Deception Pass

We were still getting used to the colder weather, but in typical Washintonian style, we headed to the beach anyway! The last week of June in Washington usually means it's still cool and windy, but if you're lucky, it might not rain!

Friends of ours, in typical Washintonian style, were camping at Deception Pass, so we decided we would go out and visit them for the afternoon.

At this point, we were still in awe of the huge sky in Washington, as well as the fresh, clean air. The weather was cool, but the air was great!

The kids did a lot of exploring along the beach. Kennedy wasn't sure about walking across the rocks, though.

And Cade really enjoyed throwing rocks!

Kennedy was shy at first, but it didn't take the girls too long to re-kindle their friendship. A year is a long time to not see a friend when you're only five! They were hand-in-hand before long!

It was a great afternoon spent with friends. It's hard to believe we have to wait another year to do it again!

Kennedy's First Day of Kindergarten

I can't believe that I'm already sending my little girl to school!

If I'm perfectly honest, I would tell you that I've been thinking about this little photo shoot for months.

But, if I were being honest, then that would mean that I would have to tell you that I had a little bit of a meltdown when I realized that nothing was going to go my way.

For instance, I work on her first day of school, making it really hard to take pictures of her as she's leaving.

And then, after I realized that my original plan wasn't going to work, and I figured out an alternative, I did not start pouting when it was pouring down rain all day (yes, the rains have arrived!).

But, we did our best...Kennedy was more than happy to hold her umbrella while Eric held one over me and the camera.

And Cade was more than willing to participate!

I was able to get upstairs for a few minutes during her "Boo Hoo Breakfast" at the start of her school day to take a couple of pictures. She was very excited because she had gotten to come to with one of her friends because Eric and I had gone to school much earlier than she had to be there.

Unfortunately, I heard from one of the dads that after I had to run out, she started crying a little bit. I fear that my 10 minute appearance did more harm than good, but it did make me feel better.

Aside from a few moments of loneliness, she had a great day, though!

She was very excited to tell us how much fun she'd had when we went to pick her up after her short half day.

And, we were even able to get a few "first day of school" shots in.

...not that any of them were what I had planned...

We're so proud of our little girl! I can't wait to see how much she grows this year!

Week 32: Summer Favorites

It was nice to get back to a routine this week. Eric and I were busy at school every day and Kennedy and Cade were very excited to spend the week with Miss V again! It's hard to say that "summer favorites" was our theme for this week, though. It was more the end of summer for us.

Day 214: This is evidently what a "western house" looks like from the persepective of the Koreans. I'm always entertained by the stereotypes!

Day 215: Spent the day at school for our first all staff (and families) day. We had a great day, but we were so busy I forgot to take a picture until the end of the night!

Day 216: I refused to go to work or even open my laptop, so I spent the day reading the first novel I'm teaching this year. I spent much of my summer doing this!

Day 217: The kids were still asleep when we left for school Monday morning. Cade's sweet little feet were peeking out of his blankets. Yes, he insists on sleeping with a blanket even when it's 85F in his room!

Day 218: I was determined to get out the DSLR once this week. Stretching myself with my camera has been one of my favorite summer activities this year.

Day 219: One of the routines that we got back into this week was watching Lost with our friends from school.

Day 220: We also got back into the Costco trip routine. The first trip of the year is always pretty rough because there are so many people that go. The line of staff with their overflowing (or in my case, 2) grocery carts was the length of the store. We were quite a spectacle! The Koreans were taking our picture, as well!

My favorite photo of this week is the shot of the flower--probably because it's the only shot that I didn't take with my iPhone. It's different for me, but I think I like it!



To see others' photo projects, check out the links:

 www.styleberryblog.com

Olympia Waterfront

I have been trying to keep up with this. I even edited and uploaded a bunch of pictures the other day, but the reality is that we are so busy right now, that I really can't get to it as much as I'd like. I'm doing my best, though!

Tonight Kennedy and I experienced one of our crazier trips to Costco (no, there was no throwing up and I did not lose an iPod, iPhone, or anything else), but it was still a very long, very hot trip.

Speaking of hot, it has been really hot and while it is humid, it hasn't rained much. It's supposed to drop into the 80s this week, and I'm looking forward to that!

Tomorrow is our first full "work attire" day. We have new student orientations all day, including Kennedy's which is tomorrow afternoon, so we're all excited for that!

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The first Sunday that we were house sitting we drove down to Olympia to see some of Eric's family.

We attended a short anniversary party, and then we went with his mom down to the waterfront to explore.

We tried to get a few family photos...yes, I get in front of the camera every once in awhile, though I'm not always happy about it...

and the kids were not really up to cooperating!

The view of the harbor, the capitol, and the boats was nice, though.

Cade really didn't understand why we couldn't go on any of them. Poor guy.

Eric had some "when I am going to get a boat?" moments, too.

We also found a park where we could play for a little while

before the clouds rolled in, the wind picked up, and it was back to Western WA weather again!

It was a good day, though, and now I'm headed to bed because I am exhausted!

Down on the Farm

We had an awesome, albeit busy, week in Ohio, but after spending the night in four different beds in the course of seven days, we were excited to spend a week housesitting for friends of my Dad. They have a big house out in the country complete with dog, cats, and chickens with a beautiful view of the bay.

The kids really warmed up to the dog and became very involved in the chores of feeding him, taking him out, and taking him for walks. Eric and I, on the other hand, felt some relief at the end of the week that we don't have a dog of our own. He woke us up early every morning, not to mention having to structure our day around getting home to feed him.

Cade, especially, got into the routine of going out to feed the chickens and check for eggs.

As well as getting to the greenhouse to water and checking for peas, spinach, and lettuce.

Picking strawberries was his favorite task. There were so many that he could keep his mouth full and still put berries in the bowl!

And while they enjoyed doing chores outside, they really loved playing outside!

They played baseball in the yard...

ran around in the woods...

and loved swinging on the tire swing!!! They fit right in while in the country, but they seem to fit here in the city pretty well, too!