July

After a 2-day drive in separate cars (we took turns driving the car the kids were in), we arrived at our house in the Seattle area on July 1. Nate had a week before he started work, my mom came up for a few days, and my sister Camille was in Seattle for the summer, so fortunately it wasn’t just me & the boys unpacking and trying to get organized. Mom & Cam were a huge help to help clean and organize, and entertain the boys while we worked. We did take a break for the 4th of July – we had a yummy picnic lunch at a park, then headed over to the Bellevue festivities and fireworks for the evening. The boys actually managed to both stay awake for the fireworks – a first for both of them.

  

   

That Saturday, we decided to do something fun before Nate started back to work, so we all (us, mom, and camille & bryce) piled into mom’s van and took the ferry over to Bainbridge Island. We stopped in Poulsbo so Cam could buy a sweatshirt for her principal, who grew up there, and wished later that we had spent a little more time there – it was a cute little town with lots of antique stores and a pretty waterfront park. We kept driving up to Sequim, which is mainly known for rarely getting rain, then went to the “dungeness spit” – a 5.5-mile long sand spit.

 

Riding the Ferry

Bennett on the Dungeness Spit 

Once Nate started work, we started to settle into “normal” life again, but tried to take advantage of the nice sunny weather by exploring a little bit. Some of the highlights:

Zoo – We met up with some friends and Camille & Avery at the zoo – Ryan’s favorite was the elephants, he kept saying he wanted to go see the elephants, and kept talking about them afterwards.

 

Visit from Grandpa – my dad had a LONG layover in Seattle on his way back from France, so Cam & Bryce picked him up at the airport and we all had dinner at our house, then went for a walk down by the temple.

 

Annual Morris Family Coast Trip – I’ll do a separate post because I have a lot of pictures, but the boys and I (Nate had to work) had a blast playing with cousins and grandparents, camping, and playing at Harris Beach.

“Swimming” and ice cream in the back yard

 

   

Snowqualmie Falls – We accompanied Cam, Bryce, and Avery out to Snoqualmie Falls. The water level was lower than when we went earlier in the year last year, but still very pretty.

And finally, a couple random pics from Nate’s phone – biking through the woods at the park close to our house, and Ryan all ready for his breakfast.