Time keeps on ticking away

 In the blink of an eye another month has passed. 
I have been savoring all of this uninterrupted time with my kiddos and making the most of our summer.
Here are some photos of the things we have been up to. 

Trips to the aquarium

Swinging

 

popsicles

amazing parks!

early morning runs to the coffee stand and through town to hit up the garage sales.

lots of pool time with our makeshift waterslide

The kids' first trip to Rainforest Cafe

Splash parks

Bubble blowing

Smores

 

DIY projects like this chalkboard table

art projects at Home Depot

What have you been up to?!

And then the bridge fell...................

I am sure some of you saw the headlines, "I-5 bridge collapses and plunges cars into the Skagit River".

That is the bridge I cross multiple times a week and on May 23rd both north and south bound lanes of the freeway fell into the river, literally, and took with it three cars.

By some miracle, only THREE cars plunged into the river during what is normally a busy commuting time.  Of these three cars, no one was seriously injured. 

A truck carrying a large load hit a gerter causing the structure to become damaged and it immediately fell apart.

This is just so crazy to me. Crazy because this is our main transportation through our valley and over the river. Crazy because I cross it all the time and have for years, and crazy because no one was hurt.

My husband was on duty this night and was one of the first people on the scene.

He is on the right giving the survivor a hand

Thinking of what this could have been like I thank God that it wasn't much worse. The only thing we have to deal with is the traffic.

Olympic Game Farm

After we packed up all our belongings and left the beach house we headed straight for the Olympic Game Farm.  I have wanted to go here since I was a child and had never been. I think I was more excited than the kids to go!

I wasn't exactly sure what to expect, but I knew we could bring wheat bread, and only wheat bread, to feed to the animals.  Some of the animals were enclosed (like the lions, tigers wolves and bears) but most were free to roam.

They said we could stop and take our time feeding the animals. They did recommend to not come to a complete stop around the elk and buffalo since they could charge the car.

Pretty sure Brandon let out a little scream when this guy licked his hand trying to get the bread. I just laughed!

The bears were so cute and they knew it. He would sit and wait for me to throw bread and then he would catch it. After he ate it he would wave. Of course, he was so darn cute doing it that I just HAD to throw him another piece. These animals are smart. They obviously eat well.

The zebra slobbered all over the car.

The Llamas were hilarious! They would all converge on a single car in a big group and pretty much block you from driving away while they stuck their heads in your car as far as the possibly could. I was laughing so hard. It was just as funny to watch them chase down the car in front of us as it was to have them run after ours!

I am so glad we took the time to stop here. The kids entrance was free and adults were only $12.00 and that was for ALL day. Definitely a good deal and something we plan on going back to again.

Currently (the Kendra edition)

Kendra Noel (also know as sassafras, sissy, miss sassy pants and sister belle)

Currently she is:

Loving: all this unseasonably warm weather! This girl could live in dresses and bikinis and she is so happy to have been able to wear them so often. She has been on our new swing set constantly and has mastered the art of the squirt gun fight. Yeah, we have two squirt guns so two guesses as to who always ends up soaked! Me!

Disliking: all this crazy schedule changing that has been going on with Daddy's work. To be honest, none of us at home really like it all that much. :(

Craving: Okay, well this girl loves to eat, but some of her favorite snacks right now are apples, bananas, watermelon, pirate booty and turkey pepperoni.

Wanting: Well, she wants anything. Just like her momma, take her to a store, no matter what store it may be and she will find something. ;) In all seriousness, she really has been loving anything Hello Kitty for sometime now and she is still asking me to get her ears pierced. Oh, and let's not forget her wanting a diamond ring because , as she says, " I don't have one, though, Mommy". I had to wait a lot of years for mine, child, so you will be waiting too!

Listening to: Anything her brother says. Oh my. She is full of it. I can not believe some of the things she says. We will save that for a different post because I could fill this page with some of the hilarity that has been coming from her, lately. I catch her quite often making up songs and I like to peek in and listen when she doesn't know I am there. It doesn't get any sweeter than that!

Her Favorite things are: Heels. No joke. It is no secret that my child loves heels. I honestly don't know where she gets it from. I have a little bit of a purse obsession but not shoes. This is all her own thing. If you follow me on instagram I am sure you have seen plenty of photos of Kendra with "her" shoes. She has been known to search through my closet for the "perfect pair" to match. And gosh darnit, if she really doesn't come out with the perfect pair everytime. That girl really can coordinate and she knows exactly what she wants! Every morning when I got to get her out of bed she generally has already been up and picked out shoes and is wearing them. She then proceeds to ask if she can go to my closet and pick out heels since hers are broken. Every.single. morning. It has become our routine. How can a 2.5 year old love shoes this much?! She asked me just the other day why she didn't have green shoes to match her dress. I said white would do just fine. She looked at me and said she needed shoes in every color for her shoe closet. Um, since when do you have a shoe closet? She was simply referring to her closet. :)
When we pulled up to the beach house last weekend the first thing she asked was if there would be high heels for her to wear. When I said no, she then asked if any of the girls had packed some that she could borrow. Good thing I was thinking and I did pack a pair just for her. :)

Starting at a young age (this was last year)

Brother's cowboy boots three sizes too big! She literally wore the soles off of one.

She keeps me on my toes and makes me laugh so much. I wouldn't change a single thing about her. So blessed to be her mommy, even if it is giving me a head full of gray hair. For reals, guys, I am going gray at the ripe old age of 28. :(

A Weekend at The Beach, part 1

A couple of weeks ago we took a mini vacation to the peninsula here in Washington to a little town called Sequim. We had to drive an hour to the ferry and take a quick trip across the sound to Kingston where we had to drive another hour or so to reach our destination. Sequim is about 70 miles north of Forks, Washington. I know a lot of you know all about Forks! Unfortunately this time we weren't able to make the drive there. By the time we were able to check into our beach house the kids were sick of being in the car!

But, let me back up a bit here. For years my dad's side of the family has talked about taking a trip together or renting a house for a weekend away, but that is all it had been; talk. Life is busy when so many people are trying to coordinate their schedules. A few years back my dad moved to Sequim and fell in love with it (although, he isn't there now) and it turned out our family has a pretty rich history there and lots of living relatives we didn't know!

So, when the opportunity came up to rent this amazing place in a town full of our family's history we jumped at the chance!

 

The picture doesn't do it justice, but this places was amazing!

We had amazing views of the beach and just a little trail to take to have our own beach access!

Now, some of you are probably thinking, "but this is Washington, how warm can it be?" I am happy to report that it was a gorgeous weekend and that we have been having record high temps around here. Did you see that this past Monday we were the hottest state in the country?! It blew my mind too.

This is the life, I tell you!

We spent a lot of time at the beach!

we even went kayaking for the first time together and managed to stay alive! ;)

The kids' kayak stuck to the beach

This place was amazing! There were five bedrooms, two of which had two beds and three couches that folded out to beds. There were two kitchens and three bathrooms and as many amenities you can think of. We definitely enjoyed the hot tub and use of the kayaks. They had every possible game you can think of and a plethora of outdoor toys and games as well. We could have stayed at the house all weekend and have had enough to entertain us.

The first night there we grilled hamburgers for dinner and the second we did pulled pork sandwiches. It was so relaxing to just be with my family and spend some quality time all together. I honestly would say it has been over a decade since we have been together for this long. It made me realize how fast the years are flying and how fleeting it really is.  We vowed to make this an annual thing. You see, this weekend was special because it was something in Sequim called the Irrigation Festival. Kind of a funny name, I know, but it basically started as a celebration years ago to commemorate when three men (one being my great great grandpa) figured out how to irrigate the prairies and make the land usable. There are street fairs, performers, parades, fairs and all kinds of things. It was neat to be part of something that someone we were related to had a direct hand in.

We are already venturing on picture overload so my next post I will show you pictures of the big game farm we visited! You don't want to miss that.

Jaxson's 4th Birthday!

I know, I know, we all say it, but seriously how is my baby growing up so fast?! In the blink of an eye my little guy has grown into such a little man! I have been so blessed in this life to have the opportunity to be momma to this sweet, sensitive, caring, smart and bossy little guy. He is such a little leader and go getter. Right now he loves to tell jokes and they are beginning to finally make sense and be funny! He loves Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Transformers, Iron Man and anything to do with sea animals.  He has such a love for reading and has an endless stream of questions constantly! At least we have moved beyond the "why" phase after I say everything. Don't worry, Kendra still has that one covered for me. ;) His favorite color is blue and his favorite food is probably spaghetti with green beans and cottage cheese. He goes back and forth between saying he wants to be a zookeeper at the San Diego Zoo and a fireman who works with Daddy.

He is a definite nurturer and always seem to be in tune to the feelings of the people around him, especially me. He is a bit more cautious then his sister when it comes to doing things he perceives as "scary" but he is not shy when it comes to meeting people and striking up conversations. He has made me so proud and I can not wait to see what this year holds for us!

So, with all that said we celebrated Jaxson's birthday with an under the sea family party last weekend (two days before his actual birthday).

 

Total momma fail since I took hardly any pictures at all! Oops.

The cake turned out so well and was really yummy!

On Tuesday he was VIP at preschool and brought a special treat for snack for all of his friends.

I spent the morning with him at preschool and afteward we headed to a nearby town with friends to go to Jump Zone, which is an indoor jump park complete with different bouncy houses and slides. It was so fun! We had some admission passes we had gotten at an auction and this was the perfect opportunity to use them. After the kids got sufficiently tired we went to an AMAZING ice cream place with all local home made ice cream. There were some interesting flavors, such as avocado, which was what Brandon had. It was surprisingly good! I had a dark chocolate orange chunk and I want to go back just for that. To.die.for!

After ice cream we headed to a local park to enjoy some warm weather!

Last night we celebrated with his friends at a local play area called Jungle Playland. We are still recovering from all of that fun! Pics of that to come later!

Friday's Letters

Dear bipolar weather- I am soo over you! Sunny one day and thunder storms the next. I am getting stir crazy being cooped up inside.

Dear Hair- You are finally going to get in for some much needed TLC. Cut and color here you come!

Dear Self - Snap out of this funk you have been in. Seriously! There is always so much to be thankful for. Remember to focus on that when things are tough.

Dear Kendra- You continue to challenge and amaze me all the time. The things you say crack me up. Where do you get this stuff?

Dear Jaxson- I can not believe that you will be four in four days! How did this happen?! I can not wait to celebrate you and all that you mean to me and have brought to my life.

Dear husband- I know you have been working so hard and doing so much for us. I am thankful, I may not always express it the best, or even say it as much as I should, but no matter what, I will always be thankful for the time you have spent on our family.

Dear weekend- Be good to me. That is my only request.