Fun day at splashpark

It was another sunny day in the Seattle area. We headed out to a new splash park in Snohomish. Catie gives her seal of approval.



Miranda also enjoyed running around the water.


Erika commandeered one of the umbrella sprayers.


Time for a picnic lunch to warm up before the next round of splashing.

Strawberry Picking

Summer is finally here and the strawberries are ripe. Time for our annual strawberry picking outing with friends. Below, Erika surveys the field.



Catie likes to sample her berries.


Miranda shows off the berries she picked. Some were a bit riper than others, but she was enthusiastic about picking.


A view from the farm. Note the Cascades in the background.

First Strawberry of the season

Dance Recital

Erika finishes Kindergarten

The kids got golden keys at the end of the year. The keys to the future. To the door of opportunity. etc.

Catie shows off her abs

Chateau Ste. Michelle with Grandma Kathy

Its not a park, it's a winery. So you can drink!
And it's 5 minutes from our house: come visit!

Miranda fishes for "wheel fish" in the pool

Birthday party Part II

Catie really enjoyed the cake.



Miranda is very concerned that Uncle Mark is not giving back the coveted fish shirt quickly enough.


The bubble puppy was hit.


And presents from family far away.

Birthday Party for Catie and Miranda

It's hard to believe but the twins are three years old. Today we celebrated their birthday with a Wetzel family party.



Getting ready to blow out the candles.


Catie's excited about the chocolate cake.


Miranda spent a good part of the party making sure that the balloons were safely gathered.

Erika vacuums

This is the first time Erika has done legitimate housework. She even asked to do it.
Afterwards commenting, "That was hard work."

Typical night at the Wetzels

Jason takes a creative writing class

Jackie found a continuing education class called "creative writing:Sci Fi/fantasy" and signed me up. It meets 6 Tuesdays in a row for 3 hours. The instructor's name is Cat Rambo and we had our first session last week.
A couple things:
1) It was unusual for me, but I was the only person in the room with a job
2) I was the only student who did not use the character of "dungeon-master" in a particular exercise.

In class, we had a list of characters, and a list of conflicts....
Students must pick two characters and one conflict and then in a 5-minute timed exercise write a story. Then we all read our stories out loud. Next week we are to have these stories polished up.
Inexplicably, I chose the following:
* A chess player
* An omniscient entity
* A terminal illness.

And now I'm stuck with these.

Although the title of any story involving these three things practically writes itself: "checkmate, I know you are dying" We'll see what happens from there. Suggestions welcome.

Catie and Miranda at Toddler Group

Catie and Miranda have been enjoying their time at Toddler Group. They really like playing with the train set. Miranda is in the pink.



Another fun game is pushing your twin around on the fire truck.


However, Catie's favorite thing to do is the big slide.

Erika activity

Erika's activities