Life with our little family of 3...

I recently purchased a picnic basket for $2.50 at the evil box store. I bought it not for a picnic basket but more of a all purpose carrier. It always seems I need to cart stuff in and out of the car. Such a library books, snacks, etc. I saw this and thought it would be a great way to carry stuff since it was lightweight and cheap! Unfortunately since it was from evil box store, it soon fell apart. I was pretty disappointed since I had high hopes it would be my next greatest thing to make life easier for me! But the cheap plastic "pins" kept popping out which led to the reinforcement stakes to cause the basket to collapse. Which then led to it just being a big pain! Then I had an idea... What it I made it more fun and functional! So it began with this... And then I did this... I poked holes through the bars that kept it upright. Then strung some ribbon through it to help keep it in place. But I didn't stop there... And ta-da! Fun meets f...

I am not sure how in the world I married into a family like this...

We are experiencing some unusually hot weather this week. It's been in the upper 80s to mid 90s. Too hot for us Northwesterners! We decided to head down to our beach to try to stay cool. The kids had a blast! They spent over 6 hours playing in the water!  They swam... Built sandcastles... And worked on perfecting the perfect jump... In order to make the biggest splash... This is what summer is all about! 

Emma returned from camp this weekend. It was all that she had hoped for and more! After the kids were checked out and we picked up her stuff, we were able to go down and visit some of the horses. Not only did she get to see them but she got to ride one of them too! We were very impressed at her first time up on a horse! She did amazing! Goodbye cheers and closing!  Ready to go!  All by herself! So proud! 

Emma went off to camp for the first time this week. She will be gone 7 days and 6 nights. She picked a camp that offers not only the summer camp experience, but horses as well! She was so excited to go she could hardly stand it! She was all packed up and ready to go hours before we had to leave! She went with a couple of friends. I think it made it a little easier being gone so long to know she has friends with her. I love this picture! They are going together... not only physically but on a deeper level. Here is where they get to stay! How exciting! It even has a full bathroom in each cabin/boxcar! There are 9 girls and 1 counselor in her cabin. After they checked in, they got to choose their beds. Emma picked a top bunk. It's hard to believe she will be gone for a whole week. I know she is going to have an awesome time! There will be so much to hear about when she returns. It's also the beginning of her slowly becoming her own independent ...

Emma went to her 6th Summer Hummer camp. I liked the description that my friend gave it - VBS on crack! Since there were 895 kids and 400 helpers! Friday night is Family Night. All of the activities from the week are open for everyone to enjoy. Water slides, zip line, bounce houses, monkey motion, swings, go karts and more! At the end of the evening the kids perform their songs for the parents. It's such a great way to end an amazing week! This is just a glimpse of the stage! The kids were pretending to rock out!  Whoo hoo!! Right before the kids' performance a thunderstorm started to roll in. Thunderstorms in our area are pretty rare. We were all hoping that the rain would hold off so the kids could perform!  Not only did the rain hold off... right at the end of their performance there was a loud, long rumble! It was perfect! We all thought it was God and the angels clapping for the kids.

We had a great 4th of July this year! The day started with a ride in the fire truck for Tumwater's annual 4th of July Parade! Then we had some great friends over for a bbq & fireworks! I was afraid we wouldn't have enough food. However once we got it all out, I realized we had PLENTY! This was only some of it! The kids begged us for hours to do the fireworks we had. Eventually we moved into the front yard for the pyro fun!  Plenty of food, great friends and no injuries! It was an awesome day!