Lots of Outside Fun

 The gate has a hook on it so Tor got one of his tools to try to unlock it.  He worked and worked.

 Since that tool didn't do the job he changed it for a pair of pliers and tried and tried again.  With the third tool he finally got the gate open so I had to make the hook tighter.  Of course, he tried again.

 Next I saw him climbing up the back of this lattice so got the camera.  At this point I put the camera down to race over and keep him from sitting on the top which was what he was trying to do.  No fear.

 Rielee, Harper, Ava, Jillian, Bridget, and Tor with their swimsuits on waiting for Papa to set up the slip-n-slide.  They had a ball with that.  Then Jillian and Bridget got to go to Aunt's where they had more water fun on the fort slide.  Should all be very tired tonight.

These girls love to make a muddy mess by mixing dirt, sand, water, rocks and whatever they can find.  I think at times this is more fun for them than dolls.

First Starbucks

While visiting Pike Place Market, we visited the first Starbucks store. It was a long wait!

Rock It Out!

Up in Seattle at Heather's friends'  (Nicki and John) house, Jillian got together all the kids and formed a band in the basement using John's instruments. Tor and Jillian went wild on drums while Bridget played keyboards (with John's help). They invited all the adults for a concert. It was impressive.

Bridget's Photo

Tierney sent me this picture that Bridget took with Tierney's phone. Her phone wasn't set to black and white but somehow that's what how it came out.  Excellent picture for a 4 year old.

So Hot!

The kids spent most of the day today inside the cool air-conditioned house, since it was over 90° outside.  We got a little stir crazy, so we went in the backyard, and Jillian begged for the sprinkler. Jillian got totally soaked, while Bridget and Tor were a little more reserved.

Slip-n-Slide

They couldn't wait to get it out when it was so hot outside.  They went so many times it wore them out.  It didn't take long for Tor to get the hang of it.  We even added more plastic at the end so they could go even farther.  It looks like this will be a popular activity this summer.

Sunny Beach Days

Today was one of the nicest days at the beach. We stayed for almost 3 hours, split between flying kites in the dry sand and digging in a small stream near the ocean. We tried jumping waves a couple times (Tor was fearless, as usual) but it got too cold. Here's a photo of the kids in the pool we made.