Jabba's free

 Connor got Jabba (his toad) from the Columbia River in a spot we call Frog Hollow.  It's a nice little quiet inlet off the Columbia with a nice beach area and every summer the entire beach is covered in itty bitty toads.  Well, he brought one of those toads home 4 years ago.  She (or so we think it's a she) still had her tail but had just sprouted some legs. He raised her and cared for her for 4 years.  She lived in a 60 gallon tank on his dresser. For years he would hand feed her worms.  For the last several years we raised red runner roaches for her to eat and Connor would put a few in her tank and let her hunt them down. She swam in the bath tub, loved to hide in her moss hut/cave, loved to look out of her tank at Connor and Piper and would occasionally make a little squeak noise.  Toads are not real interactive and don't care to be handled, but she did seem to like Connor.  In the wild they are lucky if they live to be 1. In captivity they can live to be 4-5 years old. On August 3rd she turned 4 years old.  After talking and thinking it over for a while we decided it would be best for Jabba if we returned her to the beach she was born on and set her free.  Connor spent 2 years getting her to hunt down food on her own and trying to prepare her for life on her own.  Knowing there is a chance of her dying by setting her free (as there is for all animals in the wild) we decided if any of us were in her shoes WE would want a chance to feel freedom! To walk on the beach and feel the sand and to swim in a HUGE body of water.  After a lot of consideration Connor decided he would rather she died in the wild than in a cage.  Hopefully he prepared her enough so she gets to enjoy lots of freedom before she dies.  Mason went with us and we took her back to Frog Hollow.  She instantly went to the water and swam.  This is the first year that we've actually seen quiet a bit of sea weed at Frog Hollow, which I think will actually help Jabba to hide and stay safe.  She seemed to love it.  She swam and floated and stuck near the sea weed for cover. We played on the beach and kept a eye on her for hours and then finally had to say good bye and leave her.

August Memories

 Drinks at the Cider House after work with Rachel and Emily.  Our first outdoor movie in the backyard- Connor, Mason, Kaiden, Alex and Tony.  We had burgers and then they enjoyed some popcorn with a soft fleece blanket while watching the newest Planet of the Apes movie.  My parents stopped by for a quick visit.

Wednesday shenanigans

 Today I took Connor, Kaiden, Colten and myself to the Garland theatre.  I've never been there before and I've always wanted to check out the inside.  When the Garland theatre opened in Nov. 1945 it was the premier movie house in the west.  The large auditorium features stadium-style seating and an original capacity near 1000! Currently it seats 630 as the seats have gotten larger and the rows are now extra wide.  We watched the Rise of Gru movie.  Afterwards we went to a new Lego store that sells new and used Lego sets.  Connor found 4 Lego characters that he wanted. Then we stopped by Dicks for some hamburgers. Dick's drive-in is an iconic Spokane business from 1965 and I've never been there before, which really shocks people since I've lived in/around this area my entire life. Then we stopped at Liberty Park... yet another place we've never been before.  The boys played for a little while before we ventured to our last destination (after a mini oreo snack).  Last stop: Discovery Playground.  Kaiden and Colton played, splashed in the splash pad, played in the sand... Connor and I sat in the grass and read our books.  Fun day making memories in the sun!

game night

 Connor and I joined Elizabeth and Rachel at the game night at Bear Totem for the second time.  This time the 4 of us and Keith all played the Flamecraft board game.  Cute game with dragons, but a little tricky to figure out the game play at first.  We had fun though.  We also had our new gate installed.  After the pavement we moved the fence gate back about 8 feet and had to have the company build us a new larger gate.  Looks great and we love it... well most of us anyway.  Piper had been enjoying the freedom of being able to relax in the front yard and watch the neighborhood any time she wanted and that's suddenly come to a stop.  She is such an amazing dog!  How many dogs can have total freedom to walk out into the front yard with no fence or any kind of barrier, sit in the yard and watch other dogs, kids, people go by on the sidewalk and never bark, never leave the yard, never bother anyone and then when she's tired she brings herself inside.  Incredible dog! 

house

 Newest house projects:  I finished up my garden area and made a stepping stone walkway.  I've been picking some huge zucchini plants already. The kids loved eating my raspberries until it was over 100 degrees and the heat/sun ruined my raspberry bush.  The leaves are dry and crunchy now. We put up the vinyl brick siding on the front of the garage.  I repainted the light fixtures on the garage.  We landscaped around the power boxes and put the little sharing library back up.  I also repainted the library. We added some posts and a sun shade next to the garage to shade the boat.  We also added support beams on the bottom of the fence and straightened out the fence. I also added paver sand to our fire pit area to seal the spaces between the pavers. It seems like we always have at least one outdoor project that Jason and I are working on, sometimes several.  But it's nice to be outside enjoying the sunshine while we have it.