summer days

Our only plans this summer were to go camping ALOT, and designate July weekends to installing our new windows…so far we have not fulfilled those plans yet. I never realized how many summer birthdays there are in our family…I think I’ve counted 8 so far! We have already celebrated my birthday, Ruby’s, my father in-laws, and my nephew’s, but there are still four more to go! When we are not occupied with birthday fun, you can always find us outside enjoying the sun while we have it.

       It has become a bit of a tradition to walk across the street to the park after dinner. Ruby rides her scooter, Shepherd obsesses over the baby swings, and we all stop at the skate park to watch the skateboarders. Shepherd has begun to develop a love for the sport. Although he doesn’t have a board of his own, he pretends all day by jumping off of things, yelling “skateboarding!” A few weeks ago Jeremy went to roll around the skate park, and put each of the kids on the board with him as he went around the park. Shepherd’s eyes just lit up as they went up and down the ramps. He definitely is turning into a mini Jeremy!

 

 He is always following Ruby at the park. It definitely pushes him to try things he might not be quite ready for...like the big rock climbing wall. After I took this photo, he wanted down immediately!

 

The kids love to run around the bases on the field. They also like making sand angels,  which makes for a very satisfying bath time!

 

 

I can already predict needing to buy about three more workbooks for this kid this summer.

 She doesn't want to stop!

 

Every morning, after Jeremy heads of to work, I get about 15 min. to myself, 30 min. if I'm lucky!

I usually grab my book and some breakfast and sit on our front porch soaking up the silence. Then I hear my queue to come inside..."Mommy! mommy! cereal! spoon!" Those are Shepherd first words every morning :)

 

     

 

 

A birthday for Ruby

4 years ago, we were lucky enough to welcome Ruby Jeanne into our family. She has grown into a very independent, artistic, and smart little girl. A few months ago I let her pick a movie out on Netflix to watch. She chose a documentary on giant colossal squid! From then on, she has been in love with squid and always wants to hear stories of colossal squid being captured. So it was only appropriate to have a squid party!
        We made a squid piñata, and Jeremy even piped a squid on her cake! It was pretty impressive considering he had never done it before :-) And since it was my 26th birthday the same day as the party, we included little bits of things for the adults like a big pitcher of Jeremy's refreshing take on a whiskey ginger, mini roasted vegetable galettes, mini fruit galettes, and a giant cookie made by my mom, which brought back a lot old memories!
         Sunday my sister in-law gave me the gift of watching the kids ALL DAY, while Jeremy and I went out. We ate a delicious lunch at The Sexton and I also went and got a tattoo for my gift from Jeremy. Overall it was an amazing weekend with family and friends and I look forward to celebrating another birthday with my Ruby!

The day of her official birthday...getting ready to open the present from mommy and daddy!

She got a scooter and purple helmet!

Like the big pile of trees we cut down recently in the yard, pretty huh? (j/k)

two arrows, a ruby at the end for Ruby, and the other in the shape of a shepherds staff for Sheppy.

pause button

It is amazing to see how fast Ruby and Shepherd have grown in these past 6 months. Shepherd has experienced his first haircut, which he still talks about and is constantly rubbing his head saying "hair cut, cut." I think he misses his long hair (so do I!) Ruby has become quite the artist these days. I always find her at the table drawing just about everything, although her favorite thing to draw are princesses, obviously! The other day we experimented with making plant prints. I let her go in the backyard on her own to gather different plants and flowers. She put them between two pieces of paper and hammered away. She also tried to do it with rocks, and for some reason they didn't transfer so well on the paper :-) She did however make some holes from hammering them so much!

I wish there was a pause button for certain days in their childhood...seeing them grow up sure is bittersweet.

 

 

jumping is a funny thing

As we were eating lunch last week, Ruby began jump roping by the table, and out of nowhere came this great laughter by Shepherd. Every time she jumped, he would laugh. It was the cutest thing.

Okanogan National Forest

       As long as I can remember, my family and I have taken camping trips every summer. They always included hiking, picnics at the beach, walking through the small towns nearby, and roasting lots of marshmallows! Now, as a parent, I finally have first hand experience at how long it takes to plan for a camping trip, especially with two little ones in tow. Yes, we might of had to listen to Shepherd screaming and crying for the last hour in the car, scare off a rattlesnake that Jeremy was tempted to kill (and eat), play with my dear boy from 2:30am to 8am because he wasn't tired, and fight off the urge to vomit when Jeremy cut his finger from carving wood. But I wouldn't change our first family trip for anything!
             Other than the first night of no sleep with Shep, the kids adjusted into their normal sleeping routines and were in heaven just playing in the dirt and going on multiple hikes around the campground. I asked Ruby what her favorite part was and she said "drinking the hot cocoa." With how well this trip went, I can say that Jeremy and I are very relieved and excited that we can now do what we hoped for and that is travel around camping as a family! We definitely will go on many more trips before the summer ends!

This was a Father-daughter talk about the dangers around our campsite (rattlesnakes) and what the safety rules were.