Summer FINALLY Is Here!!

I think our summer has officially begun. Here are some pictures I have taken this week of our fun times in the sun! Yay! The only bad thing is the fact that I feel much less productive because I want to be outside as much as possible. Trying out the new life jacket

Snugglin' with Samson pre-slipping slide time

Slip and Slide Fun

This is what Eden was doing during the slipping and sliding:

Samson saying in the cutest voice, "Hi Beebee!"

Sandbox (post slip and slide)

Fun with my college friends, hubbies and kids at Kjell's mom's house on Lake Sawyer. It was beautiful and such a fun place. We bbq'd, hung out, the kids caught little fish, played in the water, and had a great time in the kiddie pool. Perfect Sunday afternoon.

The Best Part of the 4th of July is....

my little ladies in their cute outfits. The worst part: everything thing else. I hate fireworks with a passion. Mostly because the fools around us choose all the illegal ones (well, they are all illegal in Kirkland actually) that just make loud booms to keep firing off until 11:30 at night. This year Lilah woke up scared. That makes me hate them a million times more. It's just one of those holidays that people don't really care the origin, they just want an excuse to shoot obnoxious fireworks into the air and a reason to party. Ugh. I am such a scrooge. So, here are pictures of my cute girls in their 4th of July duds.

Takin' a Break from the Rain!

We decided to try a second camping trip as a family of four...to east of the mountains where we knew we would be guaranteed sunshine. And thankfully it was beautiful and perfect weather, while at home it was pretty nasty and rainy. All in all, with all things taken into consideration, we would say it was fairly successful. As successful as camping can be with a 5 month old and 3 year old. Sleep is always our biggest concern. Lilah didn't nap so by night time was OUT! No peeps until morning from her for all of our three nights. Eden however was the wild card. The first night was hard because she was up so many times, and the third night she didn't really want to go to bed and we tried for a few hours at getting her to sleep. The 2nd night was better. The packing up and unpacking is a chore too. And I'm crazy so I pack way more food, toiletries and clothes than what we need for the "what if" scenarios. And as far as unpacking, I have to get it done the day of. So in the last 24 hours I think I have done about 6 loads of laundry and nearly all is put away. I can't stand it. But then by now, I'm super exhausted. One of the greatest parts that keeps us going though is that Lilah loves to camp. She loves the trailer, loves being outside and in the sun and having all this area to play and run around. This time she spent a ton of time at the pool, and had a blast. Lance took her to the beach and on wagon rides. Lilah was definitely disappointed to come home. She could have stayed there for weeks. :) For me I love the time after the girls are asleep. Lance and I don't have the tv or phone or ipad, but just time to chat. We got to sit outside, have a little wine and just talk. We even played a game of Skip Bo (and for the record, I killed Lance). So, a good enough time to not swear out off camping for this season, but not THAT good to want to go for another month or so.

First Tastes

We started some rice cereal and applesauce last week with Eden (who is going to be 5 months in just a few days!!!!). So far she still hasn't figured it out. She pushes nearly every bit out with her tongue. Lilah asks me about 50 times every time we try feeding her if she doesn't like her, and I have to tell her over and over and OVER again that it's just that she can't figure out how to keep it in. :) So, we will keep plugging away. Next is sweet potatoes. I cooked them today so we may try some tomorrow. Such a fun time and stage. And Lilah loves being the big sister helper.

Date Day with the Other Wileys

Since Eden is going through a little bit of separation anxiety we decided to go on a day date with Erik and Candace so we could be there for bedtime. Thankfully sweet Theresa was kind enough to brave our crying child, and Erik and Candace were flexible with our situation. We did a little wine tasting at some great tasting rooms and had a few appetizers together. It was great as we don't see them as often as we used to (since we saw them every week at community group). So nice to catch up without the distractions of our kids. We were very thankful for time with the two of them and quality conversation. And so thankful that Eden did decently for Theresa while we were away. Phew!

PEPS Reunion

We truly had/have a really great PEPS group. Many of us still stay in contact and get together quite regularly. We see Liz and her kids every week, and see Melissa and Amy a lot too. Last week we went to Julie's for a visit and got that quick shot with everyone's 2nd babies (some not so much a 'baby' anymore). :) What a special group of ladies and babes.

Zulily Visit

I am not sure how long we have been coming to Zulily, but probably at least for a year. It has been great and Lilah is a Zulily favorite. They absolutely wait on her and pamper her there. It's cute, and she loves it, and they love when I bring her in. We go in next week and they even would like Eden to do some modeling. We'll see how that goes. Yikes. Here are our most recent Zulily photos. I really do have quite the beauty.