The summer of . . .

Postings have certainly been scant this summer but it hasn't been because I haven't had lots to share!!  We've had adventures, started traditions and seen a lot of 'firsts' for both kids.

 

NEW TRADITION

The crew - The Asmann's, Berry-Nelsons, SchaeperBerrys, Quishidas, Poages and Nobles all headed to Camano Island for a get away.  That's 12 adults and 8 kids! 

The Poage cabin was beautiful and right on the beach.  The kids played in the driftwood and the adults played music and cards.

It was amazing to me that 12 kids, ranging in age from 14 months to 8 years played so well together with literally NO fights!!

 

 Cute kids in life jackets. 

Lots of cute kids in life jackets!

 The ladies!  Card games of choice - Crib and Speed.  Drink of choice - champagne, of course!

 

ADVENTURE

Drew's dream came true this year when he finally convinced me to go on a backpacking trip!  I was trepidatious to say the least, given that I don't like the wilderness, bugs or breaking a sweat.  But the company made it fabulous.  Next time - a longer hike and more champagne!

 Driving East in Quinn's Westy

 

See how rugged we look!?!

Now for our flat, short hike back to the car.  haha

 

BEST TRADITION!!

One of the absolute summer highlights is FLOATDOWN.  The crew heads over the mountains to Twisp to float the Methow river.  The weather is always sweltering which makes floating in a raft on the icy river sublime.  Once again, champagne flows freely and by the end of the day our cheeks sunburnt and sore from smiling so much!



 Love these crazy people!

 FIRSTS

Every season holds many firsts for the kids during these years but Jude seems to have changed in leaps and bounds this summer. 

He's talking almost non-stop.  True you can't understand a lot of what he says but just like his sister - he literally never shuts up!!

A few of his favorite words are

 - "uh-huh" said in a million different ways but always in a high pitched squeaky voice

 - "mo" for more

 - "lala" his new name for Ellie

 - "lalow" for stroller
 - "ow" yes, he says ow if he stubs his toe but he also says ow even he is asked to do something he doesn't want to do like if Ellie is asking him to come play and he'd rather not - he looks at her and says "owie lala"
 - "ti-ka" the word he uses when he wants to nurse.  Although he says it less than he did a few months ago he still asks to nurse about every 2 hours.  Guess he never got the memo that he's almost 2 years, not 2 months!

 But the words that seem to echo most frequently around the house is a nearly constant string of "mommydaddymommydaddymommydaddymommydaddymommydaddy"

 

 

Miss Ellie Belle has learned a lot this summer too.  She started swim lessons and although she has always loved the water she would never put her head in.  Now she puts her face in, holds her breath, floats on her back and is so very proud!



I can't believe what a big girl she is now - camping in the backyard with Drew, first sleep over at a friends house, writing her name, throwing less tantrums(!) and calls every new kid she meets her 'best friend'.

 

Next week starts Ellie's last year at the co-op preschool we've attended since she was 14 months old and Jude's first year at the school!

Goodbye summer . . . it's been swell

 



Staycation Vacation

The first week of August Drew took at staycation from work.  Our plan was to relax at home in the summer weather, celebrate our 6 year anniversary, do fun things with the kids . . .

And of course complete A LOT of house projects!

 

First on the list was a new sink.  Not only was the old one a dingy color of beige but the garbage disposal was on the shallow side making dish washing very awkward!

Love my new stainless steel sink.  So much sleeker!

 Next on the list was a new fridge.  True, our old fridge was less than 3 years old but I've always hated it!  The black sides made the entrance to the kitchen seem smaller and it seemed HUGE in that space.

 Enter lovely new counter depth fridge!

 

Made SUCH a difference!

 

And the crowning jewel -

A beautiful new front door!

I love that the new windows let light into the entry and the splash of color is just was this grey house needed.

Drew has now made me promise not to request any more house projects for awhile

 

But really - "awhile" is a very vague term . . .

Welcome to the Cottage

Last weekend, mum and I found a diamond in the rough at a yard sale.

An old beat-up PLAYHOUSE!

 As you can see - it needed a lot of work but had LOADS of potential.

The biggest challenge was how to move it to our backyard.

Luckily, Drew was totally up for it and worked super hard to make it happen!

 First came coats of cheery paint to every surface.  Ellie has decided to become a professional painter when she grows up.  She loved every minute of it.

 Even Jude was happy to help . . . for a few minutes.

 So serious

 Of course, we picked the back corner of our yard for our playhouse to live.  It was quite an adventure moving it into place.

 The moving crew

The cottage.

It is so cute and homey.  Ellie has decided she wants to have sleepovers in it when she's older.  Right now it's usually an "order-at-window" restaurant.



So the final total:

$50 for the playhouse, $30 for paint, plus hours of labor = the best play cottage I have ever seen!!

Cousin Love

 One of the highlights of the summer is always the reunion with my sister, Michelle, and nephew, Jules. 

We only get to see each other for about 10 days out of every year so we pack a lot in . . . catching up, eating good food and lots of champagne drinking.

But the best part was seeing Jules and Ellie interact.  They are at the age where they are remembering each other from year to year and building a relationship.  I love these photos where Jules is talking about Star Wars and has Ellie's undivided attention.

Three Cheers for Family!!!

Now only 51 weeks until we get to see each other again!!! 



Summer Lovin'

A couple weekends ago we headed up to Campbell River to visit family.  Drew hadn't been to the island since Ellie was less than a year old!  And since the kids are almost always super sick when we are up there I was VERY happy to have him with us.  Happy to report they were healthy . . . that is, until we arrived home!

 Hiking to Elk Falls.  This is such a perfect hike for kids (and me!) - short and few hills.

 Drew is carrying the kid, the lunch, the blanket . . . but hey, I have my camera!

 The Nobles Canadian Vacation

Last time we were at Elk Falls I was pregnant with Ellie.  Now back again with this big girl.

 We had beautiful, WARM weather while we were there (an unusual phenomenon on Vancouver Island) so it was a rather odd decision to stop at Butterfly World, which is essentially a hot and humid greenhouse.  But the kids loved the butterflys.  Jude squealed everytime he saw one (and there are hundreds)

 People often tell me these two look alike but I just don't see it - until I saw this photo!  Whoa - they are twins!

Back row:  Ellie, Gwyneth, Ella & Willa

Front row:  Mila, Nora Lynn, Jude & Nicholas

And the best thing about Canada - Family!

We had a huge party to celebrate the plethora of July birthdays in Auntie Dena's beautiful yard.  I love that my family loves games - everyone played in the crib and horseshoe tournaments.  Drew even won horseshoes - thanks to his 3 ringers - in the dark!

Certainly no shortage of cousins at the party too!

The little ones are ALL exactly 6 weeks apart, we were just missing Lucie.  Hopefully one day we will get a photo where they are 1) all in the same place at the same time and 2) will sit still long enough for a photo op!

Moving on

Ellie finished another year of preschool in June!

It was a big year - a new teacher, 2 days of drop off, more learning.

It amazing to think how much she learned in one year - all her letters and their sounds, counting to 20 (most of the time :), and counting to 12 in Spanish.

She had no problem with drop off and loved her friends.  Sadly, this was the year she started to only  play with "the girls"!!  The boys are off playing fire and rescue and the girls are playing house.

I can't believe the gender separation has happened already. 

Ellie still has boy friends that she plays great with at home but at school -  those days are over.

What a difference!!  In September she was a little 3 year old - in June a big 4 and a half year old!

 Ellie soaked up the attention during 'graduation'.  Her teacher, Teacher Paula, was wonderful.  She engaged the kids and used so much creativity.  We have been so lucky to start Ellie's school years off with such awesome teachers!

Even MacGruder got to enjoy the last day of school. 

In the fall, Ellie will move on to 'Pre-K' with Teacher Cam and Jude will start the toddler program with Teacher Betsy.  Since it's a co-op that will mean 2 days a week where I stay in the classroom, one with Ellie and one with Jude.  It will be a busy year!

July 4th Day

Where to start??!!  I have been severely behind on the blog posts lately. 

But I'm back to update on the start of summer!

If you're from Seattle, you know summer does NOT start until July 5th BUT this year we were lucky and summer made an appearance a day early!

 It's true - the Nobles have commandeered a few holidays.  It's now tradition to have Easter and Halloween at our house.  And I have to say, the 4th on our cul-de-sac was SO fun we may have to make it a tradition as well!!

The kids - Chloe, Olin, Livi and Elle

 Sunny weather = Happy wife!

 So entranced by sparklers!

 We took over the street with lawn chairs, a fire pit and fireworks!

 And we even broke out the guitars!

Happy FOURTH!