June summer fun

June started off with me traveling to Montana to help move my mom to Washington. 

While I was traveling, Ben was taking the kids to the beach every chance he got. I'm amazed how much energy this man has!

We took my mom to country village and introduced her to the joys of cramming yourself into the caboose with the kids.

Unfortunately, Ben was sick on father's day. The only upside to that is it forced him to really relax and not do anything! We still celebrated as best we could. We made him an amazing breakfast.. coconut french toast with buttermilk coconut syrup. Here's the recipe http://cookingalamode.blogspot.com/2010/03/blender-french-toast-with-coconut-syrup.html

We also made him some dark chocolate coconut macaroons. Our gift was a superhero kit complete with all the fixings to keep his superhero powers strong. 

I took the kids on an impromptu ferry ride.. so impromtu I didn't bring diapers, a stroller, or any snacks. Luckily there were no poops, Maddie is still pretty light to carry, and there is a delicious crepe stand right in Kingston.

One day headed home from errands,  I stopped at a little park near our neighborhood and we had a great time playing. Colter kept wanting me to launch him so high on this swing.

We met up with some friends to go strawberry picking. I couldn't believe how many berries there were ready to go! We only picked for about 30 minutes and got a huge flat. We ended up making strawberry bread, strawberry pancakes, and strawberry ice cream.

One evening my mom took the kids to Edmonds while we were on a date. She took a picture of Colter inside a parked digger scoop. He talks about it every time we go near Edmonds.

My sister in law and brother are pregnant!! I am so excited to be an aunt again. It's fun to be close to someone experiencing their first pregnancy .. it is so special! We went maternity clothes shopping and got pedicures. We couldn't resist trying on the fake bellies.

A definite highlight of the summer- the Mount Rainier Scenic Railroad. We got a groupon for the train ride and it was such a fun time.  Everything about it was so special. The scenery was beautiful, the length of the ride was perfect, the stop in the middle of the train ride was awesome. So perfect for our little train man.

My brother turned 26. Kelsey went all out and made some delicious ribs, spicy chicken wings, baked potatoes AND corn. YUM. My sister made this crazy incredible chocolate/oreo cake. YUM

I took the kids to a park in Snohomish and my mom met us there. There are some nice trails in the back of the park. We ventured off one of the trails and explored the woods. I love that we can transport ourselves out of the city so easily.

We tried out a new digging spot i've been wanting to venture to for a while. It's kind of far (south of Seattle), and expensive ($6 per kid), but it was still a fun experience. I will definitely be going here again when I reach the inevitable point every winter where I can't take the rain any more.

Colter's favorite thing to do in the sand is find a digger. He was really upset when we got there and couldn't find any diggers. I searched the entire barrel of sand toys, only to find a digger scoop. I thought he would not be ok with it, but he totally held on to the scoop the entire time. ha

One of the biggest blessings of having my mom here is the frequent date nights. We're still doing our swap with David & Jessica, but we're also taking advantage of my mom being here and having her watch the kids too. We went to Edmonds for some yummy mexican food and a walk along the water.

I have to document any time the kids interact without screaming and hitting each other. This day they decided to play nice. They each took turns filling up cups and watering my plants. It is really special to have things not end in tears once in a while!

We made it to the farmer's market. I love this place. Fresh donuts, yummy produce, incredible flowers. I wish we could make it here every weekend. We took the kids to the beach after the market and enjoyed the low tide.

We've been to the big day of play every year for the past few years and it is such a great event. This year it was in a different location, and was quite a bit further, but the things that the kids loved the most were still there. Free trailmix, a fire truck to climb on, free samples, a few fun games, and Blitz the seahawk mascot.

My mom and I took the kids on the mukilteo ferry to check out a digging park on Whidbey island. Colter had a hard time with the broken machines and missing diggers, so we spent most of the time on the beach and ended up having a great time.

That's a wrap folks! On to another month!