The End of an Era...

Although Lia's love of American Girl Dolls has been well documented over the years on my blog, I just couldn't resist including this final picture that I took today.  Although Lia outgrew "playing" with her AG Dolls in about 3rd grade, modern technology helped to stretch out the use of her dolls for many more years.  Thanks to her friend, Alyssa, teaching her how to make stop motion videos to put on YouTube, Lia faithfully wrote, made, and posted many videos on her channel during her 4th and 5th grade years of life.  And, once again, thanks to Alyssa introducing her to the concept of taking artistic photos of her dolls to put on Instagram, Lia faithfully posted many, many pictures during her 6th and 7th grade years and even acquired over 600 followers!  But then something happened half way through her 7th grade year:  Lia became a teenager and grew up over night.  The last pictures she took of one of her dolls was after the big snowstorm that we had this past February which coincidentally was the same month that she turned 13.  As a result, her Instagram account basically became inactive over night and her dolls just sat untouched and unchanged in her mega dollhouse for the past six months.

After informing Ella that the AG dollhouse was now officially hers, I realized that we needed to clear out Lia's dolls to make room for Ella's dolls and her imaginative play.  This especially became apparent after Ella piled all of Lia's dolls into one massive pile in one of the dollhouse bedrooms where they remained untouched for a few weeks.  The time had come to move these dolls permanently out of the dollhouse to make sure that they were stored in a safe place.  And so today, while Lia's friend, Alyssa, was over, I asked the two girls to dress all of Lia's dolls in their original meet outfits and to comb their hair before putting them away in 3-tiered, storage cart in her closet.  Although Lia initially groaned at the request, Alyssa happily agreed and then the two girls worked for almost an hour to dress and tidy up these dolls before putting them away for the long run.  As hard as it is for me to see this wonderful and long season of Lia's life come to an end, I was just so grateful that she was able to complete this final activity with her beloved friend at her side who has been her biggest AGD playmate for many years.  These girls fell in love with these dolls at the same time and literally spent hours and hours of their lives playing with them and making videos and taking pictures of them together. And although a part of me is so sad to watch these girls grow up and outgrow their dolls, I am just grateful that they were able to close this wonderful chapter of their lives together.

Annual Priest Lake Family Reunion

After two straight months of gorgeous, sunny, unbelievable weather, it all came to a close during the one week that we had scheduled for my family reunion up at Priest Lake.  Although it still was in the 90s for the first two days after we arrived (Sunday and Monday), the smoke was very heavy and thick from all of the forest fires in the area  Once the cool weather rolled in on Tuesday, the smoke cleared out, but the rest of the days were either in the high 60s or low 70s which doesn't make for the best weather for hanging out on the dock or swimming in the lake for hours at a time.  Fortunately, we were still able to make the most of our week and were able to still find pockets of time to go waterskiing, swimming, paddle boarding, and playing on the beach every day.  In addition, my brothers took almost everyone (including Lia, Logan, and Ella) on a hike up to Hunt Lake on Wednesday and were gone for most of the day.  Overall, we still had a great vacation and enjoyed spending lots of quality time with family and were sad to see the week end when we packed up and headed home yesterday.

After my kids and I arrived on Saturday evening, August 14th, we enjoyed having Chris' family all to ourselves for one day before Brent's and Eric's family arrived late Sunday night.  Here are the six youngest cousins sitting together on the couch after finishing up "cabin church" on Sunday morning.  I love the special bond that these six kids share together as they are the youngest of the grandchildren and have spent many hours playing together over the years.

Although the smoke was really thick on Sunday, it was still very hot.  We enjoyed spending both Sunday morning and afternoon playing down on the beach and in the water.  Here is a group pic I took of the kids playing on the beach with the strange, orange light that was coming through the smoke from the sun above.

Ella jumping off the dock onto the water mat.

Logan, Riley, Trenton, Lia, and Ella playing on the mat together.

Both Logan and I loved paddling around in the little, red kayak all week long with Emmett in our laps.  Here are my two boys kayaking together on Monday, August 16th.

All three of my older kids also enjoyed lots of time cruising around on the paddle boards.  Watching little Ella maneuver around on these large boards was always an impressive sight to see.  Here she is with the mountains and smoky sky behind her.

Logan set Emmett up all alone in the kayak and let him paddle around in the protected area next to the dock.  It was so fun to watch Emmett paddling with all his might.

I just love this picture of all three of my younger children paddling around together with Emmett in the kayak and Ella and Logan on the paddle boards.

Chris broke out the inner tubes on Monday afternoon and both Lia and Ella went on a fun run with Callie and Kelsey.  Here are the girls at the end of their ride after coming back into the dock.

Logan and I enjoying paddle boarding together.

I was so surprised when Ella asked if she could go alone on the "red tube."  Chris took her out on a long ride on the lake in the area in front of the dock.  It was so fun to watch her zipping along out there.  Here is the picture I managed to get of her as she flew by our dock on her second loop back out onto the lake.

A very happy Ella at the end of her first, solo ride.

Bryce pulling Ella's tube back to the boat at the end of her run.

The large group photo that our neighbor took of us on Monday evening.  Everyone was present except for Brynn and Garrett (who are on their missions), Ron (who had to stay home to work), and Susie (who is still recovering from some medical procedures done at beginning of the summer).

The kids enjoyed playing several games throughout the week.  Here is the gang playing a round of Old Maid.

On Tuesday, August 17th, I was able to convince Lia to go water skiing for the first of two times that week.  She got up three different times and went for long stretches each time.  It is fun to see her progress and get the hang of it!

Although I tried to get Logan up last month on water skis, he showed zero interest in trying this month and played happily on the beach with Emmett instead.

After the group went on their long hike on Wednesday, they came home in the afternoon with enough time to spend some time down at the water before dinner.  Here are Ella and Emmett hanging out with Uncle Chris on the tube he tied to the dock.

Logan drying off on the dock.

Logan and Trenton spent the most amount of time that I have ever seen them playing on the beach.  After starting out at the beginning of the week with opening back up the "beach restaurant" (that has been open for many summer with older cousins), Logan and Trenton invented their own beach mining game.  They spend hours sifting sand and looking for Fool's Gold.

Emmett hanging out on the dock.

Ella making a giant pot of "soup" on the beach.

Emmett also spent quite a bit of time playing on the beach this week with Ella, Logan, and Trenton.

The two boys cuddling together on Logan's top bunk bed on Wednesday night.

I was able to go out on a morning ski every day all week long, usually with Brent and his girls.  Here I am enjoying my daily ski on Thursday, August 19th.

After a bad experience last month, it took hours of convincing to get Lia to agree to try skiing this month which was quite frustrating for me since she had totally mastered getting up and skiing in the wake the past two summers.  Luckily, she finally agreed to try again on Thursday morning and popped right up on her second try.

Lia finished with a huge smile on her face which was a good lesson for her to learn of the satisfaction that can come after conquering fears and trying difficult things.

Grandma also held her annual, scavenger hunt for all of the grandchildren on Thursday after lunch.  Here are Logan and Trenton waiting on the deck for grandma to start.

The boys reading one of their clues together in the front yard.

The girls discussing where the next clue could be after reading one that they found on the large rock behind them.

The girls finished first and enjoyed eating their treats together around the table.

The boys finished second and quickly broke into their bags after returning to the deck.

Uncle Chris and Uncle Brent starting swinging multiple kids into the air on Thursday afternoon from the dock.  It was so funny to watch Logan and Trenton go flying into the air as they were the youngest and lightest ones out of the group who asked to be thrown.

The one group picture I managed to get of the kids and me on Thursday afternoon.

Lia agreed to go waterskiing again on Friday morning, August 20th, and actually made it out of the wake successfully for the first time in her life (after trying two times last summer and falling).  It was so fun to watch the huge smile on her face!  She made it back into the wake, but unfortunately fell on her second attempt.  I was just so proud of her for trying and succeeding after such a rocky start this summer.

Uncle Chris got Emmett to go on his first inner tube ride of his life with Trenton and Ella on Friday.  It was so fun to ride in the boat and watch him smile through most of the ride.

My cute baby being pulled behind the boat with his sister and his cousin at his side.

Ella also discovered how fun it is to go tubing with Riley at her side on his own tube.  Riley invented this super cute game where he tries to bump into Ella's tube and send her flying outside of the wake over and over again.  Ella had so much fun doing this with him and I just loved watching the huge smiles on their faces the entire time.  I absolutely love the special relationship that these two have even though they are seven years apart.

A great picture that I was able to get of Ella and Riley looking at each other while totally laughing

 as Ella's tube goes on top of Riley's!  Oh, this is what summer is all about!

Out Comes Tooth #5

After Ella's second, top middle tooth fell out in May, she noticed that the tooth next to her middle, left tooth started to get loose.  After wiggling it for a few months, she dove on top of Riley yesterday while he was wrestling on the couch with Trenton and Logan in the TV room at Priest Lake.  Just as she jumped on him, Riley pulled up his knee which hit her directly in the mouth causing her tooth to pop right out.  Since I had been in charge of making dinner last night for the entire group, I was still in the kitchen trying to clean up everything.  Ella came running to me crying with a mouth full of blood.  After I calmed her down enough to tell me what had happened, we realized that her tooth was missing.  After wiping off her mouth, we walked back into the TV room and started to look around with everyone's help.  Luckily, Riley found her tooth a few feet away from where the incident happened on the floor in the family room.  Her tooth must have fallen out as she ran to me.  Regardless, we were very relieved to find the tooth and Ella was as happy as a clam to put it under her pillow last night with the hopes that her tooth fairies would find her sleeping out in the middle of nowhere in the North of the Narrows.  I'm happy to report that they did.  Feeeyoooh! 

Fun in the Sun!

We have been enjoying one of the most glorious summers that I can ever remember with nonstop, sunny weather every single day since the last day of school.  Although the kids and I have been outside enjoying this weather and playing in the water several days a week while we are in town, I have not been taking pictures of everything since I really enjoy just living in the moment and not being stuck behind a camera.  However, I have taken pictures a couple of times, so I thought that I would include a few of these pictures in this post to show some of the fun activities that we have been enjoying while this warm weather lasts.

On July 29th, while Lia was at Girls Camp, I took the younger three kiddos to our favorite splash pad in Tacoma, Titlow Beach, that we try to visit once a summer every year.  Since the splash pad was closed last summer due to Covid, we were unable to enjoy it, so I made sure that we made it there this year.  Emmett absolutely loved it and Logan, Ella, and I all had so much fun running around the splash pad with him.

Ella kept on laying on one of the large rocks in the splash pad to soak up the heat from the dry rock after getting cold in the water.  She is so funny as she is normally experiences one of two extreme temperatures:  "sweating hot" or "freezing cold."

Ella hiding under my favorite water feature that I call the "water umbrella."

Both Logan and Ella under the "umbrella."

Two cuties sunning themselves on a rock.

Although we try to spend a day at Lake Samm once a week during the weeks that we are in town throughout the summer, we always make a point of inviting our close friends from Shaw Road E.S. to go with us once a summer.  This summer, I invited six moms and three of them were able to join us with their children on August 9th.  Heather, Katie, and Mariah all followed us up to Issaquah and we enjoyed several hours playing in the water.  Since the this summer has been so unusually hot, the lake is incredible warm and pleasant to swim in.  The kids all had so much fun playing in the water along with Emmett and me.  Here is Lia with three of her closest friends (Sienna, Rian, and Mollie) hanging out on the paddle board.

The four girls striking a pose.  Although not everyone can make it every year, we have taken a group picture of the girls every year for several summers.  And, yes, Lia and Sienna are wearing matching swimsuits.  We introduced Sienna's mom to the fabulous, modest swimsuits sold by Land's End this year and she ended up buying an identical one that I had already purchased for Lia.

Logan, Ella, and Emmett hanging out on the paddle boat together.

On August 11th, the kids and I spent a gloriously warm morning and early afternoon at Stewart Heights water park.  The weather was stunning and the numbers were low since we were able to attend the new early session from 11:30 to 1:30.  We all had such a great time playing in the water, going down the water slide (me included!), and floating in the lazy river.

Here is a sibling photo that I was trying to take of the children before the huge dump bucket dumped.  It ended up happening right as I was taking the second picture which totally distracted Emmett, but made for a cool photo.

The three older siblings floating in the lazy river.

A close-up of my cutie, Ella.

Logan coming down the water slide.

Emmett and I had such a good time going around the lazy river several times together.  I was able to get Lia to take a few pictures of us as we went around.

My baby and me.

Emmett has gotten so brave in the water over the course of the summer.  He loves jumping into my arms anywhere we go and even tried doing a cannonball at this pool after watching Logan do one.  Although he did a perfect, little cannonball, Emmett was not happy with how it felt to have his face go completely under water and didn't try it again!

Two water babies at play.

My boys and me!  Oh, how I love these little guys!