Fort Casey

 On our way to Fort Casey, near Oak Harbor, Washington we stopped and passed over Deception Pass.  It was so cool and so high up! 

 After arriving and getting our parking passes all taken care of, it started to rain a bit... great!  So we set up the umbrellas and ate our lunch first to see if it was going to blow over, it did!  That is part of the fort behind us.  The kids loved being able to run and climb to their hearts content!

 Underneath the fort are all these super cool tunnels to explore.  We had so much fun.  As the kids were entering a really dark, bring your flashlights I mean pitch dark room, my friend Janae knew there was a group of teens in there.  She said to the kids as they were creeping in, "What if there is something in there?  What if there were people in there?" Then she shined the flashlight onto the teens and said "BOO".  They all screamed and ran out of the room super fast!  It was pretty funny to witness!  Then we could hear the teens laughing for quite a while after that!  Another group of teens were playing hide and seek throughout the fort, so fun!  Below:  Bryant, A. and Sydney.

 After exploring the forts and tunnels we found our way down to the beach, the hard way.  If you look at the fort from the parking area the trail is on the right, to get to the beach.  And see, we did find a patch of sand for the little boys to play in!

 Taylor and R made a raft.  "Wilson"!!!!!!

Sixty-Some Degrees!

Our friends were coming into town this past Monday and the plan was to head to the pool... the only problem is that it was raining in the morning, very cold and cloudy!  We decided we'd make a decision once they arrived.  The kids still wanted to go to the pool... so we went!  It was so cold!  The pool water is heated a bit, so you definitely wanted to be in the water this day to be warmer.

Ben was hilarious!  He wore his goggles all day and they were so fogged up we couldn't see his eyes.  Not too sure how he was able to see anything!  Too funny!  It did rain towards the end of our session and we just sat under an umbrella until everyone was ready to leave.  The rain shouldn't have mattered as we were already wet, right?!

Golf

A new sport?  Todd has introduced Taylor to golf and she loves it.  Problem is:  golf and soccer are both fall sports at the highschool she'll attend...

Strawberry freezer jam

I finally did it!  I made seven batches of strawberry freezer jam!  I bought a flat of berries at the Issaquah farmers market and did four batches with those.  Then a week or so later I just bought two containers from Costco and made three more.  I love strawberry freezer jam!!!  I just hope it lasts until next year...

"Jumpy"

I was looking out the back window and saw Bry putting something on the top of the fence...  upon a closer look, he was feeding Jumpy, the squirrel who is the resident neighborhood fence runner!  Hope he likes roasted almonds!

Summer Dancin' Yeah!

 Notice the tv size?  Well a few months back we finally upgraded from our box tv set, we were all very happy with this decision as the volume was going out on the old one and Todd and I are getting up in years and can see this one!  he he!  The reason I mention the tv at all is that we have this huge piece of cardboard laying around in the garage.  The children found that it made a great dance floor.  Must have socks...

Independence Day 2011

 Every Independence day should start with the Yankees playing ball!  We were trying to start the party and the guys were all inside watching t.v., oh and Marcie, but she had a good excuse.  We had such a good time visiting with friends and were so glad to be invited to the Richardson's home to celebrate America! 

 The boys were getting so physical with wrestling and play kicking that finally Erik joined in to distract them a little bit.  It was driving me crazy those little boys all fighting.  Everyone kept telling me that's what little boys do, well I don't like it at all!  Someone always gets hurt...

 Taylor eventually couldn't take it any longer and had to join in on the wrestling!

 After the BBQ at the Richardson's we stopped at home to change into warmer clothing and head out of the city limits to the Rigtrup's home to light off fireworks. It is really silly, they are only a few blocks from a school and yet are in unincorporated King county. All fireworks, even sparklers, are banned in Renton and we were so happy to be invited.  I love fireworks!  We are usually in Utah or Portland and get to light fireworks off there.  We were here last year too, and we went to bed early.  This year we were fortunate to be near Chahalis and picked up some really cool cake fireworks, like the Massive Destruction!  Bug eyed kiddos!