Snapshots of summer

Wow, as summer winds down {and a new school year is soon to begin} I am reflecting on how full and wonderful it truly was. We didn't do anything spectacular but we sure did have a lot of fun. And the kids grew before my very eyes! I've posted about some specific things we did, so this is a fill in the gaps sort of post. :)Sporting a beautiful dress and snow boots, haha! She knows what she wants to wear, and there is no talking her out of it now. It can be... interesting.

We played at a LOT of different park, we went park exploring. We are lucky to have some amazing parks in our area. Picnics at a park are a favorite in this family.

We also went on some amazing walks/hikes. Explored new places and old favorites. Add in a picnic with this as well, and you have a full day of fun!

Visited different spots at local rivers. Lots of great river spots around here too!

More fun at a river, most of the river banks around here are rocky, but our favorite spot which happens to be really close by is a sandy river bank, and we love it! We like the rocky spots too though, fun to throw rocks into the water and grab some for our collections. :)

This girl learned how to climb ALL OVER the play equipment this year, wow is she quick. She also wants to do it on her own and is quite amazing {and a bit scary}! I let her do most of it on her own{still ready to jump in when needed} and she has become very capable this year... and very proud of herself.

Our ladies have GROWN! They are laying 6-8 eggs a day now, and last week I stopped buying eggs at the store... We go through a crazy amount of eggs a week, so I'm really excited about this! Can't beat fresh eggs. Makes me want to figure out ways to be even more self reliant.

We went to a lot of really fun birthday parties. This one was their cousin's second birthday, and it was so much fun... Lala didn't go into the pool when she had her swimsuit on though, she waited until I dressed her and then went in, crazy girl!

Another fun party we went too, I asked Bubu to keep an eye on his sister for a moment {it was safe enough for him to do that} and when I turned back around he was holding her like this... adorable! He takes his job, as big brother, seriously. :)

Awesome rope swing, the boys all took turn, after turn, after turn... Wish we had a tree big enough to have one!

All the kids enjoyed this fun tire swing at the same house, Lala even enjoyed spinning on it with her brothers!

We want one of these, so relaxing...

Found this frog while gardening... there's been a lot of gardening this summer, always fun. The kids love helping me too, I'm lucky if I get a moment to sneak out there for quiet reflection alone because usually they beg to come with me.
{I love both, but sometimes I really do crave those quiet reflection moments in the garden alone.}

Lots of silly moments this summer, mostly from this kid... Don't ask, I have no idea why he is dressed up this way.

We went to a really great park with friends that has a water park and a petting zoo and just happened to have a fire truck to tour there too! The kids were sooooooo excited!!!

Little firefighters. ;)

Summer fun with my dear friend.

We had a few sleep overs with her and her girls and that is always a blast! Our kids play so well together and we have been friends for so long that it's just relaxing, we don't feel like we have to entertain each other, it's like hanging out with my little sister {which is also really fun}.

The kids loved the petting zoo, almost as fun as the real zoo... and not nearly as exhausting, plus this petting zoo is free, bonus! Of course there weren't any tigers and such but for now they seem to get just as excited about bunnies and pigs, so go figure.

More fun at a park... told you we went to a lot of parks, and I didn't even take pictures of all the park outings and hiking adventures. Parks are free and my goal this summer was lots of fun free {or really cheap} out door or educational activities. I really feel like I reached that goal {which doesn't happen often enough} and I'm excited to add on even more stuff next year. As well as some new favorites we discovered this year.

We found really fun water parks, free water play, so exciting! I guess I'm just lucky that my kids are easily entertained...

They were finding it a little cold, but that didn't stop them. They are Washingtonians after all, on the rainy side no less!

And then there were summer time haircuts, right at the end of summer, silly boys. Ryder got his hair cut my the local hair stylist {that would be me} and then all the boys decided they wanted to look like daddy. It was a bit harsh for me, cutting Atty's hair.

No summer time post would be complete with out some pictures of our favorite sandy river spot! Lala was jumping in puddles, so cute... Splashing like a big girl.

Then there was this little drama. I left her in my bedroom for a quick moment to take the sheets to the laundry room and she managed to smear a favorite lipstick of mine all over her face. Uggggggg, at least it wasn't poop painting {I screamed when I first saw her, fearing the worst}. Speaking of thinks potty related this girl is wearing big girl undies all day long now and having hardly any accidents. She's even napping in undies now, and waking up in the morning dry... So pretty soon here she won't be wearing a diaper to bed either! She is just growing up way too fast my girl.

I've been promising myself a new play room carpet as soon as she is fully potty trained {as an incentive to keep going on those really hard days...} so I'm getting pretty excited! :)

Building towers, so proud of herself...

More fun with daddy at our favorite spot, building sand people.

Daddy snuggles, no summer is complete with out that!

Crazy dirty fun in the back yard, and silly tiny pigtails. :)

Bubu spent a morning drawing all of us, so cute! Lots of art projects this summer as well...

Then there was Bubu's sixth birthday this last weekend. I can't believe I'm the proud parent of a six year old! Got to have those birthday pancakes!!!

We went to our favorite house, to visit some of our favorite people on Bubu's birthday. We stayed over and had a camp out style dinner for him. He went on a treasure hunt for his presents in an amazing garden, it was so much fun. We have such an awesome extended family!

He got a bigger bike for his birthday, and was so excited! I wouldn't normally let him ride with out a helmet or shoes, but he just wanted to try it out real quick. :) Now to work on getting those training wheels off { I have a feeling that Spike with be doing that before Bubu though...}

Cheese cake with raspberries, around a camp fire, doesn't get much better then that!

Happy birthday to a wonderful boy.

And the biggest news of the summer... My husband decided to try out fishing and caught himself his first fish! So awesome. We are some big fish eaters in this family, and it is so expensive, so I am looking forward to some more fresh caught fish! He did all the work too, even cooked it on the BBQ, he knows how to make a lady happy... ;) He also knows there is no way on God's green earth I am cleaning a fish. He jumped right in and figured it all out on his own, I love how he isn't afraid to learn new things.

Love this picture and really loved being there to share in his excitement!

We have one last adventure coming up before we start our school year. We are going to eastern Washington for the first time. We have friends that moved over there and we are going to go visit them. It's quite the drive {about 5 hours if you drive non-stop} so I'm a bit nervous about that. We are going to split up the driving on the way there by camping one of the nights so that we aren't driving such a long stretch all at once. Plus we want to take our time and do some sight seeing. :) Then we are staying two nights at our friends house and then leaving really, really early {as in 3 or 4 am} in the morning and driving straight back with no stops. Well except some potty breaks I do believe... The only thing that makes me a bit sad is that my husband can't come now because he finally got called back into work, after being laid off for about three months {the going back to work part is a good thing though}. My birthday falls on a day that I will be gone and I haven't celebrated a birthday with out my husband in about 15 years I believe...

:( Lucky for me my sister took time off work to come with me, she's awesome like that. The idea of going alone with the kids was a bit overwhelming in all honesty.

So wish me luck and keep us in your prayers for a safe trip and I'll tell you all about it when we get back. Oh and soon I can't wait to post all about the beginning of a new and exciting school year, the homeschooling way!