The days of summer...

It's hard to believe our summer is days away from ending. Seems like just yesterday I was worried about how I'd entertain the kids in such awful summer weather. But now, I have no idea where all the time went. I know I complained a lot about the weather here in Washington this year but looking back on it, we had some great days. Here are some of the highlights from our Washington summer:

The summer always kicks off with our annual community Bicycle Safety Rodeo. This year Connor decided he was done with the face painting but as you can see Ty and Sage were still all about it...



Tattoos are also a big hit at the rodeo. I just had to include this photo because there is something just not right about it. Can you say "white trash"? Seriously, I had to take a double take when I first saw this photo and what appeared to be a cigarette hanging out of Ty's mouth...



As you can see, these pasty white bodies belong to kids that grow up in the northwest. Needless to say when the sun finally decides to makes it's debut for summer, the kids are out working on those tans. Here they are with some of their best buds Hannah and Joseph from across the street!




Ty has gotten really good at doing jumps off his ramp. This was taken at the beginning of the summer. I need to take a new one of how he has improved over the summer but I have to admit I get scared to watch now...



Sage loves hanging out with our next door neighbor Cole. They are good buddies...



We have a great group of friends that we go out and do weekly lake days with. Each week we visit a different lake. Here are the kids enjoying Pine Lake, and yes, the whale is still around...



This year we finally made it out to our friends the Mueller's lake house on Lake Samammish. Of course my fearless Ty wasn't about to just watch Rebecca's husband Eric jump off the boat dock roof without giving it a try himself. He felt pretty proud when they told him he was one of the youngest to ever jump off it...




We always love going to Newcastle beach on Lake Washington:



But our new favorite is Lake Wilderness. It's hard to believe we are surrounded by so many amazing lakes within 15-20 minutes of our place. Libby and I were dying when we came down to the water's edge to find Sage and Sophie in what looked like a cesspool or toilet bowl...



Here are the boys with August and Wyatt having some fun...



Finally I had to add that unfortunately this year when we returned from Utah, I didn't come home to the garden I did last year. I did however, come home to two unbelievable bunches of my favorite flower ever, the Lilly, that had started blossoming while we were away. This years bunches were amazing. I was able to make a couple fantastic smelling bouquets for the kitchen and bathroom...





As you can see, those pasty white bodies turned golden by the summer's end...