Sedro Woolley

The boys and I spent the 4th of July weekend in Sedro Woolley with my parents.  Again, RJ couldn't vacation with us.  Working two jobs now, both in retail, means holidays are sales and harder for him to get time off.  Someday we will vacation together!

On the Fourth, we went to the parade which was significantly larger than I thought it would be, and we didn't even see the end of it because someone really had to go potty!  You'll notice our super festive shirts created by Stirling and myself- we even convinced my dad to wear one!  Then we enjoyed a nice warm day in the yard, rode bikes and set off a few fireworks in the driveway for the boys.  What was really surprising to me was the amount of large scale fireworks that people in the area were setting off.  We were able to see quite a few from the yard.  I couldn't get over how many there were!

The rest of our visit was enjoyed picking raspberries in the yard, riding bikes (even Logan got in on the bike riding action with his very own new teeny tiny bike!), shopping, and going to the beach.  At Deception Pass State Park we walked on the beach, looked at rocks and searched for shells.  After a picnic lunch, we went wading in Cranberry Lake.  I hadn't realized there was such a nice area for swimming there and am thinking about going back to camp or stay longer next summer.  We ate well while we were on vacation- shame on you Dad- and just had a relaxing time hanging out.  Thanks for the nice visit!

 What?!??? They can get along??!??

 Exploring at Deception Pass State Park.

 Wading at Cranberry Lake.

Tuckered out from a day at the beach!

 Grandpa and grandsons hanging out in the yard.

Summer Fun

VBS and Swim Lessons

Stirling attended Vacation Bible School at Mercer Creek Church last week.  We normally go to First Pres. but their program was only for graduating kinders and older, so we went to this one instead.  Stirling was a little hesitant due to the crazy chaos and the multitude of kids there.  It was insane!  There were 10-12 classes of preschool aged kids alone with 18 kids in each class.  Then there were 2-3 classes for all the other age groups.  Stirling ended up enjoying it a lot.  The theme of the week was "Facing Fear, Trusting God!"  Thursday was "Dare to Stand Strong," and kids wore costumes of favorite characters, so Stirling went in a quickly made Green Lantern getup, constructed from a huge green t-shirt and some felt I had in my craft bucket.

 (the group shots are photos of photos, so please excuse the quality)

This week and next, Stirling is attending swimming lessons at the city pool.  He is really enjoying being able to get in the water and is doing pretty well at all the things his teacher is trying to teach.  Of course, most of it is trying to get the kids to hold still so she can help one child at a time to float or kick or paddle.  And five year old boys don't sit still well!  

Garden

Well I planted a garden.  And that is really about all I have done.  My dad gave me some leftover seeds from his garden and I scattered them willy-nilly planted them in the plot that John cleared for us.  We planted some tomato, pepper, zucchini, and basil plants that John and Kerry picked up, but the basil, zucchini, and pepper plants died pretty much instantaneously and the tomato plants are only reluctantly hanging in there.  Our seeds are having a little more success.  The radishes and turnips are doing really well.  The lettuce and spinach are looking prolific, and the carrots have finally come up.  One pumpkin plant is slowly growing and our peas are starting to do well.  There were several other things that didn't come up, but I've forgotten what they are because Logan stepped on all of the popsicle sticks that had the labels.  One good thing- I haven't had to water much because of all the rain, and the wet soil does make it easier to weed.