Siblings at north Oregon coast.

North Head lighthouse, Signe, nervous Gunnar.

(l-r) Karsten, Zane, Pacific Ocean.

At the wreck of the SS Peter Iredale.

Seaside surf.

Surfing and boogie boarding at Seaside, OR, south end.

Buried boys at the beach...

Mixologist Bobbie

Nick's favorite pic from our anniversary date.

Meanwhile back at the Sentz house...

Bonnie and Rob were very gracious to take on 9 kids for two days. Our kids were super excited to stay at their cousin's house, and apparently spent a lot of time today in the backyard in the sprinkler and trampoline... hence the little boys in their undies. They also helped to make homemade marshmallows. Bonnie thought it was a rather sad but cute commentary when Zane told her this morning he was "house sick" (homesick).
Signe was a little disappointed we missed her concert this afternoon after a week of church music camp, but hopefully we can hear a recording soon.

Biking in Sandpoint

We rode on various trails near the lake today, probably over 20 miles total. And then we returned to the beach and went swimming off the dock.

Wedding anniversary in Sandpoint

For our 12th anniversary we left the kids for an overnighter with the Sentzes to explore more of Northern Idaho. Sandpoint is a great little town, not unlike Hood River with its touristy shops, boutiques, and brewpubs, and large waterfront park and beaches. Lake Pend Oreille is beautiful; we look forward to bringing the kids back for camping, hiking, biking, and side trips to Silverwood amusement park.

The fireplace: project 2.5

The previous owners put some ugly boards around the downstairs fireplace as trim (some things just don't make sense), with gaps in the middle for the wall trim. We can only guess it was partly to hide ceiling texture sprayed over the top half of the fireplace, since the owners obviously didn't cover it up when they textured. It looks so much better without the trim. Although because of a slight gap behind the fireplace and all the glue left sticking to the brick (Nick was NOT happy to deal with pulling that off), we might put back very thin decorative trim along the sides.
These bricks are also a rosy-pink color, not my fave. So after staring at Pinterest posts a good long while I am seriously considering white-washing the brick. Painting brick is a daunting permanent proposition, but I think white-washing might look pretty cool, and still maintain some of the look and color of the original brick while toning back the pinky-ness.

More downstairs "before" pics

Although I should have taken the pictures BEFORE I pulled off all the trim. I forgot. When I removed the trim in the middle of the wall it pulled off chunks of sheet rock, so I got lots more to patch. Woo-Hoo.

Summer project #2

Now that the kitchen is (mostly) done and we are back upstairs, I am finally working on making the downstairs an inviting place to hang out. While green is pretty much my favorite color, I have detested this olivy green bottom with the stark white top half since we moved in. But since my brother lived downstairs for a couple years, I did nothing to change it. So I spent some time just before we went to Oregon for the 4th pulling out the bulky baseboard and trim pieces around the middle of the wall. Then after we returned I started to work on patching 45 years' worth of holes, cracks, and dings.

Building a city

They don't always play together this well, but I love it when they do.

First Friday in downtown Hood River

And Mike's Ice Cream, of course!

An unexpected workout from Tamanawas Falls

After we arrived at the falls, we heard someone screaming in pain behind us. A 15-year-old boy twisted his leg in a way that detached his patella, which was floating next to his knee (an injury Nick can sympathize with!). That meant that Nick and Stuart took turns hauling the boy, named Bleu, on their backs the entire 2-mile hike back to the parking lot.

More pics V

More pics IV

More pics III

Sorry about the many posts: I can only post 2 at a time.

More pics II

More pics

Hiking to

The Holloways and Andersons (Uncle Stuart, Aunt Christina, Ani (age 4) and Britta (age 6) went for a gorgeous adventurous hike about 4 miles round trip to the falls, that are off Hwy 35 south of Hood River. Aunt Christina and Britta are sporting trillium in their hair.

Cousins on Eagle Creek.