partners in crime

two of the cutest little bastions of chaos that you ever did see.

photographed at mere mere's epic rock painting activity.

opa d boot camp

opa d is a retired colonel in the united states army, so a great deal of my brothers' and my upbringing was spent on various military bases across the country and around the world (shout out to all my fellow army bratz out there!)

and mere and opa d thought it would be neat to share a little of that part of our family history with the next gen vis-à-vis "opa d boot camp" while we were all together in michigan city.

the kids were issued their uniforms, reported for duty, engaged in physical fitness, practiced marksmanship, learned proper marching technique, fulfilled their kp duty, were rewarded for their hard work with ice cream, and overall had a blast.

"sir, yes, sir!"

HUA!

pumpkin pickers

the pacific northwest is treating us to a downright gorgeous fall this year. to celebrate, we picked all the pumpkins.

art

this is a piece of artwork that dallin brought home from his first day at preschool, and i love, love, love it so much.

he has been sleeping with it most nights since then and bringing it with him everywhere we go, so before it gets irreparably damaged or lost, i want to preserve it for posterity. 

the original is off to be signed, dated, and framed.

art check (his reply when i asked him what the work was titled)
by dallin wheeler, september 17, 2018

back at the beach

sunset on lake michigan.

(wherein the children promised me they would not get more than just their tiny feet wet and came home--predictably--drenched.)

mere and me.

and for our last day on the water in michigan city, bryan rented a new-to-us, never-before-seen, everyone-must-try toy: the maui mat. 

providing much loved floating, lounging, jumping, "surfing," and splashing fun for all.

well, for all except my brother ken, who does not love the beach and who was nigh forced onto the maui mat at point of sibling peer pressure and lured with promises of "having fun." tell us how you really feel there, ken :)

ps, i will hopefully be wrapping up our summer vacation on the blog this week (in the nick of time to move on to fall!) stay tuned for our final installments: opa d boot camp! the chicago air and water show! and museum madness!

girlfriend really knows how to draw things out, now, doesn't she?

back at the bean

cloud gate, millennium park, chicago.

but first! a breakfast of champions for our inaugural morning in chicago brought to you by do-rite donuts and chicken:

do-rite's famous fried chicken sandwich on a glazed donut. my official assessment is that the fried chicken is amazing!, but i would have preferred it on a regular bun. The donut is too sticky sweet for me, and i just didn't love the combo (insert shrug emoji here).

the kids scarfed down their delicious donuts (maple bacon and birthday cake shown here) but still declared top pot in seattle their favorite. (in do-rite's defense, totally different kinds of donuts.)

bryan and his fried chicken sandwich on a regular bun. smart man.

view from the top

we waited in line for three and a half hours for this:

our sixty seconds on the ledge at skydeck chicago, willis tower, the second tallest building in the united states.

#worthit