Happy Fourth of July

Due to baby's anticipated arrival, we had to skip our usual plans to be at Camano Island with my fam for 4th of July. It was sad to miss those fun festivities, but thankfully our friends are loads of fun and we had a blast at home! Kyle got a few little things for our kids to blast off at home, then we headed to the Payne's house for a BBQ with a bunch of pals. I tried to get a family picture with all our Independence Day gear on, but the kids noticed a hot-tub at the party, and pleaded desperately to go swimming in their clothes. How could I refuse, I mean I'm a cool mom :) So no group picture, but lots of fun achieved instead. Afterwards we went to the Bury's neighborhood to watch US Marshall Jordan blow off his stash of goodies. Somehow I don't worry much about hands getting blown off (and such) when these two daddies are in charge. Instead I got to cuddle Maddie and Jewel who were playing it cool around these wild fireworky things. Marin can barely stand her life, she gets so excited about stuff like this! Max just loves racing after the older boys because as he likes to say "I'm much big". A great holiday and glad to be close to home this year, just for peace of mind as I wait wait wait for this tiny baby to come :)

Ice Cream

These last days before Baby #4 arrives are being filled with random requests from my three sweet children... I think they know time is ticking! We hit the Dollar Store for a special shopping date using money from their piggy banks, and used a Yogurt Munch gift card we've had for over a year :) We also got the special treat of seeing our Vancouver cousins AGAIN (twice in one week, awesome!) when Kyle's mom brought them along to help me at my doctor's appointment (thanks again Nana!)

Riding high

Max's new favorite pasttime: riding high in the form of piggy back, shoulders or Daddy's head. Lucky for him, he has lots of people willing to tote him around! My baby is almost not the baby of the family anymore :( Well, he got to have that privilege longer than either of his sisters! :)

Tea with the Corrigan ladies

Over the weekend we had a family BBQ gathering with all the Corrigan sibs & families, and earlier in the day all the moms with daughters went out for fancy tea! Even the little-est one, our 3 year old niece Annalise joined. She was the best behaved of all of us actually :) Fun to see our little ladies being fancy, and have quality time with some of my favorite women. Thanks Nana for hosting this special time for all of us!

And here are all of my neices & nephews on the Corrigan side - such a special time together!

 

Summer Camp in the Country

My parents invited the girls to stay a for a week after our trip north, so they could explore the island  and have extended time with them. It was like summer camp in the country! Every day they excitedly told me over the phone about their daily adventure, which included touring several of my parents' friends places (an alpaca farm, a horse ranch), bringing donations to the food bank at church where my mom volunteers, exploring several beaches complete with shell collection & ensuing crafts with driftwood, riding the city bus to meet my sister with her kids at a local park, and much more! Both girls now want to be "farmers" when they grow up, so they can have a garden as big as Nana & Grandpa's... It was SO good for them to have free run of the property, my parents showing them the boundaries of where they could go, and the two of them tearing around with pretty much free reign within those borders. They earned money by weeding the neighbor's yard, and even got to stop off for a visit to see Great-Nana and Papa on the way home. Such amazing memories, and I was delighted to have the break as I get ready for baby #4. Thank you to my wonderful and generous parents for a week my girls will never forget.

Happy birthday Owen & Jack

We made our yearly trek up to Camano Island/Bellingham this year to celebrate our precious nephews' birthdays! Owen turning three, Jackson turning one... They are full of life, and such delights to our family. Also we got to meet Owen's new bunny "Joshua", and along the drive we visited our Kirkland Corrigan cousins and my grandparents in Burien. Lots of busy fun packed into three short days, but we are thankful that we got to make the trip before our baby #4 is born next month. Who knows when we will go anywhere after that (har har). Happy birthday to our Bellingham cousins!



 

And some parting thoughts... One of these boys doesn't understand where his pee comes from, one of them doesn't understand where his pee is supposed to go. Both of them are my favorites :) Bets on how old Max will be before he ditches those diapers?! My word.

 

Happy Father's Day

This year we spent Fathers Day traveling to visit family... Had to get a pic with Kyle and all our kids on the couch at my parents on Camano Island. Love these precious people, they are my joys in life! We actually left the girls at my parents for a "week in the country" and traveled back home with just our youngest in tow. Kyle decided to take a day off during the week, and I declared it "your Father's Day to do what you like!" so he spent a lot of the day working on his guitar amp project, and we took Max to the driving range so the boys could golf :) They had tons of fun together. My favorite part of Max swinging golf clubs is that he would say "not yet" after each miss... And then each ball he hit would get a big grin and a "woo hoo!". He even earned his first sports injury - golf blister! A wonderful day of celebrating a wonderful Daddy to our family :)

Kindergarten Wrap-up

Well it's official, my firstborn has graduated from kindergarten! One of her school friends hosted a little "tea party" for a couple girls the last week of school, and we had a cake/graduation program in the class on the last day. Marin absolutely loved school this year, and it taught her a lot about life and friendship. The best part was watching her become a full fledged reader, and seeing her explode in her love of math. She definitely loves learning, and I largely credit her amazing teacher for always finding ways to challenge her and keep her excited about school. What a fabulous year!