Jen in her summer glory

Street performer at home

Amanda on her laptop after playing music at Saturday's market.

I remember doing this when I was a kid

Emily and Tyler trying on my old specs.

Amanda's 12 birthday

I know, it was in May. Now you know how far behind I am with my pictures :]

Kids are growing up!

Photography by Jen.

Stop and smell the roses

Amanda captured this one. These are flowers from the yard that Amanda organized in a bowl of water.

NAU Pilgrimage to the Northwest

Had some of my favorite brethren in the world come out and spend some quality time. Aaron and I spent the majority of a day promoting his new kombucha business. You can enter to win a free case of my new favorite beverage right here: http://www.scobykombucha.com/

Steve and Dave joined us later that day. And there was much music, feasting, and making merry.






Tapwater









































Moonstruck Chocolate.

Jam in the crow's nest

One evening, Doug and I broke out the guitar and bongos for a spontaneous jam on the deck. The puny microphone on our Mino recorder doesn't really do justice to the acoustics of the moment, but the shadows and outlines are there.

Weekend in the Cascades

Tyler and I spent a weekend camping in the cascades with Mike and Hunter and I fell in love with camping all over again. We had a rootin' tootin' good time to say the least. We threw a tent, some sleeping bags, and a cooler into a boat and found a cozy sandy beach and camped right on the shore. We caught a turtle and handfuls of frogs and fish. We experienced the thrill of an osprey striking Tyler's fish as he was reeling it in, while I was next to him reeling in my own fish. We drifted the glassy evening and morning waters casting spinners while loons called. We roasted our fish on the campfire. We gazed at the stars. The kids caught frogs at night with flashlights. I'm already hearing the call of the wild again.

Mouth harp. Heck yes.

Poppy

Gypsy Moon

Jen came up with some great percussive clapping to go along with this tune I wrote for the uke. This is song-writing in progress so none of the stops are polished (second time we ever played). We invented the tune only moments before.

(I recommend scrolling to the bottom and turning off the music player before playing the videos)

Swallowtail Jig

Here is Emily's latest tune on the violin that she recorded early this morning. It was nice waking up to these lovely celtic sounds.

Piano duet

Tyler playing a tune with his piano teacher, Gary.

"Sadly this is what we do on Saturday nights!"

This might need some explaining. The other night, Jen was singing while grabbing something out of the fridge and noticed that one of the notes she sang hit the resonant frequency for some foil on a can and it vibrated like crazy. The entire family gathered to see what the fuss was about (and to participate, of course!). Amanda, sensing a video opportunity, captured this amusing video.

Recipe for a great Saturday

Start with a day in the high 70's. Throw in a generous amount of gardening.



After sweating a bit, find some shade, grab a bottle of Scoby Signature Blend premium kombucha, and pour.



Then, pour yourself a shot of Absinthe - "The Green Faerie"



Gratefully accept a margarita from your loving partner and line up the brew and spirits on a table next to a reading chair. Sip, mix, and garnish with one of your favorite books!