Beach Day!

We met Margaret & the kids at Jetty Island for a day on the beach.  The kids had a blast playing & digging in the sand.  I didn't get many photos, but they were all filthy and covered in sand when we got home.

This is Cecily's face after being there for less than an hour:

Adventure Day!

The other day Parker complained that we "never go on adventures, never ever!" (I'm not sure what he thinks we've been doing all summer, but whatever)  So, we did their favorite adventure...take the bus to Top Ten Toys in Ballard.

I've somehow convinced the kids that the toys are all there for playing with, but not for buying & taking home, so we usually manage to get out of there without too much drama (after we've played with every single toy in the shop)

I had the kids point out the toys they want for their birthday so I could put it on their birthday lists.  Parker's list was pretty random,

Cecily wanted every single thing in the store that was pink, sparkly, princess-y, or baby doll related.

Sure, she's greedy, but at least I know what to get her!

Running errands

I don't know how this happened, but my kids seem to be getting too big for the mall play area, I can't believe it...

Later that afternoon, we went to One Cup for a treat.

Did you notice how Cecily is wearing a different dress?  It was all the same day, just a new dress, that's my life now.  On a "good" day, she can go through three or four dresses.

Happy Birthday Cousin Sarah!

Cousin Sarah had a birthday party at the Little Gym in Ballard, the kids had a great time running & jumping on everything.

Do you like how all the Hamilton kids coordinated their outfits?

Parker probably spent almost half his time on the balance beam, by the end, he was practically running down it.

Camping

After we finished the deck, we took a few days to go camping.  Since we weren't sure if the deck would be done in-time, we decided to go somewhere close, so we headed to the KOA in Concrete.  It's the middle of nowhere, but the campground was great.

They had a giant jumping pillow that the kids loved.

Cecily's favorite was the swimming pool, but I didn't get any shots of that.

Parker LOVED the putt-putt golf, he played several rounds each day.

Half-way through our last full day there, there was a fire near the campground, so we had to pack-up and prepare for evacuation.  It turned out that they took care of the fire and we didn't have to go anywhere, but it added a little excitement to our trip.

One afternoon, I was chatting with one of the other Moms at the playground and mentioned that I was pretty sure we'd be taking Parker's training wheels to college.  She said something similar with her daughter, but one day they just took them off and she was fine.  10 minutes later, Parker came over "Mama, can you take my training wheels off?" and that was the end of that, he's been two-wheel riding like crazy ever since.

Sleepy

Cecily has been dropping her nap lately, not that she doesn't need it, just that she won't take it.  So, today, after hours of trying to get her to take a nap, I gave up.  Then, while I was trying to make dinner, she was SO CRANKY, I had to put her in the back pack just to get some work done.  10 minutes later:

6 pm nap time

KHS Class of 1995

My high school class was never really known for being, well...organized, or proactive.  So, it came as no surprise to anyone, that for our 20-year reunion, rather than actually planning anything, we just co-opted the Annual Alumni BBQ at Kings and had our reunion there.

...all 7 of us

To be fair, this was thrown together pretty last minute, and apparently we'll be having something later in the fall.  I actually never knew there was an Alumni BBQ, although, judging by everyone else there, I think it was mostly for the Class of '65 and earlier.  We (and our families) brought the average age down by several decades.

But, it turned out to be a super fun afternoon.

The weather was sweltering, but they had a bouncy house and the kids had a BLAST.

We got there pretty much when it started, and the 7 of us from my class were just about the last to leave.  We had a great time catching up while our kiddos went crazy in the bouncy house.

They also had a balloon guy there making swords and crowns for all the kids.

We took a tour of the High School building, as well as the new STEM building.  The high school building is notably older and smaller than I remember, but the STEM building was amazing and kind of had me wondering how we could manage to send our kids there for school.  (Or, more accurately, wondering how I could get a job at Kings so we could afford to send our kids there)

"We having a tea party!"

Keith's Dad came over to help with the back deck.

Parker & Cecily decided they needed to have a tea party and then settled in to watch the show.

"No Mama, Is not too small"

Cecily found this dress in her closet, she's convinced it still fits, and kept telling me "Is not too small"

Okay, little girl, whatever you say.

"See Mama, I not too big for it"

Our kids were totally spoiled by the hot weather back in June; even though it's still beautiful out, they are quite reluctant to go in the pool now that it's only 75 out.  But today, Cecily decided to try out the water table.

I didn't think it would work, but what do I know?

Look at that face!

Today's Project ~ Cecily's Bedroom Remodel

 We remodeled Cecily's bedroom, check it out:

Before:

After:

Okay, fine, we just took out the changing table to give it Brian & Sandi, but still, this is an exciting day.  Our house no longer contains a changing table (or any cloth diapers), I was starting to think that day would never come.

Oh, and here's the actual after:

 

Her room feels incredibly larger without the changing table taking up space.