Our Fourth of July day started off early with a walk halfway down the street to a bike decorating party at a neighbor's house.  If you are a regular reader, you might recall that each year our neighborhood blocks our street off from one end to the other, and all…

The Banana, Mr. Sneaky Pants and I went down to the canal this afternoon to see if we could spot any pirates aboard this tall, historic sailing vessel that came into port to celebrate Independence Day.  At one point it had all of its sails open in the crisp east…

This little guy has BIG plans that involve sleeping in his tent in the backyard tonight with a pillow, sleeping bag, a stack of books and a flashlight.  He's especially excited to listen for croaking frogs.   The Banana set up her own tent right next door to her big…

Yesterday evening we were excited to have Auntie Amy Iowa and Uncle Bryan stop by.  Their three daughters and Sarah are all off to the Badlands of North Dakota to ride horses with Auntie Dot, Gramma Kathy and Uncle Don, so Auntie Amy Iowa and Uncle Bryan stopped by on…

A few weeks ago Mr. SP found this vintage Fisher Price toy camera at our neighbor's garage sale.  He spent 75 cents, his own three quarters, and brought it home.  In comparison to his own real digital camera (eight years old and 1.1 pegapixels) the toy camera lost its luster…