It has become a bit of a tradition that every time we go on a trip we first make a stop at Uncle Bill's house. There are three reasons for this and the first of which is to see our favorite Uncle Bill and have one of his famous lemon drinks while discussing what the upcoming trip will bring.

Uncle Bill is pretty much back to normal now after his surgery and you can see that his garden is going wild as a result.

The second reason for our little stops at Uncle Bill's place is to drop off the kids. Linus and Frankie have a second home with Uncle Bill and they always love their stays with him when we head off on an adventure.

This day was especially fun for the boys. There is nothing better than a mid-day hunt...

While chatting in the backyard we were visited by several Swainson's Hawks. It gave me a chance to hone my wildlife photography before our big trip to Costa Rica.

Frankie was pretty sure he had died and gone to heaven.

We had our drinks and chatted the afternoon away.

Uncle Bill loves having the kids, but he worries about them getting out of the yard.

The last time they stayed with him Linus went on a little adventure of his own. He went to the neighbors yard and Uncle Bill couldn't find him anywhere. He made little posters and posted them all over the neighborhood. I can just imagine Uncle Bill drawing little lost kitty posters. Poor guy thought he was going to have to find a Linus look-alike.

Another great thing about Uncle Bill's house is that you never know what you are going to find there. This time I found these great binoculars. Perfect for the trip! As it turned out, they did come in rather handy...