Karlie's 10th B-day

We made a quick trip up to Issaquah for cousin Karlie's birthday party. It began with a sign-waving drive-by, followed by a BBQ, then concluded with an ice cream cake.

Outside Fun

I remember at the start of summer and they all played at this same spot for a short time. It is a steep bank with lots of tree limbs overhanging the bank. Earlier this summer Tor had a hard time even climbing the bank and forget swinging on branches. Yesterday they spent almost the entire day at their hang-out calling all the tree limbs different names from all the imaginary stories. Here Tor is getting a ride on one from Jillian and Bridget.

While in the woods Tor fell into some bush that left lots of soft stickers in his hands. He tried washing them a lot but that didn't help. So Papa came up with some super sticky tape and got them all out.

The next time they were at their woods hide-a-way, they saw Tierney come home from school and went and visited her. Tierney is getting known for her fancy cookies she makes so they were thrilled to get these Pokemon cookies. 

Later that evening it was so nice and warm out that they hated to come in so did a lot of rip-sticking and scooter riding in the dark. No problem getting them in bed and they were asleep in a minute.

 

Garage Sale, Day 2

The second day of the garage sale is 1/2 price, and run by the kids (except Tor ... he's not quite old enough), who keep all the profits. Here's a picture of them, trying to stay cool under the awning. Cousin Rielee was in charge of the cash register, Jillian bagged items, and Bridget (her first time) ran errands and straightened up the clothes. They ended up making a lot of money!

Garage Sale, Day 1

Our day started off with a visit from new cousin Josie Jean. We were excited to hear that she will be moving to CR for a time.

Jillian spent a lot of time this summer making coasters with the photographs she had taken. She also sold masks made by her cousin Rielee.

Bridget had a stand selling hand-drawn cartoons and art, by request.

The neighbor girls Hazel and Ila stopped by to shop and get a tour of the property.

Cooling Off at Willow Grove

The kids got lucky on this trip, finding a huge tree halfway in the water. They had a great time playing on and around it the entire time.

Friends Fun!

Getting a serious picture with this crew is a challenge, as this was one of the best of several tries. Ava, Harper and Jillian paid attention, Tor was acting shy (not typical for him), and Bridget was paying attention to her cone in all the shots. They did get Mocha to come over and get in the picture. 

They went up to Aunt's to play first until lunch and then the twins got to come down after lunch. It is fun to have other kids around. After awhile they started their favorite activity-making rock homes, a beach scene, tiny dolls, or a dog toy box. It didn't take Tor long to finish his and go on to other things, but the girls worked for a long time.

 

Cooling Off in Skamakowa

The temperature was supposed to almost reach 100 F, so we headed to Skamakowa to cool off. The river water at Vista Park was comfortable, and there were lots of waves. The kids played there for a couple hours.

At Papa Ken's property, the kids explored, and threw tons of rocks into the slough.

We roasted hot dogs for dinner over the fire pit, and visited with Cousin Curt from North Dakota.

More Beach Time

The weather continued to be nice, so we spent another 3 hours at the beach. Our focus (at least for the boys) was digging out this mammoth pool. It took a while.

In the evening, the kids hung outside and played corn hole and wiffle ball.

We had another fire pit dinner of hot dogs and s'mores. Otto stopped by with his dog Roo, followed by his wife and their new Welsh Corgi puppy Marley (no photos ... the kids were all over her).

We wrapped it up the next morning.

Day 3 of the Beach

Today was much like yesterday ... sunny and somewhat warm. After a quick breakfast, we bolted to the beach. The ocean was pretty cold, so no body boarding. Most of our time was spent digging in the dry sand.

When it was time to go, the Ford wouldn't start (some kind of electrical problem?), and the tide was coming in. After issues getting our insurance roadside assistance to help out, Hill Towing came out to start it up, just before the waves got to the tires.

Back at the cabin, we went to the park, then to Jack's, then back to the cabin for make-your-own-pizzas. We wrapped up with the Tolls World Tour movie ...

... with an intermission to watch the sunset at the beach ...

... and Tor posing with his new football.

Full Day of Beach Fun

The day started with a big pancake breakfast, immediately followed by a 3-hour trip to the beach. It was kind of cloudy, but warm, and the water was still nice. We built a big moat that lasted for a while.

The kids spent lots of time on the body boards catching pretty big waves ...

And Tor worked at riding the skim board ...

Along with many other activities ...

We went to Adelaide's for ice cream, of course. Mommy took them on a bike ride. Then, we cooked hot dogs and s'mores.

The evening ended with the kids arguing over who was better: boys or girls ... leading to a bunch of competitive activities, like relay races, ball tosses, etc.

Cousins Beach Trip

Today was the first day of our 5 day beach trip with Auntie Sheryl and cousins Andy and Karlie. It was sunny and warm when we arrived, so we went right for the beach. Instead of the crowded Ocean Park access, we tried the Oysterville access and liked it ... there were no cars allowed just north of the road. The kids spent a lot of time in the water on the body boards (and some attempts on skim boards) since it was not too cold. That was followed by some digging to water in the dry sand.

Back at the cabin, we had spaghetti for dinner, and then watched "Teen Titans Go to the Movies" for our evening show.

Keeping Busy!

Jillian had just finished printing pictures for her project so Tor jumped right on the computer to find a game he wanted to play. The only problem was that it was on Nintendo which we don't have so he said for me to get it cause it didn't cost much. Not happening because when they're here, it's time to play outside. So soon he gave up on that.

They all work on various projects and here Bridget is painting and coloring a picture for her project. I think she finished 3 nice ones.

Meanwhile Jillian is again on the Rip-stick, this time with a jump rope tied to the basketball hoop and she does routines back and forth without letting go.

It's getting close to the garage sale so Jillian is again making coaster to sell. She picks pictures from ones she's taken all year and puts them on coasters with Modge-Podge. It is quite a project.

This is the 12 she's finished so far. I only have to spray them with a sealer to be waterproof.

Later, every time I decide to empty a bin they get all excited to play with whatever so I won't get rid of it. These are Robin's old Pom-poms. They pretended they were cheerleaders from Archie comics. Tor wasn't exactly into cheering although he wanted the ones with Husky colors.