Our favorite niece, Nicole, spent a few weeks with Grammy and Papa over the summer. She flew back from Texas with us and stayed a week before returning home. We had such a fun time! She is such a sweetheart, and we loved having her at our house. I didn’t want to let her go!

Nicole, Silas, and I went blueberry picking one morning while Avery and Kieron were at camp.




  

What happens when a girly-girl with three little boys has her niece over to visit? She breaks out the Barbies, the nail polish, and the old dance costumes, of course!

Pedis for everybody!

Avery opted for alternating black and white polish, just like Nicole. Still a mama’s boy, Kieron went with the hot pink polish his mom picked out.

And then the costumes:

Blackmail!

I even got in on the action
  

Then Kieron decided he like the boots in Mommy’s closet best

We had a nice, fun, mellow Fourth of July this year. In the morning we decorated the boys bikes and rode in the local parade. After that, we enjoyed some activities at the fair that followed. In the evening, we set off a few fireworks, roasted s’mores, and went for a short walk.

During the s’more roasting, we were visited by what turned out to be “the elusive mountain beaver.” We didn’t know what he was at first. We were literally just sitting there around the fire when he scurried out of the woods and into our yard. We followed him around for a couple of minutes, trying to figure out what he was, before he decided he better get the heck away from us! Was he a rat? A mole? A gopher? After some googling, we decided he must be the latter. Then a few days later, a forester came to cut down a sick tree beside our yard. We told him our story, showed him pictures of the furry critter, and he said (in his British accent) “Ahhh, you were visited by the elusive mountain beaver! You’re very lucky! Not many people get to see ’em!” He then went on to tell us all about mountain beavers (not actually beavers).  So here’s some video of what we saw:

Getting ready to go on the zip line with Daddy!

Kieron prefers to eat straight out of the garden

We don’t have a fence up yet, and Silas likes to scurry off into the front yard and get chased. We’ve trained Avery to bring him back for us.

Sparklers

Silas seemed to really enjoy the fireworks, and wasn’t really bothered by the noise

Happy hour service

I am waaaay behind on blogging again, and feeling overwhelmed by pictures and to-do lists. Here are some cute pics from June & July.

Andrew & Avery

Another Home Depot project

Jonathan, Avery, and Kieron went to a Mariner’s game

Last day of school, playing tug of war at field day

Here’s Kieron eating kale! And it’s not even juiced! He will only eat it fresh off the plant, picked by himself (talk about a “picky” eater).

Fresh blackberries, picked by Kieron

The boys enjoying popsicles at Wiktor & Fryderyk’s

Avery helping out with one of our latest backyard projects. The sand table now lives on these pavers, and Jonathan and I have reclaimed the patio.

A deer neighbor, which reminds me of a funny story from a couple weeks ago. Kieron was in the back yard by himself digging in the sandbox, and I was in the kitchen. All of a sudden he starts screaming hysterically, and I think he must have been stung by a bee or something. So I rush to the back door, and Kieron is already there, freaked out, in tears. I ask what’s wrong, he has to catch his breath before he can reply, “a deer!” It must have really snuck up on him! And I have to admit, I’ve jumped too, unexpectedly seeing deer in the yard. Now Kieron likes to check for them before going out. I’ve tried explaining that they’re more afraid of him than he is of them, but I don’t think that matters much.

Silas at the sand table

“I’ve got your iPhone Mommy!

S’mores with friends

Silas makes this face a lot

Playing in the sandbox

Silas playing his favorite game in the back yard, “come chase me around to the front!” I can’t wait to get a fence up, but in the meantime, Avery enjoys retrieving Silas for me.

Avery’s t-ball team