SUMMER TIME FUN!

We have had so much fun this summer! We love to go to the park that is just a few blocks away. Coming from Alabama the weather here is gorgeous for a park day.

My daring 2 year old.

Staheli's favorite thing about going to the park is "playing and running around".

Karinne loves the swings and slides and playing with her baby doll.

So much fun to be a kid!

In June we took the kids camping to Locust Lake State Park. We had beautiful weather -- perfect for camping. The boys had fun helping to set up camp. I remember camping, I guess I should say sleeping in a tent, being a lot more fun when I was younger. There wasn't really a good place to put the tent. We slept with our heads uphill and our feet downhill with roots and rocks in our backs.Nate says that's just camping and the kids didn't mind at all. In spite of that we had a wonderful time.

At six years old Staheli has gotten to be quite the Daddy's helper.

Camping isn't camping unless you roast hotdogs and marshmallows.

We rented a rowboat and took the kids out on the lake. I've never rowed one before and it took me a little while to figure it out. I think this was my favorite part of the trip. It was a really pretty lake.

Some of my favorite childhood memories are of playing in the sprinkler's. We never had a fancy sprinkler or "store bought" slip and slide. Grandma did have an old tarp we would lay out and that worked pretty well.

The kids had fun taking turns running and jumping through the sprinkler. I didn't have any swim diapers for Washington and well..., luckily he was done playing before I had too much of a mess on my hands.

Karinne loves to dance! We tried to get a video of her dancing in the sprinkler but I haven't figured out my camera yet and so I'm not sure that it worked out.She is definitely all 'girl'. She picked out this swimsuit and I asked her two or three times if she was sure that was the one she wanted because I didn't want to get home and have her not wear it because it wasn't the "Dora" one.

Washington D.C.

The beginning of June we took a day trip to Washington D.C. . We parked and road the subway to the National Mall. I think the subway was the kids' favorite part. I wish I would have taken a picture of it.

I didn't realize how big the National Mall actually is!! We were there all day and only saw a small fraction of all the sites to see.We had to have a picture with Washington in front of the Washington Monument.

Staheli took this picture of me and Nate. We don't have many pictures of the two of us together.Probably not since our wedding photos.The kids are more fun to see anyway.

In the Smithsonian National Museum of American History we spent a lot of time in the transportation exhibits. The two boys loved seeing the planes, cars, trains,ships and other modes of transportation.





This is a fun "hands on" section of the museum for the kids. I think Karinne is making muffins here.

A trip to the Smithsonian Museums wouldn't be complete without seeing the famous "ruby slippers" from The Wizard of Oz. To tell you the truth, they weren't that pretty.
The violinist in me had to see the "Stradivarius Quartet". To bad they don't let you pull them out of the case and play them.

Amati Violins

This was taken at the Museum of Air and Space. It was a whole exhibit on the Wright brothers. The kids and I read a book about the Wright brothers not too long ago. So it was fun to see this exhibit.Very interesting!! As you can tell there is so much to see and do that we will definitely be making another trip soon!

Pickin' Berries!

Beginning of June means berry pickin' time! I looove strawberries! It was so fun to take the kids to this cute little farm nearby. Like all the farms around here it is beautiful.

The kids each picked a quart basket full. We ended up with six quarts enough to make a batch of homemade strawberry freezer jam. Yum!!

We had a lot of fun with our friends who just moved here from Alabama!