June - part one

Katie had a friend overnight the first day of summer vacation.  The week before these two had a lemonade stand and had saved up the money for a "Welcome to Summer" party.  I took them to the Dollar Store where they purchased all the necessary party supplies.

I provided the pizza but they bought the rest of our "Welcome to Summer" feast - we had cheese balls, powdered sugar donuts and pink lemonade.  The decorations were all them.  So sweet.
We even had games and a pinata!

They slept in the cottage and in the morning treated us to an extremely entertaining show. 

These two ride their bikes to work.  Holly has to dress up for her job so many days she rides with a dress (and leggings).  I think John is really going to miss his biking buddy when she goes back to school.

One beautiful, sunny Sunday we went to a Hammer's game.  They are a semi-pro soccer club based in Bellingham. 

Not quite the same level as the Sounders (and there was no flames that came shooting out of the goalposts when they scored) but it was still fun.

Sam and his buddies ran a 5K.

I actually ran it too.  Sorta.  My run is probably more like a keep-moving-even-though-I-want-to-just-quit-and-curl-up-on-the-pavement-and-die-movement.  But I finished (in 33 minutes) which isn't too shabby for an old lady.  Here's a before shot.

And after. 

I appreciate that Sam is nearly as red as I am...of course he did run it 10 minutes faster than I did!
And finally, here is our new summer rules list.  I even had it laminated!  The kids are LOVING it!

That was a lie.

I've got myself an 8th grader and a 4th grader!

Wowza, this year went by fast!  I think I say that every year.  Sam and Katie's last day was June 7. They had one extra day added on because of the horrible, awful, no-good winter we had.  Some of the public schools around here are still in session making up days so I guess we can't complain.
I'm hoping that since we had a horrible, awful, no-good winter (and our spring wasn't much better) that we will have a beautiful, sunny, warm summer. 
Next year will be Sam's last year in the middle school and Katie's last year in the elementary school.  That makes this mom a little sad but mostly excited because I am really liking the way they are turning out.  :)
The first day of third and seventh grade.

And the last day of third and seventh grade.

Katie and the crab

One of the best field trips the kids take at LC is in third grade.  They go to Post Point, a beach in Bellingham.  When the tide is out, there are lots of really neat sea creatures.  I definitely don't make all the field trips but this one I never miss.  It was Katie's turn this year and I surprised her by bring Holly along too. 
While we were walking the beach, Holly picked up this crab.

And Katie wanted to hold it.

 Sort of.

 There was a lot of giggling and girly screams.

 And with a lot of encouragement from her big sister.

 She finally did it.

And was pretty proud of herself.

 We found lot of pretty sea stars too.

 Holly is a little crazy.

It was cool and cloudy (typical Spring day in Washington) but I had so much fun with my two favorite girls! 

More of May

Since it is the middle of June already (summer please slow down!!) I thought I better get the month of May finished up. 
We FINALLY took John's nurse Kerri out to celebrate their 10 year anniversary of working together.  Wow, hard to believe it's been that long.  Kerri is an amazing nurse and an even better friend and our family has been so blessed to have her in lives.  We toasted to another 10 years with some VERY strong long island ice teas. 

There was a lot of family work days in May.  Some of us work and some of us just pretend we are working.

Our enormous tree debris pile is down to one stump.  One stump that cannot be moved.  I want to try and burn it but John claims it will never burn.  That sounds like a challenge to me.  Sam and I are still mowing with our push-behind lawnmower (I do the yard, he does the field).  I don't mind it, it's good exercise and it's a job you can do and when your done actually see progress (unlike a clean house, an empty laundry hamper or a cooked meal all of which last about a half an hour).  Unfortunately, I don't think my push-behind mower was made to mow acres and acres of grass at one time.  It's started acting a little funny and making strange noises. This is not good. 
That's John up on the shop roof putting up a weathervane.  It's an eagle.  He was trying to decide between an eagle and a pig.  I told him just because he loves bacon does not warrant getting a pig weathervane.

My two favorite girls.

This owl showed up in the yard one day.  John thought he was a baby that wasn't quite ready to fly yet.  He was gone the next morning so we like to think he learned to fly or his mama came and got him.

We were invited to our friend's cabin in Birch Bay one night.  That's Holly paddle boarding

One more thing.  John made me a "devotional spot" in the woods overlooking our creek.  It's so nice to go out there with my Bible, my coffee, and my dog every morning. 

And that's a wrap on May.

Katie turns 9!

My baby turned 9 years old on May 28.  This is her last year in the single digits.  sigh.  I would be more nostalgic and weepy over this except for the fact that I am really enjoying my big girl.  She is always happy, super adventurous and constantly cracks me up. I am so blessed to be her mom!
When I went to wake her up on her birthday, she requested breakfast in bed.

Her birthday was on a Sunday so I told her that after church we could do whatever she wanted.  She chose a day at the bay.  The water was super cold so the rest of us just got our feet wet but the birthday girl (and her dog) went all the way in.

She opened her presents on the beach.

And later we took a walk on the Semiahmoo Spit. 

She got rollerblades for her birthday.  It didn't take her long to figure them out and she's pretty much an expert now. The nice, smooth floors of John's shop make a perfect roller rink.

It was a fun day celebrating our princess. 
Happy Birthday Katie!

Sounders

We've been wanting to go to a Sounders (they are the professional soccer team here in Seattle for those non-soccer people out there) game for quite a while now.  Sam and Katie love soccer and after the Sounders won the World Cup last year, Sam has been watching their games on the computer.  So when we found out Dordt was hosting an alumni event at the Sounders game, it was perfect.  The Seattle Sounders and the Dordt Defenders are our most favorite teams ever! 
We had a beautiful day for the game - warm and sunny.  My most favorite weather adjectives ever!
Katie got all decked out for the game.

We met up with the Dordt people in a park about four blocks from the stadium so we could be part of the Sounders fan parade.

A selfie outside the stadium.  Elaine (a friend and fellow Dordt alumni) and Hendrick (a future Defender) rode to Seattle with us.

Personally, I enjoyed the patriotic show before the game just as much as the game itself.

Although it was pretty amazing to watch the players too.  Can I just say that you need to be in really, really, really good shape to play soccer.  Those guys run a lot.  Seriously, I felt my lungs hurt just watching them.

Me and my college girl.

Enjoying a halftime snack.

Final score: Sounders 1, Salt Lake 0.  Katie thought it was pretty cool when big flames shot out of the goalposts when the Sounders scored.  She plays goalie and thought that was something that her Lynden league should definitely look into. 

It was a fun day with my most favorite people!