Nature Day

Today was devoted primarily to nature, but of course we had to throw in some aviation at the end of the day for good measure!
We started out hiking Squak Mountain in Issaquah. It's really beautiful and even the drive is nice with trees creating a canopy over the road. Ryan wasn't digging the backpack today so it was a really slow hike, but the kids had fun picking huckleberries and learning about moss and ferns, jumping off of rocks, sliding down hills and seeing slugs *shudder*.
Starting out the hike.

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Ryan says "peekaboo"

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Here they are "sliding" down the dirt hill or in Ryan's case, just falling.

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Snack time!

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Holding hands...awwwww (complete with a diry behind from sliding on the hill)

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Afterwards the boys napped and I got a LOT of yardwork done. It was nice and relaxing. Then Grandpa J watched the boys while I attended a Relief Society craft night. This is where the aviation comes in. Max was promised that if he had a really good day, Grandpa J would build a model airplane with him. It was on his mind all day! The boys had great Grandpa time, and Grandpa did survive (although he went to bed earlier than usual, hmmmm ; ) and I had some girl time. Win-win!

Kelsey Creek Farm

We got to visit Kelsey Creek Farm today and it was a lot of fun.
Farmer Ryan drove his tractor

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He oversaw the milking of the cows. Max and Caramel did a very dramatic job.

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They told the sheep what to say, "Baa, Baa"

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The sheep did not respond. They were the strong and silent types.

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They trip trapped over the bridge like the billy goats gruff

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and communed with chickens.

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It was a very busy day for this farmer and his farm hands. Phew!

Camp Zarahemla

We ventured out and camped near Mount Rainier in an LDS church campground. It was a great place for kids. We got to play with Tony's cousin, Beth and her family, Stacey and cousin Ben.
We passed this beautiful view of Mt. Rainier traveling south on 410.

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I think I caught Lincoln in a very pensive moment ; )

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Tony whipping up some breakfast burritos

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YUM

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Maddie on the canoe

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We paddled to this little island and got out ot explore.

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The lake was beautiful

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The kids were acting out a bit so we pulled a baby Moses maneuver and pushed them out ot sea...

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Okay, not really...Beth, Sam and I were in the other canoe

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We explored the island again

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It was gorgeous to be out on the water when it was just starting to turn dusk and the moon was out.

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They had a great play area

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Cute boy

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Great weekend, great times!

It's a Bird, It's a Plane....Yep, it's a Plane!

We saw the Blue Angels zoom by today. My boys were so excited. Max had to make sure to bring his toy Blue Angel airplane. And they remembered to bring their ear protection. We had a spot right on Lake Washington on a gorgeous Seattle day. It was awesome!

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Saydi loved it to! ; )

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Lots of Pictures

I brought my camera to the park play group we had today. I just wanted to capture cute moments like this:

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And then the kids were doing this and my friends said, "Debbie, where's your camera? This is a very Debbie Epperson photo moment". haha. True, I'm glad I had my camera in my pocket. How cute are they?

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And Alana joined in the fun.

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It was fun afterwards having the boys take Saydi for a walk or rather, Saydi took the boys for a walk. We let her lead the way.

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It's almost blackberry time!

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There was some hill rolling happening

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And Ryan LOVES giving Saydi a biscuit. At home, he'll run to get her one. He knows exactly where they're kept.

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After their bath, the boys watched some BYU football and then children's videos with Grandpa!

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All in a Day

Today my boys were lucky enough to play a lot of the day with their good friends. I was lucky enough to have a good friend take my boys so I could 1) see the doctor for my annual exam, 2) run to the store quickly (quickly is never an adjective I can use when kids are involved) and 3) paint my bathroom. She even brought my kids home fed, tired and ready for a nap! So, I got to......paint some more! I'm never good at before pictures so here are midway pictures of the master bathroom.

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Notice there are no base boards. That will change. The walls were white and now they are "Seattle" grey. Gotta love the name.

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I also got to go to a canning class tonight and learn about canning all kinds of food. I love it when people share their talents so others can learn. I even got to take these home:

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This day also included a fun walk/bike ride with our favorite dog, Saydi. The boys are having such fun taking care of her. She also rode with us to the bank to drop off rent checks.
Tony enjoyed some guy time after school. He never has a lot of time to spend with friends so he spent a day with a work buddy paddle boarding off Raft Island where his friend lives. Here is what he looks like now.

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He calls it his "base". I call it skin cancer. ; ) We're enjoying Tony being home after school for this one week. Friday, he'll start at Boeing and he'll start working mandatory weekends until they're caught up on projects. We don't know when that will be. He'll have 2 weekends on and one weekend off. That's in addition to his normal 75 hour work week. You might start seeing insane ramblings of mine on this blog after he's been on that work/school schedule for awhile.

How We Celebrated Swiss National Day!

August 1st is Fete Nationale en Suisse. Normally, I would at least get some Swiss chocolate for the family, but I didn't get to the store today. However, I did think about my mission and what an important experience it was.
We "celebrated" by having a playdate with some new friends. And then we went to Dash Point Park to spend the afternoon in the sun.

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Ryan wasn't sure about the seaweed.

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Max loved jumping in the waves.

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I had an "aha" parenting moment. Max was out of control whiny at the beach and I didn't get why. He was so tired he wanted to just lay on me and sleep. HELLO! This boy has been going, going, going for the past 4-5 days. Sometimes as parents we forget the simple answers. I was worried that he was changing or that I wasn't meeting his needs somehow, or that I've been reacting in a way that makes him think that whining is okay. I think Occam's Razor fits this situation and I need to remember as a parent that sometimes the answer is the simplest one. Very cranky boy means he is very, very tired. Plain and simple.
Bonne Nuit!