High Summer

How did it get to be mid-July already???? Here are a few pictures from this past week.

Liam waters our raspberry patch...bare buns style. We have been encouraging Liam to use the potty and not wear his diapers except for nap and bedtime. Consequently, we have been doing a lot of "naked time" and/or just bare buns.

We had a family reunion (on my mom's side) this past weekend at Guemes. There were about 40 people in all and it was a great time to catch up with some family I haven't seen in a long time. Here, Lucia (Reuben's girlfriend), Dad, and Reuben hang out on a log, waiting for dinner.

Bathing Beauty.

Running on the sand...trying to make the clams squirt!

Grandpa and Liam dig for a "big one" (clam).

More Guemes fun....

Here are a few more pictures from our visit with the Pevecs and Dokson families at our cabin on Guemes. It was wonderful to see them all and play with the darling, newest additions to our large group.

Ruthie and Liam share a little time together on the beach.

Ice cream all around! Ruthie, Bella and Liam enjoy cones at Winn's General Store on the island.

Playing at the park.

I caught Liam and Bella holding hands around the campfire.....too cute!!

Good, good friends

Here are a couple more pictures from the big get-together with our dear friends the Pevecs, the Doksons and the Schutz Clan.

The sister photo:

The three Dokson sisters on the left (Marcella, Maya and Orielle); the three Schutz sisters (Me, Lusana and Perrin), and the Pevec girls (Adriana, Olivia, Zuleika and Gabby - sister in law).

Lusana, me, Perrin

(Almost) all of us.

Summer livin'

Wow, what a busy and fun start to the summer we've had! Sorry that I have been out of touch, but I will try and catch you up on some of our activities thus far. After returning from our trip to the Oregon Coast, where I got to surf for the first time (VERY FUN!), we had three of our closest family friends (and their kids) converge for 5 days on Guemes Island. Our parents all met at Stanford (or around that time in the Bay Area) and all had 4-5 kids each. Now these kids (my generation) are starting to have kids, so all in all, we were about 30 individuals. It was a blast. Most able people camped and we had some great meals, lots of laughs and caught up on all the news. Here are some photos from the week.

Liam and Grandpa share a sweet moment in our tent.

Enjoying some sun, while playing with one of the "baby's toys".

Here is a picture of my dear friend, Adriana's, daughter Ruthie. She is our goddaughter and so much fun. She bossed Liam around all weekend...like any good, older sister should! :)

Perrin's boyfriend, Rory, takes Ruthie (5), Liam (2) and Bella (3) on an evening boat ride. What fun!

The Oregon Coast

Liam and Katura head to the Beach

We got to the coast and Liam immediately did a face plant into the waves; here he is afterward

Running on the flats

Liam and Katura after a long day of playing... almost ready for sleep!

W

Mommy comes back from surfing with the girls

Enjoying a windy afternoon on the beachExploring the beach

The Intrepid Explorer

Father's Day

We spent a sweet Father's Day out in the sun. We biked to a local beach and hung out for a couple hours. Happy belated Father's Day to all those great dads I know out there!

Our lounge lizard....

Watching the sailboats with Dad.

Kelp....always a favorite.

Father's Day party

The day before Father's Day (Saturday night), we held a little BBQ party in our backyard for all "the dads". My dad and mom, Gabe's dad and mom, our good friends Mark and Heidi, Gabe, Reuben, Perrin and Rory (her boyfriend) and Liam all enjoyed drinks (well, not Liam), good food and good conversation into the evening.

My mom, Liam, Heidi and Tahoe enjoy the late afternoon sun.

Michael (Gabe's dad), Mark and my dad enjoy some wine and laughs.

Uncle Reuben helps Liam with some (extremely rich) chocolate cake......

....needless to say, Liam was up until almost 11pm! We are all living on the edge these days :)

Life on the farm.....or sort of

With a couple of warm days under our belt, our garden is in full swing. Here, Liam shows off some lettuce we harvested recently. You all know.....I do love my salads. I just wish I could get Liam to love them like I do!

Liam shows off his bounty.

Farmer Ted.....er...Liam?

A little big....

Contemplating...in Mama's hat.

Chickens!

Yep....we have chickens in our backyard. Theoretically, we should be getting about two eggs a day, but "our ladies" have been a little sluggish since their move here a couple weeks ago. Still, when they grace us, their eggs are delicious and they are fun to have around.

Liam checks on the hens.

They like greens, especially lettuce, but Liam has found they will peck at (and enjoy) many other foods as well (bread scraps, watermelon and others).

Our backyard

One of the wonderful things about our little rental is the backyard. Not only is it fenced, but it has room for gardens, raspberries, strawberries and more. Having Tahoe and Liam, it is great to be able to open the back door and know everyone is safe from traffic. Here is Gabe (our most avid gardener) out planting some new additions this past weekend.

One of our vegetable garden patches.

Liam and Gabe in the garden.

Water!

We are all about water these days. Liam has been asking to wash the car for days, but it has been too chilly! I know for all of you Californians out there it is hard to believe, but it has been too cold here up north to play with the hose!

The other day, we got a nice warm afternoon and Liam (and Daddy) got to wash the car. Liam worked very hard.

Washing off the soap.

The other day when Liam wanted to wash the car and it was too cold....we compromised. He washed his trucks on the back porch.

Who thinks he will be this excited to wash the car when he is a teenager.....???

This week, Liam and I went to a local park to play in the water. Liam was totally in his own world...and element (check out those kids watching him go crazy). I finally had to pull him out when his teeth were chattering and he had goosebumps from head to toe.

Indoor Play

We have had a unseasonably cool spring and are looking forward to some sunny summer weather. Here are a few pictures from one of those mornings. I traced Liam and his friend, Julia, on some butcher paper and they "decorated" themselves.

Liam works with some stickers.

Concentrating.

Then there is always time on the couch for reading. Here, Liam "reads" me one of his favorite new choices from the library