Yard Work...

Thanks to Opa for all the hard work in our yard and for patiently overseeing all the workers!

note the nice work gloves
a gift from opa

Our Sweet Grandma & GG !!!

Our Beautiful & Amazing Grandma 1915-2011

We will miss you dearly, but are thankful for the legacy you have left behind! In my aunt's words... "Mom, you fought the good fight, you finished the race, you kept the faith. Well done, good and faithful servant." -S. Shuman

My cousin Trevor took the above photo and prepared this presentation to show at her memorial.

Her six children.

Afternoon Visit!

S*W*E*E*T*I*E

CC finds a willing subject for her photo shoot.

Graci was timid at first & then Claire patiently tolerated G's "loving touch"! Already looking forward to our next visit!

Stay-cation!

The highlight of our summer was our Stay-cation!

Each day began with a family breakfast where we discussed and chose our morning adventure. Then we'd prep and head out on our excursions! We returned early afternoon for the girls naps and that's when Ben and I finished up a whole lot of home projects. It was marvelous and a LOT of fun was had by all!!!

The weather was BEAUTIFUL except for one day was COLD and windy!

NEW TO US PARKS!

(CoCo voted for a park every morning at breakfast!)

Ben was shaking the bridge and she was laughing so hard she couldn't stand!

CANOEING!!!

Grandpa hauled his canoe to the lake and CoCo loved it!

FINGER PAINTING!

Excellent activity loved by all!

BIKING!

(in her leotard?!)

ART!

Lots of drawing, cutting, pasting and coloring!

BACKYARD CAMPING!!!

My personal favorite! Likely on my list of "Top Ten Things I've Ever Done"! Treasured moments shared in this nylon dome with my sweet girl!

Park Break!

We discovered this little park while waiting for CoCo and Daddy!

She is such a JOY!

She has just spotted them coming!

Hiking With Tots!

LOVED hiking with these kiddos!
Ben and I had such a fun morning exploring the outdoors with these FOUR! It was very exciting to see what was fascinating to them and what kept their interest. I did learn one thing on the hike: kids don't hike for the view/scenery at the end of the hike. It's ALL about the snacks in the backpack! :) They did awesome and we shared SO many laughs!

I thought Graci would sleep in the pack, but she was WAY to curious!

An attempt at a photo. I don't know what those two gals are doing?!

All photo credit to Lucas on this last photo! Didn't he do an awesome job?!!

Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium!

CoCo laughing at the otters!

Family Gathers!

Wonderful weekend spent with family! Loads of games! Hot weather! Water balloons! Bikes! Basketball! Scooters! Dinosaurs! Treasure hunt! Swings! Hoola-hoop! and the list goes on!

...and the water fight begins!

Wet cool down.

Water balloon strategy?

Tub racing!

Basketball!

Bedtime stories!

Roasting marshmallows...

...with shades!!!

Waffles!

(record of my attendance)

CC could have ridden a scooter the entire weekend. After putting her to bed on night #1...

CC: I didn't get to ride a scooter too much.

Me: Sure you did. You rode it for a couple hours.

CC: But, I really wanted to ride it to my bed and park it by my pillow.

Me: Well, the scooter is sleeping in the garage tonight.

CC: I know. I hear her so sad. She says, "I want to share a pillow with CC."

Ashley guides CC in a treasure hunt with a map drawn by Sydney and Courtney.

(note the binoculars in CC's hand made with TP rolls)

If you look closely, you can see the large treasure box under the pine tree on the right! They found dinosaurs and a nail kit. So, they both had a manicure after their great adventure!

Thanks for a fabulous weekend!