Mid-August Adventures 2013

Scrunchy face! In a drawer!

Family Camp trip to Mt Hood National Forest

Having fun in the woods

Jake loves camping!

Scrunchy face!

Our beautiful girl

Hammock fun with Daddy!

Big trees and my little girl

LucyKat

Campsite by the creek

This fort was built by whoever camped at the spot before we did.

Look Ma, I'm driving!

Bubba just loves to read books, on his own.

Our friends left these flowers for us after a visit. They were so beautiful! They bloomed for quite some time.

Sunflowers were fun to grow!

We grew a great eggplant bush this year, It was awesome. Rose grew them as starts!

Sunflowers in the yard

Jake loves eating with his fork and spoon.

Tiffany, the bachelorette!

Sisters in the sunflowers

Hall and Oates concert!

Hood River, Oregon. The Columbia River.

Lucy cleaned the whole room on her own, and it was her idea! She also cleaned the sink all on her own as well.

Summer sunflowers in the yard

Jake just loves to read books!

Playing with her puppies

In mid August we were able to take an overnight camp trip with the kids out in Mt Hood National Forest. We lucked out with a great spot right on Barlow Creek, which is near the White River. It was so nice to get out into the woods, hang out together, playing and relaxing.  The kids had lots of fun exploring, and we had to keep a close eye on Jake as he kept heading for the water. It was ice cold, and he would go running in, then start to cry, but then want to go right back in again, He was just over 13 months old on this trip, and really beginning to walk well. Lucy had fun climbing trees.  I love taking them camping! We all had such a great time.

The next weekend my sister and I went out to Hood River for Tiffany's bachelorette party.  It was a fun time! We stayed at this house with an awesome view, and went and saw Hall and Oates at a venue overlooking the Columbia River. It was nice to have an overnight trip away from home!

During this time period I kept a few notes on the kids. Lucy continued to show me her personality. She feels things very passionately when not getting her way, that is for sure, Some epic fits have occurred, though they are decreasing in frequency thankfully!  She has been very interested in how many years it will be until she becomes a teenager. Nine years Lucy, nine years until you are thirteen. She spent a large part of the summer obsessed with the fun.song "Some Nights".  It is so endearing hearing her sing the song, and she sang it a lot! Lucy has special friends at preschool, especially her friend Ella. They did swim lessons in early summer. She also played with Stella often this summer, having sleepovers several times. They are very sweet together. Lucy still loves doing artwork and looking at books, and playing in the yard. She helped out in the garden quite a bit. We grew some great flowers, tomatoes, basil and eggplant. I'm glad she likes to play in the garden just like I do.

Jake just loves his blanket. He really loves it! At 13 months he was walking really well, understanding simple instructions and eats with a fork and spoon, and wanting to drink from cups. He trys to brush his teeth and hair, and is just so cute when doing those things! He likes to scribble with markers, and do stickers and paint. He just adores books, and sometimes prefers to just sit and look at them by himself. He also trys to sweep the floor, and loves to stand on a chair and "help" cook dinner and do the dishes. He loves playing with balls and was zooming a car around the house going "vroom". One nice, warm Summer evening we all took a walk up to the park near our house, and he walked the whole way.  He was shouting in excitement the entire way, as if to tell us all how happy he was to be walking around the neighborhood like a big boy.  He is a light and a joy, just like his big sister Lucy. We are so blessed and lucky to have them in our lives.