PEPS Annual Summer Picnic

We had our annual summer picnic with our PEPS group in July on one of the hottest days of the year so far! Lake Boren was the spot and it was perfect with a great covered area right near the play area! It is so amazing and fun to see all these kiddos since we've known them for three years! (L-R, Brynn, Avery, Jackson) We had a couple friends missing from this pic, and not as many outtakes as pictures before, but it was a fun afternoon!

Kellen is a new addition to the group, Jackson's little brother and was having so much fun on the swings!

Tyler was one hot boy that day! He wouldn't take that hat off and just kept going and going....no pictures of his face, but you can see how much fun he was having all day long!

Jackson was hamming it up for the camera with his beautiful smile and enjoying some swing time. I'm sure the slight wind of the swing felt great.

Sweet Avery, she had so much fun too and enjoyed running around with all of her friends.

We are lucky that we have gotten to meet and become friends with all these families. Some of them we see each Saturday at The Little Gym and others we catch up with a few times a year based on where we all live. I don't think we all would have made it the first few months without this group. Shingo is missing from our pics as he left a little earlier, but we can't wait to get your smile at the next gathering!

Ice Cream Truck

The ice cream truck is one of those childhood "feel good" memories. I can't honestly say I remember it a bunch, but I do know that music and remmber a few times. The ice cream truck has come through our neighborhood since we have lived here, but today was a first, Avery got ice cream!

She promoptly sat down in the front driveway (how summer-esque is that?) and chose which ice cream delight to embark upon!

I think her choice of digging into the ice cream sandwich was a good one - she loved and and still ate her dinner. Our neighbor warned us that now she would always associate that music with ice cream, I do think that is the point, and can't wait for more sunshine indulgences!

Easter Weekend

What a fun Easter weekend we had! Family, friends and fun! Let us remember why we celebrate this important of all holidays.

We had a lovely time on Saturday at the Rainier Club Easter festivities, complete with indoor pony rides! Avery was timid at first, but after a few minutes took the opportunity to ride all THREE ponies because there were no other kids in line!

Sunday morning we headed off to early church service, which was great. There were several baptisms and despite that being the portion of service that Avery got scared about, she did really well and enjoyed the music best. That afternoon, the Ballard clan came over for a lovely Easter dinner. Auntie Amy had the great idea of hiding eggs out back and the kids had so much fun hunting for eggs - showing off their impromptu baskets and collectibles here!

The Big Park

Avery constantly asks about going outside and going to the "big park."  Don't get me wrong, this is a good thing, unless it is raining and dark out - and even then she will still ask.  She also adores time with her daddy and heading up to this park in our neighborhood.  Whether there are other kid there or not, she always seems to have a wonderful time.  She loves running and the slide and could probably spend almost the entire time she is at the park on the swings if we would let her.  Simple things like this are a good reminder for us to all slow down, enjoy the weather and just be with our family.

Summer in February!

It was 60 degrees here this weekend, must I remind you all we live in Seattle and it is February. At this time we're usually embarking on the great windstorm of the year or cold temps with days and days of rain. This was a lovely welcome surprise and we have a few more days of it to enjoy!

Little miss accessorized here is enjoying the second trip to the park today. We are so lucky that she loves being outside and loves the park. Earlier in the day Chris took her to a park with swings and that was the big thrill, this park has lots to climb and that is what she did!
Then, she took a much needed break! Just chillin here at the park! And below, our smiling, happy, cheesy faced girl!

Harvest Time

Since we've been pretty lucky around here with not a lot of rain we wanted to head out to the Pumpkin Patch before there was lots of rain and mud. Today proved to be a perfect day for it!Miss Avery sat right down and was pretty excited about seeing all the pumpkins to choose from! Part of the experience is taking a tractor ride around the pumpkin patch if you want, once we got on she had a great time, but was a bit timid about this random vehicle with bales of hay for seats.

There even ended up being a great picture of Mommy and Avery together, this is such a rarity.

Couldn't leave one out without Daddy taking Avery for a "ride" in the wheelbarrow!

And, make sure you listen to the girl in charge here!

She found several pumpkins, but this one she could carry and was on a mission to get it into that wheelbarrow for safekeeping!

And is SO happy with herself for this, such a cute, proud little smile!

Last ride, this time with pumpkins in tow!

Giggling Girls

Avery and neighborhood friend Hailey have been trying to enjoy the last nights of light, warm temps and good times at the playground before fall and rain really, really happen. These giggling girls are about a year apart, but darn cute together!