Summer in a Nutshell

Well, I have taken a big break from blogging and now there is a ton I want to share. Our summer was great. It started with our awesome vacation to the coast. We went to Seattle for a day and saw the sites there. And of course we went swimming at the hotel, the kids love that part!! And then we stopped by the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium on our way to Pacific Beach. The kids loved all the animals. And then we stayed in Pacific Beach. It was amazing. We went to the beach the second we got there, before we even unloaded. We had to see it and hear and smell it. If you look at Hailey she has her ears covered.....she thought it was just so loud. So for the first twenty minutes we were there looking and freezing in our summer clothes and Hailey was just covering those precious little ears. It is amazing how refreshing the ocean can be, how it can just calm and rejuvenate you. It was a much needed vacation that was perfect. Looking at the pictures makes us want to go back right NOW!! This is the girls loving the beach...I think all kids love to play in the sand...me too. And the whole gang having a fire on the beach. And then the hole that Daddy dug and then put the kids in. They thought that was so fun. We are definitely going back.

Oh I almost forgot, another awesome thing that we got to go to while we were there was the sand and sawdust festival. It was amazing. Professionals were creating stuff from sand and wood. Here is just a couple of works of art. It was amazing how creative people are.

After that we had a fun McComas Family Reunion. It was so much fun to see everyone and all be there together. We missed Cody like crazy. But we did lots of fun things and made some good memories.

Some of our favorite things that we did this summer were just enjoying the outdoors. We went camping a couple of times. We found a great swimming spot that we went to a bunch. We went on walks and bike rides.

And of course we went fishing too. The girls get so excited to go fishing it is great. After we catch a fish they just play with it and play with it and play with it. It is funny.
We also went to a local bakery and got a fun tour with some fun free stuff.
Our favorite free thing was a little mini loaf. The girls just want to eat it whole like a roll.....no slices, no butter, no jelly, just big roll straight from plate to mouth. It was fun to watch them eat. There was also an exciting girl that was here visiting Spokane. We took the girls to go visit her and they loved it. So can you guess what she is?? That's right she is a dinosaur. A tyrannosaurus rex to be exact. And her name is Sue. Isn't she neat?? The girls sure loved her. Of course we made it to the fair too. Ashtyn loved the horses, especially Rose, and Hailey loved Annie.
One of our favorite things that we bought was a wheat grinder. We really wanted one to add to our food storage. So we spent a couple of months looking to try and find a good one that we liked. We also wanted it to be one that was a hand crank, rather than electric. Well, we found a good one and we have enjoyed using it. So far we have made biscuits and bread. Yummy.... there is nothing like warm fresh baked bread.





This is the girls by the garden. These are the sunflowers that they planted. And these are the birdhouses that they made with Daddy.
The summer was a blast. It just went to fast. But it always does. Hope the next one is just as good!!

(This is one of my most recent favorites of the girls. Aren't they cute??)