Play Ball! ... Or, I Love You Too, But Spring Is Here

So much fun with so many sports with Franklin. He's pretty committed to seasons lately, and spring is for soccer and baseball:

He also told me that he wants to go to Wrigley Field and see a Cubs baseball game. So... Grandpa Ray? Aunt Merrica?

Speaking of spring (the title of this post is one of his inexplicable but hilarious recent sayings), some delicious spring dining:


And tulips from last week's outing:


Last week's outing being the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. We went in 2012; fun to return, and to see the fields in the sun!


Still nice and muddy though:














Long, full day:


Back at home, Franklin has really been enjoying watching 20-minute bits of Sweetgrass, one of my very favorite movies:


I mentioned it here back when we first saw it; such a great movie!


Also had some fun playing soccer, baseball, and a little frisbee with Jen at the beach last weekend:






And of course, as you may have heard, we attended our first Sounders game:


Pretty fun time.


And they won! And it was because of a beautiful 360-spin-move goal. Take a look:






All right, that's more or less it. (I really need to post more often and shorten these up, huh?)

Oh, a little fun today on Instagram, which Emily and I recently decided to look into after hearing how much Magen enjoys it:

#marchmadness in April

A video posted by Emily Hughes Dominick (@emily.dominick) on Apr 5, 2015 at 11:49am PDT

No Jayhawk gear in that basketball clip, shockingly, but here's Franklin's current favorite ad:

Over and over lately he's been saying, "Rock Chalk, baby!" :)

All right, a little more Instagram:

Lamb chops

A photo posted by Emily Hughes Dominick (@emily.dominick) on Apr 5, 2015 at 5:48pm PDT

And that's it. Cheers, reader! Hope you're having a wonderful spring!

Happy day all!

A photo posted by Yancy Hughes Dominick (@yancy9) on Apr 5, 2015 at 6:51pm PDT

Cheers to Marisa & Dave & Montana!

Glad we were able to make the trip, put on some nice clothes, and toast Marisa & Dave over the weekend.

We had a ball! (Okay, okay, sorry.)

All the excitement made it hard to get a shot of the happy couple, but someone did share this one with us:

(Thanks Facebook)

Long way from Seattle to Lincoln, MT, but our travel experience was considerably improved by this new friend of Franklin's:

Found at the airport, supposedly modeled after the Washington State Ferries.

As Franklin likes to say, "big boat!"


Also had a nice time showing Franklin all the taxidermy (what can I say?) at the Hi-Country Trading Post. On our second visit he was basically flawless at pointing to and naming the elk and the moose :)

It was pretty chilly outside, but we took a quick tour of their playground. Love these swings:


The wedding itself took place at the Hotel Lincoln:

(Thanks again, Facebook)

Now an outside wedding in Montana in late September is maybe a dicey proposition, but the weather turned comfortable just in time. (Just don't ask about the cleanup the next day.)

Of course, an outdoor wedding in relatively comfortable weather isn't exactly an invitation for Franklin to sit quietly and celebrate two lives becoming one.

Especially when all these toys were just sitting there behind the crowd:


Fun toys at the reception too, especially the photo booth run by
Six Shooter Photo:


With my sisters:


Love this set with Grandpa Ray & Grandma Rhonda's friend James:


Speaking of Grandma & Grandpa:


At breakfast at (where else?) the Bootlegger Casino:


And finally, I love this family photo taken at the Staggering Ox back in Helena:

(Thanks Gilbert!)

Great to see everyone! Congrats!

Road Trip Stage One: WA, ID, MT

We set out Wednesday on our way to Indiana (and back!) for Emily's family reunion (on the Campbell side). Lots of drivivng, but great company.

On a clear day you can see Rainier from central Washington. Now we know! Franklin was a great sport as we set out east.

Emily got this great photo as we started out:

Starting Road Trip... Now!

Covered over 500 miles and 11 hours getting from Seattle to Bigfork on our first day:


Including a stop in Spokane to say Hi to some of Emily's coworkers at Sacred Heart. Franklin enjoyed seeing Pam again:


And he was happy to hang out with family:

Grandpa Ray on the Swan River above Bigfork.


Gma Rhonda, Franklin, and Gpa Ray at the Mountain Lake Lodge.

And some old familiar sights, like McDonald Pass:

Great spot for a diaper change: who knew? :)

And Franklin met some family for the first time:

His aunt Marisa in Helena.


And in Butte, his cousin Eponine.

Nice family photo with Gina and Eponine:


So far so fun. And I promise I'll get some photos of Emily for the next post :)

Collecting Memories in Helena

You probably heard that Emily recently spoke at the annual meeting of the Northwest Archivists, which was in Helena, of all places.

Fortunately, I was able to join her for part of it. Her session on artifacts in archives was a smash, and we had fun visiting friends and family.

My first meal in town reassured me I was in my hometown, where they almost always put ranch on the table next to the ketchup:


Speaking of ranches (sorry), Emily's conference reception was at the charming Kleffner Ranch:

That's also where she got that great sunset photo that's up top...

Had a nice drive up to York for dinner with Marisa and Dave:


And we saw Mike and his family. Unfortunately they're all too fast for my camera, but here's an action shot of the Easter egg hunt:

That's Mike, and his kids—Gavin, Skylar, and Tatum.

Is it the second biggest Easter egg hunt in the country? That claim sounds suspicious to me, but it was in the paper, so who knows?

Spent our last evening in town with Maraya and the rest of the family.


I got a couple of photos of Ryan, but I guess we'll have to go back for pictures of Tryna, Connor (well, he's in the background above), and Devin.


Fire pit!


Cheers, reader. Hope you're having a great week!