Possum Kingdom State Park

This is the train that we took out to Possum Kingdom Lake for our 4 days of camping out in Texas in June just before the official start of summer. It was hot and we sweated our way through the day and listened to the crickets chirp us to sleep at night.
It actually wasn't too bad. When you keep in mind that this area has been inhabited by people for the past 10,000 years, you know that the luxury we had of modern tents to keep out the flying and annoying bugs and the soft air mattress to get us up off the hard ground--it makes it easy to enjoy roughing it. We even had air conditioner to give us some reprieve from the hottest part of the day. The lake was cool and felt wonderful. I actually enjoyed sleeping outside under the blanket of stars and the quiet night. It is funny that it still feels quiet even though there are a million crickets chirping in unison.
Patricia and Jeremy joined us for the first two days. They are babysitting Harley while Stacy is off exploring the Greek Isles. They supplied us with plenty of beer and bratwurst, two necessities when you are camping out! The boys loved that Aunt Trish came to swim with them.
Niki had his first experience with the red waters of the Brazos.
Granny came and camped out with us too. Harley kept her company in her camper during the night. Luka was pretty wary of the boat at first and he stayed put right next to Granny so he wouldn't fall off of the boat.

One of my favorite parts of the trip was just riding on the boat in the lake. It seems so peaceful and the air is so fresh.

Trisha and Alyosha on the tube behind the boat. Luka didn't like it too much, but I think Aleks will be the first on the water every time. I am sure Luka will join him when he is just a couple years older.

Niki had his own life-jacket and stayed in my lap while we were speeding on the boat. He was happy most of the time even though he was in his cocoon of water protection.



It seems like Niki has found his tongue and likes to show the tip of it to anyone who is interested in watching him.
Grandpa let Alyosha drive his first boat. He did a great job and didn't run over any fish or run into any docks.

Even Roma, the man from the cold North, enjoyed the heat. It may not be something he wants to experience every day of his life, but for these 4 days, it was actually a nice change of environment--it is 50 in Portland! I will take a nice crisp 95 and a cool dip in the water anytime over that!


Luka is now king of the world by the end of the boat trip.
Possum Kingdom at sunset is probably one of the most beautiful sights in the world!

Ну и неделька!

Ну и неделька. Завалилась в гости Тришка, сестра-в-законе из солнечного Техаса. Наивно полагая, что с двумя бабами в доме наступит порядок, покой и благодать, я начал было мечтать о том, как совершенно безоглядно смогу окунуться с головой во что-нибудь эдакое экзотичное, например поваляться в выходной на диване с пивом, книжкой или кино. Ха! Лох. Всё было как и без Тришки, но только раза в 2 интенсивнее. Сегодня она улетела назад в Даллас.

У Алёшки поехала крыша на теме про пиратов, после просмотра мультика Остров сокровищ, да да, того самого, где между главами поют всякие наставления группа настоящих немультяшных музыкантов. Целый день после этого он ходил одетый как пират, надыбал в моей комнате трубку, и посасывая её обращался ко мне не иначе, как "Эй, старший пират!". Мы с ним закидывали лассо на стулья, простите -драконов, брали Луку, то есть вражескую флотилию на абордаж и искали сокровища. Он до сих пор обижается если я назову его Алешей, вместо "Младший пират".

Завтра мой день рождения, но почему-то большинство родных и друзей поздравило меня сегодня. Спасибо огромное! А завтра всё равно целый день буду занят до самого вечера, на работе очередной ежегодный сбор совета директоров. Впрочем, это стало уже традицией на мой день рождения делать либо сбор директоров либо экзамены в институте.

Рози и Стив прислали открытку со смешными тирольскими песнями и наши уставшие за день детки, "читали" её во время ужина. Отдельное видео здесь.

Sista'

Trish is here. We are having fun. So much fun that by the end of the day we pass out from exhaustion. (not from alcohol, if that is what you are thinking). Really, she is currently asleep under the same blanknt you see in the pic...and I am falling asleep at the wheel, or the keyboarmm mmmmmmmmm

Roman taking over here, Jen is now asleep on the floor. I guess I am lucky to get to carry two women to their beds tonight! It is strange though, with two women in the house a man should get a break you'd think, have a beer, read some silly newspapers, watch a game (chess for me) and stuff like that. Instead, I had twice as much to clean this afternoon, and I still had to chat with my wife after I got back from work. Where is my part of the deal?! Oh, yeah, and I lost my home office space to tha sista'.

Big Developments

Congratulations to people in our family for all the crazy things that are going on!!

In no paticular order of importance....

First: Stacy got a job! A 8th grade English teacher--watch out 13 year olds!

Second: Trisha got a house! A real first house--watch out neighbors!

Third: Luka has a tooth! Just breaking through, but loudly announcing itself--watch out Mama!

Yeah to everyone!