locks of love

I've always had long hair, the one exception was 7th grade when I chopped it all off and woke up the next morning crying, vowing never to do it again. I was 13 and slightly dramatic apparently. A little over a month ago, I chopped it off and donated it. I'd like to think that even if my father had not passed of cancer, I still would have donated it, but the fact is, I did it for my dad. I gave away 14 inches and it brings a smile to my face knowing that someone out there has a wig in my father's name...and only a few tears were shed this time, mostly for dad.

It actually isn't looking too short here! It really was a big cut, it is an a line cut and if my posture were better you wold be able to see it is above my shoulders. My hair dresser calls my hair a weed, so I guess it has already started growing growing!

river

There is a major river that runs through our city. We love it. We usually find ourselves along that river once a week, eating a picnic dinner while throwing rocks into the river. This time we indulged the kiddos and let them actually swim in it. Andrew was nice enough to go in with them...it is pretty cold, even in the summer heat.

yakima

My father is buried about an hour away from where we live. Of course my father's passing saddens me, but I like the fact he is buried so close. We usually venture over there about every other month and visit "papa's place." I have already mentioned, but my mother and grandparents are from Yakima and they lived just a few blocks up from the cemetery. To me it is a beautiful place filled with happy memories of summer days spent feeding the swans and taking long runs on hot summer days through the cemetery's rolling grassy hills. I love that my kids enjoy it too. They look forward to packing a loaf of bread for the swans, visiting my father's grave site and running through the cemetery's grassy fields.  I am also getting a kick out of Tank chucking a whole slice of bread into the pond, for one lucky bird in the picture below. 

boating

We just got back from visiting Andrew's family and of course we spent one day boating! The kids, and Andrew, were very excited this year. Bug had been talking about going boating for months and with all the talk, Tank knew it was something fun. All of Andrew's family was there, so this time we took turns going out on the boat. Little Bug and Tank loved waiting at the beach. There was water and mud, so both kids were in their respective elements. Tank also loved the boating snacks, particularly the frosted animal crackers. Here he is sneaking.

But who could reprimand such a cute face?

Waiting to tube with grandma Laura. I thought this was a pretty fun set up.

Waiting some more

And finally tubing! Tank loved riding in the boat.

And was ok getting on the tube.

But in the end, he was not a huge fan. Luckily, he thought riding in the boat was still a blast.

I just thought their faces were pretty funny here. 

They're both pretty happy about being on the tube.

And had a blast riding it!

It was fun day! 

soccer

Little Bug joined a soccer team this summer with a few of her church friends. She was so excited and Andrew was just as excited. It was so fun to watch her play! She loved defending the goal right from the start and quickly caught onto scoring. Here they are getting a pep talk.

Scoring

Defending

two

Tank turned two! Bless his little two year old heart, he loved his cake and knew exactly who it was. He is really into cars and thought his cake was a present in and unto itself. He would not stop pointing at it in excitement. I loved it and thought the hours put into that thing were then worth it! I was not expecting too much on his part, but he knew something was up all day. He saw his pile of presents in the morning (we do not open them until dinner time) and I told him who they were all from. All day long he would go up to the pile touch (or hit...or jump onto) a specific present and shout out who it was from. 

Just a few things we love about our two year old boy; He loves playing in dirt, sand and mud...pretty much anything he can dig in and fill his dump trucks up with. He is a chatty little guy and lately I cannot even understand what he is saying half the time. He also often adds a hun or hmmm at the end of his sentences. Not too sure where he got that from, but we think it is pretty funny. We have a glass candy jar filled with jelly bellies on our kitchen counter. He can hear from anywhere in the house the slightest clink of that jar and will come a running and begging for his share of jelly bellies. He tries to wear his Lighting McQueen shirt just about everyday (the one pictured below). We take it off at meal times to try and preserve its wear a little bit more. He is not a huge fan of getting dressed in the morning, unless I tell him he can wear his McQueen car shirt, then he is more than happy to comply. When I start to make dinner every night, he promptly gets up in his high chair and waits the 20-40 minutes it takes to make dinner and get it serve. He literally just waits for that food to come his way with only slight complaining by the end. And he is so good at giving out kisses and saying plenty of "I love you's."

Oh! Tank, we love you!

dance

Little Bug took a ballet and tap dance combo class this year. She ended up having one ballet performance and two tap performances at the end of the year. I thought it was a lot of rehearsals and performances for such a little person, but Bug loved it! And a funny note, last year I ended up recording the wrong little girl... twice (those matching outfits really threw me off) but I got it right this year. Whew!

Here the girls are ready to preform. They had big puffy tutus in addition to their leotards, but I missed getting a shot of that.

Bug was really into flowers this year. 

Grandma Kristin came!

I love her little bun!

Making silly faces with a good friend and dance buddy in their tap costumes.

remembering

almost summer fun

new car

We have a new member of our family! We got a minivan. I have to admit, Andrew and I were thinking we would really become SUV people, but the fact of the matter is, this vehicle is just so kid friendly. My finest parenting moments do not occur while heading out the door and getting into the car. The sliding door helps tremendously with this problem. Little Bug can open the door and get herself buckled and Tank is quickly following suit.

We got the car while visiting Andrew's parents in Utah. So, it needed a wash right away when we got home. Ironically, right after purchasing the car, as we were pulling out of the car lot, our Honda Accord decided to stop working. Luckily, it was not a bad fix, just unfortunate timing. These are some quick phone pics I took of the car.

Saying goodbye to our Subaru. Little Bug has tracked a lot of hours in this car. It was my mom's and when Andrew and I moved up to Washington, she gave it to us. Fortunately, my niece is closely approaching 16 and is getting the car! Here we are washing it for her.