summer fun continued- July week 1

When you're in the middle of having tons of fun, it's hard to realize how much you are actually doing until you look at the pictures! Here's a snapshot of the first week of July.

We've had a lot of beach days this month. It's been so fun to finally put Maddie in all the cute girly summer outfits I've been hanging on to.

That same night, Ben and I went back to Edmonds for our date night. It was a perfect night for a walk along the water, ice cream, and watching the sunset.

We haven't been to the zoo as much as i'd like this summer, but we managed to make it there on the red white and blue zoo day, where they feed the animals different summer fruit. We also happened to be at the hippos right when they were fed watermelon. It is amazing how powerful they are! After the zoo we tried out the new park. It is really spread out, so it was a little challenging keeping an eye on both kiddos, but the play equipment is amazing!

We purchased another groupon for the electric boat and this time brought along the kiddos for a dinner cruise. It is such a fun experience to be out on the water, jamming out to tunes, taking in all the fun sites. There were a ton of seaplanes taking off right next to us. One started its takeoff right by us and caused so much wind to stir up it was a little scary! It was one of those nights where I looked around the boat and felt immense gratitude for my life. Little things like Colter snuggled up with Jessie and Mark, Maddie reaching for the water and laughing, Saisha standing up on table singing Frozen, and Austin and Kelsey snuggled together and knowing that they are going to become parents soon. So many little things to be thankful for.

My sister (who let me remind you has 5 children), suggested we do a dinner hike. Thank goodness for her adventurous spirit because I would have never thought of doing that. It ended up being so fun despite a few tumbles, scary end at the waterfall, etc. I always say how thankful I am that we can get out of town so easily and feel like we are in the middle of nowhere.

Ben and I went canoeing at the arboretum. Another amazing thing to do in Seattle where you quickly feel like you are some place way more remote. I also learned that I should never take forgranted Ben's ability to steer a canoe. I didn't think it was a big deal to be in the back, but boy did I learn my lesson! I almost crashed us a billion times. I definitely disrupted some eco systems when I canoed us in to many lily pads. I also crashed into a prickly blackberry bush and that's when I called it quits. We maneuvered a seat change and I enjoyed the peacefulness of the front :)