Extra! Extra! Read All About It! Big Day For Jack! He Finally Gets to Chew Gum!

Every family has their share of quirky traditions. Our family is no different. Around here, if you want to chew gum, you have to be in kindergarten (or beyond) and it must be Saturday. Yesterday marked the first day for Jackson to qualify. He officially began his kindergarten homeschool curriculum last week and counted down the days until Saturday.

You Go Girl!

It happened this summer. Something magical. Something that we are all so proud of. Kennedy learned to ride her purple and white Sea Starz Quest with no training wheels!

Who Could Ask For Anything More?

I turned 35 last week. It was awesome. I got everything I could possibly want and more.

It started out at 8:00 AM...I actually got to sleep in! Ken woke up with the kiddos and made me breakfast in bed...blackberry pancakes and coffee.
We went to Saltwater Park for a picnic and played for a while.

Jack saw the sign on this electrical box and knew immediately what it meant. He ran over to us exclaiming, "There is a monster who lives in that box! If you bother him, he will come out and get you!"
Sweet Harrison gave me this beautiful "berfday fwower."We came home to Dixie cups. Below is Harrison's tummy after he finished his!
We went out on a motorcycle date, thanks to my friend, Steph, who stayed with the children. Please note the fabulous banner that my husband created for me while I slept in.Sun setting on Alki and a truly wonderful birthday.

"It is not the years in your life that count, but the life in your years."

~Abraham Lincoln

And then the next night I celebrated at Red Robin with Steph. So much to be thankful for!

*******FLASHBACK*******

Age 5 or 6

(I can't tell exactly how many candles are on that slice of cake)

Age 10

Annual Family Vacation

We recently spent several days with Ken's family out at Hood Canal. It has become a yearly tradition that we all look forward to as we reconnect with one another and relax and play in the sun.Kennedy took this beautiful photo.Grammy & Pappa with the grandkids

Gotta love those fudge bars!
Noodle war!
Cousins on the beach

Grammy loves holding those babies! Jack and Daddy reel in the shark.

Pool party! Cutie pie cousins
Special father & son bonding time
Tackling Uncle TimmChubby BubbyMan's bestfriendPeek-a-boo! Kiki's shark
Chillin' with the children
Aunt Becky is so great with the little onesWhere's Baby Bear?

Group Hug

Lazy summer days...does it get much better than this?

Camping Out & Camping In

My dad has a little red cabin in the woods that he generously lets us use. Last weekend we went out there to spend some quality time together as a family.The road to the lakeWhat do you do when it rains on your camping trip? Have a Domino building contest, of course! We challenged the children to come up with their own original structures using 30 or less Dominoes each. I love how they were all so different. Most Inspirational
Tallest
Most unique


It did stop raining long enough to go down to the lake a couple of times.The children had fun imagining what kind of animal lived down in the big hole. Jackson shot it with his toy gun a few times to make sure it wouldn't come out.
And what camping trip would be complete without smores?

Sprinkler Park

A new sprinkler park opened this summer directly across from our public library. Sometimes we go there deliberately and other times we just find ourselves there after checking out our latest books.

This is a huge marble sphere that can be spun around in various directions on top of the spouting water. It is reall cool.