star farm models

This year is Matt's family's first year of farming on their own. They named their farm Star Farm and even have the gear to show for it!! Grandma sent over some hats and shirts and I couldn't resist a Star Farm photo shoot...

we saved $7

Seven of us went to Flowing Lake today and all 7 of us crammed into Lisa's van so we we'd only have to pay for one parking pass. : ) Okay, it was also a bit of a drive and it's more fun to go as a group, but the parking fee was also a motivator in making this work!

Flowing Lake is pretty cool - it has a nice shallow swim area and plenty of beach to spread out on. Even though we started out in our sweatshirts, the kids had a blast!

zoo

We go to the zoo around the same time of day every time we go. I don't know if it was the weather or if we hit them up earlier in our visit than normal, but the flamingos seemed to be asleep when we got there this time. They were all hiding behind the tall grass. It's fun to see animals doing something different than you normally see, even if it means they're hiding.

Another thing that we noticed about the animals today is that they were mostly interested in showing us their backside... To a 4 year old, it was a funny day. : )

getting ready for bed

Before bed, Mason likes to sit on the couch for a couple minutes. That's all it takes and then he goes right to bed.

he's got it

Mason is pretty rad. He has been picking his shirts and working on dressing himself for a couple months now, but today was a first - he 'successfully' put on his own shirt! I had a pile of clothes on the couch waiting to be folded and he decided to pick out his outfit for the day from that pile. I was doing something and when I came back, he was dressed. Sure he chose a swim shirt. That belongs to Andrew. And it's inside out and backwards - but he did it! He put his swim shorts on (also backwards), picked out his socks and put on his shoes (flip flops on the wrong feet). And just for the record, he found a pull-up that he wanted to wear so he has on a diaper and a pull-up. Other than the shoes (since we were going to the zoo, and that just wasn't a good choice) it wasn't worth arguing with him. He's the 2 year old I've read about but never witnessed - Andrew still doesn't usually care what he wears and is very careful to make sure his clothes and shoes are on right. This is fun stuff. : )

Andrew

Andrew went through another one of his growth spurts where he wakes up and seems older/different. These are just a few things he's up to lately that I didn't want to forget.

Andrew has caught on to the fact that I like pictures... Last night, the boys sat together in our chair and Andrew asked me if I wanted to take a picture. He's done that to me a couple times, and who am I to turn down a cute offer like that?! : )

And he's into robots. These are a few examples of the ones he's been building lately. He plans to take them for sharing day on Friday. He's tricky because you're only allowed to bring one item, but these guys snap together, so he's planning to turn them into one to follow the rules but take them apart to be 3 when they play so he and his 2 friends can have one. Genius.

Andrew dressed up like Buzz Lightyear dressing up like a superhero today. He's such a goof.

fresh produce

Our garden is starting to produce! This is fun!

We're also hoping for peas, green beans, and carrots...we'll see.

just another {fantastic!} beach

Today we went to Chism Beach to catch the Blue Angels. We had a great time at the beach, but once you've seen the Blue Angles while standing on I-90, watching them anywhere else just doesn't cut it! But, since we can't do that, we'll take what we can get. And really, seeing them in the distance is awesomer than not seeing them at all.

slip 'n slide 'n splash 'n pool

We are taking advantage of every minute of sunshine! I picked this bad boy up at Safeway for about $6 - best $6 I've ever spent!

blue angels

We watched the Blue Angels practice today. The boys had fun, but I'm pretty sure I had the most fun of us all. I love the Blue Angels - love them!

we're lovin' the beach this summer!

We've been to more beaches this year then ever before and we're loving it! Andrew loves to be in the water and Mason loves the sand. (And just to be clear, Andrew likes the sand and Mason, the water, so really it's the perfect place for us to be!)

concert in the park

We headed to the Kirkland waterfront to see Recess Monkey this morning. I'd never heard them before, but the Leonardson's are big fans and knew we'd love them too. It was a very fun show and I'm sold. I now have two favorite kid bands and I've seen them both play here. Booyah!

A nice, natural smile from Andrew. : )

One of their songs is about jumping on the bed. It starts out slow so the band suggested the kids take a 2 minute nap to relax. : )

Even though the kids were done about 45 minutes in, we stuck it out for the full hour. I love live music, being outside, hanging out with friends and soaking up the sun - no chance I was leaving early! We played for a while before finally heading home for nap time. Fantastic!

play ball

Kai's tee ball game was at a school not far from our house, so we headed over to watch his game tonight. Cute stuff.

Andrew watched for a while and then asked to go to the playground. It had a ton of different version of monkey bars and he insisted on trying them all out.