Priest Lake in July

We just returned home last night after spending a glorious week at Priest Lake for our annual, July trip.  The weather was absolutely incredible--in the 90s every single day and the water temperature actually reached 75 degrees which is very unusual.  We had a great time doing all the things that we love at Priest Lake--swimming, skiing, napping, eating good food, and spending quality time with family.  The highlight of the trip had to be Lia learning how to water ski.  After two unsuccessful summers of trying one or two times, she figured it out her first time trying this month.  I just think that she needed to be a bit older with a little more leg strength and a little more confidence.  She did great and was able to ski several mornings in a row. It was so fun to see the first of "my posterity" learn this sport that I have loved for decades.  We enjoyed spending time with some of Brent's family and Chris' family who left the day after we arrived.  In addition to my parents, Natalee, Riley, and Trenton stayed behind for three more additional days which was wonderful as they play so nicely with all three of our kiddos.  It was a wonderful and relaxing week and I am always so grateful to my parents for providing this amazing vacation house for us to enjoy on the most beautiful lake in the world!

The group shot we managed to take on Sunday morning, June 15th, before Brent and his two girls and Chris and his three oldest left later that day.

We enjoyed a morning swim on Sunday with Brent's and Chris's families before they left a few hours later.  Here are Callie, Brent, Lia, Ella, and Riley playing on the inner tube that was tied up to the dock.  This became a favorite "toy" of the kids to play on all week long.

Sarah Mae enjoying the paddle board on the calm water.

Ella playing solo on the tube.

Logan was a jumping and swimming maniac all week long.  It is amazing to see how comfortable he has gotten in the water these past two summer thanks to his swim lessons.  He constantly had us laughing all week long with this dramatic entrances into the water.

Riley trying to catch the frisbee thrown by Chris.

Logan and Ella back on the tube.  They spent hours floating around on this thing this past week!

Chris catching the frisbee!

My two, favorite, sassy teens--Kelsey and Brynn.

Logan discovered the art of being wrapped up in towels by his father.  We thought that this was so funny as he just looked like a girl getting out of a shower.  This became a regular sight on the beach every day.

Lia, Ella, and I trying out the paddle boards on another calm morning.

Logan discovered a new way of spraying the water gun using the dock to help him shoot the water up into the air.  He was quite proud of this.

Logan has recently gotten really good at jumping into the lake "cannon ball" style and had fun doing this with Riley.

Logan and Trenton enjoyed using the neighbor's beach all week long while they were gone.  Here they are digging a hole in the beach.

Trenton, Ella, and Logan on the neighbor's beach.

Trenton splashing around in the water inside the hole while Logan and Ella ran around.

My mom decided to try out her new snorkel and mask at the lake before bringing it to Hawaii next week.  She just looked so cute cruising around with her pink noodle.

The three, little ones playing on the tube.

While grandma was snorkeling, she decided to do some "weeding" at the bottom of the shallow area of the lake near the dock.  She recruited the help of Lia to rip out the weeds after she found them.  Here is Lia making a pile on the dock.

Lia and grandma "weeding" underwater style.

The kids enjoying root beer floats one evening out on the deck.

Lia getting up with my help one of the mornings we were there.

And, she's off leaving the dock and me in the dust!

Skiing away.  I just can't get over how cute Lia looks out there on skis!

Lia getting up again after a fall.  I was able to swim over to where she fell most of the time to help her get situated and back up.

Another awesome skiing picture with the beautiful mountains in the background.

Lia skiing down the shoreline past our dock.

The five kiddos sitting in the front of the boat.

I drove the gang to "Fairy Fern Beach" at the mouth of the thorofare one morning.  Here is the gang enjoying the lake side of the beach.

The Hartland kiddos.

Lia and Riley running down the beach.

Riley, Lia, Logan, and Trenton posing by a strange mannequin that an owner set up on the beach in front of her house.

The Hartland fam standing in the water on the the thorofare side of Ferry Fern Beach.

Ella with her papa.

Riley, Lia, and Ella enjoying more time on the tube.

Lia and Riley went tubing one afternoon after the water got choppy.

Moving over the wake!

And back inside the wake again.

After Natalee, Riley, and Trenton left on Wednesday morning, we spent three more days at the cabin with the grandparents before driving home on Saturday, July 21st.  Grandma discovered a large, styrofoam  airplane that Logan loved throwing around.  Here he is trying it outside.

Lia taking a turn.

And Ella giving it a "go."

The kids broke out their toy fishing poles after their cousins left and spent many hours "fishing" off of the dock while trying to lure the bass out who is currently living under the dock (which worked several times).

Ella striking a funny pose with her fishing pole.

Logan sitting while fishing.  I just love this picture.

Mom playing in the water with the kids.

Doing what we love best in the summer!

More swimming.

Mama and her "baby."

Pulling Ella around while she held onto my feet.

A final, family pose while hanging out in the boat.  The kids love spending time in here--even when it is tied up to the dock.

Tooth #3 is Out!

After many wiggly weeks, Logan's top, left tooth finally came out yesterday while eating a "cupcake cone" for dessert after dinner.  Although he had been wiggling it for several weeks, I didn't think it was ready to come out yet, so I was sure surprised when he came walking into the kitchen holding a bloody tooth in his hand.  Needless to say, he was quite excited to clean the tooth off, put it in a Ziploc bag, and place it under his pillow with the hopes that his three boy, tooth fairies would be able to find him while we are staying at the Priest Lake cabin.  Luckily, Toby, Terry, and Tommy managed to find him last night and leave $2 under his sleeping head.  I can't get over how cute he looks with this gap in his smile.  Logan apparently thinks the same thing and jumps at every opportunity to flash me a smile whenever I see him.  I just wish his mouth would stay this way forever, but alas, I know that his big, adult tooth will come pushing through in no time forever changing the way that my little boy looks.  Sniff.

Lia's Week at Girl Scout Day Camp

For the fifth summer in a row, Lia is wrapping up a week long, Girl Scout day camp with the rest of the girls in her troop.  We decided to make a change this year and enroll the girls in a day camp in Graham called "Camp Whatchamacallit."  Lia was assigned to be in a unit with Sienna, her closest friend in her troop, which was total luck as the rest of her troop was assigned to all be together in another troop.  So, luckily, the girls had each other all week long.  In addition, Lia was surprised to discover on the first day that two girls from her old basketball and softball team were in her unit, too, which also helped to make things more familiar for her.  With the exception of having to use outhouses (yuck!) instead of flushing toilets and having a fairly strict and not-so-fun unit leader this week, Lia has enjoyed her time at camp.  From the rock climbing wall to a visit from the "reptile man" to getting to do archery to being able to complete multiple crafts, Lia has loved her week at camp.  She has stayed busy while being away from home for nine or so hours every day this week.  Overall, it has been a success, but we are ready to wrap it up this afternoon and head to Priest Lake bright and early tomorrow mornimg.  And it's on to the next summer adventure!

Since we had multiple carpools going on all week long, it was impossible to get a group picture of Lia's entire troop before camp started today...but I was able to get one of Sienna, Lia, and Addy before I dropped them off this morning.  All three of these girls have know each other since they were 4 years old and were in the same PreK class at Celebration Preschool.

I don't know what it is about this age, but these girls sure love to take funny pictures, too.  So, par their request, here are the girls striking a funny pose for me before they getting dropped off at camp.

13 Years of Marital Bliss!

Well, Ron and I celebrated our 13 year anniversary tonight.  I just can't believe that it has gone so fast!  In some ways, I feel like we just got married and, in other ways, it feels like a different lifetime ago when we tied the knot.  Regardless, with hosting Austin and Robbie and then the camping trip to the ocean, I didn't even realize that our anniversary was coming up until Saturday.  I think that the day would have come and gone without Ron even realizing it. :-)  Regardless, I managed to make a last minute reservation and get a babysitter with a day's notice and we headed out tonight to a beautiful and fancy restaurant that we have always wanted to eat at called Stanley and Seafort's.  It is up on the hill in Tacoma with a stunning view of downtown and Commencement Bay.  We enjoyed dining on delicious breads, appetizers, salads, and entrees and were even treated to a complimentary creme brulee at the end.  It was so nice to just get away for a few hours with Ron and eat a delicious dinner without any interruptions!  Thanks for the past 13 years, Ron!  Here's to another 13 more!

Ron and I ready to start our main dishes.

Getting ready to dive into the creme brulee.

The view of the downtown area from the restaurant.