Beekeeper isn't in my job description

This is a picture of the top of one of the 10 foot tall columns that support our front porch. Silly us, we thought they were covered over on the top. That is, until we noticed literally hundreds of bees flying in and out and around the top of this column. The XO climbed up on a ladder and reached over with the camera to get a pic to assess the situation. He wisely chose not to get too close!
I'm all for having bees around to pollinate our landscape (especially since our yard is a National Wildlife Federation Certified Wildscape Backyard), but when there are this many bees right outside your front door, you have small children, and there have been africanized (or "killer") honey bees found within a few miles of you you're kind of forced to do something about the situation. We called a local exterminator who showed up in a full bee suit and took care of the bees for us. He said that they had probably been in there for years and that there was "a ton" of honeycomb in that column. I asked him to guess how many bees were in that colony and his answer shocked me - "several hundred thousand". Wow!
Oh, the joys of home ownership!

The Amazing Pacific Northwest

We wanted to share a few more pictures from our trip to Oregon (and we may post more as we find time to go through all of the files!) These are from our trip to Silver Falls State Park. We spent the morning hiking, visiting several different waterfalls, and just enjoying the beautiful Oregon summer day. The kids both did amazingly well even though we hiked over 2 miles through the park and climbed something like 80 stairs to get back up from the South Falls. SSG AJ made it up all of the stairs except the last 4 before she asked to be carried - not bad for a 2 year old. 2LT CJ thought the waterfalls were "pretty neat, espcially the really tall ones that make a lot of noise".

This is the North Falls. Take a look at the middle of the picture to get a sense of scale - those are people walking on the trail behind the waterfall!

It's a ....

It's a girl!! (In case you can't read what's on the ultrasound). I had the kids with me at the appointment and Dr Seeker made a comment to the effect of "If this new little girl is like AJ here ..." He never got to finish the thought though because 2Lt CJ piped in with "We're in big trouble!" I laughed out loud before I could stop myself!



Or maybe it's an alien?? We always joke about these ultrasound pictures, but it is really cool to be able to see everything. We know that this little one has 10 fingers and 10 toes, that her stomach is filled with fluid like it should be, that her kidneys are working because her bladder is full of urine, that she has 4 chambers in her heart, etc., etc. It is reassuring to know that everything is "normal", at least as much as you can before they actually arrive.
2Lt CJ and SSG AJ were absolutely fascinated by the ultrasound. CJ kept asking them "Show me her head again" and "Where is her arm?" and "Does she have a heart too?". AJ got up this morning and said "Go back doctor and see baby in tummy again??"

Lots of fun in the J's house right now...

This is the beach?!!?

We're in Oregon visiting the XO's sister and her family right now and a couple of days ago we took a drive to the Pacific to check out the beaches of the Pacific Northwest. Keep in mind that the only beaches I've ever been to have been in Southern California or the Gulf of Mexico, so I had everyone dressed in their swim suits and t-shirts. Imagine my surprise when we got the the coast and it was 60 degrees and the wind was blowing about 20 miles an hour continuously with 40 MPH gusts! The wind was blowing so much sand that we are still cleaning sand out of everyone's hair and ears. And it was freezing! But it was amazingly gorgeous.

2nd Lt "CJ" and Cousin Jack out in the sand at Beverly Beach.


The CO, SSG "AJ" (the small bundle in pink, hunkered down, and the XO's sister enjoying the mild temps and gentle breezes at the beach.

The beautiful Oregon shoreline.

One cold toddler.