Game Day {July 18}

All three kids were home this morning for piano lessons!  {Yay! from Me.  Grumble, Grumble from A, C, & J) 

I had to go to a meeting/training afterward for my soon-to-be new calling.  Not sure when it will be official but let’s just say it’s about as wacky as a calling could be for me. 

While I was gone the kids got some chores done.  Drew was proud to show me how he’d straightened the shoes.

(Again, he’s not into clothes much these days)

We were hoping to venture up the pass that afternoon with friends, but we were still waiting for proper summer weather around here so instead we invited everyone over here to hang out and play games.  It ended up being lots of fun and a perfect way to spend a rainy afternoon/evening.

Sunday {July 17}

Drew chose Jason to read to him before his nap today.  He prefers to nap without clothes these days.

Lest you think the above picture implies our Sabbath was perfectly peaceful, while I captured this sweet moment, here’s what was going on around the rest of the house.

Having our new home teachers coming at 2pm started off our Sunday afternoon with some household tension.  Justin usually cooks on Sunday and he isn’t a quick (or clean) cook so while he tried to make something “fast”…

…Abigail was indexing when she was supposed to be loading the dishwasher (after multiple warnings Justin ended up telling her she wouldn’t get to eat lunch)

…Carly was tucked away in the bonus room reading when she was supposed to be putting away her dirty clothes left on the bathroom floor

…Katie was reading on her bed when she was banished to her bedroom with a warning to not come out until her laundry was put away (which was supposed to have been done yesterday)

Lunch was served just 15 minutes before our home teachers were due to arrive (thankfully, they were late) and just so no one worries, Abigail ended up earning back lunch by helping Katie put her clothes away.

We broke away from our typical Sunday afternoon routine of playing games and ventured over to Grandma & Grandpa Fletcher’s house for the afternoon/evening.  The kids were fully entertained by their cousins and Grandma whipped together a yummy dinner and cake for dessert.

Drew thought Grandma’s plant mover thing-a-ma-gig was pretty fun    

Saturday {July 16}

I been invited to join a little tennis group and this morning was our first “match”.  Laura and I paired up (cause our friendship is better when we aren’t on opposing teams) against two ladies who both played competitively in high school.  Perhaps not the best matchup, but Laura and I played ok, though mostly just getting points when they messed up on their legit serves.  It was great fun and I’m excited to play again and hopefully improve some along the way.  I have a hard time sharing the court so I’m not the best doubles player.  I also didn’t feel like doubles was a great of a workout so I hit the gym afterward to work up a sweat.

Today was a bike riding kind of day – too bad we’d lent out our bike trailer so I stayed back with Katie and Drew and Justin took Abigail and Jason on a short trail ride.  Carly was invited to bike the Snoqualmie Tunnel to Rattlesnake with the Hammer’s.  A 21-mile ride!  It’s been on my summer bucket list for years and I still haven’t made it happen – jealous!

That afternoon Jason and I joined the Barlow’s at the theatre to watch Roald Dahl’s book-turned-movie, The BFG.  Jason read the book this summer and was so excited to see the movie.  I’d heard mixed reviews, but I thought it was really good.  Perhaps it helped that I hadn’t read the book?  I actually laughed so hard that I was in tears – whizzpoppers and Queen Elizabeth! {Ha!}

The girls had plans that evening (Abigail – regional dance outside our church building & Carly – kidnapping a new beehive) so Justin and I hung out at home and finally got around to watching the most recent Divergent movie.  Sometimes a quiet night at home is perfect.

Mount Rainier {July 15}

Justin took today off and we were ready for a family adventure!... after an inconvenient orthodontist appointment for Abigail at 9:30am that we couldn’t move due to her busy summer schedule.

We were on the road bound for Mount Rainier National Forest by 10:15am… with a couple stops for gas, lunch, and a quick running into the dollar store by five excited kids to pick out a $1 treat for the road.

First stop was Narada Falls

from above 

   

and below 

   

Next stop was in Paradise where we hiked up to Myrtle Falls

Drew did lots of running 

   

That’s mi familia up there! 

   

When we got back down the mountain trail Drew found a little bench and laid down for a nano-second.

Our next hike was Box Canyon. The canyon is deep and narrow and rocks below are polished smooth by the rushing water.  I wish pictures could do it justice, but I think you need to see it in person to capture how cool it was. 

The girls wanted to get their picture taken in front a tunnel.  I like this picture of them when they had to dart out of the way.

Next up was Grove of the Patriarchs.  Justin prefaced the hike by telling the kids that this hike was one of his favorite when we was a kid.  From the back we heard Katie exclaim, “Why would I need to know that?”  So funny!

Katie shocked us all but wanting to carry the backpack – which she managed to do for the entire 1.5 mile hike.  It’s almost as big as she is! Tough girl!

This was the only hike that we put Drew in the kidpack and he only lasted a bit before he wanted to get out and walk it.

There was a neat bridge we had to cross, one-at-a-time. 

   

Just a bunch of tree huggers from the northwest

On our drive up to Sunrise we finally caught our first glimpse of the Mt Rainier summit.  We quickly pulled over so we could take a picture.

The visitors center at Sunrise was already closed for the day so we decided to take a short walk out to Emmons Vista.  There were too many clouds to get good mountain view, but we did get a great view of a fox wandering about.

   

It was so cold that there were still piles of snow on the ground.

Everyone had such great attitudes making it a really enjoyable day.  It was a lot of driving, but we stopped often enough that it didn’t seem bad at all.  Mount Rainier is so beautiful even if she was playing hard to get today.  I’m so glad we finally made the time to take the kids.

UW Wrap-Up {July 14}

We spent all morning at home - less Abigail (last day of vball camp) and Justin (business as usual) doing some cleaning up and before we knew it was lunch time.  I had just put a loaf of banana bread in the oven and not feeling any desire to do any meal prep we decided to make a quick trip into North Bend and pick up free lunches at the library.  Even with spending 10 minutes checking out new books we still made it back home with plenty of time to take the bread out of the oven.  The kids thought it was fun to eat their boxed lunches at the park across the street.

That afternoon Jason and Katie played in the neighborhood, Drew napped, and Carly was invited to join some friends paddle boarding on Rattlesnake Lake.

Carly was only home long enough to clean up and then head out again with friends for the rest of the night. Justin and I took advantage of the our evening with Abigail and watched a movie and munched on junk food.  She had such a great experience at the UW volleyball camp this week – Megan’s Mom sent us a few pictures of the girls last day.

with UW outside hitter Courtney Schwan    

UW coach signing her new UW volleyball 

   

UW Husky