Faces of Mark

Sometimes I am struck by how much I love this boy.   Mark talks all the time.  He is cautious.  He loves jokes.  He says the funniest things.  He is very loving to us and to his sister.  He likes routines.  He eats, a lot, and almost everything.  He is never still until the moment he is asleep.  I just asked him what his favorite things are he said "chocolate, meat, ice cream, and of course cake"  I asked about favorite things that weren't food- he couldn't think of any :) 

RVing

Grandma and Grandpa got an RV this year.  The kids spent countless hours playing in it at home and at the campground.  Mark had is first night away from Tim and I since Lilly's birth in the camper at the lake- I don't have pictures of that.  After Tim came we all went.

Just hanging out in the water. 

 Grandma blowing bubbles.

 Lilly just saw this and said "My house"

Mark's Birthday

Mark had is actual birthday while we were in KF.  We are lucky to have friends there with kids the same ages as our kids.  We only see them a few times a year and it is always nice to catch up with them.

You just never know what will be the thing that Mark loves.  We have had many nights of searching for this four wheeler so we could go to sleep.

Mark shares his birthday with Granpa (two days away) and Alice (one day away).  They all helped blow out the candles.  

Grandma and I made these capes for all the kids.  I had visions of them all chasing each other around with smiles on their faces being super heros.  And they didn't...

 But then Grandpa showed them how fun it was and they did :)

As a parent I know that I shouldn't put my expectations on my kids for how they choose to play and what makes them happy, but it is really hard.  If this case I am glad they spent a long time playing the game I had thought they would play.  

Gretchen brought this parachute to play with- it was a great plan- Thanks!

 Cody usually gives me a serious face when I take his picture, I was so happy to download my camera and find I had this one.

Seattle

Our time in Seattle was short, but we got in two important things

The Ferry

And Ivars

If you visit Seattle you must do both of these things.  Ivars is right by the ferry dock and it is quite an experience to have a bird eat a french fry out of your hand.

Sequim

We drove to the coast for my Cousin Beth's wedding  (Congratulations Beth and Dave).  Tim flew into Seattle the morning of the wedding.  Somehow I didn't take a single photo at the wedding.  I think because all of my family was there we were just too busy.  It was the most complete gathering of Matter cousins that we could remember- just Gordy was missing.  We had a big family photo taken, I will have to try and get it from Beth and post it.

The kids did great in the car, again.  It is a long drive across the state, but we made it without any big stops.  I know a lot of people say the way to do a long drive with kids is to stop often and stretch out and run around.  That is not my experience.  Every stop seems to make them less able to stand being in the car.  TV was the trick for Mark- toys, food, and grandma works for Lilly.  I am looking forward to next year when Lilly will also be distracted by TV and we can make long drives easier.

After the wedding we went over to Sequim to visit my Auntie Su and her family.  Once again we were busy there and I didn't take any photos.  But we did take the kids to the beach, in hopes to tire them out, and I took some there.

Cherries and Elizabeth

My Friend Elizabeth came for a visit.  (She has a blog too, see Elizabeth Drinks Up on the right)  I am pretty lucky to have friends in my life who have been my friend forever.  Elizabeth and I went to preschool together, I guess that is when we met, but you would have to check with my parents if it was earlier.  We put a few boxes in the wagon and walked to the orchard.  Even thought it has been more than 15 years since we sold the orchard it is still weird to go there and have it not be ours.  

Mark rode is bike.  It is a little steep going down and he did a great job of controlling his speed.  I made grandma walk right by him because I remember getting going too fast, falling and sliding half way down, skinning all my exposed skin.

Lilly is 30 pounds now.  I think by next summer she is going to have to hike on her own legs.  The house in the background is the house my dad built when we sold the orchard.  I lived here durning most of High School.  It is really a beautiful house and Ricky Creek runs on the other side of it.  And it is for sale now if you are thinking of moving to the country.

Jim cut down a branch for the kids to pick from.  They thought that was pretty great until....

They decided they could climb the ladders.  

Even pie cherries were worth the climb for Mark.  He liked them- crazy kid.  If you have never had a pie cherry off the tree they are VERY sour.  It is the sour cherry with the sweet sugar that make a good cherry pie.

Grandma had to stop me from picking, we brought home 44 pounds.  We ate some then, Elizabeth made us a cherry crisp (yummy), Grandma canned the rest.  We came back home with a dozen or more jars of canned cherries.  

It was also reaspberry season while were where there.  We were picking 2-3 gallons of raspberries every other morning.  Some became salad dressing, some were frozen, but most were made into jam.  lots and lots of yummy jam :)

It wouldn't be a trip to KF without doing some work on the excavator.  Mark helped Grandpa move the logs into a pile.  Grandpa just added a thumb to his bucket and Mark was  good at using it to pick up and put down logs.

 Lilly got a couple of rides in too, but didn't do much work.

Cookie Neigh

Lilly has an obsession with Silver.  In the summer Silver goes up the hill to another pasture.  It's a bit of a hike to get there, but that didn't stop us from feeding horse cookies most days.   Every time we drove into my parents house, past Silver's winter house,  Lilly would say "no Neigh".  And then she would ask "cookie Neigh".