We wandered all around looking at as much as we could. We will have to come back to take a look at Fort Stevens and Battery Russell as well as some of the other military buildings that we didn't have time to get to since the indoor portion closes earlier than the outdoor..

Another picture of the Fort.. huge dark concrete skeleton of a building designed for our defense...it's kind creepy how they echo and how dark they are... but kinda cool to get the idea of how they worked...
Thank you to all the troops that fought and continue to fight to keep us safe and free!

an old battle Jeep on the grounds...

One last look at the big gun, that served and protected our shoreline..

Quick trip to Astoria, OR

 Once we got into Astoria, we had lunch at a brew pub with a great view of the Columbia, and the trolly. Here's George kicking back and enjoying some scenery he doesn't have to ride through! LOL

 This is a historic church just south of Astoria, I have always loved this church, and on one occasion went to a service there with Grandma Taylor. One thing I always thought was amazing was this church has daffodils planted in the shape of a cross in the front lawn...obviously we missed them this time but it was like magic to see.

Here's the cool little trolley that runs along the water front... I don't remember this being there when I was a kid but then we didn't go down into this section either... it was kinda fun to see and maybe next time we'll give it a ride.

This was more of the fabulous view not too far away from the brew pub.. we were so fortunate to have such a beautiful day for this trip...as it turned out this was the best day of weather on the coast and in the valley all week!!

This is the Astoria bridge as seen from the Maritime Museum. We had stopped there but they were closing so we wandered around outside looking at the different displays outside.

 I saw this theater and loved the look of it! I just had to take a picture of it. There was another old theater a couple blocks away, but I wasn't able to get a nice picture of it.. the traffic kept getting in the way! blasted cars! We took some time and walked around downtown and looked at some of the shops.. we didn't get over to the Flavel House this time, or the museum..but then we only had a day to squeeze everything in this trip...so we'll have to plan another trip and stay longer...hopefully a week with better weather!!

 World War II memorial in the center of town.

And while we didn't get up to the Astor Column this time, I was able to snap this pic from the back of the bike as we cruised through town! =)