Swimming Lessons

Swimming lessons :) Marin loved every single minute of her daily lessons, for two straight weeks. She thrived & splished like a fancy little fish. Maddie loved about a third of her minutes, enjoying it when she could and being hysterical when she couldn't. Kind of reminds me of her first dentist appointment... Started out great, then plunging into stubborn hysteria. Sigh... I was really hoping she would be able to enjoy herself, however I am reminded daily what two very different creatures I have in my precious daughters. Such special, unique beings made by God with such different ways they are wired to think and feel. Of course, the following pictures capture their radiant smiles, which makes me happy regardless of how this round of swimming lessons panned out. Ice cream treats to celebrate our "accomplishments"! :)

 

 

Farmer's Market with Brother

The girls got a special treat recently: going to Nana & Poppy's house for a sleepover with their cousins. Although  I wasn't there for all the excitement, the report from the girls & Nana was that it was just what you would expect - fun and fabulous! So during this time, Kyle and I had the rare treat of alone time with our little man. Our original plan was to take him fishing, but we found out that morning that our favorite trout farm... (don't judge all you serious fisher-people, 1 year olds need to catch their fish in 3-5 seconds to stay interested)... was closed for a private event. Cripes!

So instead we went to the Farmers Market, and strolled around with Max just taking in the sights & sounds, enjoying all the treats. The funniest thing is that instead of him relishing "alone time" with Ma & Pa, he seemed a bit discontent to have his big sisters gone. Check out his sass in the pictures. I still think he's the best thing since sliced bread.

Madeline the artist

Maddie is really taking off in the drawing department. Her latest thrill is to draw something special on a paper and secretly tape it to the wall above the headboard of our bed. Just so we have a little "surprise" waiting for us when we head to bed that night. It's so sweet! My favorite part of her drawings is that she always does a side profile view when drawing a lady, and they always have cascading curly hair. It's such an interesting thought, just thinking about how her little mind works, drawing those profile views. I love her and all her little surprises.

This one was a turtle lady with cascading curly hair :)

 

Camping at the beach

We completed the maiden voyage of the ginormous Corrigan family tent! Kyle has taken the girls camping before, but this was our first camping trip with all five of us... in a ten man, two room tent, with swinging doors & thirty zillion zipper windows - AWESOME :)

Our friends, The Burys also joined us on this fun-filled adventure to Nehalem Bay State Park, and it was a refreshing, relaxing and hilarious time together! Refreshing in the sense of being outdoors in the beautiful sunshing, taking in nature. Of course, it was also exhausting in the sense of kiddos waking before the roosters, and grown-ups staying up around the campfire way too late every night. But that's what french press coffee is for.

Our college friends, The Halbachs had an adjacent spot as well so we got to catch up with them & snuggle their cute and charming little boys too.

And to top it all off, our other amazing friends, The Powells drove in from Hillsboro just for the day to help celebrate Sommer's 30th birthday. Such fabulous fun. I seriously can't wait for the end of August when we get to do this again, this time in yurts!

Thanks to all those special people who made this such a memorable trip. Mostly to my longsuffering husband Kyle for wrangling that huge tent so his wife could have what she wanted :) I love adventures with my family!

 

 

Sports Camps

Marin had an absolute blast this year at soccer and basketball camp. The age cutoff is 4, so Maddie will be waiting until next year to join her big sis. Which suits her just fine, since she is much happier watching and observing for awhile before deciding to jump in. We had our own little "mommy camp" on the sidelines anyway, so it was fun for all! Gotta love my sporty girl w/ fancy hair accessories (ALWAYS)... :)

Oh yes it's 80's night, oh what a night...

I love having friends who know how to have fun :) The Payne's can always be counted on for fun plans that kick all of us out of our fuddy-duddies :) This time it was 80's night to celebrate a birthday, and we had fun eating, bowling & dancing. Next time I vote for a 90's dance partay, that way I can channel my inner teenager and show everyone why I won the dance contest in 8th grade. Woop!

Post Script: While 80's night was the big bash for Mr. Payne, the lady of the house had her own littl e birthday surprise when several of us showed up at her house with treats & presents the night before they left for a big trip. Happy birthday Robert & Laura!

Happy 4th of July

We took our yearly trek to Camano Island to stay at the cabin with my family, for the 4th of July! A definite highlight was spending more time with our new baby nephew Jack (or Jax, as my sister is now sweet talking to him... we like our kids to have rhyming names). It was gorgeous weather, and we packed a lot of fun into a few days. The fireworks show was awesome as usual, and this was the first year we let the girls stay up as late as they wanted. They lasted until about 930 or 10pm, however I think the last hour was sustained by the sugar rush of unbridled and unmonitored s'mores consumption. More pictures & descriptions below. USA! USA! (for those of you around my kids enough to understand, yes all four of the older ones were chanting this regularly throughout the weekend)

We love our baby Jack, he is so cute and cuddly! There was constant bickering about who got to hold him next (myself being the loudest). Jess got some practice with my Ergo, it holds a swaddled newborn like an angel.

First smile capture on camera :)

 

Speaking of swaddling, here's a funny one of the girls (age 5 and 3) swaddled and "napping" together.

 Beach exploration resulted in many treasures.

I just can't handle myself, these little cousins are too cute in all their matching outfits (for which I am responsible).

 

Another new tradition: lemonade stand! The girls raised a whopping $9.08 selling cups of lemonade to their family & neighbors at the cabin. Marin was the best saleswoman I have ever seen. She would ask my mom "Nana, what's that neighbor's name sitting over there on her deck", followed by a loud and cheerful "Hellooooo Anna, we are over here selling juice, would you pleeeeeeease come and buy some?" Next was "Helloooooo there Sandy, we are having a lemonade stand, would you please come here and see?"... How people can resist this is beyond me. Madeline was the banker, carefully filing each coin and dollar away in the green jar. Go girls!



And last but not least, rides on the boat and crabbing! For the first time ever, we caught enough keepers to meet the limit. Maddie was laughing the entire boat ride saying "I'm not even scared! I can't believe it, this is fun and the boat is not even too loud!". Marin on the other hand - already trying (and succeeding) to drive the boat. Love my adventurous girls!