Tea Party

The first of many, I'm sure.
This one was a little impromptu gathering of neighborhood gals after nap time.  So cute to watch!  Sophie and Faith supplied everything, including costumes. Even Tessa was given a crown and wand. On the menu: turkey sandwiches on sourdough, smoked almonds, blueberries, cookies, lemonade, and ice cream sandwiches.

Getting all dolled up. 

McKinley dazzles in a Princess Aurora dress.

Sophie reminds the girls to keep their pinkies up.

Faith leaps like a kitty.

Place cards were taped on the back of their seats.

Tessa tries on a tutu.

Razzle-berries

This past week McKinley took swim lessons. Monday through Friday, everyday at noon. Despite her first day jitters, she couldn't wait to go to the pool every morning.  She learned so much in such a short period of time and gained so much more confidence in the water.  We can't wait to sign her up again for lessons in August!  We also met up with Justin and Twee, who recently had a baby boy named Finn, at Rowell's Berry Farm to pick raspberries & blackberries.  Justin works with Benji, and they were hired at the same time.  McKinley was very diligent in picking berries to fill up the container she was holding.  Piper, on the other hand, insisted on holding her own container but ate all of the berries she picked.

On first day of class she was a little bit scared, hence the half-smile.

One of the skills she learned was floating like a starfish on her back, with and without assistance.

Butter, butter, butter - POP!  This is what her teacher would say to get her to jump into the pool.

Baby Finn slept the entire time.

"Summa, sum-ma, summertime…..time to kick back and unwind"

If you haven't already noticed, the posts haven't been coming as regularly as I'd intended.  Maybe it's because I haven't been taking a lot of pictures.  And I probably haven't been taking a lot of pictures because I'm either holding Tessa or because we've just been super busy.  Anyways, with summer in full swing, no more math tutoring, new renters in our old house, and more family coming to visit in the near future, I'm resolving to better document the summer (and get a haircut).  Even if it means I have Tessa in one arm and my camera in the other.  Below are some pictures taken prior to the longest day of the year.

Piper takes the inaugural ride on her new balance bike.  

Yes, that is a yellow jellybean in McKinley's left nostril. 

Piper still regularly asks to hold Tessa. 

Piper poses by our new dogwood tree.  Their blooms are so beautiful!

McKinley invited our neighbor, Sophie, to CrossFit Kid's 'bring-a-friend-day.'  Here they're warming up with a Sampson lunge. 

The first, of many, triple-twinkie outfits.  Thanks Ahmma!

This is where Tessa resides when I'm working in the kitchen. 

Little butterfly girl!

Sophie gave McKinley her cheap, old roller-skates.  Even though they barely stay on her feet, she loves 'em.  

I have discovered another location where Piper takes her naps….underneath her bed.

Ballet lessons with Sophie.  

Hey there minxy-jinxy!  Tessa loves to play in the exersaucer, while I watch the girls ride their bikes.

We visited a replica of the ancient temple set up on the grounds of the church across the street. 

Another selfie with my tiny t-bird.

One last raspberry harvest before our new renters move in.  

McKinley and Piper are sporting new dresses from Sophie's father's company, Hannah Anderson.  Love their bright, bold colors and prints!

Father's Day

The girls couldn't wait until Dadda got home from work today to shower him with love and presents.  They each made him a hand-imprinted, cement stone, while I bought him a new pair of Keens. It was McKinley's idea for the girls to wear matching outfits, so of course, I had to do a little photo-sesh.  For dinner I used our grill for the first time to whip up some tasty burgers, which included some of Dadda's favorites: sweet potato fries, homemade onion rings, and a sriracha aioli. Happy Father's Day to all of our Daddas!

The Giles Family Visit

So Much Fun!
Uncle Alan, Aunt Cassie, Lizzie, Abby & Benny drove up from CA last week, and we had a blast! The weather was amazing so we basically lived outside while they were here.  Apart from the daily picnic lunches, bike-riding and popsicles, we managed to take a couple trips.  On our first excursion we picked strawberries at Gramma's Farm in Sherwood.  We took home almost five pounds of strawberries, as well as the best jalpeno, pickled asparagus spears ever. Then we decided to take a day trip to Astoria, where they filmed cult classics like The Goonies & Kindergarten Cop.  Lastly, we visited the Heirloom Rose Garden in St. Paul.  The girls loved spending every minute with Lizzie and Abby and were heartbroken when they drove away to go back to CA.

Every strawberry Piper picked, she would ask me if it was ripe.  Usually it wasn't.

The migrant workers working the fields.

Tess loved meeting her Auntie Cassie.

All-you-can-pick AND all-you-can-eat!

The migrant workers marching in from the fields after a long day's work.

The driveway to the Goonies house.

This was the home where Goonies was filmed.  But I'm pretty sure it didn't have a Jewish flag during filming.

So cute!

What the….?

The Bowpicker had amazing reviews on Yelp.  We got there right before a huge line began to form.  There fish-n-chips were devine!

Family photo op.

We had planned on riding the trolley, but the men took too long in the Safeway restrooms.

Probably the cutest pic of the day! This is the view overlooking Astoria and the bridge to Long Beach, WA.

The Astoria Column.

Crazy kiddos!

The steep, one-way, spiral staircase to the top of the column sure made the climb a bit challenging.

Before leaving Astoria, we stop at Fort Stevens so the kids can play on the beach.

This is the wreckage from the Peter Iredale, a sailing vessel that ran ashore in 1906.

Shipwrecked!  

Piper picks her nose in front of the beautiful rose arch at the Heirloom Rose Garden.

The girls enjoyed collecting rose petals from the ground.