Oh no!! Those 5 tadpoles, that turned into frogs...that all jumped away except one?? Well, somehow there are about a thousand new tadpoles in the tank! Kenzie spotted them today. And you thought you were tired of posts about tadfrogs before!??!

July 21 update - ok, so Corrin corrected us on the circle of life and pointed out the fact that our tadpoles couldn't lay eggs, and this is most likely mosquito larvae. Disgusting. Thankfully the last frog freed himself from the outdoor tank today so we can disinfect.

Cindy and I had Mason alone in the car. It is during these times that he jabbers non stop. He chats when Kenzie is in the car, but when she's gone, his mouth NEVER stops. So, sometimes we play games, such as I Spy. Usually he spies the trim on the mirror, or the straw in the cup. Yesterday's surprised us a bit.

Mason: I spy something blue
Me: Is it inside the car or outside?
Mason: It's outside.
Me: Is it the sky?
Mason: No.
Me: Is it a blue car?
Mason: No. We passed it now. You can't see it anymore.
Me: Was it a tree?
(At this point Cindy had to turn the car around, so we were heading where we just were.)
Mason: Yes!! It was a Blue Spruce. There! There's the Blue Spruce (and he points to a Blue Spruce...or at least what he convinces us is a Blue Spruce because neither of us know better).

All but one of the tadpoles have turned into frogs and completely escaped. The last remaining one, Bella, has a knob of a tail left and has earned the Kenzie's full attention. Today we had a sort of show-and-tell at church, so Kenzie brought Bella.

I asked her if it would be okay if we set Bella loose after church. She asked me where. I suggested the creek. She got a panicked look on her face and said, "no! she needs still water." I asked why. She said, "Mom, the rolling water in a creek is too fast for her. Her eggs will float downstream." Seemed logical, so I said we could put her in the wetlands.

Mason came down and I tried to continue the conversation. She quickly changed her story, however, and all of the sudden it was okay for her to be set free in the creek. She whispered something to Mason that she obviously didn't want me to hear. I asked her What Gives. She sheepishly said, "it's okay, Mom. She doesn't have a mate."

School is in session. Today's assignment was ocean art.

In addition to using the toes of his shoes, Mason has a new way to stop his bike. And, hmmmm....wonder where he learned it?? That's what older cousins are for!

Mason's preschool was walking/riding in the Issaquah Fourth of July parade. It was so beautiful out we decided to join and recruited Jackie and Lauren (okay, maybe they didn't know EXACTLY what they were signing up for). Cindy and Cheyenne opted to watch. The rest of us rode our bikes into town, joined the massive parade crowd, but never found Mason's school group! We picked a break in the parade line and dove in. We were all on bikes--we dodged and weaved around the kids in wagons and show dogs on leashes. We each had a stash of candy that we threw at spectators, and were out before we reached the end of the block.



Here's a quick peek at the action. You can see Mason in the foreground and Kenzie in the background.


After the parade we picnicked with the rest of Issaquah, did face painting, and let the kids run wild for a while. Oh, and Kenzie got to come face-to-face with yet another critter, this time an iguana who was out for a Fourth-of-July-walk (with his owner).



After the parade we went to Kelli and Jeff's, who gratiously "volunteered" to let our traveling party come their way. It's kinda cool watching their swimming skills grow each time they swim. Ah, the power of peer pressure. Emilie is such a good little swimmer. Kenzie hates to be outdone, so she pushes herself.



Kenzie braved a new "flip."



And Mason is swimming off the diving board (and coming back up)!

My paragliding pilot contacted me yesterday morning to ask if I wanted to go on a 1:00 flight with him. I thought it would be fun to hike up to the top of Tiger Mountain this time. I called Grammy. She had already gone on a 4.5 mile walk that morning, but didn't want to miss on the opportunity. We didn't have much prep time, but I did note that the hike is over 3 miles with 2,000 feet elevation change. I asked which kids wanted to go, but told Mason that I was gonna need him to greet me at my landing. The other three, Cheyenne, Lane and Kenzie, all were eager to go. I reiterated that this wasn't like a hike that they've been on before - this was a bit more serious. Unable to phase them, we set off about 11:45. I had to meet my pilot on the top at 1:00.





Here's a picture from the air with our landing gear in view.


And here's a video of it: