It's like Christmas Eve for moms and dads everywhere! School starts TOMORROOOOW! Yeehaw!
This summer has been fantastic. We checked off a lot of fun things on our "to do" list as a family and made a lot of great memories. I wouldn't have had it any other way. But kids thrive on schedules and orderly-ness and neither of those things are my forte. I love public education!
But before I get all crazy happy and excited about posting first day of school pictures (which WILL happen, I assure you) I want to take a little stroll down the memory lane known as "Summer of 2014". Turn on your own funky soundtrack, get a snack and begin to look at our pictures... now.
This summer started with Alice asking me to make pancakes for breakfast every. single. day.
We spent many hours at our favorite park during our favorite time of day.
We finally saw the Portland Rose Garden in full bloom!
I know I already posted about this earlier, but it is so beautiful and serene it is worth repeating: I love the Japanese gardens! I only "forced" my kids to go once with me this summer.
We took advantage of all of the cultural passes at the library, including taking a trip to Salem to play at the Gilbert Discovery Village with some friends.
Alice performed in her first musical as a parrot. Missoula Children's Theater.
Shake those tail feathers!
On our way to California we finally stopped to see Crater Lake. It was amazing! But our kids have such a small attention span for God's beautiful creations. Sheez. Taylor and I will go back and hike all the way around some day. It was gorgeous!
This kids' favorite part of the road trip was swimming in the hotel pool, of course.
The summer of 2014 was a scorcher. This was in California, but we had several 100+ days in the Northwest, too. Our central AC broke and some friends let us borrow some room AC units until we were able to get it fixed. Sweating is not my favorite.
I read a book or two. This one was pretty depressing. I am enthralled with the whole idea that a place like North Korea can even exist in this day and age.
ROAD TRIP!
The first day of our family reunion took us to Great America where Alice discovered the thrills of roller coasters with loop-de-loops!
Joe loved playing with his cousins.
If only we lived closer to this crew!
And THEN we camped over the fourth of July with lots and lots of cousins and aunts, uncles and grandparents. Ahhhh, the great outdoors... and smelling like campfire for a week.
But you couldn't beat the beach! OK, maybe you could. It sure was windy and cold for July.
My favorite part of the week was the hike. We unintentionally lost the rest of the group and it ended up being just me, Taylor and Joe.
Lots of campfire cooking.
I love a pretty lighthouse. And Waverly.
We made several trips into downtown Portland this summer. Taylor and I saw a few good plays, ate at interesting places and took the kids to Powell's City of Books.
I spent an afternoon with Joe and Alice at the Portland Children's Museum.
They could have spent the whole day in the water room alone.
Sesame Donuts got quite a lot of our business this summer. It is right next to the library and a park we frequent. And I'm a sucker for "Can we get a donut?"
This gardening miracle happened in my yard.
Oscar spent a week at Cub Scout Camp being boy-ish and getting dirty.
Henry went to scout camp and Waverly went to girls' camp. She rocked it as a first year YCL. She's a good leader, folks.
We ate as much fresh produce as we could get our hands on! Joe especially loves this fruit stand because of the train.
We picked SO MANY berries it is not even funny.
Taylor and I went on a date to the Chinese Gardens in Portland.
We had a family night at a mini golf course. Those water hazards were a bear! But Alice fished out more than she lost so we considered it a great success.
Lots and lots of together time.
The encore presentation of Beauty and the Beast! Alice got to participate with Waverly this time around.
Oh. Yes. On July 7th I declared myself "sugar free". I have been eating a lot of fruit smoothies, veggies, whole grains and lean protein. I lost 15 pounds!
We spent an evening on the Marker's boat. So fun!
I guess we're going back to Beauty and the Beast. Oscar was a wolf - no speaking and no singing or dancing. It was just right.
Alice was a magnificent, enchanted, dancing plate!
I was the house manager with Kelly's help. The whole thing was put together with a lot of duct tape! It was windy!
For the parade and "Tea with Belle" Waverly got to fill in. She had So. Much. Fun!
I finally unpacked the last few boxes in the garage.There was a brief period of about 24 hours where I could park my car in there.
The Carrs came to visit!!
We played a lot of Kubb this summer. Taylor made several new sets with his teachers quorum. During youth conference he got the whole stake hooked on that game!
We spent a week at Rockaway Beach. Oh, the serenity. I love love love that place.
Boogie boarding with cousins was as favorite.
Waverly and Henry have entered a new phase of life where they are old enough to get along more than they fight. It is marvelous! They are forging this friendship that will last forever and it makes my heart very, very happy. I love listening to the two of them stay up late and make each other laugh and laugh.
Rockaway Beach from Nahalem Mountain.
Making drip castles with dad.
Joe was buried many times in sand this summer. He liked it, I promise!
Oscar was very proud of the sand turtle he made.
This is the only picture we managed to corral all the cousins into at once. Don't be fooled. It cost many tears and a grounding or two. What's up with that?? Kids! K.R.E. am I right?
My favorite thing to do when we are at the beach is to walk and walk and walk along the surf and collect pretty things. This time I collected heart-shaped rocks.
We went to several events at Stella Olsen Park. This was the Sherwood Foundation for the Arts production of Les Miserables. It was AH-MAZING. Such talent in our little community! We also saw several bands during Wednesday evenings "Music on the Green" and 4 different movies in the park on Friday nights. I heart Sherwood!
A little out of order here... we had some family pictures taken in California.
I have wanted my kids to discover the fun of playing card games for a while, and this summer they finally got it! Their favorite has been the game "Sleeping Queens" which even Joe can play. But Waverly thinks its pretty fun, too!
A 115-year-old cedar tree was cut down in Old Town and they were giving away wood. Taylor enlisted the help of a friend and hauled away a few big pieces to dry and use for future woodworking projects. While Taylor was unemployed most of the summer, he spent many hours at a friend's wood working shop where he made stuff. He really is an artist at heart.
More mini golf.
Alice perfected her "back flip" at a friend's pool.
Our little vegetable garden (which is planted in the most awful clay soil ever!) actually produced some delicious produce!
The happiest day of the summer may have been when Taylor started his new job! He is enjoying it, is good at what he does, and loves working downtown where there is always something interesting to see or do during his lunch.
I re-painted my bedroom/office and re-arranged furniture. Again.
The kids slept an alarming amount of time in the mornings. And I did not mind one bit!
We went with some friends to their club pool. It's so nice having generous friends!
Back to Taylor's new job.
That's his office on the top corner behind the trees.
He sees lots of interesting people doing interesting things on their balconies across the street from his office window (aka pot, naked gardening, etc.) Keep Portland weird!
This happened. YOLO!
This was a date at the Old Church in PDX. Some great Brazilian music. Who knew I liked Brazilian music? Not me!
More awesome friends invited us to enjoy their company. We love having campfires with them on Sunday nights and having a REAL "fireside" message.
Oh, the endless, endless hours spent playing with friends in water fountains!
Whoops. Back to Beauty and the Beast. Waverly played the role of the Enchantress who cast the spell on the prince and his castle.
Races! I love this one. This was YMCA family triathlon. Oscar and Alice finished. Joe, Waverly and I got to hand out medals at the finish.
Waverly is gearing up for her 16th birthday this weekend. She loves stake dances but has a hard time getting other kids to go with her. So she hosted a pre-dance party at our house and it was a huge, fun success!
More family game time. I love it!
I really should do a whole post of just the selfies I find that Waverly has left on my phone camera. I'm diggin' the pants, girl. We also just painted her room but didn't get a photo of that.
This was the planning session with my Hood to Coast relay team. 12 team members, 2 vans, 198 miles, 28 hours, no sleep.
Henry perfected his "dive".
Alice did, too.
Ah, back to Hood to Coast. This is Mt. Hood enshrouded in clouds at the start of the race.
Here is my van.
Here we are at the start all happy and not sleep-deprived.
Here we are in Portland at a teammate's sister's apartment pool after our first leg. Also before we were grumpy and sleep deprived.
At the exchange in Portland. Again, still happy.
Heading into our night runs. It was all fun and games until Sarah got tired and grumpy.
This was the 45 minute stretch where I could lay down.
Port-o-potties forever.
This finish at Seaside is always a big party. I was too tired to really enjoy it. I'm getting too old for this stuff!
Family Home Evening!
We buried our "weapons of war" that we sometimes use on each other at home. No more fighting! ... in theory.
In preparation for a very busy fall I made 2 months worth of freezer meals. I will be helping direct the fall musical Aladdin and coaching the middle school cross country team. And now I'm prepared! There are also over 100 pounds of blueberries in that freezer.
Even after our family night lesson the kids needed a little reminding about keeping peace in the house. Yep, I'm about ready for school to start again!
Oscar and Alice met their teachers and saw their new classrooms last week. Its' going to be a great year!!
School preparations for Waverly have been heavily focused on wardrobe preparation. Did you know this was back in style? Yowzers! Heaven help us!
Alice won the "guess how many things are in this box" game at the library. 45! Happy, happy girl!
In preparation for school starting a made a LOT of pancakes and froze them. This MIGHT last a week. But probably not.
AAAAND school starts tomorrow! We have loved you, summer! But it is time for you to go. See you next year!
