The Keene Family

We have had such a great week of beautiful weather and fun with our friends. Monday we visited the river with the Bonnell crew. Can you say cold? Tuesday we invited the Bonnell boys and our friend Piper over to play in our pool and slip-n-slide. Wednesday we had the Keefe family over for dinner and s'mores. Today we have had some good family time... cleaning up from all of our fun and doing some errands around town. Blowing bubbles on the deck after breakfast Scrubbing the chalk off the deck from little footprints :)

Eleven: the number of hours the kids and I were traveling this weekend. First we drove to Port Orchard for my cousin's bridal shower. She and her fiancee are really into penguins and my mom made these adorable penguin appetizers! JT spent the shower doing projects with Grandpa Cole, including using a hack saw and a nail gun. They are putting the finishing touches on the play house. Then we got in the car around 7 PM for the three hour drive to Portland. Haley wrote this note to Grandma Cole in the car. "I love you Grandma" with the letters a bit out of order. :) We got to Grandma Hall's house around 10 PM and crashed. Haley didn't want to sleep on the floor because she was a little nervous about Grandma's dog tackling her in her sleep. I told her I'd move her to the floor when I came to bed, and this is why. Who wants to sleep next to this crazy girl? In the morning, the kids enjoyed riding bikes, picking fresh tomatoes, and playing wit...

And then JT turned six! On our last day at Banks Lake, he woke up a year older. He pointed out that maybe he should be seven since you are born at zero, and then when you turn one you are actually finishing your first year. We talked about how he is starting his seventh year. Wow! We filled his side of the tent with balloons for a surprise when he woke up. Haley saw Jim putting the balloons in there, but she went back to sleep without making a peep and kept quiet about it in the morning so JT would be surprised. We stopped at DK's on our way home, an annual tradition, and JT got to open some presents. Then on Thursday we had his parties: one with friends and one with family. Airplane theme Laughing at Jim The boys!  He was so cute opening his presents: truly happy and excited over every single thing. Blowing out his candles - cake from Grandma Cole His cousins Russell and Travis came to the family party. Our children just love "taking car...

Our annual pilgrimage to Steamboat Rock State Park with my family (31 years and counting) was, as always, a  huge success. Out of the 1340 pictures taken by my sister-in-law and I, I have narrowed it to 34 to post. These are not even necessarily my favorites, but they show some highlights of the week. Haley skiied and tubed and swam like crazy, and JT tubed and jumped off the rock and learned to swim (some) without flotation. He still has a ways to go before he's swimming across the lake, but he did great and we're excited for him to learn a new skill. Ski the Rock! Enjoying the boat Swimming with Mom Sleepover with Uncle Jeff and Aunt Gena! Tubing Girl Tubing Boy Aunt Becky & Madi Getting ready to snorkel Breakfast in the boat Lunch on the beach Swimming! Jumping! I was sent to get snacks for a boat trip... and found an ice cream bar. Banks Lake Turbo Tubing Company, July 2014 Hiked Steamboat all by himself this y...