August was Fun!

One of the perks of living in lots of places is making lots of friends!  And one of the perks of living near a destination city is seeing said friends who make DC a vacation spot!  We met the Selley family at church in England.  Jo and I became dear friends through our weekly Bible study group.  I was so grateful they agreed to spend one of their vacation evenings in our home!

We were blessed to spend another birthday with Gramma!  In keeping with tradition, we met Steve and Vallerie at McDonald's for a hamburger birthday party - her favorite =)

 The girls and some friends worked on a "tree fort" near our house

Unlike our previous rental house, we now live near some flat sidewalk space and the girls have enjoyed riding their bikes more.

We love getting letters from our Compassion sponsor kids!! 

Doing a little work together at our new (from Craigslist) picnic table! 

A kind friend dropped of a tablecloth for our new picnic table just in time for our picnic lunch.

The kids and I rode the metro to meet Ryan for a dinner picnic on the Potomac before cashing in our free Nationals tickets from the library.  The weather was perfect for a late night of baseball. 

A new piece of furniture brought this creative girl a couple hours of imaginative play

Rooke and I scored the game Master Mind (which I played as a kid!) at the thrift store and we all have been playing it multiple times a day since.  It does involve a bit of luck and on this rare occasion, Rooke literally guessed the code on his first turn!  

It's rare to find any of my kids sitting.  Alone.  Quietly.  =)

Ryan had the opportunity to preach at a small church, which was near an area known for good Chinese food.  We picked a place for lunch that did not disappoint in the dumpling and traditional Chinese food department - yum!

Trip to Oregon {part 2}

The second part of our trip to Oregon was spent mostly in Redmond where both Nana and my aunt's family live.  Nana had a delicious lunch waiting for us when we pulled up and unloaded.  Aunt Karen, Uncle David, and my cousin, Kaylene, were also there waiting for us!

Then it was off to the third COUSIN CAMP!!  This was Bridgette's first year to be old enough to go.  The kids were super excited!  Kaye K and Big Daddy took the kids to a house they'd rented for four days of games, swimming, devotionals, treats,  singing, crafting, and fun!

The Cousin Camp theme this year was Kindness

While the kids were away, I got to hang back and stay in Nana's lovely home with my sister (and our matching water bottles) and nephew

Aunt Karen took us on a short hike down to a beautiful waterfall!  

Leo experienced his first American county fair, and Aubyn and I were, um . . . stunned . . . as we watched our first rodeo - oh my!

Is there an age limit to sisters wearing matching outfits?!  This is what happens when Aunt Karen and Nana watch Leo and we get to shop at Target together =)

The Cousin Camp Crew! 

Homemade ice cream at Nana's! 

Lovely Nana with six of her nine great-grandchildren.  She hosted Aubyn and I with all these kiddos for the night!

After Redmond, we had a few more days in Portland before returning home.

Kaye K took us to the zoo!  We saw many animals up and moving around, and the place was basically empty of visitors. 

Then we met up with Big Daddy for some yummy New York style pizza! 

And a famous Salt-N-Straw ice cream experience - delicious!!

The kids and I took one more trip to the coast

We decided to build in the sand, using our watermelon tupperware and an empty coffee cup for tower shaping.

We saw Konnor, Tana, and the boys on our last night in town.  Rooke and Finnick had fun playing pokemon toys together.

One last goodnight story time with Big Daddy 

Our trip back home was almost identical to the trip out in reverse, but this time our five-hour layover plus the one-hour delay was spent in a lounge we weren't expecting to experience.  After hearing an announcement on the loud speaker, the kids and I went searching for the USO lounge and were greeted with a quiet, comfortable space to relax during our layover - hooray!  Thank you, USO!  And thank you to our favorite military member who serves and was waiting for us on the other end of the flight home =)

Trip to Oregon {part 1}

The kids and I had the great privilege of spending two weeks in Oregon with family!  The kids are at such fun ages to make great travel companions.

Thanks to Kaye K and Big Daddy's frequent flying, they had passes to share for our five-hour layover in San Francisco.  We found our corner in the United club lounge and camped out like we owned the place =)

One of our first outings in Portland was a trip to the Forestry Museum with KayeK and cousin Finnick.  The kids tinkered on an ornately decorated piano outside.

I took the kids to pick blueberries!  One of my favorite summer things to do in the Northwest.

Dutch Brothers coffee #1.

One of my favorite times from the trip were our visits to the coast.  Mom and Dad are a 1.5-hour drive to Cannon Beach where you can see Haystack Rock.  This was the kids' first up-close experience with the Pacific Ocean!  

This one wasn't posed . . . love him.





Bridgette can be a bit of a chatterbox, but Big Daddy was happy to listen! =)

A yummy breakfast out before church

Growing up, I heard my dad preach most Sundays.  What a gift to be in town the Sunday he preached at their church and sit under his teaching once more.

Sprinkler!

We joined Konnor, Tana, and their boys for a lovely Saturday morning nature walk.  Rooke led the pack of cousins on some adventurous climbing because they all followed whatever he did!

Jessie and I planned a meet-up day in Olympia with all the kids - so much fun!!  

We started with what was supposed to be a beautiful beach with a rocky shore.  Turned out to be a total mud pit!  So we scrapped that place and went to Plan B . . .

. . . a short hike down to a much more manageable beach shore with some cave-like structures for exploring

And who doesn't love Izzy's Pizza Buffet for lunch?!  

Sweet friends since birth

Aubyn and her kids drove down - HOORAY!!  We went back for more berry-picking all together!

Cutie cousins!