Birthday, Beach and BBQ

Well, first things first--happy father's day, Tyler! Here's just one illustration of why Tyler is an awesome dad:



Not only is he playful and fun, he's pretty cute, too:



Since we've less prolific bloggers of late, there's plenty to catch up on.

Birthday:

Tyler's grandmother (one of Stella's five great-grandmothers!), turned 85 on June 6th. We went down to celebrate with G.G., which could stand for great-grandma or Grandma Gloria.



Looking for Aunt Debbie's kitty with Grandma Susan


Happy birthday, Gloria!


Making a birthday wish--I think I'll wish to look this good when I'm 85!


Beach:

Last weekend, we decided to take advantage of the sunny weather and take Stella to Alki beach for a little fun in the sun. Of course, what feels warm and sunny on Beacon Hill can be a bit breezy and brisk on the water, but a good time was still had by all:


Walking to the sand--it always amazes me how beach-y a feel Alki has compared to the rest of Seattle. And how Seattlites are pretty desperate for summer. People were dressed in everything from winter coats and hats to bikinis.


Stella got to go to the water's edge to throw in rocks with Dad and Grandpa Rick.


BBQ:

And yesterday we held our 3rd annual BBQ--it started as our housewarming, and we've kept up the tradition. Last year, we made burgers with Stella's weight in ground beef (20 pounds). This year we made Stella's weight in marinated skewers (25 pounds) which were pretty tasty, if a little labor intensive.


Thanks to the Abos for lending us their canopy for the less than ideal weather!


Tyler manning the grill--four hours of chopping seemed to also mean four hours of grilling!


Digging in!


One of the only pictures we took during the BBQ--we both keep too busy to actually remember to take the camera out. This year was notable for the makeup of the crowd--45 adults and 12 babies 2-ish and under! Stella had fun showing off her backyard, eating strawberries, and keeping herself busy.

Thanks to all who could make it! We'll look forward to next year's....and maybe better weather and not on the Solstice weekend...

And just because it's cute/funny:


Stella is lately obsessed with "cheer"ing with our glasses--I'm not even sure where she learned it. She also likes to blow on my coffee in the morning to cool it down.