The 4th!

Wow, what a busy and fun-filled long weekend! Steve had his regular every-other-Friday off, so he also got Thursday off for the 4th. On Thursday we went to a new park (did I mention Steve loves checking out new places?) Rocky Point, which is a navy beach. It was beautiful, expansive, mostly unpopulated, and Steve enjoyed watching all the navy jets and helicopters flying overhead.


The waves were bigger than we are used to. I don't know how those kids managed to swim in that water; it was frigid!!

Marie found this driftwood that looks like a prosthetic hand

Mmmmmm, yummy sand!

Jenna thought that putting her hat on is a funny game... every time I put it on she took it off. It's hard to put sunscreen in her hair.

Our church picnic was filled with the usual fun stuff... a potluck lunch, desert contest, volleyball, kids' games, and LOTS of water fights that always start with water balloons and guns and end up with 5-gallon bucket-fuls.

The entries in the desert contest were amazing!

The blue container is a kitty-litter box done by Cassi (who until recently worked at a vet office :), quite ingenious and also quite disgusting!

The nest is Emily's

Laura's very well done hamburger

Marie's postcard

Michelle's bonfire/marshmallow roast cake below was the winner; I thought it was the best by far.

(On Sunday Tim & Sarah's baby Liam, below, was baptized by Uncle Don)

We went to Chris & Bobby's park-like place in the evening.

Joel & Sandy are good friends

After spending the evening at Chris & Bobby's, we went to Dave's house to watch the city's fireworks display right behind his place. Since we haven't gone to city displays in quite a few years, the kids were very impressed. Emily clicked away and I think she got almost every single one on her camera :)

Birthdays, outings, and a visit from my mom

Marie's birthday sleepover with cousins Kaitlyn, Brianna & Brooke

Marie actually has taken some nice shots on her new camera, mixed in with typical Marie shots like this (I'm scared to think what she'll be like as a teenager!)

Marie took these pics during a work day at church, I guess they are for their "fort"












Joel's birthday. He got some great sets of Lego and KNex; we have a lot of Lego but no instructions, so we thought it would be neat for him to learn to follow directions and assemble something.

Joel had Ryan over for his birthday; Ryan decided he didn't want to sleep in the tent, but after playing in it for a few minutes he changed his mind :)

















A fun day swimming at Chris & Bobby's pool!












My mom was here for about 8 days; this is the first time she's seen Jenna. I wish I had taken more pictures. A lot of these pics are from my mom and the girls so there aren't many of her.








We see deer quite often on our road, but I've never managed to get my camera out before they take off (one ran on the road in front of the car for about 20-30 seconds at about 20 mph!) These young deer weren't the slightest bit worried that I walked almost up to them.

Emily & Marie got a free flight with a very nice gentleman at our local airport, through the Young Eagle's Association (http://www.youngeagles.org/). They were one of the first ones called so they had no wait, and the pilot spent about an hour with them altogether, showing them his plane (Steve thought it was pretty cool, a 4-year-old twin engine diesel) and taking them for a long ride over the islands. Emily got a turn at flying, and from what I hear Marie talked the guy's ear off. They had a wonderful time!

That's the refinery where Steve works
























Afterwards we caught the tail end of a parade; the kids had never seen one before.


Gotta love McDonald's 50 cent ice cream cones!






We had a nice day with my mom at South Whidbey State Park in spite of the rain, hiking the trails and going down to the beach.












































A quick stop at Deception Pass on the way home





A BBQ at our place























I guess "fishing" is one thing you can do with a pool after the water turns green :)

Jenna is scooting (not quite crawling) everywhere all the sudden, and just got her fifth tooth

A frog in my flowers! He likes the regular waterings I think.




Aunt Carol and her friend stopped over for coffee. As usual, she brought home-made treats!















Berry picking on the road with my mom; the kids spend a lot of time doing that in the summer















I guess you can see what our family life is like from this picture :)