Sunny Days Chasing The Clouds Away

When the clouds won't leave just throw a few things in the car and head out to visit Grandma and Grandpa C over in Chelan.  They always have sunny days waiting for us in the summer time and endless ways for us to entertain ourselves.  We headed over for a nice family week at the end of July and spent as much time as possible in the water.  We hit the pool, the lake, the waterslides and when we weren't in the water we found other ways to enjoy the sun.

A few weeks ago McKenzie was looking at the weather app on my phone because she always likes to see what kind of weather Grandma and Grandpa C are having.  She saw the whole line of sunshine icons for them compared to our row of sunshine and cloud icons and she asked, "What are Grandma and Grandpa doing today?  Are they just missing us?"  Adorable and yes I just know that is exactly what they do with their time when we're not visiting.

Here's Ben doing one of his favorite things, helping Grandma water her plants.  Insert Grandpa into the mix and all he sees is Ben watering the electric box.  Ben sure did get in a good squirt or two when Grandpa tried to explain what was suppose to be watered.

When not in the water Ben is often in his favorite spot, at Grandpa's desk doing his work.  All of this goes directly against the number one rule when visiting Grandma and Grandpa C.  Don't make Grandpa crazy.  Oops... it's a good thing Ben is so cute.

Ben has also become our little yoga yogi in the past few weeks and is always down to show anyone his new yoga moves.

I didn't get as many water shots as I would have liked to because our water camera isn't working right.  Probably time for a new one but we did have some great times just swimming with these two.  On Saturday night we went to the Lake Chelan Winery for their famous BBQ dinner.  Just what we needed after a long day of fun.  The kids loved rolling the hula hoops down their big grass hill.

McKenzie looking so cute with her sun kissed cheeks and three little freckles that have appeared on her nose this summer.  She is growing up way too fast!

What visit would be complete without a picture by Grandma's flowers that always bloom so beautiful in the summer.  The kids and I are headed over for an even longer visit next week and we can't wait.

What's New At The Zoo?

We had a great visit to the zoo a couple of weekend ago, the weather was great for animal viewing since they like nice cool dry days.  It made nice visit to see a few of our favorites and discover some new animals we hadn't seen at the zoo before.  The kids love seeing all the animals but their attention isn't captured for long, they seem to just want to glimpse the animals and then move on to look for the next one.  I'm not sure if this is a natural child thing or a product of our fast paced world.  Ben loved seeing the lion the most and McKenzie loved the giraffe.  Matt's favorite was a giant spider that was not in a cage, just kidding he loved the leopard and I liked the hippos.

I'm not sure we had ever been in the nocturnal exhibit before since you have to park strollers outside I suspect we had skipped it in the past.  The kids loved finding all the animals hiding in their environments.  They are looking at a whole bunch of different colored frogs here.  They couldn't believe there were blue frogs!

Our cutie wishing she was riding on a real hippos back.

Ben looking so handsome while watching the elephants.  He really wanted them to play with their ball but they were just breaking sticks.

All the running around and looking at animals can get tiring for a little guy.  He needed some snuggle time in between exhibits.

No trip to the zoo would be complete without a ride on the carousel. We loved it so much we went twice!

The Return of The Flying Zarembas

Last summer Grandma and Grandpa Z's pool was being overhauled so it was a summer without our usual watering hole. Luckily the weather wasn't too hot so we survived but this year we have been back enjoying the pool. The kids love swimming anywhere but especially at Grandma and Grandpa's house. One huge benefit of their pool is the deep end which accommodates all their wild stunts. That and the lack of lifeguard to reign them in.


Kenzie is finally starting to enjoy the fine art of relaxing a bit.  She has discovered air mattresses and inner tubes this summer and has been sitting still for a bit enjoying just floating about.

 Ben is really getting into the action this summer and is adding his own tricks to their usual routine. He is also all about finding a thrill and then repeating. He must have worn a path on the pool deck between the ladder and the diving board on our last visit.

We are looking forward to more pool time this weekend as the weather is suppose to be fantastic!

Dive In!

This is finally the year that both kids can take swim lessons at the same time.  In past years Ben was always on the side of the pool watching McKenzie and wishing he could join in.  They are both doing great and have really expanded their skills even in the short time we've been in lessons.

McKenzie is confident in the water and can swim without any assistance in deep water. Now she's learning how to do the basic strokes like backstroke and crawl-stroke.  We're seeing less and less dog paddling every time she gets in the pool.  She has also reached the top level of lessons for her age range so we'll stay where she's at refining her skills until she can move up to the next set of lessons next summer.  It's much harder to get a good picture of her in the water because she's always actively swimming.

On Ben's first day of swim lessons his teacher told me after the class that he could already check off on all the skills they were going to learn in her class.  Unfortunately there wasn't room in the next class so he stayed in the beginner class and has just been practicing all the great things he knows how to do.  He has taken it a step further and has become 100% comfortable being underwater both on his front and his back and now he spends most of the class underwater not listening to his teacher.  The not listening isn't good but it is great to see him just swimming away like a baby otter in the water.  Here he is practicing his kicking with his tongue sticking out in our families classic look of concentration.

Third Annual Entiat Escape

Another year another great weekend away from it all with some of our favorite people.  Every year our trip to Entiat with Gina and Carrie and their families gets better and better.  It could be that this was the first year we were 100% diaper free or it could be the fact that the kids were able to be out of site for a few minutes at a time without too much worry.  Really I think it was just how much of the true feeling of summer the weekend captured.  Looking back at my own childhood summer meant long days in the sun, playing in the water until my fingers and toes looked like prunes and just enjoying every minute of the day.  We enjoyed our time together in Entiat to the fullest and loved having the kids all together.  

There is no end to the number of ways we could fill our days with fun and in our typical fashion we tried to do it all.  Here the kids and I are out for a morning kayak ride around the lake.  I wonder how long we'll all three be able to fit in a kayak designed to hold one?  I also wonder if I'll be brave enough to take two kids out at the same time again.  Luckily no one got any big ideas about rocking the boat.

The pool was a favorite spot for all as most of the crew has become swimmers since last summer. We had kids, floats, and water guns going in constant motion. 

The entire crew as we tried to get a group shot of them jumping into the pool. How many of them couldn't wait for us to count 1...2...3?  After the first time when we had some random jumpers they all thought it was too funny to be the one who jumped early.  We never got a perfect shot but we did have fun trying.

We decided to let Ben just run until he couldn't go anymore rather than fight putting him down for a nap when all his friends were still playing.  Surprisingly he fell asleep before lunch and long before his usual nap time all on his own.

Our usual group picture of the kids - this years line up:  McKenzie (5), Halle (4), Atticus (4), Ben (3), Kaden (8) and Mikelle (6).  Fun fact about all these little blonde kids: all of them except Ben have blue eyes.  

{ 2012 }

{ 2011 }

{ 2010 }

 And the grand finale and a major item off my own personal bucket list - drum roll... I finally learned how to get my camera to take a picture of sparklers so we could write something.  A big thank you to those who indulged in making this dream become a reality.  I still smile when I see the pictures!  This will probably become a yearly tradition as well to see what we can spell over the years.

All American Day

The 4th of July is always a favorite holiday at our house especially now that we have little ones to put on a show for.  In addition to our annual party with friends this year I even stepped it up a notch and branched out to entertainment outside the house.  In the morning I took the kids to the parade downtown Bothell.  The kids had only been to one parade before and since that parade took place at night in the rain over in Chelan for Winterfest, I decided that it was time for the real deal.  Then I heard that there was a kiddie parade before the real parade that we could be in it.  So off we headed after our neighbor helped us stuff the kids wagon in the front seat of my car.  We got a great parking spot and got to the kiddie parade right on time.

You can tell by their faces they are loving this.  They actually did perk up a bit when the parade started because there were so many people watching and cheering and then the other kids that were in the parade started throwing candy.  Ooops... Mom missed that memo that we were suppose to bring some to throw.  Next time, I promise.  Things were still good since I was picking up a few pieces of spare candy from the street and throwing it into their wagon as we walked along the parade route.  Then we were called out.  One of the kids watching the parade was watching for candy and when he saw Kenzie and Ben he yelled out to his friend, "Hey those kids aren't throwing the candy they are just eating it!" Busted.

As we walked along the parade route the sides of the street were packed and I realized that there was no way that we were going to get a good spot to watch the real parade.  I also realized that it would take forever for all these people to get back to their cars and drive away and that I didn't have any lunch with us and candy wasn't going to cut it for lunch.  So I did the only thing that made sense, I turned the wagon around when I got to the end of the parade route and walked back a ways towards my car until I could cut through the crowd and then I told the kids they did so great in their first parade and it was time to go.  We headed back to our car in peace and had no trouble making it home in time for lunch.  Next time I'll plan better and we'll try to do the real parade.

My cuties on the way back to the car.  Luckily we parked right by a fun park so we got to play for a bit before making our escape.

After we came home from the parade we started in on party prep and had a great time with friends and family over celebrating.  Cousin Claire and McKenzie, our beautiful girls of summer.  Loving spending time together swinging on the hammock in the backyard.  Classic summertime!

Ben and Claire picking out what they wanted Matt to light off next.  I'm not sure who has more fun Matt or the kids with this holiday.

The house all decked out and ready to celebrate.  The best decoration turned out to be the sunshine which we hadn't seen in way too long. 

As I was decorating the house with our flag, the banners on the porch and lanterns on the garage our neighbors came down to put up some flags in their driveway.  After they headed home I told Matt we needed to get out some flags and step up our decorations a bit next year.  Matt didn't like the idea of waiting until next year so he kicked it up a notch for this year.  It made a big bang in the neighborhood when he blew up the giant inflatable firework keg.

Our little firework Ben sitting with his blanket, another classic sign of the 4th of July in Seattle, helping Matt pick out the fireworks for the show.

Such a great night and as always we add new little pieces to our annual tradition of celebrating our countries' birthday!

Sitting On The Dock Of The Bay

I'm sittin' on the dock of the bay

Watching the tide roll away

Ooo, I'm just sittin' on the dock of the bay 

Wastin' time

- Otis Redding

Isn't that what summer time is all about when you're a kid, just wasting the day away?  Not for Kenzie and Ben, while they did sit for one brief moment on the dock during our trip to visit Grandma and Grandpa C in Chelan they were soon on their feet again enjoying as much fun as they possibly could.

As soon as we got into town they put on their suits and said let's go to the lake.  This was their first dip of the summer and it was still cold but not cold enough to deter these two.  They found the giant piece of driftwood that showed up last summer and took a spin around the swimming area on their boat.  It took some careful teamwork here to keep themselves balanced.

This is definitely the summer that McKenzie has becoming a real swimmer.  She spent and entire afternoon in the pool even while Ben passed out for a nap on the lawn.  She stayed in diving for toys and swimming about until her toes got raw on the bottom.  Here she is in her new pink inner tube just loving the water.

Ben got a new tube as well but it's not quite as easy to use when you are wearing your life jacket as well.  At least we never have to worry about him sinking.

If we weren't in the water we were on it, we got to take Grandpa's boat out for a spin and the kids loved it!  We cruised town to town and up the down the Chelan river to the dam and then turned around and headed up lake to look at the beautiful houses along the shore.  

The kids felt so at home on the boat they just curled up and fell asleep.  Ben finally crashed out in the front of the boat in the shade under Grandma's legs.  

Kenzie claimed the passenger side feet well and made a little bed.  Ben was out for about forty five minutes but Kenzie was down for well over an hour.  The sound of the motor seemed to lull them to sleep rather than keep them up.

Another favorite activity is getting Grandma's binoculars and sitting on the front porch to look at things.  The kids do this time after time and it never gets old.  I can remember using the same pair of binoculars as a child to look at the big hill behind my house.  Not much changed on the hill but it was still fun to look for something.  Grandma and Grandpa have a much more exciting view now.  

What trip would be complete without a shot at a good picture of the group?  This one includes a stray dog that Ben found and someone else's interesting car.  We had just finished a fantastic breakfast out at Blueberry Hill.  Ben's favorite part was this little dog in the parking lot so we decided to take a picture with him.

Bumper Crop

This year's garden is really turning out nicely, here's the latest report as of July16th.  I've had very few complete failures this year, with the exception of the pepper plant everything is right on track. We even have some volunteers sprouting up.  As things started to take root and grow I started to notice an influx of something I didn't plant.  It was easy to spot since I planted mostly from starts so I knew what was located in each area.  I just started pulling these volunteers thinking they were weeds but they were all over especially at the far end of the garden.  I was a bit surprised when I thought they were weeds because Matt built me this garden last year and he brought in fresh dirt and then enhanced it for me this year with some really good soil.  I didn't get all of the "weeds" out of the garden and what should I discover they were but tomato plants. I really hadn't given much thought to the number of sun gold cherry tomatoes that fell down from my plants last year but it seems the tomato plants are really able to grow from their fallen fruit.  I'm leaving a few to see how they turn out.  They are not nearly as big as my intended tomato plants but we'll see if any of them produce.

Here's what we're eating currently:
- Chives
- Rosemary
- Lettuce (all plants have been eaten / removed as they started to go to seed)
- Radishes (all gone, these will go on our list to plant more for next year)
- Peas - we are getting enough to have peas with dinner a couple nights a week if they aren't eaten as snacks in the yard
- Broccoli - I was very mindful of these plants this year, I don't want them to bolt on me again
- Cauliflower - the heads are very small, I need to research if I should let them grow bigger but I'm scared of things bolting so we ate it when it was the size of a small fist.  It's a variety called cheddar cheese and is quite good and luckily doesn't really taste like cheese, it just has a bright orange / yellow color.  I will get a picture of this soon.

The zucchini plant is flowering and has several small squashes starting. I can't wait to see how many we get.  Overall everything is thriving and it's looking like a great year for the garden.  I'm eagerly waiting on the brussels sprouts to start producing so I can see how those turn out.  Not my favorite veggie but I thought it looked interesting and at least I know Grandma Z will eat them.

I have lots of green sun gold tomatoes on the vine and am watching every day for them to grow bigger.  I love sun golds and can't wait for them to be ready in August. 

Here is the end of the garden with the peas, sweet peas, herbs, carrots, cabbage and the volunteer tomatoes.

My giant cabbage plant, I had no ideas this would grow this big!  It was another of my whimsical purchases at the nursery.  It just sounded fun and now it looks like we'll be enjoying a few heads of cabbage at some point.

Another success from outside the vegetable garden, one of my hydrangea plants located right outside the backdoor.  This was a small gallon sized plant when it went in this location and it was flowering pink when it was planted.  It was dormant in terms of flowers for several years while it did grow in size.  Last year I had a handful of flowers but this year it is covered with beautiful flowers ready to bloom.  The flowers are mainly white with a few pink flecks to remember it's heritage.