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!