Happy Birthday, Evan!

Grandma and Grandpa met us at a park on our way home from the mountains for a rip roarin' birthday party.  Mom and Elsa frosted the cupcakes while Grandma and Aunt Katy decorated, and a good time was had by all.

Blowing out the candles.

Showing off my frosting face.

Grandpa made me a wooden box for my special things.  What a special gift!

Happy 5th birthday, Evan!

First Overnight Hike

We're all smiles for our first overnight hike.  (Mine and Nathan's.  Elsa is already a pro.)

We had a spectacular view from our site.  We were surrounded by mountains.

Same site.  Different beautiful view.

Roasting marshmallows for s'mores.  Notice Nathan is eating a raw marshmallow while roasting another.  Gotta take advantage of the allowed sugar when we get it!

Exploring.

We found a newt!

Fair Day

It was fair day today.  We saw lots of animals.

And we got to pet a few.

Poor Nathan was probably the only 2 year old at the fair who was too short to go on all of the rides.  He had fun watching Evan go down the giant slide, though.

The rockets were one of only two rides that Nathan could go on, so he went twice.

I love the quad bikes.

The canoe was the other ride Nathan could do.  Ironic that we could sit him in a canoe in the water, unrestrained, all by himself, but he couldn't go on rides as benign as the quad bike you see above.  He made the most of his canoe ride, though!

Our budding athlete.  Evan won second place in the kids' tractor pull.  He competed against 10 other children and missed first place in the third round (with 100 pounds moving up the track behind him) by only 2 feet.

Cute Kids

Here are a few of Mom's favorite pictures from this week.

 Nathan really likes to wash the sink for Mommy.  He usually does it while standing on a stool, but on Wednesday he got in the sink to scrub.  When he was done with the sink, he started washing the tomato and carrot we had picked from the garden.

 Mom had a yard sale yesterday.  Since Daddy was working and couldn't take us to do something more fun, she suggested we sell lemonade and brownies.  We were very successful, and even got paid just for being cute a couple of times.  Mom wishes she had taken a picture of our stand, but at least she fished our sign out of the recycling bin and photographed it.

Who could resist these boys?

We Love Labor Day!

Labor Day means the end of crab season and our Dad's annual Clam Boil (which Aunt Katy dubbed our annual Yum Fest).

I caught my first fish!  And my second, third, and fourth fish, too!

We helped Grandpa dig for potatoes for the clam boil. 

Several hours were spent collecting rock crabs, mussels, and barnacles and creating a habitat for them. 

Earlier this week, Mom attempted to cut my hair and stopped after the bangs.  Aunt Katy fixed it. 

Aunt Katy and Mom took each other to their favorite trail run.  (Hint: It's the same place.)  Of course, they didn't take a camera on the run, which is entirely along a bluff overlooking the Sound and Olympic Mountains, but there's a nice view from the parking lot, too.

Watching over the day's catch.  Well, actually just part of the catch!

Grandma helped us make driftwood boats.  It didn't take long for the entire family to get involved. 

Floating our boats in the lagoon.  Evan's boat even had a large crab as a passenger!

We spent the morning at the Army museum and then walked along a marsh at the nature trail across the street.

Camping Weekend

Hamming it up on the trail.

Throwing rocks in the river.

Can't resist this cute face.

The expert hiker.

Even in the path of the fires, this land is beautiful.

A well-deserved rest after a long, hot day of hiking followed by cooling off in the city pool.  Next up...s'mores!

Cooling off in the river.  We spent a whole afternoon watching tubers and swimming right across the river from a private beach that many of our followers know well. 

 Cooling off with ice cream.

Who can resist a trip to the Wood Shop?  This is a kid who knows what he wants!

Can't wait to wake up to this view every day!

Ready to Ride to Daycare Today

When Dad's Away...

... we will play!

 Kayaking with Mom and Grandma.  Both of us got our chances to paddle.

 Playing in the lagoon.

 Feet washing time.

 What a great night for hot chocolate on the beach.

 I got to drive the boat while we were crabbing.

On our way to the next crabpot. 

Silliness after playing hide and seek in Grandma and Grandpa's garden.

Visiting Great Grandma