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.

Summer so far...

I guess summer has been in full swing for a few weeks now - but according to the local climate it actually started yesterday (or at least that's the first time it has felt like summer to me). You might notice that we are wearing jackets in all the pictures from June - yuck. It was chilly. We're so glad the heat is finally here!!!

This is a really random mix of pictures to show what we've been up to lately:

Fishing off the Deck
This is a new game that Landon made up to entertain Hale while I make dinner in the evenings. Landon casts and Hale reels in a bobber. The practice seems to have paid off. Hale did really well fishing in Lake Chelan.





Dairy Farm Tour
This picture was taken on the one sunny day in June. It was a Saturday and our family went on a farm tour with other local dairy people. The purpose of the day (besides fun) was to get a look at some registered cows and do some practice judging. I was one of the top 15 finishers of the judging contest, but only because Landon helped me.
Hale had a great time, but caused a bit of mischief, of course. This is a picture of Landon retrieving him after he ran to the far corner of a field- not exactly a problem in itself, but he distracted the group of cows that we were supposed to be observing. They all took off and followed him up the dirt path. Oops.



Strawberries!!!
Dawn and Libby invited us out for a morning of strawberry picking. It was one situation when I was glad it was not sunny and blazing hot. It was a perfect morning and we got lots of beautiful berries. Hale did surprisingly well. There was a handful of half-eaten berries in my box when I got home, but that's not too bad!









Raspberries!!!
The raspberries at the farm are getting taller and so the time was right to put the poles in the ground. The boys felt pretty good after they put in their first row in an hour. "Just 64 more rows to go!" they proclaimed. Fortunately, they had some good help, but it was a long job with a lot of late nights. So glad it's done!