Jetty Island

One quiet summer morning we ventured out with some friends to Jetty Island. 
Words can't explain how much I love this place! 

One small boat takes all islanders on and off the island. There's no other way on or off the island. 

The water is only knee high, so it's a safe place for the kids to splash around. 

You can easily walk from one end of the island to the other.

There is plenty of natural "sword" material everywhere.

We restructured this beach fort.

It's amazing how much joy some beach wood can bring.

There's plenty of sand for digging.

Jacob and Andrew sat in the shallow water and dug for teeny tiny clams.

On the boat at the end of the day, and we were covered in sand, soaked in sun, and couldn't wait to come back to the island again. --Emily

First Aid

The American Red Cross came to camp today and taught the kids about first aid. Here Andrew is sporting his bandaged arm. --emily

(No one was harmed in the making of this blog post)

String Birds

Today at day camp we crafted string birds. They were a ton of work and were super messy, but in the end they all turned out so darling. Here they are hanging up to dry.

This one hanging upside down with the blue beak is Jacob's and the one below with a green beak is the one that Andrew made.

Andrew found his! --emily

Day Camp

Today at day camp we had the Reptile Man's son visit with us.

Andrew and his friend, Miss A, got to hold this giant Python. I couldn't post the group picture because I didn't know all the kids. This snake was giant! When Andrew told Kelly what he did at camp today he said: "Dad I held a Panther." It was heart melting cute.

The Reptile Man's son also brought a tortes, an alligator, and lots of snakes. The kids had a great time seeing lots of reptiles they haven't seen this close before. --emily

Rollin' Our Change

I have been trying to be creative with or continued learning during this summer break! Today we rolled our change from our "penny banks" and turned it into cash. I separated the pennies, nickles, dimes, and quarters into piles and Jacob counted them into groups of ten. We then worked out how many piles we needed for each role. He did great! Math in disguise is the best.

In the end we rolled $23.50 in change. --emily

Wedding Weekend

What a fantastic weekend. Our friend Amanda had a destination wedding on Orcas Island. With much planning and preparation we begin our weekend by dropping our kids off at my parents' house at 9:30 a.m. and rushing off to catch the ferry. The ferry wasn't scheduled to depart 'till 12:30, so we figured we had given ourselves plenty of time. We drove straight there and arrived 45 min. early. As we paid the ticket, the agent gal told us the ferry was full and we would have to wait for the next boat. The next ferry wouldn't allow us to be on time for the 4 o'clock wedding. So we decided to park our car and walk onto the boat.

We were hoping we could catch up with someone we might know on the boat headed to the wedding. Or we could call a taxi. We didn't know exactly what we would do, but we knew we had to be on that boat. Moments later, I received a text from a friend asking if we were going to the wedding. Yes we are. And you? Yes I am on the ferry now. Really? Can we jump in your car and hitch a ride to the wedding? It was amazing how it all worked out!

Once on the Island and at the resort we quickly checked into our room and changed our clothes. We had just a few minutes to spare before the ceremony began. No wonder Island Life is so slow. You couldn't be fast even if you wanted to be. We started our morning out the door at 9:00 and barley made a 4:00 ceremony. That is crazy!

It wasn't planned, but look how we all coordinated perfectly. What are the chances of this? The family of the wedding couple planned to coordinate their outfits, but not Cindy and me.

What a cute family! I just love these guys. So warm and loving.

The flowers were so bright and cheery, I loved them too!

The weather was amazingly warm with a perfect ocean breeze. You may think it is silly to mention the weather, but living in the Northwest our weather is always so unpredictable. It is always a good day when the weather is in your favor.

Here we are on the ferry on our way home. It was a whirlwind weekend. But with so many moments reminding us we were where we were supposed to be--supporting good friends no matter the lengths it took to do it. It was worth all the craziness.

Love you Amanda & Ryan and congratulations! --emily

Celebrating Our Independence

We started our celebrating with our community bike parade.

The kids decorated with flags and crate paper.

We got to the parade waiting area early so we could get a good spot near the front.

There were so many people there. It was fun to parade through our beautiful neighborhood with so many of our friends and neighbors.

After the parade, we went to the community park where the boys enjoyed the bouncy houses and other attractions. These inflatable balls were awesome. The boys could crawl inside them and make them roll all over the field.

Jacob is on the Left Andrew is on the Right.

After the park, we went home to cool off and relax before heading down the alley to our friends' house for a barbecue and fireworks.

This just says it all:

The girls sitting nicely at a safe distance watching all the exploding happen. With Snacks!

We had plenty of kid-friendly fireworks including smoke bombs, sparklers, and pop-its.
The boys were fascinated with all that was exploding. Big boys included!

The boys wanted to stomp on everything--the firework debris and the soot. We had to keep reminding them that fireworks are dangerous and hot.

We had a bazillion sparklers. I was in charge of lighting them for the kids. They'd line up, get their lit sparkler, run off and flash it around, then get back in line.

The hardest part was waiting for it to get dark enough for the big fireworks.

In the end, the big fireworks were worth the wait. We had a great time. That is why the 4th of July is one of our favorite holidays. --Kelly