Christmas is coming

 

Since it's August you know what that means! Christmas is just around the corner. Well, at least our four year olds think so. Tonight at bedtime Baby George started talking about Saint Nicholas. He said he LOVES Saint Nicholas and he wants him to bring a bow and arrow. That cracked me up. So, when I went into Sissy's room I asked her what she wants Saint Nicholas to bring her this year. She was very excited. A Sparkly Town, she exclaimed.
 

Guess Who?

Peek

A

BOO!!!!

We got to have SIL, BIL and sweet niece with us for 10 days. So fun! The kids loved playing with their cousin!!

Big Daddy is 44

The Birthday Season has come to a close...after much celebrating and much cake! Cam turned 44 this year. We took an overnight trip to Port Townsend for a celebration. It was supposed to be a cycling trip but Cam has a knee injury. So instead we just enjoyed the beaches. Nice time!

The kids love the ferry!

Big Daddy enjoying the view. We truly love the beach. We spent part of the day at the "rocky/log" side and then switched over to the "sandy" side of the beach.

I kind of went out of control posting pics today but the scenery is so beautiful...as are my lovies!

Sis fully enjoys sand. She has zero tactile issues and comes home with buckets of sand in her suit, and hair and everywhere!

On the sandy side of the beach the kids (and Cam) went in the water. Brrrrrr.....I went in up to my shins and then they froze and I ran back out. My family however was having a dance party!

Then we went to lunch and then headed to Squim to the Dungeness Spit. First was a lovely wooden shady hike to the beach.

Look closely to see the spit which extends for miles....check out the link above.

At the end of the spit is this light house and beautiful Mt. Baker in the background.

The spit is covered in more driftwood than we have ever seen. The kids had a blast climbing all over it. And it was really hot out! The hottest weather we had seen all summer....90 degrees! Big waves cooled us off. Tuba maintained his coolness by wearing his beads. :)

The ferry ride home was balmy. We enjoyed the views and breezes after waiting in a two hour ferry line. 5 kids, a dog, 90 degrees, no food and limited water and no restroom....why yes, we were a little cranky!

It was a very fun weekend!

Happy Birthday to my best friend. My sweetie. My love. You have given me everything in life that I ever dreamed of. You are a great dad and husband! I love your energy, your wit and your devotion to God and family. Happy Birthday Big Daddy!

G&G Camp

The weekend of Tuba's birthday my Dad and Stepmom stayed with us. It's now dubbed "Grandma and Grandma Camp". And....it's been requested that it become a yearly event!

My Dad put up our tents and we spent the day hanging out. We walked to the beach then came home for BBQ salmon and then a bonfire.

All that fun gave us the sillies! Big time silly! We sat around the campfire making faces at one another. Good free fun! Plus....S'mores!!

And most of us were in our pj's...which isn't that unusual for us. We love our pj's!

I'm going to get you! The kids kept taking pics and then looking at themselves and then taking more.

Fun times!

We did some good snuggle time too!

Even the Grand-dog got in on the snuggling. Kali LOVES G&G!!

Cam and Tuba got to snuggle and pretend that Tuba is still little enough to hold. That lasts about 5 minutes before your legs are numb.

Then the three oldest kids slept outside in the tent with Kali. They loved it! We left the tents up for a couple of weeks and the kids would play in them and lounge around and read in them. Very fun.

Sweet 16

Tuba turned Sweet 16!! We had a big party with all of his favorite things. We BBQ'd hot dogs and chicken, had watermelon, Caesar salad, and chips! The sun was shining too.

Tuba doesn't much care about cake so we did a BIG brownie with whip cream for dessert.

He loved all the attention and presents. Tuba loves beads...and he got all stocked up! So fun!

New hat and a few of his new beads. What a handsome boy!

Then it was Bonfire!! Tuba loves a fire! I didn't get any pictures of the fire....I was having too much fun! We sat outside until 11:00. That is really late for us! Of course Tuba didn't want to go to bed yet.

It was a very fun day celebrating our sweet boy.

Happy Birthday Tuba! You are my joy and my love. Your pure heart is the best gift I have ever received. Your smile lights up a room. Your love of God and church is amazing. I know you see the angels that surround us. You give us a glimpse of heaven. I am forever grateful that God gave you to us. You make us laugh and make us appreciate life. I'm so proud of you and all that you have accomplished. You are a great big brother...and cousin! You love babies and they love you! Cheers to you Tuba!

Summer Busy

Summer time is fun time! It's only warm and sunny here in our part of the world for a very short time. So, we get out there and enjoy it!

We have been busy with so many fun things. Family time and sun time and a bit of relaxation time too....if you consider racing from one fun event to the next relaxing.

I've got lots of pics and many stories to catch up on....here goes the first of more to come.

We headed over the mountains for a weekend visit at Grandma and Grandpa's house (my Dad and step-mom). Also, got to see my sister and niece too. Bonus!

Other than the drive (WE NEED A BIGGER VAN, kids bickering (he's touching me), stopping for potty breaks every 30 minutes, and carsickness) the weekend was very fun. We got to hang out at the lake, have a family dinner and then headed to the waterslides the next day.

We spent all day sliding and enjoying the water, sun and each other. There is lots of shade and it's a very fun place to spend the day.

We all have board shirts (aka sun protection) but the "big" kids take off their board shirts so they can slide faster! Too bad they have to wear shorts! ;)

Tuba loves to slide! Mr. P was a very good big brother and took him on lots of runs. He gets Tuba all situated and then tells him when to go...since Tuba doesn't know how to read the red/green light system. A stranger even commented to Mr. P how nice he is to his brother.

Busy Guy is not into the big slides. He is happy to be on the little kid runs. Wheeeee!

There is a kiddie pool with lots of fun things to do...like squirt your family!

We had a great shady spot for our picnic and resting time. I love to get in snuggle time too.

One of us had a 3 hour nap! Yes, I was sure he must be getting sick, but nope...I guess he just needed a nap. Badly.

We had candy too! My sweet niece thinks we rock!

And here's the proof. Kissing Uncle Cam goodbye. Awwww. Sweet girl we miss you!