July 2016

It's the most wonderful time of the year! No, it's not Christmastime.. it's Seattle in July! There is truly no better place to be in my opinion!

I read about a popular forest walk in Shoreline, and it definitely didn't disappoint. Our kids love being outside. Maddie is not a hiker, but both love to explore. We found a little spot with lots of logs on the ground and the kids spent close to an hour playing all kinds of stories. I feel so fortunate to live in a place where there's places like this within a 15 minute drive.

4th of July! Edmonds is such a fun place to be on the 4th of July. We got to the beach a little early, and the kids had fun exploring the tide pools. I've never seen the tide out so far.

                                       

Then it was time for the kids parade! Colter decided to ride his bike this year! He didn't want any decorations, but Ben put on some flapping cards in his wheels that he thought were pretty awesome. He did a great job not ramming into people. Maddie rode in the wagon and loved throwing candy to people. It always feels like we buy a ton of candy, but we always run out within the first five minutes. Note to self, buy triple the amount of candy next year! Levi was very festive in his star shirt :)

We opted not to do a big 4th of July party this year, and just keep things simple. Austin and Kelsey came over in the afternoon, and my sister's family also joined us. We had carnitas and popped a few fireworks. Our neighbors go all out and roast a pig in the ground. The kids were fairly entertained watching them remove it, until they got a whiff of the smell and they all ran away. Colter is not a fan of the noise and unpredictability of fireworks, so it was a little stressful. Once the kids were asleep, Ben and I went outside and finished our fireworks. We sat in our cul de sac and watched our neighbors' show that was so incredible.

Maddie has had some trouble with some aspects of potty training *cough* number two *cough* so we tried a reward system. She got a new dress and got to go out on a date with daddy. She earned that reward super quick and was so so cute with her daddy.

We went to the kids museum early one Saturday and then Ben took the big two on an afternoon adventure down to lake Union to sail the remote control sailboat his parents gifted to us.

We signed Colter up for a science summer camp. I was not sure how he would do since he didn't know anyone in the camp- not even the instructors. I was so impressed with him. He didn't make any fuss when I dropped him off and when I picked him back up, he was always engaged with the activities. One day a scientist from the museum of flight came and he brought his robotics equipment. Another day he went to the center for wooden boats, and the last day he went sailing with Sail Sand Point. After the camp was over he asked me if he could go again next year. yes! So amazing how much progress he has made within the last year.

While Colter was at camp one day, Maddie played at the park nearby. She was so proud to conquer this whole net.

At the end of a camp day, Colter went to do a "nature pee" and ended up peeing all over his pants, undies, and shoes. He rocked his jacket all the way to the car without a care in the world.

Maddie started her first ballet class with Harper. Those two are the cutest little girls ever! Maddie did such an amazing job listening to her teacher and following directions. She takes her moves very seriously. She loved to do the bunny hop across the floor, and loved to do star jumps over the cones.

These were during Colter's camp at the wooden boat center. Maddie and I first played at a playground, then visited dad at work.

Colter doesn't dress up in character much any more, but on this particular day he rocked the full on fire gear, and then proceeded to fall asleep in the car.

We spent a fantastic week in Ocean Shores. I'll blog about our trip in a separate post.

I'm always looking for new adventures, so when I heard about an old fashioned soda counter in downtown, I put it on our summer bucket list. It turned out to be quite the chaotic adventure - baby screaming in the car seat, no parking, so many tourists at pike place, not being able to find the car in the parking garage, navigating the market with 5 kids in tow.. you get the gist. The actual soda counter was super cute and delicious... we will totally go back, but will walk there from dad's work!

We have some amazing blackberry bushes right by our house. We probably saved over $100 by picking berries for a couple weeks. This was one of my favorite nights of the summer. We all walked down to the blackberry bushes, had a great time picking, and then had such a fun time at the park nearby. It's always the simple things that end up being my favorite times.

Not sure who was more into our library book haul...

I saw an article about urban city walks and I thought it would be fun to try one. The concept of exploring the woods in the middle of the city is really appealing, but I've probably seen too many dateline episodes, so I was a little paranoid after seeing a few sleeping people. Needless to say, I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would, and that was probably the extent of our "urban" hiking.

I had a few science experiments on our summer bucket list. This one was a frozen volcano experiment with baking soda and vinegar. The kids loved melting the ice to get the golf ball out. Colter and Maddie both love science experiments and ask on a weekly basis to do different experiments.

We went to Forest Park with Kelsey, Finley, and my mom to see the animals. I almost bought a rabbit, but showed restraint. After the petting area, we went to the park and splash pad. I've avoided splash pads for the last few years because Colter doesn't like getting splashed in the face and they tend to be fairly chaotic. The life lesson i'm being taught lately is that I can never predict how things will go. Things that I think will be a big deal end up being fine, and things I don't anticipate, always end up being the issue. Anyway, back to the splash pad. I thought for sure Colter would end playing at the park, but I brought his suit anyway. Much to my surprise, he started running around everywhere, getting soaked and LAUGHING. I couldn't believe it. Such a highlight of the summer for me.

I got this little walker car for Levi. He's still too small for it, but I couldn't resist putting this little sweetie in. The kids love pushing him all around the house.

An Edmonds kind of day. Maddie wanted to stay with Nana at VBS, so it was just Colter and I at the beach. He was having a hard time thinking of things to do, so I suggested opening a rock museum. He loves to look for unique rocks- especially any sort of lava rock.

We walked on the Seattle/Bainbridge ferry and spent the morning exploring the island. We walked along the waterfront trail, played at a local park, got some goodies from the farmer's market, and then met up with Tamara and her kids at the kids museum. It was such a fantastic morning!

My mom babysat that night and we went on a double date with our friends, Matt and Adelle. We rented kayaks on Lake Union, and then ate dinner at Agua Verde. We had such a blast taking in our beautiful city.

That's a wrap for July