Seafair - The Blue Angels

Friday, August 5th

Darin's favorite things......planes.

Whenever we see a plane/helicopter/jet in the air, he can tell us what it is. He really turns into a kid when he is around them. :-) I think Zach is going to follow his Dad's love for planes too. Jets in particular.

Darin wants Zach to be a fighter pilot.

This is not a smile for the camera. This is pure joy of watching the Blue Angels flying by.

Oh how I love these guys!!

While the guys were enamored with the jets, Elissa was more interested in playing in the water with her barbie.

It is not very often that she plays with a barbie anymore. I love it when she enjoys these simple little girl things still. Too often she is trying to be much older then her 7 years. My sweet girl!

And yes, I did get some pictures of the Blue Angels too. LOL!

Though the weather was cloudy again this year, it was a great time!

Church Camp 2011

Sunday, July 31st - Wednesday, August 3rd

This is our 3rd year camping with our church family at Mayfield Lake.

We all look forward to this time each year.

The kids are getting more and more independent. Maybe a little too much.... They were in trouble several times for going on hikes with no adults with them. We had to be VERY specific on where their boundaries were.

These two were inseparable. They had so much palling around.



You could find the girls - mostly Elissa and Kelsey - walking any dog they could find.

Poor Bailey, the Chandler's new dog, was not use to all this exercise. He is more of a lay around and snore type of dog. :-) He was walking pretty stiffly after a couple of days of the girls dragging him around.

We had lots of beach time, though Zach didn't want to be down there. He was much more interested in riding his bike everywhere.

Every evening the kids looked forward to watching an outdoor movie at the Evan's camp. They bring a projector every year and a big white canvas to show movies. They even pop popcorn and serve nuts to everyone. It is such a treat! So we got to bed pretty late every night.

Though Zach never made it through the movie. By 9pm he is more then ready for bed.

I took almost no pictures this year. I spent my time chatting with friends. :-)

On the last day we were all scoping which site we want to get next year. Maybe we'll even stay till Thursday. Usually just the families with teenagers stay till Thursday or Friday. We'll see....

Camping and SUN!

Sunday, July 24th - Thursday, July 28th

The start of a THREE WEEK Vacation!

Camping at Steamboat Rock on Banks Lake!

I love, love, love camping in Eastern, WA. You can always - pretty much - count on it being really warm.

Of course, just before we left Zach was showing signs of being sick. Darin took him in Saturday morning and found out that he had strep and the rest of us needed to be tested. I was pretty certain I had it too because my throat had been hurting all week. Strep has been going around our neighborhood since July 4th. Yep, I had it too.

It was a long 6 hour drive - because of numerous stops - so we were SO thankful when we pulled up to our spot and we could run around and enjoy a beautiful, warm evening.

Monday ended up being one VERY rainy day. We had a quiet day in the trailer hanging out. It was sad, but the sun came out in the afternoon and we decided to run into Grand Coulee (my birth place) and take a tour of the Grand Coulee Dam (my Dad helped build the 3rd power plant).

3rd Power Plant

Then that evening we watched the light show. It is was pretty cool.

The rest of the week was beautiful!

Elissa was very excited to be able to go and buy a treat by herself.

The best part of camping for the kids is all the new friends to play with (because every kid is a friend).

The only bummer was the swarm of mosquitos. Poor Zach was eaten up.

The red dots were all over his face and neck and legs.

It was a fun, mostly relaxing time hanging out. We would have stayed another night if we didn't have obligations on Friday. We are definitely coming back next year.

A Bald Spot

And it's not Darin! :-)

Unfortunately, Zach has twirled his hair so much that he has created a bald spot. He twists his hair really tight and then pulls. Not an attractive look!

So I took him for a hair cut this morning to get his hair chopped so that he can't twirl anymore.

BEFORE

I love his hair like this. I was sad that we had to cut it short.

AFTER

But he's still a very handsome guy!

A Perfect Fourth!

The 4th of July weekend was picture perfect!

I'm not sure when we have had better weather.

And a few days with friends makes it even better.

We started the morning with a parade down mainstreet.

Then we spent the afternoon at the beach.

Some how Elissa got in on a volleyball game with the lifegurads. :-)

Kennedy wouldn't stray far from Jaice. :-)

Zach was making a little "pool" for Taylor.

Then his older girl, Mia, joined the fun.

Watching the kiddos....

Time for fireworks!

And then a little of our own fireworks!!

Some how we got a firwork that acts like a strobe light. Not a good thing for Elissa, so we had to have her turn around when we realized what was happening.

It was one of the best 4th's we have had!