Emma & Elle came for a visit and we were so excited!!! We met up for frozen yogurt their first night here.
We went to Snoqualmie Falls and hiked down- it was so pretty out and everyone had a great time.
The Stephens Family
The kids had a great time hiking around on the rocks and cooling off.
Cute Cousins:)
We went to Remlinger Farms for lunch and ice cream after the hike.
Doug & Marie and Kevin & I went on the Sunset Wine Walk through Woodinville. It was fun to try so many tasty wines...we had lots of good laughs!
We met up with everyone in Kingston- Lauren and I went a little late because she had gymnastics. Such a gorgeous day for a ferry ride.
We went to our favorite ice cream place in Kingston- Mora. They have lavender ice cream and gluten free cones! It's amazing!
The kids and I had a great time kayaking around the marina- we went out of the marina for a little bit and Lauren freaked out...so we went back in the marina! Found out later that the red kayak she was in is really tippy and even Doug was nervous in it. Oops!
Doug & Ben had fun playing UNO!
Love seeing all the cousins together!
There is a candy shop in Kingston that sells lots of old fashioned candy. I bought the wax soda bottle candy that was popular when I was a kid- fun to show it to the kids.
Kevin got Sea Fair passes again this year. We ended up getting 2 extra tickets last minute because a co worker canceled so the kids brought our neighbors! They all had a great time getting to be VIPs:)
On Day 2 just the 4 of us went. We had so much fun watching all the final races.
I'm just in awe of how these jets can fly, it's incredible!
They had a camping theme this year, it was really cute.
Another great Sea Fair weekend in the books- we feel so lucky to get to spend the weekend in the Sky Box.
Lauren had her friend Brynne over and her mom wanted me to take a picture of them for a project she was working on- they are pretty cute:)
Ben did Scott's Soccer Camp again this year and had a blast. He did it with a few of his best buddies from school.
His "team"
The whole camp!
Kids had fun pretending they are in the Olympics- pretty funny!
The pool crew! We were lucky enough to get to go to our friends country club a lot this summer- it's such a great pool and so relaxing and fun.
Gymnastics fun!
We went camping at Deception Pass with our good friends the Hagers this year. We had the best weather and it was so gorgeous out all weekend.
Ben and Blaine on the beach.
Lauren and Riley are both gymnasts and had lots of fun doing jumps on the beach.
The sunsets were incredible!
We ran into another teacher friend there!
Breakfast.
Maya (Riley's aunt) taught Riley and Lauren a new card game and a few card tricks and they were obsessed all weekend.
We went on a hike that was supposed to be 1 mile and ended up being at least 4 but we got to explore a lot of the area and it was so pretty.
I can't get over how high this bridge is- creeps out to even look at it!
This was carved in a log on the beach- so cool!
Hiking up to the top of Goose Ridge.
Gorgeous views from the top.
Our crew under the bridge.
The kids slept so well!
Boys made a teeter totter on the beach out of driftwood! Such little engineers!
Rock stacking!
Fun evening hanging out at the beach.
We had such a great weekend of camping- so thankful for good weather and great friends!!!
I had a week of classes in August and Pa watched the kids a couple days for me. He took them to Cottage Lake swimming and fishing and they had a great time. No fish though:(
The next weekend we headed to Bend, Oregon for 5 days. I was laughing because the kids looked like Under Armour reps:)
They had a blast swimming in the pool.
Bend is full of breweries! We had to check out a few:)
The Deschutes River is so beautiful.
Some technology time bonding back in our hotel room.
Lauren and I had fun playing with her ipad camera:)
Breakfast at McKay's cottage- really delicious breakfast place!
Kids had fun playing with the Wiki Stix!
We floated down the river and had the best time. The water was really cold but it was 90 degrees out so it felt good!
After our river float we went to Atlas Cider- so many fun cider's to taste!
The next day we went to 10 Barrel Brewing to taste their cider & beer. (I know I'm wearing the same outfit- it was vacation, that's allowed!)
While Kevin worked the kids and I walked to town and then played in the pool. They had a blast, so funny how much better they get along on vacation.
We rented paddle board and paddled up river for over an hour. It was hard work but so much fun. The ride back down river was much more relaxing.
Our last day there we went in the Newberry Lava Tube Caves. It's a 1.5 mile hike in a cave and I was totally freaked out. I was really proud of myself for doing it- we all really enjoyed it. A very cool experience!
It was pitch black the entire time and it's 40 degrees in the cave so much colder than outside!
There were so many interesting things in the cave but hard to take pics since it was so dark.
There were some stairs in parts of the cave. Other parts were really narrow and you had to look closely where you were walking because it was really rocky.
After the cave hike we drove to Portland for the night. Kevin had a meeting there and the kids and I played in the pool and found a really amazing gluten free cafe. EVERY SINGLE THING they serve is gluten and dairy free. Lauren and I were in heaven!
Ben was really excited to get home and see the kitties:) They've been good buddies this summer!
The kids spent the day up on the boat last week when I was working and I had to snap a quick pic when I was up there to pick them up. The sunset was so beautiful.
Lauren's team, Team Lightning, played in the Jamboree. They won 1, tied 1, and lost 1. Lauren, Lizzie, and Mary all got goals!
Lauren's friend Mary subbed on our team for the jamboree since we were short a player and her team wasn't playing in it.
Ben helped me vacuum the other day- he's so cute:)
Lauren went to lunch at Chick Filet with Lizzie and her sister & friend:)
We went to Morgan's house for dinner and the kids had fun playing Cut Throat Kitchen with leaves, dirt, sticks, and anything else they could find in the yard. They got pretty creative and their descriptions of what they made was hilarious!
Lauren and Lizzie have never been in the same class and they were SO hopeful they'd be together for their last year in elementary. They checked the mail together on the days the letters arrived and they found out that they ARE in the same class this year!!!! It was SO exciting for all of us!!
August was so fun, super busy, and went by WAY too fast!
Bring on September!
