Rain, rain go away!

While cleaning out the pantry the other day (one of my "jobs" on my to-do list for the summer) I discovered two gift certificates that the girls had gotten at Christmas to go to the Painted Plate. The weather has been so off this summer that I told the girls that I was going to take them that day. They were very excited about it until this arrived.....

Who can compete with a new BBQ that has to be put together?

Especially when it arrives in this?

So, the girls spent their afternoon playing in the box and requesting to be taped inside. And what mom is going to say no to that??

It always amazes me how easily entertained they can be!

So, we waited to go to the Painted Plate until the next day when we awoke to pouring down rain.

Both the girls chose to paint these Chihuahua's.....

Prepping before painting.

I told Dave that they actually spent time deciding how to paint their dogs this time instead of slapping on paint and calling it good.

And while I visited with the girls and watched them paint I got to enjoy this yummy drink! Life is good!

Aladdin!

Dave and I surprised the girls with tickets to the 5th Avenue to see Aladdin last weekend! What a fun experience for all of us! The girls had a wonderful time from getting dressed up in new outfits, putting on a little bit of make up and seeing the beautiful 5th Avenue for the first time! They were in awe of the ceilings and when the musical started their mouths literally dropped! It was a night to remember for sure!

I love this picture for some reason! The girls and I had just gotten dressed and had put on a teeny tiny bit of make up and they were truly thinking they were HOT stuff :)

The girls and I all dressed and ready to go!

Dave and his girls!

Yes, we even had a very gourmet dinner.....

Taylor!

Maddie!

A New Job!

At the end of June Dave interviewed for a Vice Principal job at Black Hills High School in Tumwater. We were ecstatic when they called him back and offered him the job! He has been driving for the last 6 years to Yelm- a 55 minute commute to and from our house. And he is thrilled to be back in the high school where he feels his true connection with kids is! We are so proud of him and oh so happy to have him back in town!

On Wednesday, the girls and I went to his new office to help him decorate!

He still needs a few things to put up behind his computer but all his walls are filled with family pictures and of course Cougar "stuff"!

The girls were thrilled to see daddy's new office but loved the new gym even more :)

Mayfield Lake Resort

Dave and I have been wanting to take the girls on a camping trip in the motor home for quite some time now. It's had lots of use this year with football games and concerts, so we were anxious to see how we would do as a family camping in it. So a few Fridays ago, when Dave got off work, we loaded up the motor home and drove about an hour south of Olympia to Mayfield Lake Resort. We were not disappointed! Although, not your traditional in the woods, no one around you type camping it was the perfect setting for our first camping trip together! We would highly recommend it and we are looking forward to going back! Here's what I loved about this particular camp site......

1. Camp Fires....does anything get better then that? Smores, staying warm, visiting and laughing!

2. Time with my guy! The way our camp site was set up we could see the girls wherever they went- we were right next door to the playground and the Lake! It allowed Dave and I some down time to play crib, read and catch up.

3. The Parks. They had 2 of them- one which was right next door to us. The girls LOVE parks and they were as happy as can be!

She's into climbing anything and everything right now!

And Maddie spent a lot of time on these unique swings.

And both girls hung upside down quite a bit over our long weekend!

4. The lighthouse. The campsite has a little island with this light house on it. We hiked over to the island to investigate the light house. The hike was perfect for the girls- short and sweet.

The lighthouse itself was a bit disappointing...you couldn't even go inside it but Taylor thought it was still pretty great none the less!

And the island made a gorgeous back drop for a family photo!

5. Fishing. Taylor in particular has been dying to try her hand at fishing. Jerry and Carolyn drove down to the camp ground for a day and Jerry brought fishing gear for he and the girls. Taylor enjoyed it. Maddie really could have cared less! Although she did become the designated "worm getter" as this was as close to the worms that her sister would get!

They had taken old bus seats and put them along the dock so that people could sit and fish (or visit)

I have to say that Taylor didn't catch a fish but she lasted a long time actually waiting for one to go on her line.

6. Horse Shoes. Oh My! The girls loved playing this and after the first few games kind of caught onto it! Super fun!

7. The Dance. Apparently, every Saturday night they have a dance in the pavilion. It was very cute and the girls and their daddy never turn down a chance to dance!

8. The motor home. You can't do this in any other car on the way home with 2 tired girls!

Annual 3rd of July Party!

The next time I'm asked what my favorite holiday is I'll be answering with the 3rd of July! There is something about waking up on this day that fills me with joy and an excitement that almost feels like Christmas as a kid. I can't explain it exactly, but I do know that it's my favorite day of the year in the Harbor!

This year, the neighborhood thought it would be fun to begin a new tradition- with a bike parade.

I'm not going to lie here....I KNOW I had way more fun decorating the bikes then the girls did. In fact, they were off slip-n-sliding within 5 minutes of starting this activity. They did have a blast going to the dollar store to pick out all the items that they wanted to put on their bikes though! And just for the record....Martha Stewart even has ideas on how to decorate your bike on the 4th of July!

Taylor is ready to head to the bike parade!

Here's Maddie! In Maddie like fashion, she refused to wear the cute red skirt and matching 4th of July shirt I had bought her to wear to the festivities....but on the plus side, she did get her hair done!

I love these new pictures of the girls with their daddy-boy! We were killing time before the party began!

Maddie and Daddy!

Taylor took this picture of Dave and I- not bad if you ask me! I'm not sure what I was doing with my shoulder....

The party was a success! So much fun with our friends! These 3 are super close! They spent the evening together running every which way! Macie, Maddie and Abigail

And these 2 were glued to the hip from the minute Molly arrived!

My friends! So thankful that they are in my life! L-R- Jen G., me, Jen L., Chrissy, Krista and Lorraine.

The girls waiting for the fireworks to start!

Still waiting!

Mindy and I!

They felt the need to do a bit of wrestling while they waited for the fireworks.....

Love this picture! Maddie, Krista and Macie!

Father's Day!

When I asked what Dave wanted to do for Father's Day he responded with: "Nothing". I looked at him, and he said, no really, nothing. We've been going non-stop and I want to do nothing. So, guess what we did? Absolutely nothing! And you know what? it was perfect!

I love the look on Taylor's face as she gave her daddy the gift she had made him at school (a yard stick holder).

Again....I love it!

This year, the girls made Dave a kitchen themed gift. He has wanted a new trivet for next to the stove for quite some time so we did a little bit of modge podge (ing) and made him 2 new trivets.

Then, the girls made him a new apron to go with them (my favorite? the O instead of the A in Daddy....Maddie insisted on making the A, then forgot and put an O- I didn't have the heart to fix it!)

After the girls gave Dave his gifts he claimed that we all needed to shut our eyes as he had decided that since it was Father's Day that he could give presents to people that he loved. We all sat dutifully on the couch for what felt like 10 minutes with our eyes closed. At one point, I thought that maybe he had gotten a real dog as he had claimed on his way out to the garage that no one could be mad at him on Father's Day! As it turned out, he gave the girls these gigantic bears from Costco (he knew these would make me mad as well!). You should have heard the squeals of excitement! I even got a gift- thankfully not a bear, goodies from Victoria Secret:)

Meet Rosie Bad Girl! No idea where she came up with that name but it's a keeper! Check out Maddie's nose- a war wound from the Mariners game the night before- it's all healed up now but it was pretty ugly for a bit.

And here is Mrs. Beary (Beary's mom) eating lunch with Taylor! Talk about jumping a foot and a half when entering the room and seeing that thing at the bar!

David Michael- You are one of a kind. An amazing father. An amazing husband. We are lucky to have you as ours! We love you!