Tennis and swimming lessons

Cartoon diving-he has a great hang time

Whitworth Tennis camp

We have been trying to stay cool and busy this summer. We just finished up a fabulous tennis camp today and we did swimming a few weeks back. Conor loved, loved, loved both activities. He has really come along way in both activities and I just can't believe how grown up he is getting.

Weekend with G&G Kellogg

Playing in the snake river (mud)

The zero gravity mirror

Have you ever seen such tall raspberry bushes?

Spending time helping Grandma in the kitchen

We took a quick trip down to Genesee for Grandma Kellogg's birthday. We hadn't been there in ages so it was a fun change. We spent Saturday at the WSU kids science center and then since it was sweltering hot, we hit the Snake river in the late afternoon. The kids had a great time playing in the water and mud. We found this area that you could walk out something like 100 feet before the water even came up the the kids hips, and their favorite part was the sticky icky mud.

Josie is 3

Josie's Birthday sign-she was very proud of this. Presents!

sprinkler time
Candles

Josie got to celebrate her birthday for 2 days because Daddy was off on a high adventure with the Young Men's on her true b-day so we did cupcakes and ice cream the next day. She was super excited about her own happy birthday sign and the balloons. We spent the afternoon with her best buddy Taj and they ran through the sprinklers and jumped on the trampoline all they wanted. We opened presents when Dad got home and she got a bike and a few other little toys. Of course the small cheap toys were the biggest hit...bike? what bike? Ah well, give her a few months. HAPPY BIRTHDAY My sweet Josie. We are so lucky to be blessed to have you as part of our family.

Strawberry picking

My free strawberry slave labor

"fruits" of my own labor

We took advantage of Kevin's day off from work and went and picked 3 flats of strawberries at Green bluff. It actually wasn't a bad outing. Conor was an excellent helper, Josie managed to avoid crushing all the berries and even picked a few of her own. She was better at telling all of us not to pick the green ones-she is a good delegator all ready. After the picking I lost all my helpers and spent the afternoon in the kitchen all by myself making 3 batches of yummy jam.

Hot Lellas

Quick quote for memory sake: Yesterday morning we were out of clean underwear for Josie since I hadn't done laundry in a few days. She was patiently waiting for the dryer to finish. As soon as we opened it up and pulled out the clean and warm undies she was ready to get them on. She was very excited that they were hot and started calling them her HOT Lellas. She ran to find Conor and tell him she had on hot lellas. I couldn't help but giggle. On a regular basis her underwear is called Lellas. Why? Because they have princesses on them and all princesses are Cinderella and if you can't say Cinderella you turn it into....Lella!

4th of July

Our 4th of July started a little bit "rocky" ha ha- no pun intended. Conor was playing badminton and he was running backward for a great save only to get tripped up on something and he ended up catching himself with the back of his head on a big ol rock. I wasn't outside at the moment, but I was told that it made a very good - thwack. Fortunately we have a Daddy who can save us hours from the emergency room and save us hundreds in medical bills. Thank you Daddy. Kevin and Conor quickly went home and cleaned him up, and as Kevin says threw in a staple and they were back with in the hour to enjoy the BBQ. Conor is a pretty good badminton player by the way.

See the size of this marshmallow?Roasting marshmallows and hot dogs

Benjamin and Josie...eating ice cream...yum yumSPARKLERS!!

Spokane county has a ban on fireworks so unfortunately the only choice for our little pyro was a few measly spaklers. Once you leave the county you can do what ever you want, so next year we will wise up and escape. Believe me there is nothing worth staying in Spokane county for on the 4th of July. I actually dread the 4th here. At least this year we kept it low key anyway since it was Sunday. We went to church and I planned this really fun 4th of July singing time for primary and the kids loved it. One of those moments when you are glad you spent hours preparing. We then came home and got ready to go to a friends for a BBQ. We spent he afternoon and evening eating and chatting and laughing and playing yard games-fun times. Josie was the backup singer/dancer entertainer...She is a very good sport and happy to groove to the music. We went up to Deer Park to watch the city firework show, which was rather disappointing, but hey it was fireworks. Josie was calling them Pops. Hopefully next year we can catch a parade and see some better fireworks and maybe even have normal weather. Would you believe the high for the 4th was something like 69 degrees. Brrr...

Painted door

Before

After

I finally did it. My to do list has had, paint door, on it for over a year and I finally got er done!!!! I am very happy with the results. It started out a little rocky and I nearly panicked and quit in the middle when the paint didn't look to be sticking, but I persevered and it was worth the time. It is a nice fun change for the price. One day I will get a beautiful wood door, but as of now this is a good fix.

School is out-finally.

Mrs. Mcquilken and Conor

It is with mixed feelings that we bid farewell to 1st grade. We have had an absolutely spectacularly, fabulous year and we are so very sad, so so very sad to say so long to our beloved Mrs. Mcquilken. Conor's next teacher has very large shoes to fill. Not only is Mrs. M. an excellent teacher, but she has also handled Conor's diabetes like a true champion and I have felt absolute confidence in sending him off to her care every day. We will miss her so.