Summertime

I rounded up a few shots of what goes on in our day to day summer lives right now.

First off, the awesome play structure we scored for free at a yard sale! Lucy has been spending a lot of time on this:

Lucy's favorite new activity: bug hunting.

Composting (we do live in Eugene, after all!):

Picking lavender bouquets from our backyard:

And watching my pumpkins become irresistibly attracted to my tomatoes. Perhaps I should have planted them a little farther apart? We'll see how long this relationship lasts. 

Jamberry!

Raspberry! Jazzberry! Razzamatazberry!

Lucy and I went raspberry picking last week, and at 2 dollars a pound we ended up picking quite a lot of them! And then when we got home, Joel suggested I make raspberry jam with our spoils of war.

I chose the easy, non-boil freezer jam. Joel has already testified that it's delicious, and it's so easy!

A few more weeks and it'll be blackberry season, and since those babies grow like weeds around here(are they weeds?) I imagine I'll be making even more freezer jam. Yumm!

Family Visit

The day after we got back from camping, my sister, brother-in-law, their two kids, and my parents all drove down to Eugene to stay with us for a week. We knew it would be a little wild, but it was the best way to see everyone for as long as possible, so we went for it. I threw all our camping stuff out in the garage, did a quick clean-up of the house, and waited eagerly for all of my family to get here. 

You'll notice that I was a bit myopic in my pictures... if any adults appear in these shots it's only because they're accompanied by one of the small, cute members of the family. But really, can you blame me? Look at this face!

And this one!

Lucy and David adore each other, and Lucy was even willing to sit in the stroller for longer walks if it meant getting to be near beloved Dee dee. 

We did a good bit of walking (it is Eugene, after all)

Cousin sandals:

And it was HOT so we filled up our kiddie pool in the backyard. Putting the slide into the pool made things extra fun!

Lucy soaked up Nana time:

William got passed around to all his adoring fans:

More pool time:

This shot just completely cracked me up. That's some fierce concentration on that face!

Lucy knows that the way to make friends is to get down on their level:

And then tell them hysterical stories!

Davey tries to pretend he's not impressed with Hayward Field (but he was, really. I know it)

And we visited the Washington Splash Park:

Which David adored

Run from the WAATTERRR!!

And of course, Lucy needed lots of Papa time too.

It was such a blast having everyone under our roof for a whole week! I think we'll have to make this a tradition!

A, B, C, D, Oooh, Eeee, Ooooh

Lucy has come down with a bad case of letter-obsession. Thanks to Leap Frog Letter Factory, the letter magnets on our fridge, and an etch-a-sketch, Lucy can now identify all the letters of the alphabet! And now she sees letters everywhere, and it's adorable. But now that she knows the letters, she's really interested in the alphabet song. So we've started singing it. Everywhere. In the car. At the park. And during lunch. She's got a good start on the song but we're working on the rest. :)

Camping Trip

Over the fourth of July we went camping down near Coos Bay. This was our first time camping with Lucy. And we camped for five nights. Call us crazy, right? But it actually went great. Lucy was a trooper, and she eased right in to the camping lifestyle:

We had fabulous weather, and fabulous beaches to play at:

Lucy traipsed around like a wild baby through the campsites:

And got along famously with her cousin Navarro. 

The weather at the coast is never exactly swimsuit weather, but all the kids still had a blast:

Some of the older cousins (and auntie "Mu-mu" as Lucy calls her):

Check out these views!

Cute cousin shot:

Even cuter cousin shot:

More adorable cuteness (there was a lot of this going on this trip):

We explored tidepool flora and fauna:

And Lucy wading in the water:

It was a bit of a gamble going camping for that long, but a few things made it much more doable: a tent with a divider inside (so Lucy had her own little space), lots of warm clothing, plenty of family (especially the cousins) to keep her entertained, and lots of advance planning. We're definitely up for another camping trip in the future!