Our week with Rocklyn: Country Mouse City Mouse

While we didn't get to spend much time on the farm while Rocklyn was here, Hale had a good time showing Rocklyn all the other ways in which he likes to get dirty. Wednesday evening I had the kids in the little swimming pool and then Hale decided he wanted to play with his tractors in the dirt. This is how it went:

Mom: Hale, don't go in the dirt when you are all wet! You're going to get all muddy and dirty!

Hale: Yes, Mom! I DO go in dirt and I DO get muddy dirty.

Rocklyn: (with look of total sincerity) I don't get dirty!

I realized it was going to take a lot of energy to keep the kids clean, so I just let them have fun.



And true to their words, Hale did get dirty...



and Rocklyn did not.







At the end of the week Hale and I headed to Bellevue and experienced the fun of being "city mice." Rocklyn invited us to her gymnastics class and the kids had a total blast. I wish they could do it together every week.





Hale totally proud of himself.









Next Grandma Gloria took us to watch the Blue Angels practice over Lake Washington. The kids thought it was pretty cool.



We had a lot of fun at Rocklyn's house - especially going down the slide into her pool! This is the kids playing "funny face" in the mirror before bath.

Our week with Rocklyn: blueberry picking!

This past week Hale got to hang out with his cousin every single day. We were looking forward to having her for a while in Lynden, and fortunately, we had some beautiful weather to enjoy with her.

We kicked off the week-long party last Sunday with some blueberry picking.

Hale and Rocklyn are both avid blueberry-eaters, so they were expected to pull their own weight when picking. Hale has quite a bit of experience and Rocklyn caught on fast.

Grandma Susan suggested picking into small cups...



...and then pouring the cupfuls into a coffee can.



The kids were diligent pickers...



...and quickly filled half their can.



Grandpa stopped by to check on the progress - and picked a few berries for the kids' can.



You can probably guess which vehicle grandpa drove.







The kids didn't eat too many berries but sometimes Hale couldn't help himself.





Can you tell these kids enjoy each other?

Nichole's Bachelorette!!!

Two posts in one day, I know, is quite weird for me. But I have a bunch of pictures that I'm dying to share so I just need to get these up while I have the time tonight. Plus they are overdue...

Two weekends ago I got to spend two nights in Seattle with my SPU girlfriends to celebrate Nichole and her upcoming wedding. I was having so much fun that I didn't take as many pics as I should have, but fortunately Jen (a BFF and amazing photographer) did an awesome job documenting the parts of the weekend that I did not. So Jen, I stole some of your pics. Hope you don't mind!

Here are a few pics of the girls that Jen took of our night out on the town!

The beautiful guest of honor on the sidewalk in Capital Hill (love your candids Jen).



U-Scholar's Forever!!! (totally kidding)





Twins! So pretty!



And here are MY pictures from the official shower.





Brie prepping the mint for Mojitos.



Christy, our friend fresh off her return trip from South America mixed them - even the virgin version was yummy!



Another very special guest - Silas came to hang out with the girls. He is so cute and smiley- he made me look forward to having my own little one again!







Nichole and her beautiful "bow-quet" sculpted by Christy!

Lynden Christian Centennial Celebration

Lynden Christian School celebrated their 100th year anniversary with a weekend full of events. Landon participated in the alumni baseball game. It was really fun to watch him pitch competitively again!

Hale watches Landon warm up in the bullpen.




Landon pitching



and up to bat!





An overview of Landon's senior year - posted in a display that day by the field...



Way to go "Lando"! We love you!

Why my flowerbeds are empty...

Just in case you were wondering, this is why I decided not to plant flowers in my flowerbeds this year: I have yet to find any type of vegetation that is hardy enough to withstand Hale's loader and dump truck. I've had several people suggest that we build him a sandbox but I'm not sure we need one. We've got lots of dirt! Plus, this way I don't have to manage sprinklers or buy Miracle Grow. I do like to garden, but I've learned that trying to keep the dirt groomed all 12 months out of the year fulfills my gardening desires.

These pictures are all from Wednesday evening. Landon had a short evening at the farm after working in town so we used the rest of the daylight to work in our yard. Hale loves being with his dad in the evenings!

Our other news from Wednesday is that, while I was caught up in the Wednesday morning rush at the thrift store (and searching for my phone in my purse), Hale took a nose dive out of his stroller from a standing position and his face got smashed. It was a terrible fall but he rebounded fast. He even let me pick up groceries on the way home - though he was swollen from the bridge of his nose to his chin.

Here he is (with a goofy look) showing off his scraped face. I'm sure he's learned his lesson and he'll never stand up in his stroller again. Ha!





I don't remember exactly what preceded this picture, but it was something like, "Okay, time to go in for a bath!"

Chelan time again!

Here are some pictures of our Fourth of July camping trip with Landon's family in Chelan. Last time we went to Chelan the kids were still babies so it was fun to experience it again now that they are a bit older.

Relaxing on the first day with their Chelan T-shirts on. I made these for the kids to be funny, but if you know Hale you understand that it wasn't entirely a joke.





Hale learned to pedal and rode this little bike around and around the circle.



We had a blast at the waterslides!





These two hung out so well together. I was always curious what their little private conversations were about.









The kids were big enough to do a few of the slides themselves.



Fun (and relaxing) at the campsite
















And by the lake







We got to visit with Tom and Dawn at Desert Canyon - it was fun to relax in their penthouse suite after "roughing it" in our trailer. Here's the crew in the hot tub.



On our way back to Chelan from Desert Canyon we took a "shortcut" on this dirt path over the hills. I was kind of annoyed with Landon for choosing to make our drive a little longer, but there were some beautiful views over the wheatfields as the sun went down. This picture doesn't do it justice.

The dirt road on the left was our route.