Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Camping on the coast

July has flown by at the speed of light around here; I can't hardly remember a July that's been so busy! I have piles and piles of pictures to share of the month's fun, so let's get to it.

Toward the beginning of the month, we spent a few days with Caleb, Jen & their 3 kiddos camping at the beach. The sun was shining the whole time, the sand was warm on our toes, the ice cream cones were enormous, and we were a happy bunch. Please just pardon all of the water & sky pictures; I can't help myself :)
These are my favorite camping jeans ever; there will be weeping and wailing when I'm finally forced to retire them.
I turned around and Ocean (Ocean at the ocean, ha!) scared me half to death with this get-up. Kids these days... :)
Expert sandcastle builders, these 5! 
Espresso on the bottom, mountain blackberry on the top, oh my!
This is a completely unhealthy way to think and I know it, but I feel like summer isn't quite complete without one good sunburn. Check for Jan Michael! 

Friday, July 19, 2013

Everyone matters

Oh, this makes my heart happy. It's nice to sail into the weekend with something that makes you laugh and cry all at once, don't you think? 

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Up

One of Jan Michael's birthday presents this year was an introductory flight lesson, and I do not mind telling you that I was quite proud of myself for coming up with such a surprise. We weren't sure what to expect out of the whole thing, really; we wondered if there would be actual flying involved, or if it would be more of an along-for-the-ride kind of deal.

But! There was real flying! Jan Michael handled the take-off and zooming all the way to our house in order to buzz our neighborhood AND he did all kinds of fancy things like banking turns and full circles. We also - you may want to sit down for this, it's so amazing - flew over the zoo and saw elephants and giraffes and flamingos milling around.

The whole thing, from start to finish, was an enormous treat and I kind of hope he decides he wants to do it again :)
Now, we knew our valley was beautiful from the ground, but from up above? Totally, completely, altogether stop-my-heart astonishing:

Sunday, July 07, 2013

Short & sweet

Before we get into the nitty gritty of July, and while we can still remember June, I'd like to present exhibits A, B & C, which clearly prove that summertime in the Pacific Northwest is where it's at:

And then, two of my latest favorites of darling, perfect nephew #3. There's something about his expression and the way he's kind of squashed on my lap (which makes him look like a chunky monkey when is he decidedly not!) that makes me laugh every time I look at this :)
And I've been pretending that he's smiling because I mentioned going to Disneyland in a few years, but probably not.. :)