Whew! August was an epic month of summer around Michael Delving, so here is an epic post to try to capture some of the fun. July ended with a super low tide adventure at Richmond Beach for everyone except the Mayor, who needed to work.
Ice cream afterward!
August began with Grampz and Boookie going on a Lake Washington cruise to watch the Blue Angels perform.
Boookie's birthday began bright and early with a ninja visit from Grammy, who left custom-made flags for three hobbitlings (Seimi already got his in June). Here's Eejee stumbling outside to go get his flag.
Eejee showing his Otterman Empire flag to his otters. He dutifully fed them gummy fish, which are a traditional Grammy treat.
Ela getting her flower flag.
Birthday Boookie checking out his flag.
And here's Boookie opening his birthday presents.
We all love the appreciative Boookie laugh!
A bit later in the month, the Mayor and hobbitlings installed a network of pulleys and ropes, along with flagpole holders. The system was inaugurated with a delightful dinner that was served in pieces to each treehouse, then distributed without anyone ever having to leave their treehouse. "Pass the mustard" triggered delighted laughs, as condiments and courses took an aerial route to hobbitling tummies.
Tall Boookie in his treehouse.
Beautiful Ela in her treehouse.
Seimi with his Doggy Lee and the Dragon flag.
Eejee with his Otterman Empire flag.
Shortly after Boookie's birthday, we headed off for a grand Staycation Adventure a mere 13 minutes from home. We rented adjoining rooms at a waterfront hotel down in Edmonds for two nights and had a grand time of it.
We might have had a little too much fun on our beach walk, but we just had to pose with some weird friends who live down by the waterfront.
Most of our time was spent in the pool, and the weather was perfect for that: bright, sunny and hot.
The Mayor and Hobbit Wife acquired a slew of cheap pool toys for the staycation, which were put to excellent use.
Boookie and Ela had just finished swim lessons and greatly enjoyed exercising their newfound aquatic skills.
Seimi and Eejee playing a fishing game with the pool noodles and dive sharks.
During our downtime, we crashed in our hotel rooms, eating snacks, watching movies, and trying to remember to remain quiet while being silly.
Hooray for Staycations!
After our 13-minute drive home, our vacation continued for the rest of that week. The Mayor took hobbitlings to go fishing for the first time, and all were successful in their fishing endeavors. Eejee struck first with his fish.
Boookie was next.
Followed by Ela.
Seimi rounded out the dinner catch.
Delicious dinner of hobbitling-caught, pan-fried trout, with fresh organic veggies and fruit from local farms.
Next morning, the feasting continued with a Mayor breakfast special.
In mid-August, Boookie got to go down to a local range with Apu for an intro session on archery, black powder, skeet, and rifle shooting.
The remainder of August was somewhat of a blur, but in a good way, as all the residents of Michael Delving tried to do summer well. We were largely successful in playing, resting, and doing mostly things that brought joy. The Mayor still worked, but he mostly worked from home, so he got to be in on much of the fun. There was lots of sleeping in. One morning, the Mayor couldn't find Eejee anywhere until he located Eejee at the foot of Seimi's bed. When asked for an explanation, Eejee simply said, "I wanted to play with Seimi in the middle of the night but he was asleep."
Lots of playing for all the hobbitlings.
An epic, weeks-long battle of Axis and Allies was waged in Ela's room, with the game board carefully protected after each day of combat.
Speaking of combat, here are Eejee and Seimi playing their own version of "Assassin's Creek Odyssey."
The Mayor got to do some woodworking projects to help the Hobbit Wife.
Ela's dirt art.
Ela and the Mayor built a spiral staircase for Ela's treehouse.
It was the hardest single project the Mayor has built, but once he threw away his trigonometry and his scale drawings and started sawing lumber and bolting things together, it all came together.
Ela is now all moved in, with a new wall in place and the temporary ladder removed.
Eejee and otters reading an otter book
Just a couple gorgeous Ela floral arrangements.
Ela working at Seimi's ice cream stand.
This was one of those exclusive, one-day only pop up stores and only lasted for one round of frozen treats.
Seimi and Eejee showing the proper way to enjoy summer watermelon.
We had a traditional annual feast at Anthony's on the Edmonds waterfront.
Seimi "executing" a My Little Pony, to the delight of other boys.
Eejee and Seimi wolfing down dessert. They spent little time at the table, instead choosing to spend most of their time in the sandbox.
After all the other kids left, they piled up the toys and patrolled the sandbox, keeping guard.
Wonderful summer sunset!
The Mayor and Hobbit Wife worked together to get ready for the first day of school the day after Labor Day. The Hobbit Wife focused on school things while the Mayor prepared the Start of Term Feast. He had to be stopped from chugging the delicious au jus.
Everyone's "plus one" for the feast. (L to R: Wall-E (Mayor), Vespers the Tapir (Hobbit Wife), Doggy Lee (Seimi), Hermes the Niffler (Boookie), Unnamed hairy chicken (Ela), Otter and Otter B (Eejee).
Before the feast, it was Howard the Trunk Monkey time. Howard sorted the hobbitlings into their respective grades. Eejee was sorted into Kindergarten.
Seimi was sorted into Third Grade.
Howard may have been a bit silly with Ela, but eventually he sorted her into Sixth Grade.
Boookie was sorted into Eighth Grade. Howard had to catch his breath after climbing all the way up to the top of Mount Boookie. That mountain has grown a lot of elevation in the last year!
Ready for the feast!
And ready for school!
Happy Summer from the residents of Michael Delving!
