Macee and Auna

Ava wasn't in a picture taking mood, too busy being silly

What a treat- Macee and Auna both happened to stop by at the same time today. It was fun catching up on all their activities plus hearing about plans for the coming school year. 

New bedding, Mt. St. Helens, cousins

The girls picked out a new comforter set and rug last week.  They love it because it looks more "grown up".  They also rearranged their room and changed some accessories and pictures.

Wednesday we went to Johnson Ridge, it was very busy, even at 10:30, with 4 tour busses there.

The girls liked the penny smashing machine but were disappointed in the gift shop,

so we stopped at the Forest Learning Center gift shop on the way back.  Ava picked out a stuffed animal horse and Harper a turtle, plus some ash.  The mountain looked awesome but there were a lot of bugs flying around so we didn't stay very long.

Today was the last hurrah of summer for the cousins and they made the most of it.  Parting was hard when playtime was over - there were protests and very sad faces. 

Toothless twins, Rielee & Sam, Cora, Gracie

Harper lost the same front tooth as Ava, but they don't see it that way, and don't try to tell them either.  They refuse to believe it.

 Rielee likes to walk, run, and play with Sam.  She

brings along a handful of dog treats, breaking them up in little

pieces, to reward him for doing tricks.  She said he sometimes

cleans out Lucy's food dish when they go by our house, too.

Alan brought Cora outside to see the kids Saturday morning.  She went for a little ride in the Jeep with Harper but was a little overwhelmed by all the commotion.

Saturday afternoon we went to Linda's for a very special lunch with Papa's Aunt Gracie.  She is 98 years young and was visiting from San Francisco with her son Ed.  

 

San Diego & Mexico

 On Sunday the 13th we flew to San Diego to see Scott, Paty, and Liann and Lindsey, who are visiting from Japan.  Monday, Paty drove and we went to Mexico, first visiting Tijuana, Paty's former home.  In this picture the girls are standing in front of the border wall, which runs right into the ocean.

We drove down the coast to Rosarito and had the Baja lobster for lunch, shopped on the way back, then went back to Tijuana and visited Paty's sister and family.  They are charming and were gracious hosts.  

Tuesday we drove to the Cambrillo National Monument where there is a beautiful view of

San Diego,  the Naval Base and surrounding area.

Then we went to Old Town for dinner and shopping.

It was a wonderful trip.

August 12th-Jill & Russ

We went to Gig Harbor for Jill and Russ' wedding, it was at Netshed No. 9, a restaurant on the bay.

It was a lovely ceremony, intimate with just family there.

 They're a very happy couple. 

Jill celebrating with Dad and grandson Hayden. 

Daycare, sleepover, logging

 

The girls had a daycare in their room Tuesday.  Papa and I had to leave our "kids" there.  We were a little surprised to see just how many stuffed animals they have.

The kids posed for me Thursday morning after their sleepover at Aunt Cathy's, they had a great time.

Rielee, Maddie and Parker did some land clearing today.  Parker cut down several trees.

Maddie learned to use the chain saw.

Parker has a lot of logs stockpiled for future firewood.

 

Ava & Harper's 8th birthday party

The girls celebrated their birthday today with family and friends at Leonardo's Pizzeria.  Diane made their cute cakes.

Blowing out their candles, Harper seems to be going for all of them while Ava is picking them off one at a time.

They got lots of nice gifts-school clothes, backpacks, books, toys, games, and Target gift cards.

Playing pinball in the game room with Jason.

8 year old bookends, growing up so fast.

 

 

Puppy repair, bowling

 The girls brought their beloved stuffed animals - Ava's Princess puppies and Harper's puppy "Lando" to me for emergency repair-Oliver had chewed off their eyes and noses.  We searched through all our buttons and beads hoping something might work.  Meanwhile, Ava decided to make earrings for her puppies.

The animals looked so sad. 

We found beads for 2 noses but had to go to the fabric store and buy some eyes, felt for Lando's nose, and embroidery thread to fix their mouths.

Looking better, hopefully these puppies will stay out of Oliver's reach from now on.

Thursday we went bowling, Ava celebrated getting a spare.

Harper was excited to beat Rielee's score and come in 2nd behind Papa.

Afterwards, Ava and Harper chose to go to Heavenly Donuts with Papa while Rielee and I went to Baskin Robbins.   We came home and hung out in the pool in the 100 degree heat, Auna came over for awhile, too.  Rielee spent the night and we ended up playing cornhole at the Dolans in the evening, then the kids went back to the pool with David and Laury.

Papa and the girls played pool war twice today, Papa being the bad guy,  and they also played at Aunt Cathy's with the kids.

Toutle River fun

We took the girls to Harry Gardner Park today for a picnic.  There was a perfect spot for them, shallow,

with a "dam" to work on, and lots of minnows to catch and release (Harper caught 2).  They had already been swimming at Rielee's earlier, and went back for more when we got home.

This picture is from the other day.  Ava demonstrating how she can shoot water through gap in her teeth, it made Harper laugh hysterically.

Laury, Auna and Kalyn brought birthday gifts for the girls tonight, water bottles to decorate and some tiny stuffed animals. 

They love their sleep masks and had no problem falling asleep tonight after playing in the heat all day.