Camping Highlights

• CAMPFIRES - Nora was especially wanting us to all tell "spooky stories" around the campfire. I am not sure how spooky they were but it was lots of fun. The girls especially enjoyed Tom's retelling of The Hobbit and I am sure he will be pulling out the book soon for bedtime reading.

• VOLCANOE VIEWS - We really lucked out in getting a crystal clear day for a perfect view of Mt St Helens. It can't get much better than that.

HIKING - we went on a great 2.5 mile hike that had lots of volcanic rocks, formations, damage that opened up for lots of volcanoe talk..... along with beautiful wildflowers, beaver dams and much more

• FAMILY FUN - Camping is always such a special treat and only seems to get better (and easier) as the girls get older. Tom and Madison had frisbee fun hitting a record 10 back and forths with no drops! The campsite we stayed at had some good play areas and small hiking trails to go exploring. Overall it was a fabulous trip and we can't wait to head out on our next camping excursion!!
• Quote from Madison - "The worst part of camping is going home!"

WINNER WINNER!!!!

My first ever winning on all those give-aways out in blog land. And can you believe it was for the AMAZING Elizabeth Kartchner?? I won the skirt in the photo below! I am sure I won't look half as funky or cute as she would in it, but I will try!

Summer Lovin'

The calendar claims that summer has made it's arrival. Somehow the Pacific Northwest may have not got the memo since we had a glorious few weeks of weather before the solstice and now are back to chilly temps and rain. I am hoping the weather makes a turn for the better in the upcoming days. Along with all of our fun Bucket List plans, I am also hoping for lots of lazy summer days that look like this

And yummy summer treats like this
And water fun like this

We also have some fun camping trips planned,

including our first attempt at backpacking/hiking into a campsite with the girls. Looking forward to that one!! As convenient as trailer camping can be, we are really hoping to get into some REAL camping in the upcoming years where we are truely in the full outdoors. This will be our test so wish us luck.

And, of course, we will be doing some ROAD TRIPPIN' to Montana!! The girls are looking forward to their first ever sleepover at the grandparents sans the parents. (and mommy is looking forward to it too, since she has grand scrapbooking plans for those days)

We hope that all of you have lots of fun adventures planned for the summer. Now we just need the sun to return and we will be set!

Bucket List Additions

Farm Addition:

Heard about this petting farm in Auburn that looks like the perfect spot for my girls

The Little Farm at Windwater

I am thinking the photo-ops using this barn would be worth the visit on its own!!!!

Summer Concert Highlight
Recess Monkey We love, love, love RM and have seen them twice before. They are a Seattle based kids band, made up of 3 elementary school teachers. The kids love the music, but it is a sound that the parents can enjoy and appreciate too. Click on their link to listen to some of their songs. There are many, many local performances they are doing this summer but the two closest to us are:
Maple Valley Library - June 22, 3:30

Kent Town Square - July 29 Noon

Mark your calendars and check them out! I am hoping to pick up a few of their cd's for our summer road trips.

****2 more school days until summer vacation officially starts. YIPPEE!!!!!!!!****

Fourteen Years ago today

Happy Anniversary to us!!!!!

please excuse the horrible photo quality, we were married in the stone ages before digital photos and our scanner wasn't too cooperative

Summer Bucket List #2

Kid Programs and Concerts

We are so fortunate to live an area with so many opportunities for fun kid activities during the summer. I find, the only problem is keeping track of them all and remembering to attend. So here is my bucket list for all the fun programs to go to. And every single one on the list is FREE FREE FREE!!!!

King County Library Summer Reading Program

Anyone who knows me, would know I am a huge advocate for public libraries and we have an AMAZING system here. We have 3 libraries within 10 minutes of our house that we regularly rotate between, along with another 3 within 20 minutes. I always think it is so fun to go to all the different ones to check out their selections, story times and more. I think we are going to extend the range this year to even try more libraries out. The summer reading program begins June 15th and Madison is all ready preparing to get her reading log. This years prize for filling it out is an art set. I haven't seen it but the librarian was at her school the other day and Madison claimed it was very fancy "with oil pastels and all." So that will be a good addition to our summer fun. Along with the reading logs, the libraries put on so many concerts, puppet shows, plays, magic shows and more. Click on the above link to find all the different events taking place this summer. Those alone could fill your calendar!

Summer Concert Series

We always enjoy going to all the different outdoor musical concerts and enjoying a picnic lunch or dinner at the local parks while the girls can dance around to the music. I am sure there are so many more, but here is a list of the ones closest to us. But we are always willing to travel, so let me know of other good ones in the area.

City of Auburn - kids concerts every Wednesday starting July 1 at noon at Les Gove park

family concerts every Wednesday starting July 8 at 7:00 pm at Les Gove park

City of Kent - lunchtime concerts at Kent Station on Tuesdays

kid performances at noon on Wednesday and Thursday (still waiting for location)

evening concerts at Lake Meridian on Thursday nights

Maple Valley - concerts at Lake Wilderness, click here for schedule

KidsDay at Game Farm Park - June 19 11:00-4:00

I think we will be skipping this one since Madison will still be in school but it is always a fun outing. Inflatables, arts and crafts and lots more. Disclaimer - I don't know if this one is entirely free but there are free things to do there! And for the preschool crowd, it probably won't be as busy as most years since school is still going to be in session (I am thinking there was a mix-up in scheduling due to the snow-days).

Garden Update

My friend Katy requested an update and since I so enjoyed her garden blogs last year I wanted to give her my update. (check out her blog, as she is now living in Luxembourg and has some amazing adventures and photos!)

The experimental gardens seem to be progressing nicely. For some reason, our cucumbers met a sudden death but everything else is thriving and growing. Now the question is, will they start producing fruit?? We are not getting nearly the direct sun that I had hoped for, so I think it is going to be tough for the tomatoes to ripen quickly but we have some green ones making an attempt.

It is a good spot for broccoli and peas and they both seem to be quite pleased with their home.

The carrots are shooting up and the celery looks good (Though I have no clue what celery in a garden will eventually look like so I am not sure what I am basing my assessment on besides the fact that they are a lovely shade of green!). The pumpkins and strawberries are flowering. So I have hope. Of course, we will probably miss all the excitement when we leave town for 2 weeks the start of July!

In our crazy yardwork weekend, Tom also tackled all the weeds in the area and laid down some gravel to make the garden corner more visually appealing which made a big difference too!