Camping Trip

We didn't have any big trips planned this summer because TJ is saving his vacation time, but we were lucky to go to Long Beach for a weekend trip with my parents and sister.

I guess we really can't call it "camping" because we stayed in a cute little cabin. We got there around 5:30pm, unloaded the cars and then headed down to the beach. There was a pathway walk to the beach from the campsite, which was great not having to drive there. This is the only picture I got with Kenton in the backpack awake. Every time we put him in it, he would pass out (maybe I should wear it around the house for his nap times??)!

It was a beautiful warm night, so we whipped out the kite. Sophia loved running around with it.

The tide was out, so there were little pools of water that were fun to run in. Sophia was jumping the waves and took a little swim with her clothes on (not on purpose)! She was not too excited about it when her clothes got all sandy. I had a nice laugh!

She could not handle the wet sandy clothes, so we stripped her down for the walk back to the cabin!

As we continued to explore, we saw this sign posted by the bathrooms...There was no late walks for me!

I think this animal was out late and the bear found it! haha j/k. My mom was walking ahead of us and yelled, "There's a body!" I immediately thought that we were going to be part of an NCIS episode or something. We are thinking it was a seal....so sad!

On Saturday we went into town and Sophia and TJ went on a go-cart ride! She obviously thought it was loud.

TJ also read something about riding horses on the beach and called about it. Sophia has been wanting to ride a horse for 2 years now at the fair. Every year she talks as if she's going to do it, but when it comes down to it she never does. So, it was a big deal when she said she would ride a horse with daddy. I told TJ that I would just video tape (because I have only been on a horse once in my life and I didn't find it that fun), but he insisted that I go too for the "MEMORY"! And boy was it a BAD memory!!! TJ and Sophia's horse was named "Manny" and Sophia surprised all of us on how brave she was.

And this is ShyAnn! I have known a few "ShyAnn's" in my life and all of them are feisty, including my horse. There were about 15 of us who went on a ride and before we left 2 horses started nipping at each other, which made me a little nervous. I kept telling myself to stay calm, but it was hard. As we started off, the horses are suppose to walk single file through the brush to get to the beach. Miss ShyAnn started off great. I didn't even have to kick her to get going, UNTIL she made a right turn to go to her baby who was in a pen. She was NAYING so loud and her baby was doing it back which is really intimidating since I don't speak horse. There was a trailer that I was getting smashed against and I thought I was either going to get bit, get thrown into the pen, or jump over the gate. The cowboy was yelling at me to turn her around. I had to pull her so hard but then she went right back. TJ's horse was walking so nicely in line. I looked at him and mouthed, "I'M DONE!" And of course he just smiled. The cowboy had to fight with ShyAnn to get her coming. In the meantime we were behind the group and then ShyAnn decided to trot quickly to the group! AHHHHH! ShyAnn continued to try to turn around and I had to be rescued multiple times. Once she was on the beach she did okay. And when we got back, I told the cowgirl to get me off first because she wanted her baby. I was so glad to be walking on my own 2 feet!!!!

TJ had to take the picture because there was no way in HELL (sorry) I was going to take my hands off Miss ShyAnn. TJ tried to trot with Manny, but Sophia didn't like it because it hurt her legs.

PPPPPHHHHHEEWWWWWW! After that we went into town and got ice cream. Ice cream is much more my style! Beat that Baskin Robins...48 flavors and they make their own cones!

By the time we got back to the cabin, the sun was out and there was not much wind, so off to the beach we went! Grandpa and Kenton had matching hats and Kenton got to go on many walks with Grandpa which he liked.

We made a sand castle village and swam in the ocean. The water was actually really nice and even TJ got all the way in it (he's usually chicken in cold water)!

Sophia also wanted to be buried, so TJ got to work.

Even Kenton liked the sand:)

After the ocean we went swimming in the pool and had a nice evening. We left Sunday with smiles on our face and glad that we went!

Good-bye ocean!!!

Catch-Up Stuff

A couple weeks ago there was a local circus in town and thought that would be fun to take Sophia to. We were going to go as a family until we walked up to the booth. They were charging $22 for an adult ticket and $10 for a kid. TJ and I both looked at each other and said, "Heck no, we are not paying $44 dollars for both of us to go!" So, TJ took Kenton home and Sophia and I had a girls date! I luckily had a coupon and got $2 off my price and Sophia was free ($20 much better, but I still don't think it was worth it, ha)!

I've never been to a circus before, but this one seemed pretty cheap and I was kind of bored at times, hahaha. It definitely brought an interesting crowd out! I think I was more entertained by the people, than the acts!
Although I was not too entertained, Sophia enjoyed herself and I'm glad we got some girl time together:)

Last weekend we found a new park and got out to enjoy the sun. It is Salsbury Park (out towards Hood Canal). It is right by the water (rocky though), has picnic benches, grassy area, and a park. TJ's parents, our niece and nephews and our good friends met us there. I love this picture:)

Ahoy Matey!

There were also swings with a long chain. The kind that makes you get butterflies. It brought back memories when my dad would push me so high that I would get butterflies in my stomach. TJ and Grandpa Brown got Miles going pretty high and scared him! Love finding new parks, especially when it's a nice day!

New Lesson Learned

I have never had to baby proof anything or hide markers, etc because Sophia has never gotten into anything, but she is definitely not perfect! The other day she had a "not perfect" moment. She had gotten a place mat that you can color on with markers (thank you Aunt Sarah) and had it on my bed while I was getting ready. Well during her coloring she managed to color a large area on my bed sheets. It was clearly not just a little accident where she ran off her mat. These were long color strokes. This was definitely out of her character. I asked her about it and she said she did it with a little smirk. Being the first offense of this type I had to think about a consequence. I had her scrub with spray n' wash on the sheets, take them off the bed (with my help), and put them in the washer. I explained to her that if the marker didn't come out that she had to pay me some money out of her wallet so that I could buy some new ones. Sophia got the sheets out of the dryer to check to see if the marker came out. Well, the markers were not washable (thank you again Aunt Sarah, hehe). She went and got her wallet. At first she was going to give me a penny, but I told her that I needed a dollar (ouch!). She was not too excited about it at first, but then gave it to me. This is one of many lessons, but I hope she learned something.

Gotta Love Sisters!

I love how I can trust Sophia with Kenton! She has good mama instincts and is gentle with him. I went to get in the shower this morning and usually take him into the bathroom with me, but today Sophia wanted to watch him so I went with it. As I got out of the shower I heard her giggling and telling me to come here. And guess what I found???

ONE PRETTY BOY!

She was quite proud of herself and Kenton rolled with it too. I told her that Daddy was not going to be a fan, hahahaha!

It actually looks pretty good with his curly hair, ha!
Well Mr. Kenton, you better get used to it...That's what big sister's are for:)!

HOMER!

I was blessed to have great roommates in college and MaryAnn (aka: Homer) was one of them. Not only did we live together, we also slaved together in our education department and are Kappa Delta Pi sisters! MaryAnn is also a teacher but lives in Juneau, AK. I am just lucky that her dad lives in WA so that she still visits. We got to play with her at her dad's lake house.

Sophia swam off the dock and we all got to go on a boat ride (Kenton's first)!

As you can tell he loved it, even with his life jacket swallowing him.

Love the wind and fresh air! (Dad you seriously have to get your boat out...I miss it!!!)

We are just missing Jason, MaryAnn's hubby who also was a roommate of mine!

I love how we just pick right up when we see each other. Wish we lived closer, but I love the visits! MISS YOU HOMER!!!

COME BACK SOON:)

Yay Sun!

We lived by the words of Sesame Street this week...

"Sunny days, sweeping the clouds away!"

Thank you Point No Point and great friends. We went to enjoy the sun with Lacey, Malynda and their boys! Mr. Kenton boy got to wear his swim suit and put his feet in the cold water for the first time.

Sophia enjoyed jumping the waves
And making sand castles with the boys

Although the water was cold, my little fish loved boogie boarding...that's my girl:)

The sun was definitely out, but there was a constant breeze so it didn't feel super hot. I didn't put any sunscreen on my legs and boy did I pay for it the next day. It hurt so bad to walk, but yes everyone I learned my lesson! I told Sophia that I got a sunburn and asked her what she got. She said, "I just got brown!" And that is SOOO true. I'm so jealous of her gorgeous skin:) Sun, please stay and continue "Sweeping the Clouds Away!"

Red, White, and Blue

Sophia and I started off the festivities with a little red and blue action. My nails were painted like that too! Our day was planned out, but it didn't go as planned at all. TJ went out with his G-pa and brother at 6am to pick up the crab pots they had left the night before. TJ was thinking he would be back around 10ish so we could go by fireworks, make the macaroni and cheese to take to a friend's BBQ, etc. Well, when the boat ran out of gas it kinda put a kink in our plans. That 10ish thought turned into a 4ish time. Yup, so Sophia, Kenton, and I did everything by ourselves and finally went to the BBQ without TJ. He finally made it there about 5. It's one of those times where you can't get mad because it's not like they wanted to run out of gas, but I had a couple "ugh" moments. I am just glad they got home safely. While waiting for him I took a lot of pictures of our kiddos in their USA colors!

Sophia was so excited to wear her red, white, and blue and was decked out in it from the top of her head, down to her toes. She picked the classic pink tank top from Old Navy and even wanted to wear it the next day too!
I love this picture. They obviously aren't looking at me, but both are looking at the same thing. What is it? I don't know...

I had fun taking pictures of Kenton on his first Fourth of July! A family friend gave us this outfit before he was born. They must have been in tune with what size he was going to be because it fit him perfectly!

Uhhhh ladies, watch out! A little wink with those dimples and he will be melting some hearts:) Well maybe not if he's grabbing his crotch at the same time. Such a guy!

My good lookin' boys! I just love them!

Had to get Sophia in the picture too. I love her too:) What do you think. Do they look like their daddy?

This is Kenton's newest cousin, Miss Ella (a little over a 1 month old). Kenton will be her protector...he looks huge next to her (okay, I think he looks huge next to any baby because he IS a big boy).

After the BBQ we went to my parents house to celebrate our nephews 9th b-day and have the firework show. Sophia started plugging her ears when her cousins did.

She loved the sparklers. I think she did both the bundles we bought all by herself!

Although the day didn't go exactly as planned, it was still fun:)

Pre-4th of July

The Poulsbo fireworks is a must for us every year. We have been going for so long that we have our favorite parking spot and spot down by the water. This year we took Christine and her kids for the first time and met TJ's brother and his family!

Still waiting for the fireworks. The show started about 10:15pm

I love holidays, but having kids makes them that much better. Sophia was so excited through the whole show, saying, "ohhhhh, ahhhh, that's pretty!" Her favorite one was the pink one (of course)! And Kenton wasn't scared at all. He actually liked looking at them:)