Summer Fun

 Sprinkler under the trampoline.  Classic.

 Sam has  no problem with water in his face.  It always surprises and amuses me.  Most babies like water, but I don't meet many that enjoy getting sprayed in the face, and Sammy really loves it.

 One day in Mukilteo we stopped at a random playground, found frogs, and watched the sun set. Sam learned how to climb up slides.

 We've been partying a little too hard this summer.  I keep finding Sam asleep in his highchair at lunch time. (usually bare chested because we will have been playing in water beforehand)

 A special excursion to our favorite doughnut store, Top Pot.  Anyone that visits us will be taken to Top Pot so we can show off our gourmet doughnuts!!

Mostly I just think the kids look cute in these pictures.

Puppy!!!

On Father's day we got to go pick up our new puppy!!!

 She's a golden retriever, just like Nephi, and she comes from a prominent show kennel.  We've named her Ruby, and everyone adores her already!

 It took Nephi a few hours to decide it was okay to share his "human", but now he and Ruby are inseparable.  

 And since it was Father's Day, Russ got to open presents, have a fun dinner, and a giant cookie baked in a skillet with ice cream on top for dessert.

 It took Sam a few days to warm up to the puppy, but from the very first he enjoyed all of Ruby's things, like her crate and her toys, etc.....

And Clara has been mothering the puppy constantly.  Fortunately, goldens love attention, and Ruby is delighted to have continual petting.

Ballerinas!!

 The girls had their ballet recital (for Clara) and ballet production (for Brielle) on June 20th.  Clara's group had their show in the afternoon (for younger ballet students, and the other types of dance like jazz, hip hop, lyrical, etc...), and each of the classes performed a dance they had been working on.  Clara was wonderful!!  Her group of kids are 3 and 4 year olds, and so not all of them really learned the dance.  But Clara had the dance down perfectly!! The teacher stood in front to one side, and Clara  did everything she was supposed to, at the right times, with a smile on her face.  You could tell she really loved dancing!

Brielle was in a 2 hour long production of Sleeping Beauty. It was a fun performance, and all of the kids were mesmerized watching it.

 Brielle was a pixie, and she was on the stage for 30 minutes.  She did a wonderful job, and she looked so elegant and beautiful!!

School is OUT!!

 The week that school got out we played with our baby bunnies.

 I made a wedding cake for the Young Women's mutual activity.  Though I procrastinated and had to whip it together in under an hour, so it wasn't quite as fancy as I had imagined.

 We went to another beach to do a low tide beach walk with the Seattle Aquarium Naturalists.  It was a church playgroup activity, so lots of our friends were there.

Sam just wanted to play with rocks.  The other kids ran up and down the beach finding starfish and crabs and looking for the little geysers of water that shoot out from clams buried in the sand.  It was a lot of fun.

Cape Disappointment

On June 12 (before school was out for the year) we went to Cape Disappointment with our Mugleston cousins.  I have been wanting to go to Cape Disappointment for YEARS, just because of the name.  I mean c'mon, it's Cape DISAPPOINTMENT!!!  Who wouldn't want to go there!!

We stayed in yurts, which are so much fun.  But they get rented out as soon as they are available, so we've never been able to rent one before (at this location).  They can be rented 9 months before your stay, so for next year I need to start planning, and renting, in October!

The inside of the yurt has a hard floor, a bunk bed (twin over full) and a futon that lays out into a full bed.  There is electricity and a heater, and that's it!  Bathrooms are nearby, and there are showers there as well.

 Spencer and the kids dug a deep hole.  Nephi approves.  (This part of the coast has very soft silky black sand)

 Hyrum with his driftwood fort.

 We spent hours and hours on the beach, and could have stayed for several more.  The kids dug, swam, looked for treasures, built driftwood houses, lay around for a moment, and then ran off to do it all again!

 Being buried!  Victoria was less sure of this activity and kept moving her arms, which would put sand in Clara's mouth, so Clara just kept her mouth shut!

 Burying the boys!

 I think Brielle and Cassandra went in the furthest.  The water was still pretty cold.  We'll have to come back in August next year!

 Clara wanted the Light House in the background.

And of course I've raised my children with a good healthy fear of killer whales, so we run from the waves.....   ; )

Early June

 Three little bunnies, (blackie, whitie, and brownie, though the real names are Ghirrardelli, Flurry, and Callebaut.)

 Playing at the beach, in low, low, LOW tide.  We've hit up a lot of beaches in preparation for our Hawaii trip!!

 Russ likes to fall asleep on the couch.  Sam does too.

The 7 wooly babies are big enough to nibble on grass a bit.  But not too much yet!