Nana took the girls back to school shopping and they had a blast. I'm blogging in November, and Maddie STILL talks about the little puppy she got at McDonalds. Maddie loves her Nana and cousins!
Maddie has a very unique fashion sense. She tends to go for the layered look.. tutus mixed with tights and swim suit cover ups etc. My favorite is a dress with a swimsuit underneath.. especially fun when it's time to go to the bathroom.
Maddie loves to sleep in Levi's crib during nap time. Levi gets the boot to our bed, which he loves. Before Maddie goes to sleep, I usually put Levi in the crib with her for a short time and he loves snuggling up with her.
We went to the beach for the Blue Angel show. It's always a bit stressful with traffic, road closures, and parking to get down there, but once we're at the beach, it is so so worth it. The show wasn't quite as spectacular as past years, but the kids had a blast running in and out of the water.
We did a cousin sleepover swap. Colter went to James' house, and Harper came to ours. We went out to dinner at Chipotle and the girls were as cute as ever- eating by themselves up on the stools, and then dancing around the restaurant. Once we got home, they went right up to play and we didn't see them again for hours.
We had a nice morning down at Richmond Beach. Maddie of course wanted to spend the whole time on the swings, while Colter ran around the play ground.
I hosted a baby shower to Kelsey and baby Elliot, who at the time was nameless. Kelsey's sister was already in town, and her mom surprised her. Austin was also supposed to be out of town with friends, and he surprised her with staying home. We had such a nice time with some of her old teacher friends, a friend from church, and her grandparents who came up from Eugene.
During the shower, Ben took the big kids to the zoo, playground, and Ballard Locks. Not surprising at all for this dad. Ben is a man of epic adventures.
Our date box for the month was sushi making. We were not very skilled in the rolling part, but our spicy crab rolls were delicious!
One of our favorite things to do this summer was bike ride in the cul de sac. Maddie is quite the speed demon on the tricycle. She's always bent over the handle bars, peddling as fast as she can up and down the sidewalk. Colter is a bit more cautious, but is really doing well on his red bike. The kids love to play cops and robbers and I always end up in jail, which is a little tree in our neighbors yard.
Another crib snuggling session
We made monster cookies that were way too sweet for me, but the kids had a blast, and loved putting tons of candy eyes on.
We met up with my mom and all the cousins at a beautiful park in Mukilteo. We had the park all to ourselves which is very rare in the summer. After playing on the playground, we walked into the woods trying to find a trail I read about, only to find out that it involved a super steep hill. No thanks! The kids still had a great time picking blackberries and playing stories in the trees.
We visited Lewis Clark Park in Bellevue. It was almost a veto experience after some serious melt downs , but we persevered and ended up having a great but sweaty time. The park had an amazing visitor center complete with ranger costumes, puppets, books, and a scavanger hunt map. It was so cool that one person didn't want to leave- hence the significant melt down. There are lots of different trails, but we opted for a short loop that ended at a great play structure.
Ben took the big kids swimming at Nana's pool. They decided they needed to do a little sun bathing.
That night Ben took the big kids to the Everett aqua sox game. Maddie ran the bases and they both enjoyed the food.
The kids are often in their own space throughout the day, so it always throws me a little off when they are all close by. I have 3 kids!
Maddie continued to love her ballet class with Harper. She loved showing off her moves, and thought her teacher was pretty spectacular.
Harlow turned 4 and had a party at her Sam's mother in law's pool at a country club. It was such a fun time to be just with Maddie.
I came down with a yucky virus, so I sent my mom a quick text that morning, asking if she could swing by and help before going to help my sister. She swung in and within 20 minutes had the kids playing an activity that kept them entertained for a while.
We visited another empty park before ballet one morning.
We stopped by the Heavilands lemonade stand to purchase some baked goods and drawings by Saisha. I wasn't feeling great, so I took Levi home for a nap, and Ben took the big kids across the street to the festival going on at Cromwell.
Ben started a banking school at the UW, so he was gone for most of two weeks. My mom helped us out the first week, and Ben's parents came to help the second week. One day we met him on the campus for lunch, and enjoyed a beautiful day in the quad.
I attempted to brave the crowds on Brown Bear car wash day , but the line was so long that a policeman kept ushering me past the entrance. I circled three times, Levi started crying, and I cut my loses. I ended up paying money to spray the car myself right next to the people getting free washes. ha. Afterwards, my sister and I took all the kids to eat at a burger restaurant. The owner was so nice and genuinely loved the kids. She kept offering to hold Levi, and at the end, she gave Jessie and I free ice cream cones.
My sister and I spent the morning at the zoo. Surprisingly I didn't get very many pictures.. oh wait.. we were navigating summer crowds with 8 kids. no big deal
My brother and Kelsey invited us to Arlington Airport Day. It ended up being a fantastic event! You never know what you're going to get at events like this, but this one was a winner! There were several different booths- painting an airplane, bubbles, and face painting. You could also walk out to an area of the airport where a bunch of different planes were parked. A lot of the pilots were standing near their plane, and would answer questions. The kids even got to sit in a few of them. There was a tractor ride out to another area with free hot dogs/drinks and a bounce house. What a score! It took a while for Colter to get comfortable- new/busy activities can be a bit overwhelming. By the end, he was running around wild chasing uncle Aus and bouncing like crazy in the bounce house. Maddie loved getting her face painted, and was covered in chalk dust from laying on the ground making her sweet little people pictures.
Sometimes I like to do random things in order to keep my life interesting and break up the monotony of every day life. I decided to start celebrating national days. Apparently there's 3-4 things to celebrate every day. It's been something fun to do every now and then. I kicked it off with national pots de creme day. I didn't complain.
Kelsey and Austin dedicated Finley at their church and then we went to a nearby park for a delicious bbq lunch.
Saisha made the decision to be baptized, so we all gathered down in Edmonds and celebrated the evening with food, beach time, and watching her get dunked in the chilly sound.
The best way to end a day and realize the magnitude of blessing in my life is by visiting my three in their sleep.
Ben and I snuck in a date night when he got off school a little early one evening. We met up at Richmond Beach and it ended up being a special night at the beach with a steel drum band and several food trucks. I had already bought a box of ice cream sandwiches, so we munched our tasty treats, watched the sun go down, and talked about life. I love that special time with my man.
During the second week of his school, we went back to campus for another lunch date and also toured the library. I've always wanted to explore the library after seeing lots of beautiful pictures. It was incredible.
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