Day 54: COMPLETE!!

The house is finished!! YEAH!! We get keys and start moving on Monday! We have over a week to be out of our current home, so we plan to paint, put up some closet organizers, window treatments, etc... over the next few days before we make the official move. Campbelle is in a bit of distress at the state of our current house - she doesn't like to see boxes everywhere; and she told me the other day that the two biggest things that she is going to miss are the high barstools in the kitchen and having Jack and David be our neigbors. (The barstools I think she'll overcome, but we will all miss Jack and David - and their parents!!)

Concert Nights

I could never get too many hugs from our little mr love bug!

These pictures were taken at our weekly Tuesday nights Concerts in the Park. We've been going with a regular group of friends for the past few years. Everyone brings some type of salad or something to share with the group. Its a group of some very good cooks - so the food is always fantastic.

Here is Christian on his 3rd helping of Chris's carrot salad. It was a winner in his books!

I leave every Tuesday night so very thankful for our many great friends we have out here. Thanks for the pictures Susan!

Take your Daughter to Work Day

Today at Microsoft was 'Take Your Daughter to Work' day, so this afternoon we meet Leif for lunch at the cafeteria, then went upstairs to Leif's office and got the new working girl settled into her desk (well actually Kevin's desk, probably worked out best that he wasn't there today :-), and then Christian and I said goodbye for the rest of the afternoon. She was so excited to do this, she announced to us that she has been waiting for this day for soooo long! When we were packing her backpack for her afternoon adventure, she had things like coloring books, crayons, and some 'homework' pages from an alphabet book; and when I asked her if she wanted to take some things like a doll or her horses, she declared "I am going to be working mom, not playing." I think her afternoon was packed full of mission critical Blue's Clues computer games, some intense meeting that involved cupcakes (??) and a candy break to Kim's office! I do believe she might want to go with Leif to work everyday!

Swimming Lessons

Campbelle started swimming lessons this week, and as usual she loves it. She is in Level 4 this summer and they have them working on their backstroke and front freestyle. She is really become a very independant little swimmer girl. Last night they worked on diving. She has been able to do a sitting dive - but to move to the standing dive position has left her with a little belly ache. But that hasn't seem to stop her, she can't wait to try it again tonight - she really is such a determined girl.

Hot Hot Days

We've been enjoying some really warm weather the past couples days - yesterday it hit 102 up here on the plateau. What a great reason to turn on the sprinklers and have a little fun outdoors. (Can you sense my desire to remain positive in this incredibly hot, no A/C, feel like I could fry an egg inside the house conditions?)

These are just a few pictures from our friend Syndey's 4th birthday bash. The kids hat a great time playing and keeping cool.

Awww, sibling love - it doesn't get much sweeter!

Cannon Beach Getaway

If I had to name my most favorite place in the world, Cannon Beach, Oregon would probably be it. It is such a peaceful, serene place, yet full of life and art. One can't help visiting here and be inspired to write, photograph, draw or something using a creative talent. It is a place so breathtaking and inspiring- makes it hard to leave.

We spent the past few days at Cannon Beach, having the most perfect summer respite. We flew kites, built sandcastles, danced in the ocean, strolled the art galleries (ok, just I did that - the kids will have to grow into that appreciation), rode dune bikes, collected seashells, watched an amazing sunset, and just enjoyed the goodness of life.

We've made it a tradition for the past three years to make an escape to this place once a year (just 4 hours south of Seattle) and we already wait for the next visit.

Some fun at Cannon Beach.....

Happy 4th of July!

We went to the Bellevue Family 4th of July celebration with our good friends Dan, Marie, Jack and David Slater. It was a great, sunny day with lots of action and activities for the kids to enjoy. Campbelle spent most of the firework show with her ears plugged, and amazingly Jack slept through the whole show, Christian fell alseep during it and good little David was such a trooper and clapped his little heart out!

Fun in the Hot Summer Sun

Finally, today 'unofficially' marks the first day of real summer here in Seattle area. The temps were in the 80s and it was a gorgeous summery day. Leif surprised us by coming home from work a little early to kick start his long 5 day holiday weekend, so we hit the beach.

Pine Lake Park in Sammamish is an excellant place to meet new friends, build some castles and swim the good old fashioned way - in a lake. Kinda reminds me of my growing up with Lake Eureka.

We are looking forward to many more days like this!

At the Races

We went to Emerald Downs Horse track this afternoon for Family Day with our friends the Keyes and the Slaters. We had a lot of fun - especially the first three races where I was 100% on picking the winners - unfortunatly it didn't result in huge winnings for us - but we did leave in the black for the day - better then red that's for sure. The kids had fun running, playing and getting down right filthy dirty. Campbelle got to ride on a pony named Pirate - which was the highlight of her day. And Christian got to hang out with all his buddies - the highlight of his everyday!

Can He Fix It?

Yes he Can!! I heard a bit of commotion upstairs this morning, only to find, Christian (aka Bob the Builder) fixing the gate that had broke earlier that day. He had all his tools out and safety googles on. What a little handy man!