The weekend after the cousin swap, we drove over the mountains to return Nicole/retrieve Avery, and visit with the Avery’s of Pullman. We had a really fun time. We took it easy, dropped by the farmer’s market, played at the local park, and just generally enjoyed each other’s company. We got this cute pic of all the cousins together.
And here are the adults
My favorite brother and me
Does this kid love the camera or what?
Silas sitting on his Great great aunt Bernice’s old Cosco chair
It’s become a summer tradition for Avery and Nicole to swap houses for one week each summer. With only ten months between Avery and Andrew, they have a blast together. And the boys and I love having Nicole around. Here are a few pics from our visit.
We went to Bellingham one weekend. Here we are enjoying Mallard Ice Cream.
It was Pride weekend while we were there, so we stopped by the local festival. Nicole really wanted one of those rainbow tails.
Here we are blueberry picking at Bybee Farm. Nicole is a great helper!
Tossing blueberries to one another
Nicole (and I) always enjoy playing with my old dance costumes when she’s here. Kieron was up for some fun too!
We had a fun and relaxing Fourth of July at home. We started with our annual parade in the morning. Due to the extreme heat, we skipped the local fair and headed to the river with our friends, the Lotts. Then we bbq’d and spent the evening at the Maresca’s house, up the street.
We ran into Caroline and her family. Here’s little Ethan in his wagon.
Chad & Jonathan pulling the wagons
Despite the heat, Kieron insisted on wearing his festive socks
With Caroline
At the river
Sparklers!
Here are a few more pics from June. The first few are from Kieron and Silas’ farm school graduation. I forgot to take them off my phone for the earlier post.
Kieron signing in on the last day of school
Silas with his teacher, Ms. Tricia
Avery loves getting to come to the parties at the school. He wanted to pet all the animals.
This sweet boy helped Avery catch a hen
Wilbur is now bigger than Silas
A common site on our front porch. The gang of boys on our street playing Beyblades (essentially fancy tops which “battle” one another).
What do PNW kids use their umbrellas for? For shade when the comes out, of course!
Our summer project: adding board and batten (and cleat hooks for towels) in the boys bathroom. It was super easy and looks adorable with the nautical theme. It’s also much easier for the boys to hang their towels neatly!
Silas’ first dentist appointment. He was a trooper! I got the impression it wasn’t as much fun as he thought it would be though.
Prizes at the dentist
This summer has been hot, hot, hot! To keep cool, Jonathan and I have been taking the boys to the Snoqualmie River in the evenings. We can’t believe we’ve lived in Snoqualmie for more than four years and hadn’t been here yet! We tried a few different spots, and found our favorite. It’s beautiful!
This is a spot we checked out on the south fork of the river. We were having a great time and the boys decided to swim across to check out the other side (the water isn’t moving much here). Avery made it across no problem, and Kieron even made it too with a little help and encouragement from his big brother. They played over there for a while as the sun moved and the area became shady. When it was time for them to come back, the water felt much colder, and the boys didn’t want to get in the water/didn’t think they could do it. Long story short, it took a lot of coaxing, crying and drama before the boys made it back, but finally they did it!
We also found a canoe on Craigslist and have been padding around Rattlesnake Lake and Lake Alice with the boys. It’s small, and it doesn’t have an engine, but it gets us on the water! All Jonathan’s years on the crew team at Western are coming in handy, and the boys love taking turns giving Mommy a break paddling!
Avery and Kieron at Lake Alice. Much of one end of the lake is shallow enough for the boys to walk around. There are lots of lily pads, cute little houses along the water, and very few people. Avery swam the whole way back, probably 1/2 mile (with his life jacket on)!
