Wow, what a great summer we had.  The main theme was busy, busy, busy.  Between home projects, vacation, work and the kids summer camps we were always busy.  Teri has been working as a contract Pharmacist this summer and that has worked out pretty well other than she has to fill in for what's open.  She's been working at the hospital in Kirkland and she's enjoyed it.

Projects.  What did I do on my summer vacation?  I did several home projects this summer starting after the kids finished softball and baseball in June.  I put in a larger retaining wall behind our home and filled it with crushed rock to make a great patio.  I also covered the front gardens with bark dust and installed an in ground basketball hoop.  Pictures below.

Back yard retaining wall.  I spent the 4th of July weekend working on this to build the wall and weekend after that to fill in the gravel.  You can't see it but under the gravel are several drain lines.  When it rained in the past this area was always wet.  Now that we have the drains we should have a much drier area even after heavy rains.

Basketball Hoop.  I spent a weekend digging the hole and another weekend pouring the concrete for the base.  I'm still trying to get the hoop mounted.  It's heavy and takes 3 people to lift it and secure it to the pole.

Camps:  Danielle and Ryan have been attending a local Taekwondo camp that teaches them the sport and has daily field trips.  Danielle also attended a weeklong overnight horse camp at Warm Beach Resort.  Ryan participated in a golf camp so he's slugging away.  Both kids attended the local VBS camp where Danielle participated in Basketball and Ryan in mixed sports.

Vacations: Danielle and I attended the annual Father/Daughter camp in June and we took our annual trip to the property in the Columbia River Gorge at the end of June.  Teri and I took the whole family to Silverwood theme park in Idaho in early August for 3 days and we had a blast.  The first day was cold and overcast but we made the most of it by hanging out all day by the wave pool until later in the day and then hitting the amusement rides.  I took the kids one at a time on the Tremor roller coaster.  Ryan and Danielle both enjoyed it.  Teri hates roller coasters so she waited for us.  The second day at Silverwood was much warmer although much more crowded.  Ryan and I are getting ready for our Father/Son weekend getaway in a couple of weeks and we're planning on going to Great Wolf Lodge at the end of Sept so Teri can attend a scrap booking conference while I take the kids to an indoor water park at the lodge.