Ah, summer.

Since my last post May and June continued to be full, which I've described below in more detail. You'll see my expanded vocab to the right of this post, as well as the "watermelon eating contest" that I had with myself on the 4th of July at Pawpaw's farm in Texas.

And if you haven't noticed, at the very bottom of this web page is a box for your email address.  If you put your email in the box and hit "submit", then any time I put up a new post, you'll be notified automatically.  Isn't that cool?!

Spring is always about celebrating lots of birthdays, enjoying the longer days and having as much family time as possible. Including a couple of invites (with my moms) to Uncle Ken and Uncle Peter's house for pool-time, dinner and honorary "Plumlee Family status".  Always such fun - my uncles are super generous! 

Cuddle time with Uncles Ken & Peter

Weekend of May 4th: Mommy's Birthday Weekend!  We went to Sunnyvale for the weekend and Portola State Park for a picnic and hiking.  It was great - I LOVE being outdoors.

Mother's Day:  just the 3 of us.  Went to church, had brunch at a new restaurant in downtown Woodland, then enjoyed our backyard in the afternoon after celebratory naps for all.  Yea moms!

Loves for Mama from the kids on Mother's Day

'Happy Mother's Day' kisses for Mommy

May 17-19:  We went to Sunnyvale where we spent the night, before Mommy helped Unclefer and Zia pack up their condo and move to San Diego.  All of it was weird because Nana and Papa were in places called Great Britain and Ireland, and NOT in their house.  (Nana sent me 11 POSTCARDS while they were gone though, so I think she missed me!).  Then seeing Unclefer's house taken apart just didn't make sense! To keep me from getting too bossy about how to pack the truck, Mama and I went to Santa Clara U. to visit some friends and we picked up lunch to feed everyone on the 17th (including Gruncle who also helped).  On the 18th while I was still sleeping, Mommy left very early in the big truck that all of Unclefer and Zia's things had gone into, and when I woke up, Mama and I came back to Woodland in time to go to music class.  On the 19th we went to the Sacramento airport to pick up Mommy. I was so glad to have her home I kept asking my moms for a "group hug" every chance I got.  I miss Zia and Unclefer so much, but they seem happy and we try to Facetime once a week so they don't forget about me.

Backyard pool time with my pup

Lounging in my 'sweet ride'

During the rest of May we 'discovered' a park right by Willy's house with a water feature area to play in which is awesome, and we got to go celebrate Uncle Bill's bday with a big party and bounce house in San Jose with the SCU Crew!

couldn't get in the bounce house fast enough
(with cousins Amara and Anissa)

whoa! what a ride!!

LOVE the water park!

I concluded May on a rainy day, by getting my 'summer haircut'.  My moms say that they wanted my hair back 3-minutes after my head was shaved.  Guess they'll just have to wait.

I needed a snack as soon as my haircut was done, so Sadie did too.

In June I finished my music classes for the summer months, but I got to go to 1-week of 'swim-lessons' when moms came home from work. We celebrated Father's Day with Papa at our house, taking him to the Folsom Animal Preserve, then down to Sunnyvale the following weekend to celebrate Nana's birthday.

I gave Papa new 'tools' for Father's Day, so I can help him with projects

Finally, we wrapped up June and kicked-off July with an adventure that looked like this:
6.28.13: Sacramento -->Seattle-->Great Falls, MT (East Glacier our final destination).
7.3.13:  Great Falls --> Denver -->Austin (Bryan our final destination).
7.6.13:  Austin --> SFO --> Sacramento          7.7.13: Austin -->Houston -->Sacramento
(we were taxing down the runway in Austin  on July 6 when the Asiana 777 accident happened!)

Flying high at the SeaTac playground

We first headed to East Glacier Montana to visit Aunt Bernedette & Uncle Gary, their daughter Jennifer, her husband Scot, and the grand-dogs (Lucy, Tia and Barbus). We were treated to 3 beautiful days of weather (80-degrees, instead of 105+ at home!).  We hung out on the covered porch waving to tourists on their way into Glacier National Park, hiked around The Park one day, enjoyed local nature with lots of little walks, tried different flavors of ice-cream each day at Brownies (the store that Jennifer manages), met the locals that G&B call friends and relished the fresh air and slow pace. 

Scot, Jennifer, me and Barbus-dog

Aunt Bernedette, Momma, me and Uncle Gary

After celebrating Bernedette's birthday, we headed back to the airport to go visit Memaw and Pawpaw in Texas.  While there Mama got to see cousin Benjamin play in two all-star baseball games AND we got to spend the 4th of July on Pawpaw's farm.  All sorts of Mama's family and extended cousins came out, and cousins Bella and Jewels came with their grandparents all the way from Houston to play with me, just for the day (you can go here to "Cousin Fun" for pics of just us kids having a blast).  I LOVED being around all the kids that ranged from 3-17 years old.  Graunty Margaret brought us noise makers and "safe fire-crackers", but I was so exhausted from a big day and a bath in the hose that I was out before dark.

Checkin' out Uncle Lee's cows at Pawpaw's Farm

Loves for Graunty

Awesome fun times with cousins Bella & Jewels

On July 6th when we returned to Austin to fly home, we first had lunch at Graunty's house, then on to the airport.  I wasn't feeling good that day as I had started to come down with a cold, so the news of having our plane return to the gate and not have to fly was a welcome relief.  A little boy named Sasha, who was probably around 11 years old, entertained me while we sat on the tarmac waiting for word from SFO before we took off.  By the time we deplaned I fell asleep on Mommy's back as they figured out our next steps to get home.  While sleeping my moms had gotten us on flights the next day, been given first-class seats for both legs of the journey and when I woke up, Graunty was at the airport to take us back to her house for the night.  I ran around like a crazy man and played with Uncle Cliff, grateful for a little more time with them.  We left early the next morning and eventually got safely back to Woodland in time for some lunch and a nap.

If you want to see more pictures from Montana & Texas, here's Mommy's Picasa Album: MT & TX 2013

So long for now. Hope everyone is enjoying their summers and traveling safely!
-PJ


In loving memory of Great Mariellen, who passed away in June. I didn't know her long, but I know she loved me and was a great supporter of Mommy (and her dabbling in photography).

me & ME (Mariellen) - August 2012