We enjoyed a private ride on a 35-foot boat in Elliott Bay, courtesy of some fellow Mercer Island hosts we met through a church auction. The kids played at home with a sitter while we relaxed from Seattle to Bainbridge Island and back.

Richard and Stowe enjoyed a great afternoon on Elliott Bay with new friends/hosts on their boat. Stowe had purchased the afternoon ride at a church auction. We boated from Seattle to Bainbridge Island and back.

Martha goes to a Spanish-speaking day care during the Summer. She refuses to speak Spanish herself, but she clearly understands everything. And when they annouce la hora de la merienda (snack time), she's the first in line.

Light sabers!

Father teaches son important lessons in self-defense. Father is exhausted. Son continues to request more lessons. (Repeat)

Unlimited blackberries in the field next to our house. The kids love to pick them, so we end up with so many that we throw away as many as we eat.

We walked in a parade at the Mercer Island Summer Celebration this weekend. One of us had a hard time concentrating on the moment at hand, instead of the new rugose stag beetle we found in our front yard a few days ago.

Leah's reading fluency

Watch short video clips of

Leah reading in Fall 04
Leah reading in Jun 05

See if you think she's improved.

Just like her mother Martha requires a peaceful few moments of newspaper reading over breakfast.

Nathan is proud of his bugs. After finding and pinning a new one, he'll stare at his collection for hours.

Leah-Daddy Morning

[This entry is from Leah Sprague]
This morning I went on a special outing just with Daddy. We went to a new coffee shop that Daddy likes and we talked about things we have been doing so far and what we have been thinking about. It was a really good cafe and we hope to do it again. It was quiet and peaceful at the time, 7:00 in the morning.



then we went shopping at the Uwajimaya Japanese market. The fish there are very fresh.