28 July 2015
Miscellaneous 'Pokane Pictures
Cruisin' in the Miata with Uncle Pat, Duncan Gardens, waiting at the grocery store, and first time at the range.
27 July 2015
Bowl and Pitcher State Park
The crew headed over to Bowl and Pitcher this afternoon for a short hike around the state park that is practically in town. This area has a special significance for Stacey and me, since hiking here 12 years ago was the first thing just the two of us did together. Neither of us had been back since.
Welcome Melinda to the blog! She makes her debut appearance below.
Welcome Melinda to the blog! She makes her debut appearance below.
26 July 2015
Jonathan's Second Fifth Birthday Party
The entire Johnson clan was there! Jonathan made out like a bandito - after he picked up the free thousand ticket voucher off of the ground from the ticket blaster. The blaster had stopped a second or two prior to that, so it was semi-legit. The slightly embarrassed, did anybody see me do that, look on his face made for a good laugh.
Other than the strange boy trying to lick some of the cake frosting and his sister periodically following us around and grabbing free rides on the machines, it was a great time. The kids loved playing games for tickets.
Other than the strange boy trying to lick some of the cake frosting and his sister periodically following us around and grabbing free rides on the machines, it was a great time. The kids loved playing games for tickets.
23 July 2015
22 July 2015
Green Bluff
Moving to the country, gonna eat me a lot of peaches...
...35 peaches to be exact. Today we drove a few miles outside of town and visited one of our favorite places, Green Bluff. Green Bluff is an area north of Spokane that is a collection of a few dozen farms that grow all sorts of fruits, vegetables, and other things. In the fall Green Bluff has an apple festival and pumpkins...a cornucopia of Americana all in one place.
In July most of the u-pick options are cherries. However, due to the dry conditions this year the cherry crop was pretty sparse, so we settled for 35 peaches at Walter's Fruit Ranch. They are deliciously scrumptious.
We took Mt Spokane highway back from picking peaches. This is one of my favorite areas outside of town. During this time of year it is covered by miles and miles of wheat fields. Amber waves of grain to be exact. There were prettier pictures to be had than the ones below, but these pictures were taken from where we stopped to grab a "free" sample. I picked a head of wheat and the family had fun munching on the grains one by one. In a inexplicably fun yet not surprising way, the grains tasted like little bites of flour. I thought that was so cool for some odd reason. Pass the extra gluten, please.
...35 peaches to be exact. Today we drove a few miles outside of town and visited one of our favorite places, Green Bluff. Green Bluff is an area north of Spokane that is a collection of a few dozen farms that grow all sorts of fruits, vegetables, and other things. In the fall Green Bluff has an apple festival and pumpkins...a cornucopia of Americana all in one place.
In July most of the u-pick options are cherries. However, due to the dry conditions this year the cherry crop was pretty sparse, so we settled for 35 peaches at Walter's Fruit Ranch. They are deliciously scrumptious.
We took Mt Spokane highway back from picking peaches. This is one of my favorite areas outside of town. During this time of year it is covered by miles and miles of wheat fields. Amber waves of grain to be exact. There were prettier pictures to be had than the ones below, but these pictures were taken from where we stopped to grab a "free" sample. I picked a head of wheat and the family had fun munching on the grains one by one. In a inexplicably fun yet not surprising way, the grains tasted like little bites of flour. I thought that was so cool for some odd reason. Pass the extra gluten, please.
21 July 2015
Loon Lake, WA
This morning we woke up and decided over a cup of coffee at the Rockwood Bakery to spend the day at Loon Lake. Loon Lake is only about 30 minutes north of Spokane. After dropping off Stacey at a local coffee shop for work, the kids and I scouted out the best place to have a picnic lunch and access the water.
Most of the lakefront is privately owned, but we were able to find a small place called Granite Point Resort that only charged a few dollars per person. In addition, it had bathroom and changing room facilities, so it was a good place to hang out with the kids.
After lunch we picked up Stacey and spent several hours playing on the beach and swimming in the lake. I took a few plunges off of the diving board and the kids, off of the dock into my arms. I had to carry them over to the dock since it was so deep, but they had fun riding on my back.
There was a little wind today, so it wasn't especially warm. Regardless, it was still a great time. The kids and I were pretty beat after a fun summer day on the lake.
Most of the lakefront is privately owned, but we were able to find a small place called Granite Point Resort that only charged a few dollars per person. In addition, it had bathroom and changing room facilities, so it was a good place to hang out with the kids.
After lunch we picked up Stacey and spent several hours playing on the beach and swimming in the lake. I took a few plunges off of the diving board and the kids, off of the dock into my arms. I had to carry them over to the dock since it was so deep, but they had fun riding on my back.
There was a little wind today, so it wasn't especially warm. Regardless, it was still a great time. The kids and I were pretty beat after a fun summer day on the lake.
20 July 2015
Spokane
We made it. This time we decided to drive up to Spokane since we had a nice, new car and it saved us a bunch of money. The trip took two days - 18 hours exactly. That's really good since it's about the same amount of time it would have taken without the kids. No extra stops...but we also didn't drink a lot of fluids and the kids were mainly entertained by the iPad and Kindle. They were content to have screen time for hours on end in the car. The halfway point is Billings, Montana, where we stayed the first night.
We decided to have a picnic dinner at Cannon Hill Park the first night we were in town. It was a good chance for the kids to stretch their legs after being in the car for so long. After a long day of playing, we put the kids to bed. When I came out of our room I discovered that Julia had moved over to Jonathan's pillow and they were holding hands. Pretty cute.
We decided to have a picnic dinner at Cannon Hill Park the first night we were in town. It was a good chance for the kids to stretch their legs after being in the car for so long. After a long day of playing, we put the kids to bed. When I came out of our room I discovered that Julia had moved over to Jonathan's pillow and they were holding hands. Pretty cute.
03 July 2015
July 3rd Fireworks
We decided to celebrate the 4th this year on the 3rd. A coworker of mine was getting married in Denver on the 3rd, so we decided to make a weekend of it. After the wedding we drove a couple of miles south to Clement Park in Columbine to watch fireworks. This was the first time that the kids had stayed up for fireworks. Up to this point we didn't feel like keeping them up this late and battling traffic was worth the hassle. They loved the show, even though it started raining right before the show began.
Prior to the show we were treated to a nice sunset over the lake. After some negotiations Jonathan finally agreed to pose for a picture. He was too busy trying to find pieces of bread to feed the ducks, even though the dropped pieces by other kids were all gone by this point.
Although we were staying only a few miles away, we didn't get back to the hotel room until after 10:30. The next day we went to the Denver Zoo, but it was hot and the kids were pretty tired from the night before.
Prior to the show we were treated to a nice sunset over the lake. After some negotiations Jonathan finally agreed to pose for a picture. He was too busy trying to find pieces of bread to feed the ducks, even though the dropped pieces by other kids were all gone by this point.
Although we were staying only a few miles away, we didn't get back to the hotel room until after 10:30. The next day we went to the Denver Zoo, but it was hot and the kids were pretty tired from the night before.
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