Summer birthday club

Birthday club strikes again! A group of friends try to go out a couple times a year for birthdays... The summer birthday girls included Jen & Sommer, so we went downtown to Imperial and ate all the yummy food and had all the yummy drinks. Best times!!

Birthday girls

Fun with Nana & Poppy

While the girls were gone in Idaho, the little boys also got a special treat as well - an overnight with Nana & Poppy in Vancouver! They all went to a really cool train museum in Portland, which included an actual train ride near Oaks Park. The boys got a kick out of watching people go on the big rollercoasters. The girls squeal a certain way, and boys yell another way (according to their report). Funny! The boys also loved trampolining and hot tubbing back at the house. Sweet time with grandparents.

Traditions: 10 years old

My parents have begun an awesome tradition with their grandchildren... A special trip once the child turns 10, and because we have so many kids in a row between me and my sister, they are going in pairs as soon as one turns 10 they go with the next youngest.

So... drumroll please! Marin, being the oldest Newell grandchild and her sister Madeline, got to be the first to pair up with Nana & Grandpa for an 8 day trip to Idaho (Silverwood Theme Park). They road tripped all the way from Camano Island to Portland, to pick up the girls, then drove all day with them to Idaho, got settled in a condo for the week, then proceeded to have the most fun week ever! They had a day at the water park, a day at the amusement park, a boat cruise on Lake Coeur d'Alene, a fun day hike, and a couple days at home swimming in the condo pool, playing mini-golf & lawn checkers, and exploring the grounds with all their fun activities ;)

The girls did so great, and my parents will probably need to sleep for a week to regain their strength. We are so blessed with such amazing grandparents for our kids!

Mini golf with Grandpa

Lunch break on their hike

Marin loving the lazy river

Madeline the fish

Lawn checkers with a new friend

Mini golf with Nana

Happy Baby Shower

It is so exciting to see most of my close friends slowly turn into parents of four kids. Ha ha! It's almost like I planned this!! I love my dear friend Julie and was tickled pink to throw her her very last baby shower, as she is soon going to be a mama of four beautiful kids age 6 and under (a feat I so well remember, or actually I don't remember much at all, it's a bit of blur). But soon she will be in the "two boys ~ two girls" club, and enjoying the fruit of all the hard lessons that adjusting to 3 kids teaches you. I'm hoping her fourth is just a pure joy, and that she can laugh at all the nonsense life throws, and love this last baby stage with all her heart. Congratulations to Patrick & Julie!

Tea Party

Who says tea parties have to end when your little girls grow up? At the fresh tender age of 9, my little doll planned a perfect tea party for the two of us.This may have been inspired by her new teacup/saucer she got for her bday. Invitation, (including correction once she realized what was actually in the frig), food preparation, coffee warming, tea prep, beautiful time with my sweet Maddie. I love, love, love these moments together.

Oranges crossed out - "sorry none" in the fridge - ha ha! the best...