Days of Summer

Although we really didn't have any big trips planned for this summer, looking back through pictures from the last two months, we have packed a lot of fun in!

We went to Sauvie Island and picked 30 pounds of raspberries

And to an orchard in Hillsboro and picked 65 pounds of peaches

My newest nephew (my sister Katie's son) was born on July 11. John Henry is about the sweetest baby ever! 

 Happy to be holding a squishy newborn

 The big boys are getting good at this baby holding thing

 My parents came up to meet their newest grandchild, so we got to enjoy their company as well. Here's mom helping Josh pet the horses down the road. 

 I'm frantically trying to keep up on my yard and garden; I really enjoy the hobby and it yields such great, tangible rewards! These flowers are all from my yard!

 Who would have thought that pruning carrots could be so beautiful!

 I planted a corn patch for the first time this year, and mixed some sunflowers into the bed. The sunflowers have grown enormous (probably about 13 ft), and this is by far my favorite aspect of my garden this year. It is so beautiful and I never cease to be amazed that a huge stalk of corn can grow from that tiny little seed! (These pictures were from when the corn stalks were just babies...can you find the boys hiding?)

The big boys have been reading a ton and enjoy reading on the front steps. Josh always joins in. Seth hates wearing a shirt.

 We got another visit from my parents as my mom came up to the area to help my sister with her newborn. Dad came to stay with us and helped me get days ahead in my garden. I was so thankful! The boys LOVE having him around! They were really into researching questions by watching videos on youtube (have you ever heard of an ant lion?)

 We made the trek out to Bob's Red Mill with Dad.

 Dad brought Josh his very own tackle box, and by the look on his face, can you tell that he was a bit excited? Josh is so proud of that little tackle box!

 We spent a lot of good days at the park with friends. We discovered this great park in St. Helen's that not only has great play equipment, but also a beautiful little creek to wade in on hot days. The kids have had a blast here and I'm so thankful for good friends.  

We've even started bringing buckets to try to catch crawdads

And even had a successful catch! I wonder what Will did with Crabby the Crawdad?

This was the dead crawdad that was "caught". It smelled disgusting and I had to convince the boys that it wasn't a good idea to take a claw off and bring it home for a souvenir 

I looked over and the big boys had scaled this rock wall. Boys!

Joshy is fishing here

We celebrated Ben's brother, Levi's, 18th birthday. The boys adore their uncles! 

 In an effort to be hip, Ben downloaded "Snap Chat" to his phone to communicate with Levi. 

 It was hilarious watching Ben be "old" and trying to figure out this "new technology"

 Ben and the twins went on their annual "man camp" trip with the Gowens. Josh isn't quite old enough to go for the whole time, but I did bring him over to spend one day at the Fort Stevens KOA. Otherwise, Josh and I spent a lot of time making play dough sprinkle cupcakes at home. 

 I took Seth and Sam to watch "The Lion King" Broadway show. It was amazing and such a great experience for the three of us to have together. I may or may have teared up several times during it; it's just so beautiful: the music, the costumes, the culture...all of it! The twins really enjoyed it, although it was a bit intense and I ended up with a boy on my lap, and the other squeezing my hand.

 This was their favorite lion costume.

 We've now been listening to the Lion King soundtrack at home a lot and the boys are fascinated that I know all the words from childhood memory. It's so fun to share something like this with them!

 We explored the fountains across the street for a little bit...until we ran into some guys doing drugs behind a waterfall. Seriously? They couldn't find a better place? Welcome to Portland, boys. 

 We had a visit from longtime twin friends, the Marteney family. Micah and Mason are also identical twins and are about 10 days older than Seth and Sam. We only see them every couple of years, but it is so fun when we do get together! 

Here is all the kids together. Joshy and their little one, Mason, really enjoyed one another as well. The kids all decided that the Marteney's need to look for a house down the street!

We got to go to a magic show at Grandma Luscombe's assisted living. The magician was looking for a volunteer and Sam raised his hand! I was so proud of him and he did a great job!

All the boys were enamored with the show! 

So there's a summary of some of the fun things we did this summer. The big project of the summer, however, has been a back yard overhaul complete with a cement slab for basketball and a massive play fort designed by Ben. Pictures of all that coming soon!

Crooked River

My blogging this summer is seriously suffering. The weather is too nice, the work outside is too plentiful, and the OLYMPICS are all too time consuming. So here's the recap of our annual crooked river camping trip (over a month late):

Seth and Sam LOVE crooked river, and as they have gotten older, I honestly rarely see them at camp. They have a pack of cousins all in their age range with whom they run around and make memories. It is so sweet and wonderful. The kids rode bikes, played at the playground, swam, and played games. They even made "houses" in this dirt, which made an already dirty camping trip even dirtier.

Seth

Sam

Seth and Sam looking very twinish with cousin Annalise

Josh did pretty good this camping trip, but did stay much closer to Ben or I's side.

Even so close as to spend the second half of one of the nights in between us in bed. In his defense, it was so cold at night!

We went to the pool every day, which was wonderful for the twins who are on the cusp of really "getting it" in the water. Here they are pictured with cousins Judah and Micah

Josh figured out how to float on his tummy with water wings...a feat in and of itself as he is not a huge water fan.

The first full day we were there, a group of cousins and uncles went on an epic bike ride. First, however, Sam got a flat tire, and would you guess it? An uncle had a spare. In fact, throughout the trip, several flat tires were fixed by Uncle Bryan, who basically had a bike shop repair shop.

Some of the bike ride crew

Josh was pretty bummed that he didn't get to go on the bike ride, especially because he had to take a nap instead

Things got much better for him when he woke up and cousin Ellie was there! These two really are the best of buds.

 Nate and Holly spent the day at camp, which meant I got to hold sweet baby Hailey for awhile!

And Josh and Ellie played, played, played

Josh loved showing her his bed in the tent

Which meant we ended up with lots of kids (and dirt) in the tent

 That afternoon we went swimming again, but this time with Ellie

Uncle Tim and Aunt Rhonda brought some really cool toys which Josh and Ellie had fun with

That evening was just more hanging out at camp; yes someone had a hammock at camp.  

Sam

 Seth

 By this point and time in the summer, Ben had grown an epic beard. Doesn't he look handsome?

 More cute Josh and Ellie pics

 They are so sweet together! 

And of course, that night was the annual frogging trip. Here Sam and Seth are holding a little one

Our final day we ended with one more afternoon at the pool. The really fun part about this pool visit was that our good friends and neighbors from home, who were also staying in crooked river, met us there. The boys had a blast swimming with their buddies! 

 Josh and the other "little" cousins played with chairs at the kiddie pool. 

 Someone had the brilliant idea to put the chairs in the pool for lounging purposes. Quite brilliant; it did, however get vetoed by the lifeguard.

  Not before some good pictures, though! Here's Joshy and cousins Jaiven and Selah