swimming lessons

This week and next we have been at swimming lessons every morning. Allison has had fun watching and playing as we wait.

David was learning a new technique...how to put your face in and move your arms, after a lecture from the teacher.

slip n slide

It was so hot friday afternoon we had to go out and play in the water. With the slip n slide out David was ready to show Allison how to do it.

She was more excited about the water that came up at the end.

David taught her that it was just like a drinking fountain.

She never quite figured it out...either too far away or too close. After playing in the freezing water they had to warm up. They are natural sun bathers.

Squinting makes it so comfortable to lay in the sun.


maybe on our tummies is better.

We loved the sun.

sub shorts and stretching

Yep, he still has them. Aaron can't seem to depart with these beloved shorts he uses to exercise in. Despite the fact that they are way too large and could fall off him and are a tad bit hideous, he loves them all the same. Anyway, he was stretching the other morning and the kids came downstairs walked around the corner and had to go and join him in his stretches.

train tracks

The other day while Allison was asleep for her nap, David wanted to build a train track that left the train table and could turn and go back up. We had such a fun time building it and figuring out how to make things tall enough. He was so excited it was big enough he could lay down in it. The only problem was it didn't last long once Allison woke up, but dad was able to build another cool track that went down for him today.

weekend in Seattle

We had a quick trip to Seattle for the weekend to catch up with our dear friends the Griggs.

It was so fun to see them and their darling children. Two of their three children are close to the same age as ours, like days apart. So it is also fun for David and Allison.

We had fun visiting parks

and being so close to the ocean we HAD to go and throw rocks in.

Allison had fun with her little buddy.

The train went right by us. It was so close, every time one would go by all the kids would cover their ears it was so loud.

Saturday morning I woke up to find this. Everyone loves dad, especially in a twin bed.

Saturday we had a full day that started with a hike through an old train tunnel. It was very dark, cold and drippy. We had flashlights and made it a ways to see a small light at the end of the tunnel. We had to turn around before the end because we were cold, and well it was 2 1/2 miles down. We passed many bikers, maybe we will try it that way next time.

We also saw Snoqualmie Falls. It was beautiful. The kids all enjoyed a popsicle as we rested from the hot sun.

David had such a great time with his "cousins", as he calls them. He was so sad to say good-bye.

David and Ben are two days apart and had a great time playing together. Thanks for the fun, we can't wait to see you again.

soccer with the Elephants

Last week we all attended David's first soccer game. Four year olds are great. Amazingly they were not a clump of kids running the entire time. There were some fast breaks and some goals. It was cute to see them all play. They were so excited at the end of the game to stand in line and give the other team high fives. Go Elephants! David had a good time and we survived, despite the heat!

thanks mom and dad

We had such a relaxing and fun time, we didn't want to leave. It was sure fun to be able to play with grandpa and grandma. We loved playing games, going on walks, reading Swiss Family Robinson, eating trail mix and mangoes. Thanks for the crafts and bug night lights. David's favorite part was playing with toys and feeding chippy. Thanks for the memories!

Fourth of July

Happy Fourth of July!

We decided we HAD to take a hike up to Fourth of July lake on the fourth. David was excited to go and wear his "fourth of July costume" as he called it.

Just after we started David fell and skinned up his knee. With some sweet talking we were able to get him to use a walking stick and make it up the mountain. It helped that there was snow along the way and we could have a snowball fight in July.

When we got down we rushed back to the cabin to have a bbq and celebrate my birthday. What fun!

Allison was great at blowing out the candles, we had to do it four times. We were into fours (Fourth of July, Fourth of July Lake, David is four and four blowing out of candles...David pointed this out)

Alturas

One of my favorite places is this beautiful lake surrounded by pines. I always remember it clear as glass with a beautiful reflection of the trees and mountain tops.

With the water so high, there wasn't much beach here either. Allison was not so sure she was going to go into the water. She spent most of her time in that chair eating goldfish.

David was out playing in the water, trying to catch fish and paddle around in the raft.

Allison finally ventured close to the water and had fun throwing sand and getting wet, but she wouldn't put on her swimsuit.

Redfish Lake

We spent a morning at Redfish lake. We rented paddle boats and paddled around. David had to see how good his life jacket worked and jumped out into the FREEZING lake. We all got to go in after him. Here he is saving Aaron and bringing him to shore.

Allison stayed as far away from the water as she could. She was happy on a towel with beach toys, as long as her feet didn't touch the sand.

David was a bit disappointed he didn't see any actual red fish. Allison didn't seem to mind, candy was making her happy.

The cabin

One of my favorite places is going to our family cabin in Idaho. It is so gorgeous and relaxing. We spent a week with my parents and had such a fun time. The first day or so was rainy and chilly. A nice change from the scorching 100 degrees.

Chippy even came around, but got too friendly and took a bite of Aaron.

It had been so rainy and cool there were tons of wildflowers everywhere and very high water levels.

We got there and enjoyed a nice walk in the drizzly morning.




Poor Allison wasn't too happy. She had grabbed the hot curling iron and would only stop crying if dad held her and they went searching for "chippy" the chipmunk.