Summer berries

Since our summers around here are so short yet so beautiful it's always a shame as we near the end ... with the exception of the ripening of the wild blackberries. For one reason or another I missed getting out last year to pick berries so I made an extra effort this year to make sure we not only picked berries, but that I also took the time to make a sweet treat. This is about the one time of year I might attempt a pie. I hate making pies simply because I hate making pie crust. But alas I pushed through and made a delicious blackberry pie. No better way to have it than fresh from the oven with ice cream on top ... unless of course you add home made whip cream too. You can never have too many creamy sweet dairy products!

Sweet Ol' Maddie

This morning while I was downstairs cleaning up from breakfast Ethan asked if I would take a picture of him and Maddie. Of course Ava wanted in on the action. And yes, she’s wearing last year’s Christmas pajamas in September. I purchased for her age which was obviously too big so they’ve had lots of wear and are finally fitting. I digress …  I asked Ethan why he wanted a picture with Maddie and he said so sweetly, “Because I love her.” Oh how I treasure such sweet moments … 

Curler Girl

While I get ready for church or anything really, Ava likes to hang around the bathroom and get into everything, particularly the curlers. She's made far more use of them as stacking rings than I have for their true intended purpose. This particular Sunday I decided to see if she had the patience to learn how curlers are actually supposed to be used. She surprised me as sat perfectly still as I layered her head with curlers. She looked so cute! Funny ... we got a picture of the before but didn't follow through with an after shot. Probably because we were in a whirlwind to get out the door for church as usual. :)

Little Piano Pirate

This past year Ethan has been attending a music class that a very talented friend from church offers to pre-K kids. She always plans such fun themes that the kids love. This week’s theme was a pirate’s treasure hunt where they created their own treasure chests complete with chocolate coins & they got to take turns dressing as the pirate. Ethan’s the cutest little pirate I know. Arrr matey! 

Summer Day at the Farm

Thanks to a Groupon we enjoyed a fun family day at Remlinger Farm this summer. Prior to this visit we had actually never heard of this fun little spot. It’s only about 45 minutes from our place and in addition to the large family fun area, it still has a large functioning farm. The amusement piece of the farm includes a store & restaurant, pony rides, petting zoo, train rides, hay maze and several mini amusement rides. Of course our visit coincided with the hottest day of the year, a record breaker even, so while we enjoyed the sunny weather, you’ll notice in many of the pictures that Ethan and Ava’s hair are matted down with sweat. Can’t complain though … we don’t get many days where the heat makes us sweat!

Ethan taking the wheel with the old fashioned cars.

Riding the mini steam train around the farm. One of the train's was named Floyd which reminded me of my grandpa. 

Riding canoes down the lazy river. Complete with pretend ducks.

Ethan had a blast with these four wheeled peddle bikes. They had them set on a little race course so Ethan loved trying to beat me around the track. He just barely made the height requirement to reach the pedals. 

Ethan talking with the alpacas in the petting zoo.

Ethan was all excited about the pony rides. He's always loved them. Ava on the other hand was not a fan and would never sit still long enough for a picture. She was dying to get off. I'm always surprised at the things that Ava fears because she's usually such a crazy kamikaze willing to fearlessly try anything and then she finds the most unlikely things that make her uneasy. 

The heat finally took it's toll so we headed for the store and restaurant for some ice cream and air conditioning. The kids found hats to try out on their way inside. Ethan was embarrassed to take a pic while Ava was more interested in climbing and jumping off chairs.

At the end of the day everyone was tired. Ethan as usual hit his seat and passed out. Ava on the other hand fusses when she's tired and fought her exhaustion all the way home. We did learn from the mini amusement park experience that we are NOT ready for any major theme parks in the near future. We visited on a weekday so there really were not that many people at the farm and lines at most had only about 5 people in front of us. For the most part we just walked right onto the rides. For the few very short lines Ethan was not lacking in complaints. I could only imagine a hot day at Disneyland with hour long lines ... I would not last long!

Soccer Date

We finally made it to an MLS match! A cousin of ours passed along his tickets to us while he was out of town so Jairo and I were able to have an evening to ourselves watching a great soccer match. We’ve both been to games before just not together so it was fun to finally enjoy one together. Plus it was one of the warmest evenings of the summer so it was nice to be outside relaxing at the game and enjoying a cool breeze from the water nearby. While I was excited to catch a glimpse of David Beckham (who wouldn’t!) I was happy that our team won 4-0. 

The Joy of Baking

As a child, one of my favorite parts about home baking, whether I was much of a helper of not, was getting to lick the batter off the spatulas and other mixing tools. Ethan has a bit more experience in licking the baking tools so he begins asking for them as soon as I start baking. On the other hand, Ava is a bit inexperienced as I usually do my baking during her naps for less distraction. This day we were making brownies for a Fourth of July BBQ and I had to chase Ava down to get her to take a lick of the batter. Once I finally forced a taste to her lips she was sold! In the end we had to find a new clean outfit for the BBQ.

I love seeing Ava going to town in the background!

Ethan if really working it with the whisk!

Ava all clean and changed for the 4th BBQ. Of course she has Ethan's old backpack ... there was a time this summer where it went everywhere with her. 

Camping with G & G

Grandma & Grandpa visits are always a highlight for the kids. Ethan had been planning out their visit for some time, full of all kinds of fun things he wanted to do when G&G were in town. We did get out and hit many of his requests such as camping, visits to the beach, movie nights and the Lego store (unfortunate for me, fortunate to Ethan, we have a new Lego store at out local mall & he can’t get there enough).

Our trip started with a camping trip to Lake Chelan. Last year was our first visit to Lake Chelan and we quickly chastised ourselves for not having visited before. It is such a beautiful and calming place to visit. This stay we camped at Lake Chelan State Park, which was perfect … great access to the lake, showers, playgrounds, a store on site for treats or must have items we forgot, and hiking.  The kids had a blast and we did as well. Ethan enjoyed meeting other kids from the campground at the play area and still talks about one of the boys to this day asking if he can invite him to his birthday party.

I got the wonderful opportunity to carry Ava around on many of our little hikes. She was not a fan of the hiking backpack and would find ways to weasel her way out of the straps and try to kamikaze out of the pack. Soooo, much carrying we did. :)

G&G keeping up on the hikes!

Ethan was thrilled to have conquered the tree near our campsite. Dad offered some assistance of course. 

Grandpa knows how to make friends with Ava by helping her out with her otter pop. 

When we arrived in Lake Chelan we stopped at a local farmer's market for lunch which had these cute little goats. It was hard to get the kids to focus on eating as all they wanted to do was play with and feed the goats. 

We also enjoyed movie night.

An evening at Picnic Point Beach Park is always a fun treat. We enjoyed a sunny warm evening while the kids played in the creek that leads to the Sound. They can spend hours building dams or throwing items in the stream and following them downstream.

We even had a chance to celebrate Father’s Day and grandpa Joe’s birthday with our extended family. Only in the Pacific Northwest would you experience such a blustery and wet mid-June afternoon at the park. The rain didn’t bother the kids but all of the adults stayed under the covered area for the most part. We had some soggy, tired and cold kiddos on the way home … but they were happy!