Summer Fun

We have had a busy month so far. Just a quick rundown of the first half of July. We ended June with the girls' dance recital. They all danced beautifully. Mattie and Lauren were in two dances - one tap and one jazz. I didn't get a picture of their tap costume - it was pretty much just a baseball uniform with tap shoes on, but they did look pretty cute. Quinn performed a tap dance to "Cruella deVil" so she was a dalmatian.

Next came my 38th birthday! Chris asked me what kind of cake I wanted and I said an ice cream cake. He took the easy way out, but who wouldn't be happy with Haagen Daas?


The 4th of July brought the traditional parade through downtown Redmond. Our cousin Ben invited the kids to be on the Les Schwab truck and throw candy. I'm not sure if they threw as much as they ate, but they sure had fun!





Then came the mandatory 4th of July bbq and fireworks with family. It's a tradition at the Madras Earnest's to use a blowtorch to light the fireworks - effective, if not entirely safe in the hands of a 3 year old.




The next day we celebrated Great-Grandpa Loren's 90th birthday party with many of his old friends and all the family we could gather. He is a great grandpa in every way.



With Brooke and her 6 children visiting we have to spend every minute we can with our California cousins. Yesterday I was asked approximately 13 times 'what are we doing with the cousins today?'. They just couldn't believe that the house needed to be cleaned and we were not going to see them for one day. We spent two days at the lake - a favorite summer acitivity for us all. I somehow didn't get any pictures the day grandpa took the boat out and pulled all the kids behind on the banana. (Even Jonas who loved it and made me so nervous back there despite the life jacket.)







I also came up with this idea that sounded like fun - digging for geodes at Richardsons Rock Ranch. Ten kids, digging in the dirt, finding cool rocks. It really sounded like fun.







Unfortunately it was 8 miles of dirt road driving 10 mph, when we got to the dig site it felt like we were at the dump, the ground was solid rock so it was less digging, more chipping, and everyone was unhappy. Not my best idea, but we can look back and laugh now that it's behind us. Sorry, Brooke!

So, we've had a fun two weeks. We've loved having our cousins and aunts here. This summer is going to be over before we know it. We have to pack all the fun and activities into it we can!