Seattle in Summer 2016

Photo with Ojiichan and Obaachan outside their place with them and Lianne.

Here's the spread at Yuki's for Fourth of July - it was delicious!

Ethan with Obaachan when we went out for ramen.

Auntie Yuki with Ryan at a Mariners game.  Ryan has on his Mariners bomber hat and his Mariners cape.

On the Way to Seattle

The three kids at the visitor's center on the way to Mount St. Helens.  That's the mountain in the background.

Casey and Dorothy practice their selfie picture taking with Mount St. Helens.

The boys with Uncle Tatsu in Portland.  Yes, that's Ryan with one of his favorite blankets as a cape.

Uncle Chuck's Guitar

Stopped by Chuck's mom's place in Jordan, Utah south of Salt Lake City to pick up Chuck's guitar.  Here's our family photo with Ryan making like a rock star with his entourage!

Colorado River White Water Rafting

White water rafting on the Colorado River.  If you want extreme rafting, perhaps April and May might suit you best.  This was in the second half of June and the rapids were maybe Class 2 to Class 3, fairly tame.  On the plus, there was a middle part of the trip where rafters were allowed to leave the raft and float in the river.  Casey, Dorothy and Naomi at the back of the raft.  The four adults in the front of the raft decided to moon the photographer.  This was with Adrift Adventures in Moab, Utah - had a great time with them!

Arches National Park - Needs to be on Your Bucket List

The boys with their scout troop that went on the Moab over water 50-mile trip had time to visit Arches and Canyonlands national parks.  We drove them to Salt Lake City to meet up with the rest of their troop at which point the other three members of our family went our separate way.

The Windows Arches at Arches National Park.  If our memory is correct, you're able to walk up to and through these arches.  These are quite large arches with this photo taken from a distance using a telephoto lens.

Balancing Rock - probably one of the more well-known formations at Arches National Park.

Delicate Arch - this is the arch that is on the Utah license plate.  There are three places where you can view this arch.  The furthest away is the main parking lot where most of the tour buses park.  The second location is a slight hike up from the parking lot (this is where this photo was taken).  The third is a two-hour plus hike that will take you to the arch.

This was on the way to Double O Arch at the far reaches of Arches National Park.  This was probably the most strenuous hike in the park for us.  This photo was taken in the late evening.  We made it within sight of Double O Arch, but did not make it all the way to the arch due to darkness.

At the Fiery Furnace Viewpoint.  Took in an incredible sunset on this evening.

Bonneville Salt Flats

This is where they set land speed records.  You can walk quite a distance out into the water in the background of the photo with the water barely covering your ankles, but be sure to wear sandals or something because some of the salt crystals can be a little pokey on the bottom of your feet.

Here's a photo the kids wading out onto the salt flats.  We figured that it was safe since there were others out doing the same thing.

Elko, Nevada Airport - Before and After

This was taken in 2010 on our way to Yellowstone National Park.  We took the photo because we needed to get a photo with something that was a historical marker as part of our road trip scavenger hunt.  Naomi is almost 11 and Ethan is 9.

This was taken this summer on our way to Utah.  We found the marker again, but didn't recognize it at first because it had been updated.  Yes, Ethan is taller now.

Naomi's Artwork

Naomi's nom de plume for her artwork; you can see more at: www.loneecho.deviantart.com/gallery.

Red Panda - digital art by Naomi

Naomi's Junior Prom

Cousin Kimberly helping Naomi with her hair.

Here's what Naomi's hair looked like afterwards!

Naomi's Art

One of Naomi's hobbies is art.  She likes to draw animals but has branched off into on-line art and photography as well.  here's a sample called "Play the Wind."



To see more, follow her at: http://loneecho.deviantart.com/

Science Experiment Video

In high school, not only do you get to do science experiments, but you also get opportunities to make videos of your experiment. Here's Naomi's latest.

Sketch of Dudley

. Sketch of Auntie Barbara's dog Dudley drawn by Naomi.

Photos of People Taking Photos!

Check out these photos.  It's a picture of Yuki taking a selfie with kids, but in the background you can see a picture of me taking a photo of them taking their selfie.  In the second photo you can see the photo that was taken by me!

2014 Clayton Valley Charter High School Symphonic Band - Earth, Wind & Fire Medley

Naomi is on clarinet. You can see her in the foreground.

From Vet Visit to Flight Day to Festival

The day in the life for our family for today, August 10.

The day started with a vet visit for our Hazel.  Hazel is cured for now was the good news!  Now we need to decide if we will get a friend for her.

Next, Ryan attend flight day with scouts at the Martinez Marina.  We've attended this in the past and getting out kite to reach for the skies has always been a challenge, but today the winds were with us.  That's Ryan below with his kite flying high!

Then this evening we went to the Diablo Japanese American Summer Festival to take in the sounds of San Jose Taiko, play games, and most importantly eat.

So Long Opal and Ninja Warriors

We dropped off Opal the Octopus and the Ninja Warriors (referred to in the world of geocaching as travel bugs) that we picked up at the Geocaching.com headquarters in Seattle.  Happy travels to the two!

The place where we dropped the two off is the oldest continuous cache in San Francisco.   It's located in a community garden in Fort Mason.

Although you wouldn't know if from the picture, it was a typical breezy, cool day in the city.  Check out the next picture of our drive in.  The fog was already pouring into the Bay.

Here's where we placed the two travel bugs.  It was a metal can right in the community garden.

After this we headed to Japantown for some food and browsing in the Kinokuniya bookstore.  By the time that we were headed home, fog had reached the Oakland hills.

Naomi's Art at Zachary's Pizza

Naomi entered a painting with a friend in an art contest by Zachary's Pizza to decorate the walls of their new restaurant in Pleasant Hill.  Her painting was selected for the restaurant.  The painting is called "Precious as a Pearl."  Go check it out and the other new paintings at the restaurant.

Do You Drop Zone?

Naomi tried out the Drop Zone at Great America recently with her cousin Kimberly.  Actually, they went on the ride (I guess it's a ride) twice. Here's one of the drops.
 

Summer of Sketching

Naomi was busy earlier this month sketching for murals for summer camp at our church for the kids to color as one of their activities.  Here's a sampling of some of her freehand sketches.

Neighborhood Nature

Here is a sample of Naomi's first foray into nature photography. This photo session started over the weekend and included taking photos during a walk of our neighborhood with one of her uncles.