Glass Butte obsidian hunting

Two hours east of Black Butte along Highway 20, there's an unmarked road that leads into Glass Butte. With our trusty Oregon rock hunting map in hand (purchased in Bend), we did some of our most severe 4-wheel driving through ruts and rocks to find huge rivers of obsidian. We found many types in our 3-4 hours there: fire obsidian, midnight lace, pumpkin, mahogany, grey striped, and (our most difficult find) rainbow, all free for the taking thanks to the Bureau of Land Management. Afterwards we found another site where we found lesser amounts of petrified wood and agate/calcite, also free for the taking. Cool! 

Blueberry swirl ice cream

Nothing says Black Butte Ranch like biking to the main lodge and having blueberry swirl ice cream cones.

First order of business in Black Butte

Test the hot tub. I would have said ensure wifi password works correctly, but they beat me to it.

Nate get a manicure

Either Nate is indulging Julie, or the other way around. I'm not sure which....

Nate's Birthday

Nate decided to spend his 11th birthday Monday at the House of Air, the San Francisco trampoline park in Crissy Field. So we invited five of his friends, loaded up on snacks and lunch in two cars, and headed into mercifully light traffic (but it still took us an hour, mostly getting through the city). Gina did a bang-up job arranging everything, so it went smoothly, unless you can count spending that long in a car with a bunch of incoming 6th graders singing "It's raining tacos!" After returning home, the boys jumped into the pool and were soon joined by Julie, and then we cut into the requested bacon-crusted chocolate cake. What a fun day!

Feed Store

Julie found a friend at our neighborhood feed store. We were picking up "flock blocks" to keep our chickens happy during our upcoming trips, and this little guy (two months old) wanted out of his cage when we walked up to admire the birds. He started on Julie's finger, then climbed his way up her shirt to his preferred perch. We didn't walk out with him, but we did get to talk to the breeder and ask all the questions we might want to ask before purchasing one some day. Maybe some day before November...?

Releasing mantis babies

Swim and Tennis Camp Week

Jack London State Park

Every Father's Day Gina lets me pick out a hike that I want to do, and this year I picked Jack London State Park up in Glen Ellen (north of Sonoma). We packed a lunch and drove up in the morning where we got to see the ruins of the Wolf House, and the "Happy House" where his wife kept all their belongings from their Hawaii and Tahiti trips. We hiked to the other side of the park where we were given a private tour of his cottage (living quarters, writing studio), the "Pig Palace", bat box, smokehouse, etc. 

More Last Day of School Pictures

As promised at the start of the year, we took the Nate and Julie to the San Francisco Creamery in Walnut Creek to order the famed "Kitchen Sink" - 8 large scoops, 8 toppings, and tons of toppings. To help us get through it, they brought a couple of their friends, and yet they still didn't finish it. Towards the end, all the flavors melted together, which is a great way to get parents to put their spoons down.

Last Day of School Today!

First day, last day.

5th Grade Pool Party

Union St. Fair

We drove into San Francisco on Saturday morning to see the opening of the Union Street Fair, a two day event that's less crowded than most SF fairs, but always windy. This was my idea to begin with, which means two groany kids reluctantly tagged along, until they saw all the freebies, including 7-11 slurpees and tasted some of the Thai food (yum). Afterwards we walked along the Marina green, heads down into the wind, and saw two huge dragon kites being flown to promote "How to Train Your Dragon 2." As I watched the nervous park guards supervising the wildly gyrating dragons, Gina walked up and scored free tickets to the advanced showing on Tuesday night.

Rite Spot

Gina and I had stopped by the Rite Spot Cafe (she calls it a cafe, I call it a dive bar), place where we met through friends almost 16 years ago. Although it was locked up, we got the attention of the owner and got to walk around inside and take pictures together. I first saw Gina right behind where she is standing, and just in front of the piano -- this was the first time we've been back inside since we met there.