turns out the view from west seattle is stunning.

look there are finally other kids at our potluck. oh happy day.

the seattle storm (WMBA) dancers performed at our back to school picnic. #brusheswithgreatness

everyone is 'acting natural' on the bus back from lake union.

if that is not the face of a beautiful pre-teen, then i am a monkey's uncle.

riley and nadia were a real powerhouse kayaking duo.

what about how you can rent kayaks right in the middle of seattle and just paddle around lake union if you feel like it?

at least they're all facing in the same general direction.

it was an art and movement camp so they also demoed their mad capoeira skills.

pointing out the more that 280 brains contained within the cardboard skull of his group's robot.

posing with their robotic creation on the last day of camp.

so many folks gathered to welcome them back from their swim, plus devon has a badminton racket.

yup that's dean and kale out in the water. please note that everyone else is wearing sweatshirts (well not bridge but he's a special case).

four safety conscious kiddos in the backseat. two of them sharing a seatbelt and all of them telling me it was illegal to ride this way. kids today.

katrina's artsy potluck shot.

pokemon fever is really sweeping through our house right about now.

dean's nephew, tanner came for a visit and we wasted no time getting him into the lake with us.

so. much. luggage.

reunited and it feels so good.

no shirt, no shoes, no problem.

"Dear mom, kale, and mommy. i'm writeing to you from my cabin. its Raining now. Camp is awesome. I have a frend named nate. (coincidened, nate Brout pokemon!) the came is awesome! on monday me and nate went Boating in the lake. we had these little paddles with little one-person Boats. (one thing you shold no is that the Boats flipped and we coldent get in till our consoler helped.) I love you guys so much. Cant wait to see you soon. love, Riley" It's almost worth sending him to camp just for the letters home.

while riley was away at camp, kale had a little portland visit with mimi and cousin eli.

if you're on the facebook you saw this shot a few days ago but if not, you're welcome. red on red and ready to sleep at camp for a whole week.

a still from the press junket.

action!

tara is making a short film and he needed some urchins for a few scenes. good thing we had all these urchins handy.

riley and katrina didn't come to haaayfest this year because they were too busy getting rye ready for sleep away camp! who is this young adult?

can you spot kale dashing through the cedar grove on his way to do something important and delightful?

s'mores at haaaayfest. what could be better.

a little initial skepticism about sushi on a conveyor belt, but ultimately won over.

someone's in the garden with calvin, someone's in the garden i know.

riley was not into last week's day camp, consequently we got a lot of these puppy dog eyes in the morning asking if he could stay home.

it is very windy on the ferry. just in case you were wondering.

laps in the lake.

you can point shelby towards the camera but you can't make her look.

learning magic from the masters.

multipurpose mom.

nat and kale just keep rolling along.

sometimes when you relax the toy gun ban, you really relax the toy gun ban. also the house painting is finished.

after the dash point debacle, we went to applebees (and did a little hand dancing, obvs) which received two very enthusiastic thumbs up from the kids.

dash point state park. looks good in the photos, but the 'lets not go there again' vote was unanimous.

not sure how much longer he's gonna be able to squeeze into that 3T skeleton costume.

dramatic shot.