Summer Fun

We've been on some fun adventures already this summer... here are some of our memories.

 Seattle Day Trip

We realized that we had never really taken the kids around Seattle at all. Seeing how it's so close to my parents, we decided to take a little day trip. First stop: Seattle Center. When we caught our first glimpse of the fountain, Nora stood up in the stroller and squealed with delight. Then, as we got closer, she decided that it was better to watch from a distance. Leesi also was hesitant to run around in the bowl of the fountain. But Jonathan got right down in there; he loved running around down in the fountain, just on the brink of getting wet. 

 

A little later in the day, the big kids and I rode the water taxi over to West Seattle. They were pretty excited about being on "a boat." But when I tried to get them to venture up to the top deck out in the open air, they were NOT going to do it. I finally coerced them up to the top, but they couldn't wait to sit back down on a seat inside. Maybe they were scared by the instructions given over the speakers at the beginning of the trip about what to do if someone fell overboard. Still, they loved it. 

Later on in the evening we went to the Mariner's game with my family. The kids liked seeing Safeco and were excited that they each got a train as a special giveaway (especially Jonathan). My parents took them home and put them to bed after the second inning, which meant that we got to stay and enjoy the rest of the game with my brother and sister-in-law!

13th Anniversary trip to Bend

For our anniversary Greg and I got out of town and headed to Bend. We stumbled upon the Bite of Bend one day and got to watch a cooking competition (Top Chef Bend). We decided spur of the moment to go white water rafting, super fun! Did some "mountain biking" using our road bikes, which we had brought along. Enjoyed the great outdoors and each other. 

When we got back home the kids told us, "Mommy, Daddy, come see! Close your eyes... now open!" And there on the kitchen counter was a beautiful butterfly cake and homemade cards, it was very sweet, and they were very proud.

 

Fourth of July

For the fourth we went over to a friend's house. The kids had a great time playing in the slip'n'slide, and watching a few little fireworks. Nora enjoyed her watermelon.

I love how in these pictures you can see the excitement on Jonathan's face and the smoke still in the air from the fireworks.

Beach Trip

Just this week we went to beach with Wanda. It coincided nicely with my birthday, which was lovely. We had to stop at the Cheese factory, of course!

We had beautiful weather, sunny and 70s... but on the beach it was a bit windy. Luckily Wanda brought an umbrella which we used as a wind shield. At one point it blew away and Greg had to run down the beach after it. A little later, it blew away again. This time none of us noticed right away because we were busy with other things. None of us, that is, except Jonathan. He saw it blow away and ran after it just like Daddy had done. When he finally caught it though, he couldn't bring it back. Finally, I noticed him struggling with the umbrella and ran to help him.

The kids can play in the sand for hours. They decided to make me a birthday sand cake with pretzel candles. I sang "Happy Birthday to me" and blew out the candles. Then we all ate the pretzels... the sand added a little extra crunch.

Everyday Moments

Nora with the water sprayer. 

Nora walking around Costco with her new backpack.
She had to have one since the big kids were both getting them.
We heard, "That backpack is as big as she is!" from about twenty people.