When we returned from Montana it was time to get back to work! And there was (and still is) plenty of work to be done! Jodie and I once again decided to put in a garden together at her neighbors house. So when we got back there was harvesting and weeding to be done. Peas were ready, beans were just getting started and zucchini was coming out our ears!! Sam even had a few raspberries to share out of his smaller garden.
And the weather was hot so it was time to put the pool out and try to get the girls to play outside! Yeah they don't like the heat as much as I do and prefer to camp out inside. But here are some pics from one day when they had their barbies out having a pool day. And Stella liked the pool better than them for getting a drink whenever she pleased.
Summer there are always lot of bunnies out! We tend to see a lot around our house and as you will see a bit later that is not always a good thing.
My friend Gina scheduled out park days for the summer where we had a different park to meet up at each Thursday afternoon. This is the first one we were able to make it to. It was not very warm, but a great time of visiting for the moms and the kids had lots of fun adventuring on the beach or playing on the playground.
Summer also lends itself to jumping on the trampoline in the cooler evenings. The girls still love the trampoline and use it often.
One day we tried to get our faces painted by the princesses at the farmer's market, but they didn't show on time and there was a huge line so we took off. But I made the girls get in the tractor before we left, since we didn't get any tractor pictures on the farm.
I don't know where the two oldest disappeared to. We got a picture with part of our family and a signed album!
My cuddly "baby". She is far from a baby these days, but as she (and her sisters) grow up so quickly I try to soak up as many of these moments I get (and sometimes snag a picture) to help refresh my sometimes fleeting memory.
The following Tuesday we headed out on the lake to try out our boat for the first time this summer. We went out the Mills in case we had any trouble and because it is more fun to tube and play on the water with friends!! That day they must of had some training going on at a near by base as we were having some pretty awesome fly overs from the Navy planes.
A rare spill...it is usually hard to tip this tube!
Olivia and Hannah knee boarding.
Driving the truck home.
Lots of green beans for canning! Yum!
The girls with their packs.
The dads in their very heavy packs! They all weighed in around 50 pounds!! WOW!!
I loved that the kids were just sitting out there having a grand old time!
Sometimes I just can't resist a sleeping child picture!
While the dads were off hiking with the kids us moms got together with the younger kids to play on the water. The girls absolutely loved tubing with Sarah this summer! She made it so fun and even though her tube was big it flipped a bit easier.
The next night we hung out at Sarah's a bunch of moms and kids. We ate one of the most delicious dinners I have ever had and played badminton where I actually played well (for like the first time ever!). The kids had lots of fun jumping on the trampoline and playing and I got no pictures! Lol!
Meanwhile up in the woods the dads and teens were having a fabulous adventure and seeing lots of pretty views. Olivia had a bit of a tough time with the hike in. Her backpack was just not distributed well on her back and she had to dig deep to get up the hill. But once they got there they had a great time. I think she was bummed that she didn't bring her swimsuit because the water turned out to be not as cold as they expected and they had a great time swimming, doing a day hike, and playing some games and doing a devotional that the Mills had prepared in advance. Here are the pictures from their time up there.
I have no memory of this picture for some reason. I can't even tell where it is for sure, but it is cute so I will add it...lol! I am guessing down town Poulsbo park, but again I am not sure!
I had the pool out a lot this summer on our very dry grass! But the girls hardly played in it. Here they are one rare occasion where I convinced them to go outside and play!
Olivia and her favorite kitty!
Do you see how I still have the table cloth on the table from Raelyn's birthday party in mid June?! Ha! So goes my life!
Ok...here is the sad bunny stories! So if you are faint of heart feel free to skip over this part! Our kitties were vicious baby bunny hunters and killers this summer. We must have found at least 30 dead bunnies in our yard. If the cats were left out at night then there was sure to be something dead the next day. So sad! Our cats are very different in their killing. Delilah is a mutilator and trust me I did not take any pictures of the gross bunnies she left for us mutilated all over our yard. Between her and Stella we had a recipe for grossness because Stella of course liked to find the mutilated bunnies and either eat or roll in them or both! So gross! And then there is Samson who is in a way a much kinder killer. He kills the bunnies and leaves them intact. But often he didn't fully kill them so they were just mortally wounded and left to die. We found 3 bunnies like this that were alive yet wounded enough that they eventually died. The poor girls wanted to nurse them back to life, but it never happened. Here is one such bunny! So sad!
And no blog post is complete without a few selfies of the girls! Haha!
There you have it...July in a nutshell!
