Summertime Bliss

A few summertime snapshots...

Last day of school

Evelyn at swim lessons

Jane and Carter as dedicated sibling swim lesson fans

Scooteney Resivoir--playing in the mud

Andrea and I at the end of a fun/long day with our kiddos.  Mercantile Ice Cream.

Cousins, Cousins, Cousins, and more Cousins!

 

Daryl shooting off rockets on Father's Day...

Daddy's well loved by his daughters

Jane 

Me and Bree

Evelyn jumping!  Very much decided on her own terms she can now swim in the deep end with no help or flotation!

Evelyn at Aunt Kortneigh's pool

All-girl bike ride

4th of July

Daryl proposed on the 4th of July 7 years ago...

Milking cows at Bleazard's Dairy Farm--It was on Evelyn's bucket list.  So glad I could make her dreams come true!:)  She decided it was a stinky job.

I am loving the summertime and all the time I've had to make memories with my girls!

Cool Dessert Nights parade

Grandma Harvey and Jane

Bridal Photo Shoot

My friend Alanna is doing a wedding this summer and asked if she could practice some bridals on me.  It was so much fun!  Who doesn't love playing dress up in their own wedding dress?!  I never had bridals done for my wedding so now I have a few pictures for my girls of me in my dress. 

 

Alanna suggested the sand dunes off Road 100 in Pasco.  I didn't realize they were right off the exit.  It was a great location.  I pretended I was on Nantucket Beach getting married all over again:)
We had such a fun time doing the shoot.  Thank you Alanna!

 

Gratitude

Evelyn and Jane make my life feel important.  I am so happy to be their Mom.  Today I took the girls shopping for a dress and we had the nicest time.  Evelyn was polite and patient on picking a dress that she liked and that I "okay'd" in price.  She said thank you for the dress as we were driving home and it was very sincere.  We then had a conversation about what the word gratitude meant.  My hope is to be able to give my children experiences but only under the understanding that it is a privilege but not a necessity.  For example I don't want Evelyn to ride the pony because she thinks it is a necessity or simply because she wants to.  I only will let her ride the pony if she understands it is a gift that Mom is giving her an experience to ride the pony.  Basically if the idea of what a privilege it is to ride the pony isn't grasped then there is no pony ride.  My children have already been exposed to many neat experiences which I am grateful for but I hope to be able to teach them that they are in fact privileges.  My hope is for them to understand what a blessed life they live and to exude gratitude.

Jumping for ice cream

Our little artist

My friend watched my girls overnight last month because I had to have surgery.  She said Jane would not fall asleep unless Evelyn laid next to her.  Melts my heart.  She texted me the two pictures below.

Portland Trip

We did a quick family trip to Portland over Evelyn's Spring Break.  Our first stop was the Ape Caves below Mount St. Helens.  They are lava tubes that were created from when the volcano erupted.  We didn't anticipate snow but decided to hike to the caves anyway.  Next time we will have to wait until summer!

That night we went to our hotel.  This was probably the girls favorite part of the entire trip!  Next time we will just need to get a hotel in Richland:)  They loved everything about the hotel.  Everything seemed exciting to them.  Even using the bathroom.

In the morning we took the rail car to the OMSI museum...

And then we fell in love with OMSI!  At first I wasn't quite sure and then we discovered the Children's Playground and were sold!  The girls are building a dam below.

The rest of the museum was awesome too.  Daryl got put on a live mythbusters challenge.  It was challenging the idea of dodging a paintball.  Daryl concluded he could dodge a paintball shot from 175 yards away.  We also ate at the sit down restaurant at OMSI and the food was worth bragging about!  It had nice warm fireplaces by the tables and was between $6-$8 a plate.  I will definitely plan on eating there the next time we go.  If you go make sure you go to the restaurant and not the "cafe."

Daryl had just ran through a mythbuster test of if running through rain or walking through rain gets you more wet.  I think that's why his clothes look spotted.  At least I hope that's what it is!  Oh and running in rain gets you more wet than walking!

We went to the pearl district and shopped around and then stopped at Voo Doo Doughnuts.  They are famously known from the Food Network.  It was fun to try and wait in line with Evelyn but I don't have a need to wait in line again for them!

On the way home we stopped at Multnomah Falls and walked around.  It is always a beautiful stop.  A fun trip with the family.  I love my girls and the one man in our house!