The Last Hurrah of Summer

  Aimee and I planned a last minute trip to Remlinger Farms today up in Carnation.  Last time we went with the kids I was pregnant with Emery, so it was very exciting for Avery, Harper, and Emery. They were also thrilled to be spending more time Aimee and Tyler as always.  The kids had a great time on all the rides.  Harper and Emery didn't like the little roller coaster though and wouldn't go on it again after they went on it once.  Everyone enjoyed playing in the hay maze that also featured a giant pile of hay that they could jump into.  In an unrelated note I vacuumed a bunch of hay around my house tonight.

I love Avery's face.

Emery and Harper had to have their picture taken in a cut out too.

Aimee rode with Emery and Harper on this spinning ride.  You can see the top of Harper's Goofy hat.

Harper and Emery in this tiny ferris wheel.

Emery adored this pony ride.

Luke very carefully laid himself down on the ground to have a freak out moment regarding his hunger level.

Luke just carrying around his sister's purse is all.

Tyler having a great time in the hay.

Luke was trying to do everything that he saw Tyler doing.  It was pretty cute.

Emery hanging out on an old school bus.

Luke rode this little train like five times in a row.

Harper in a giant flying ear of corn.

Emery rode the corn five times in a row.

Luke and Emery being adorable together.

Aimee captured a rare genuine Harper smile.

Me with Emery and Harper on the flying pumpkins.  

Tyler and Avery were having a blast on the roller coaster.  Emery and  Harper not so much.  Harper is hidden behind me.

Here you can see Harper holding on for dear life, and another unhappy Emery face.  Tyler and Avery were more than happy to ride this coaster three more times.

Our Summer of Disrepair

  In May we decided that we would finish up updating our last two bathrooms in the house hoping that it would take six weeks.  They got finished up technically yesterday doing the last few finishes.  They were more or less done two weeks ago really.  The basement bathroom has been done for over a month.  I'm just happy that the upstairs hall bathroom was done enough for when we started potty training Emery.  We're really glad that they are done now.  We've pretty much updated everything in our house now that would meaningfully impact our daily life.  It feels good to be done.

  Unfortunately in May our dishwasher decided to stop working.  The most expensive part was broken because a piece of glass had gotten into it and done all sorts of damage.  Of course this part was back

ordered, and it took more than a month to get it.  Then when it did come and they were trying to install it they discovered another part was damaged, so we got to wait another week and a half for that part to come in.  Now we finally have a working dishwasher again.  It was so long that we bought a counter top dishwasher that we hooked up to the wet bar in the basement.  Also the weekend we went to Mount Rainier we came back to a broken air conditioner.  Fortunately that was fixed in less than a week.  I'm looking forward to not having anything being remodeled or broken in my house for a long while.

The upstairs bathtub and surround.

We added some extra cabinetry and I love our new tile floor.  Now all the vinyl is gone from the house.

In the basement bathroom we took out the bathtub and just made it a stand up shower.

This is what a counter top dishwasher looks like.  It's like half a dishwasher, that sits on your counter.  I ran it twice a day, but it was way better than nothing.

Family Pictures

  Our last real family picture we took was when Harper was about eight months old.  We've been long overdue for family pictures.  We also wanted to update cousin pictures with Tyler and Ayva.  Sadly we were not able to get Ayva in our pictures, but we did get some cute ones with the girls and Tyler.  The photographer also took some family pictures.

Our last real family picture.

I forget about our attempted family picture that a photographer friend took when trying out a new lens.

This picture just cracks me up.  I love it.

Tyler's hands are up because he was just told not to give his cousins bunny ears.

I think this is my favorite one of Tyler, Avery, and Harper.

The return of business Harper.

Even Daryl and I got to have our picture taken.

Easy Bake Oven

  Back in March DeAnna brought up an Easy Bake Oven that someone was giving away for the girls. Four months later I finally got a light bulb for it, so Avery and Harper could get cooking.  Boy is the Easy Bake Oven underwhelming.  Basically you are cooking stuff with a light bulb, and the little mixes make up the smallest of portions.  Avery and Harper loved it though and had a great time.  They used up all their little recipe packets last week, and now we will pass the Easy Bake Oven onto some other lucky family.

Harper and Avery making up pretzels and cookies.

Avery eating her ridiculously small frosted sugar cookies.  

This is what Harper's pretzel bites looked like.

A close up of Avery's cookies.

Enjoying their pretzels with cheese dip.

Here's Emery posing with Sisko.

Another Family Reunion

  Last weekend we went up to stay at a house just outside Rainier National Park with Aimee, Karl, and Tyler.  While we were there Daryl's dad, Daryl, and his wife, Karen, were able to come hang out with us one day.  They also brought Ashley, Thomas, and Ayva, so we were able to be with almost all of Daryl and Karl's siblings. We had a great time hanging out together.  Aimee and I took all the kids to hike the Grove of the Patriarchs on Friday before Daryl and Karl got there after work.  Then on Saturday morning we went to ride the gondolas at Crystal Mountain.  The gondolas offer some beautiful views of Mt. Rainier without any actual hiking.  Saturday Aimee and I left the kids behind to do a short hike to Silver Falls that was absolutely gorgeous.  It was nice to be able to do something with Aimee without the kids.  Also it was Daryl's birthday while we were up there, and we celebrated accordingly.

Daryl and his wife Karen with the grandkids.  Ayva is on Karen's lap, Emery, Harper looking a little squished, Luke and Avery on Daryl's lap, and Tyler with an epic face.

Luke is ready to drive already.  He can totally reach those pedals.

Emery enjoying Daryl's birthday cake.

Ayva and Aimee hanging out.

Tyler was over pictures when it was my turn to take this with him and Luke.

Luke, Avery, and Harper on the porch swing.

Tyler in the foreground.  In the background the suspension bridge that we had to cross to get to the Grove of the Patriarchs.  You had to wait in line to cross it with only a couple people on it at a time.

Emery, Harper, and Avery throwing rocks.

On the gondola going up.  Karl, Harper, Tyler, and Aimee.  Karl and Harper were very nervous going up.  Harper was holding Karl and Tyler's hands.

Our side going up.  Daryl, Avery, Rachel, Luke, and Emery

Tyler bought this coyote skin hat with his own money and was quite proud.

A squirrel enjoying a banana peal at the top.

The view of Mt. Rainier from the top.

Just Luke hanging out with his hands in his pockets.

I guess Luke is just getting ready for his modeling career.

Here we are going down.  Daryl, Luke, Rachel, Harper, and Emery.  This time I had to hold Harper like this all the way down.

The other side going down.  Karl, Avery, Tyler, and Aimee.  Karl was in his happy place and couldn't look at the camera for the picture. It was pretty high up.  

We roasted some marshmallows.  Tyler, Daryl, Harper, Karl, Luke, Aimee, and Emery.

Silver Falls

Me with Silver Falls

Aimee and I looking good on our hike.