Here are some pictures that have graced my phone in August:
I did this as a kid just like Laurel does.....ate all the grainy cereal from my Lucky Charms and left the marshmallows for last. Okay, maybe I still do this!
Our garden has produced some serious cucumbers this year, which we are loving! They are so good by themselves....
....or as pickles!
My mom and I took the kids to a park that has a sand feature and a water feature. They loved it! The next best thing to the beach.
And we had 50 cent ice cream cones afterwards. Best day ever!
This was Levi's reaction to sharing a swing with his sister.
This past Saturday, we spent the day at Hagg Lake for Matt's company picnic. We loved it! It was sprinkling when we left Newberg, but 30 minutes later at the lake, it was perfectly lovely! We headed down to the lake to throw some rocks in the water.
Then, the kids got some tough looking tattoos from the tattoo artist (My Little Pony and a fairy)
We played some horseshoes. I am still surprised no one was injured when Levi was allowed to throw his horseshoe!
Next up, the gunny sack race! Luckily, our kids use their pillow cases as gunny sacks to jump in in the house sometimes. Even though they are not suppose to. But it helped them succeed in this race! Erika won second place for the 7 and under kids!
Erika with her 2nd place prize and Levi and Laurel with participation prizes.
Then there was a water balloon toss. First, it was parent to child so I tossed to Laurel and Matt tossed to Erika. I think we both had about 3 good tosses before our balloons broke. Levi and Laurel participated in child to child toss while Erika stopped to eat an ice cream bar.
Then, the Money Pit. We knew this was going to be part of the picnic so we had been coaching the kids about getting as many coins as they could. They spread sawdust all in this pit and then dumped a bag of coins and candy in and let the kids have at it. Laurel and Levi went first in the 4 and under category. Levi wanted nothing to do with the money.....he went straight for the candy! He ended up with a solo cup full of candy, and $.55. Laurel, however, listened to her wise parents and banked $4.15! Erika was in with the 5 to 8 year olds and was a machine! She plopped herself in the biggest mound of coins she could find and shoved them into her cup! Most of the coins she collected were just nickels, but she still ended up with $5.50! I told the girls that whatever money they collected they could spend on a new toy. Good thing we had plans to go shopping the next day because they asked for the toy as soon as they stepped out of the money pit!
Fun games, super good food and snow cones.....a perfect company picnic!
Our big family vacation was to Sunriver, OR this year. We left our house Sunday after church and were in Sunriver by 4:30.
The kids wasted no time getting on their bikes!
We rented a house, which is our favorite way to vacation! The house was big enough for the kids to run around in and not feel cramped. The only bummer was when Levi threw up all over the bed the first night we were there and I got to clean up the sheets instead of housekeeping. We think he just had too many sweets the day before because he was perfectly fine the rest of the trip. The "backyard" was really big and full of pine cones and needles and downed limbs to climb on. The kids had a great time playing in it!
The weather could not have been more perfect! Cool and a little crisp in the morning when we would play outside or walk/bike to the park.
The girls got to go on a few bike rides with Daddy. Erika did really great! Laurel is still a bit slow on the balance bike, but she loved being included. Every day we are reminded of how much our kids are growing up. One bike ride with Matt and Erika together, he took her to the river where they stopped and had a snack. He asked if she was ready to go and she said, "No, let's just sit here and enjoy looking at the river some more." I love it! It is really fun not having "babies" anymore, but little people who enjoy doing what we enjoy doing.
After an afternoon rest, and when the weather was warmer, we headed to the swim center. It was amazing! There was a lazy river, a big pool, a kiddie pool, and two waterslides outside. Inside in an adjacent building, there was a bigger, deep pool and a kids pool area and a place to play basketball. Erika loved the outdoor pool because it was a good depth for her to practice swimming. She didn't have to wear a life jacket because she could stand up if she got tired of swimming. Erika also was the only kid tall enough to ride the waterslides so she loved that as well! Laurel and Levi preferred the indoor pool area because they had this jetted, bubbly area that reminded them of a hot tub. And, the indoor pool was much warmer which helped when the wind picked up and it got cool outside.
We left Sunriver Friday morning after a really great family vacation. It was nice to be back in our own home (sleeping in anything smaller than a king size bed like we are used to is super rough for Matt and I!). We really look forward to more trips to Sunriver, though!
Uncle Jacob, Aunt Lisa, Molly and Eleanor were able to spend some time with us at our house before they headed back to California.
Erika wasted no time dressing up her little cousin.
The swing set was a big hit! Molly told us we had a park in our yard.
Enjoying cupcakes made by Aunt Sarah.
Love!
Dance parties took place.
Grandma was in heaven with all of her grandkids!
Molly got to spend the night with the girls while her parents enjoyed a more quiet evening/morning at Aunt Sarah's house.
Eating breakfast.
These two either really loved each other or were really annoyed with each other whenever they were together. Mostly they just liked to be together....but with two year olds who are only one day apart, it was a little difficult at times!
While in Yakima, my older brother, Jeff, and his family came to Grandpa and Grandma's house to join in on the family fun.
Aunt Sarah recruited Erika and Laurel to shuck corn in preparation for the Saturday night feast.
Great-Grandma and Grandma made homemade ice cream. Laurel watched it closely.
Putting enough soda in the fridge for everyone.
Parnells!
Jeff's younger daughter, Emilee (11), was so good with the younger kids. And she and Erika became fast friends. She conducted a makeover party for them.
Sarah, Jacob, and I spent many many weekends, vacations, and summers in Yakima growing up. So Jacob wanted to let our kids experience some of the fun we had when we were kids. And one of our favorite activities was ice blocking! Sarah and Jacob scoured the Yakima grocery stores until they found a store that sold ice in blocks as opposed to ice chunks. Four ice blocks later we had a great time! Franklin Park in Yakima has the best hill to slide down on the ice blocks. The kids had such a great time! I went down a couple times.....it was much more fun when I was 10 than when I was 33! Jacob and Jeff were much braver and flew down the hill, but I think they both probably have many bruises from their adventures.
Erika and Laurel ready to go.
Levi sat on the ice and decided it was too cold. He and Molly were a little small to go down by themselves, but they had fun running down and then being carried back up the hill.
Erika was pretty good at it!
The bummer part of ice blocking....carrying the ice block back up the hill!
Laurel actually liked the ice blocking the best out of my kids, but she was very cautious and went down the hill so slowly!
After ice blocking, we went back to Grandpa and Grandma's house for a much anticipated dinner! My grandma and sister-in-law, Kelly, stayed back while we all went to the park to fry up a ton of chicken.
Emilee and Erika getting the biscuits ready.
The big kid table.
My girlies.
Before Jeff and Kelly had to leave, we tried getting a picture of Grandma and Grandpa and all their great grandkids.
Waiting for the kids to get ready.
Levi was less then impressed with a family picture.
He really didn't want to be in it.
So my mom held him so he could kind of be in the picture!
