Back home
After a two week tour of the Midwest to see family and friends, we're home.

It's always good to travel. And it's always good to travel long enough that you're thankful to be home in your own comfortable bed.

We caught the first big wave of summer weather on the trip, so lots of playtime outside. Now Seattle's decided to be in summer mode -- dry, warm, and sunny. Most outsiders don't realize we get a great summer out here after the rainy season ends.

Now that we're back, I went into a cleaning frenzy trying to get everything back to normal in one day like go through mounds of Kobold mail from the PO Box. Decided I needed to get the outside ready for playing, so cleaned off the winter gunk from our outside toys. Disappointingly found that our deck doesn't just need to be cleaned but also needs a fresh coat of stain after only two years. (Given that I had bought Consumer Reports' top recommendation, it's a bit frustrating.)