Fishing

We took the kids fishing on Saturday morning. And had a successful trip! Laurel caught a small little bass. The kids did great on the trip. Erika brought her own little lawn chair so it kept her interested and focusing on fishing rather than picking flowers. They both loved playing with the worms we used as bait. They love worms. And dirt. The mud at the edge of the lake was a huge hit with them. I love that they are not scared or girlie when it comes to fishing. Makes a mommy proud!

Her first fish! The picture is bad with my shadow, but we were trying to save the fish (we didn't) so I was just hustling to take the picture and not worrying about lighting.

See the teeny tiny thing on the end of the line? That's the fish.

Levi liked playing in the car during the fishing trip. He doesn't quite understand that fishing is a quiet, still sport.

Water Park Fun

On Friday, we met some friends at a nearby park complete with two different water features for the kids to play in and enjoy the hot weather. The park had fountains and a little waterfall/river-y/wading pool thing. It was so much fun! I love watching my little kids play in the water. All three of them absolutely love everything about being in the water. It is always a challenge to get them out of the water, but we somehow did manage to make it home that day!
Swimsuit model in the making.

Erika would run straight through the fountains, but Laurel doesn't really like it in her face, so she just sticks her hands in the fountain.

Levi and Laurel enjoying the water.

My three water babies!

I love this water! Thanks for bringing me here!

Look at her little chick bikini....super cute!

Erika taking a water break.

And, the cute little guy again.

Weekend

We finally made it into the 90's in the weather department here in Oregon. Therefore, we spent a lot of time in the water this weekend!

Erika and Laurel got to help Daddy wash the car.

Levi enjoyed naked swinging while everyone worked.

Grandma Parnell bought Levi the CUTEST little soccer uniform so I had to get pictures of him in it. He might want to lose the binkie before he actually plays soccer.

Parnell Family Reunion

We went to Yakima and the Tri-Cities this weekend to spend some time with the Parnell family. It was so much fun to see family I had not seen in about 8 years! The kids were awesome travelers and represented our family well. There were a few meltdowns and frustrating moments with their naps and schedules off, but for the most part they did great. Here are some picture highlights.

Levi's favorite thing to do at Grandpa and Grandma's house was climb on the bottom shelf of their kitchen cabinets.

And stay their like a knick-knack.

We took the kids to the park with a duck pond. I have pictures of me at Erika's age in the same spot doing the same thing!

Erika and Laurel in the rumble seat of Grandpa's Model A.

On Saturday, we drove to the Tri-Cities for the Parnell family reunion. It was at a park along the Snake River with a little inlet for swimming. The girls love swimming so they really enjoyed that part! Matt enjoyed that it was not 100 degrees that weekend. Just a nice cool 91. It was actually pretty pleasant. That night, we went to one of my cousin's house for a pig roast. They had dug a pit in their yard and roasted the pig in it. It was delicious! And it was so much fun to get together with all of our family. There was a park that was right behind their enormous back yard so the kids had a ball playing and socializing.

Levi with his somehow-related cousin Wyatt.

Lots of Parnells.

Laurel got a little bit grumpy due to not napping. She clung to Daddy quite a bit.

The highlight of the event was probably Aunt Eleanor, a couple months shy of her 90th birthday, doing a headstand. Classic.

Parnell Cousin Visit

Last week, my brother, who is a youth minister in Livermore, CA, brought his youth group along with his wife and daughter to Portland to work with a local church/mission group. The kids and I were lucky enough to be able to spend an evening with them and meet their cousin/my niece Molly! It was a ton of fun and Molly is just the sweetest baby! She and Levi enjoyed staring at each other and touching each other's face. The girls loved all over their cousin. Molly is the first baby for Jacob and Lisa and I'm not sure she was quite excited about all the attention showered on her by her older cousins. She is a very relaxed baby, however, and just took it in stride.

Aunt Lisa loving on Laurel, Erika and Levi.

Levi!

Aunt Lisa and Levi again.

Erika and Laurel liked putting paper plate hats on Molly. Levi would then take the hat off Molly and start eating it.

The Parnell cousins!

The Parnell kids!

Molly was born on December 7. Levi was born on December 8. I tried out what it would be like to have twins. I didn't like it.

Mamas and babies.

Strawberries

Our strawberry plants that we planted last year are bountifully producing this year! We get between 24 and 40 strawberries every couple of days. I love it! They are super sweet and going to make some excellent freezer jam.

The girls love strawberries and they are pretty good about helping me pick them. A lot of strawberry stained hands and shirts, but that's the fun of it, right?

Delicious!

"Mom, I'm standing! Can I help pick strawberries?" Levi is figuring out there is more to life than scooting around on his tummy. He is getting up on his hands and knees a lot, but won't crawl on them yet. He is also pulling himself up on things, but can't figure out how to put his legs underneath him, so the top 2/3 of his body is in the air, while his legs lie limply behind him. He'll be standing soon, I think!