The Thompson Family

Dell had surgery to correct his deviated septum and remove a lipoma from the back of his head. It wasn't pretty. If you want to see the gore, here are the pictures. Truly not for the faint of heart or stomach! I mean it!

Awwww... isn't she cute!?!? And getting so darn big!

We headed to the Merced County Fair for some fun and music. First there were corndogs, pony rides and cotton candy.



Then we met up with the Little Texas band and gang - Porter, Del, Duane, Dwayne, Mark, Jason and Donny. We got to be true groupies and hang out on the tour bus (thank god for A/C!). Nora got a signed pair of drum sticks from Del, and flirted with the guys.



Nora helped Jason sell stickers and t-shirts (she suggested "next time let's sell MAKEUP too!") in the schwag booth. She later commandeered a pair of earplugs, and used them for, well, nose plugs instead... whichever bandmember they came from, thank you and we threw them in the trash, so don't worry!



The next day we hit the Castle Air Museum and saw the vintage airplanes. Very cool, but waaayyy too hot to be walking around 11 acres of metal planes. Made you think of the sacrifices that the soldiers made then and are still making today. God bless 'em!



View all of the photos on Flickr.

Every three years, come 'round mid-July, Dell trades in his leased car for a new leased car. This time, we decided to go from a "crossover SUV" to a standard sedan... So, it was so long Infiniti FX35



And HELLO! Infiniti M35



This new car is totally bad ass! Push a button to start it, with no need to insert a key. Bluetooth enabled car phone. Rear view camera. Voice activated GPS. Heated and cooled seats (ah, that cool butt feeling). More gadgets and buttons than I know what to do with (but Dell knows what most of them do).

We will take it on its first road trip tomorrow. Heading up with the whole fam-damily to Merced. Gonna take in the county fair, and see Little Texas perform again. Nora gets to ride some rides, and Otto will sit his boo-hiney in the Vagabond Inn while we stroll the midway.

We spent Saturday night at our friends Brian & Carol's house in Aptos, near Santa Cruz. The Dudley's home is so comfortable, fun and relaxing.



Nora is about 8 months older than Camille, and the girls had a great time together playing dress-up, watching Dora, playing in the park, and coloring (there was lots of preschooler angst too). Baby Sophia (9 months old) was a gem, and is just sweet as pie.



We hit the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk for a sunny Sunday stroll. The Daddys took Nora and Camille on the Log Ride - it was the first time for both the girls. Camille came off laughing, saying "I got drenched!" Nora, on the otherhand was clinging to Daddy, crying and sobbing. Different strokes... View all the photos on Flickr.

Ahhh, what a relaxing weekend! Sam and Bobbi Kotara joined us for Friday and Saturday at my parent's ranch in Lakeport.

We left Nora & Otto with Joan and Ray while the four grown-ups did a Napa Valley weekend. Sunday was Mudbaths and Massages at Indian Springs Resort - we stayed in a room at the newly built "Lodge" section of the hotel. Just lovely!

Monday night was the Little Texas concert at the Napa County Fair. Dell's best friend from high school, Porter Howell, is the lead singer/lead guitarist/songwriter for the band.

Those boys were working on a few hours sleep, and they put on a ROCKIN show! Thanks to Porter, Dwayne, Duane, Del, and Mark (not pictured) for being "Loud and Proud!" We can't wait for the new song "Texas 101" to come out so we can sing along... The drummer Del blew up a monitor (speaker) - smoke was coming out the top!

Tuesday was the Fourth of July Parade in Calistoga. Lots of fun, patriotic floats, loud Harleys, clowns, sirens... your basic parade.


Then it was back to Lakeport for an evening spent at the Tringali's house with lots of friends - a slice of hometown goodness - and fireworks to end it all. OOOOHHHH! AAAAHHHH!

View the entire "Fourth of July" Photoset on Flickr.