What's New With The Carter Family

Love this place....and especially love going there with these guys.  Jem's preschool buddies - Wesley, Tiana and Kira (not there that day though).   It was such a fun, relaxing day.  Can't wait to go back again next year!   Even Miss Fin had fun :)  She's still not sure about the water, but we'll get her loving it in no time!

After a few days of fun with Grandpa, Jem and River got some company -- US!  Brandon, Fin and I drove down to Idaho a day after the Skinners did, and spent the week enjoying some gorgeous warm weather, and the company of family.  It was warm enough to put the pools out (I bought a baby pool for Fin and Piper to use, and a slightly bigger kiddie pool for Jem and Riv), and of course as is customary we ate out every day :)  I like that tradition!  My favorite place was Texas Roadhouse, which we only get to enjoy when we're visiting Brandon's dad (as they don't have one where we live).  Here are some photos from the trip.

We took an end of summer trip Vancouver, Canada, with our good friends The Bakula Family. It was a really fun end to summer break, and we packed in as much as we could into the three short days we were there. Some of the highlights include: Stanley Park Aquarium, Capilano Suspension Bridge, 218 flavor ice-cream shop, swimming in the pool, LOTS of eating out (Brandon tried 'poutine' for the first time). Some of my impressions of Vancouver - thousands of highrise apartment buildings in the city center (kind of like a mini New York only maybe not so mini), very expensive prices for EVERYTHING, in dire need of an interstate system (always driving around on small residential roads to get anywhere), beautiful architecture in the city center, Asian signs on EVERYTHING in Richmond (where our hotel was located). It was a GREAT vacation with April, Burke, Matthew, Ryan and Adam! Will definitely have to go back again sometime, as there was so much to do there that we didn't have a cha...

Summer brings out the "goofy" in Jem. Something about being outside, in the sun, half naked (which is of course acceptable since he's in his swim trunks), makes him act a little kooky. Take this day for example. It was a warm enough day (in between the weeks of rain we've had this summer), and Jem was outside, playing with the sprinkler hose. He was having a blast. Running around. Acting silly. Having the best time. And giving me the silliest faces. So of course I had to capture some of his funny poses! Seriously. Oh how I love this goofy kid of mine :)

I love having my niece stay over. She probably won't want to do it for much longer, she is {afterall} almost 11. I'm just enjoying it while it lasts :) Enjoying having her and Jem experience things together, because {let's face it} being an only child sucks sometimes! It is always much more fun to do things with another kid. And one as cute and loveable as my niece River makes it doubly fun! Today was QUITE the scorcher - it got to 92 in Lake Stevens! So I took Jem and River to Lundeen Park, to swim in the lake. Then we went roller skating (and boy was that hilarious - speed skaters they will not ever be). Then we came home and had some fun with the sprinkler, and ended with a water showdown with our next door neighbors! All in all, a fun day. But here's the thing. I decided to snap some pics of Jem and River running over the sprinkler. And seeing as I only have one kid {normally}, I don't ever ponder the differences between the sexes. But today I did. Because watch...

In the midst of all the rain, cold weather, rain, overcast sky, and did I mention - rain, we had ONE glorious, hot & sunny day! It happened to fall on a Saturday (yeah!) when the Skinners were over visiting...so we set up the pool, got the kids in their bathing suits, and let them have some 'almost' summer fun! The pool was cool for a while...but the water was still kind of cold, so Jem and Riv moved on to laying on the loungers to get a 'tan'. After a while, out came the water squirters ! Those were a big hit, and speaking of big hits, check out the photo of Jem getting 'got' by our neighbors....and don't miss the photo of Jem getting a nice shot of water back onto them too! My favorite shot? The one of Jem and River posing with their guns....too cute!

Sunday was just the most divine day! The temperature reached the high 70's - it was sunny and warm and oh so different from the night before :) The night I was meeting the Pioneer Woman, it was wildly stormy and raining here in Lake Stevens. Not so the next day :) Just look at these pictures, taken at Lundeen Park, just down the road. We went there with the Skinners for a little lunch. It was so nice! Some Subway sandwiches, some sunshine, and two cousins that (for now!) still love to play and cuddle!

Here are some fun pictures from today of the kiddos - Jem, River and Carson. I want to give a special "shout out" to my buddy Cars, who just started a blog of his very own! Way to go buddy, you know I'll be checking it every so often to see what's "new" with "you" :)

...good times everywhere! Sun and water and towels.....boys with chalk and lots of laughter. OH HOW I LOVE SUMMER!

We just got back from our camping trip to Lake Chelan. It was very nice up there, beautiful scenery, and a lovely lake. The water was a little on the cool side....though it didn't stop us from jumping in and enjoying it! The best part of the trip was just getting to do NOTHING. Lay in the sun, swim in the lake, eat out (we were only a 10 min drive to the town of Chelan), sit by the campfire, make s'mores, read a book, eat ice-cream, take the kids to the playground.... I'm really glad that my niece River was able to come with us....she is such a sweetheart to have around, and of course Jem adores getting to spend any time with her! I am glad that we are back though....there is nothing like sleeping in your own bed, the smell of clean sheets and a nice warm house! That tent was awfully cramped *LOL*.

I was beginning to think that Summer would never come to us this year. I don't remember a Summer that has been this cold, wet and well...crappy! Today though was just beautiful! I heard it reached a lovely 84 degrees (about 28 C for my Aussie readers) and should stay that way for the next few days! Of course the following week is supposed to be rainy and cold *LOL* but hey, I'll take what I can get! So we decided to spend the day in the water today. We woke up early, packed our bags, stopped off at Haggen for some munchies and spent the morning at Lake Stevens (on the beach at Lundeen Park). Jem had SO much fun (and so did I!). He swam a little & played in the sand, we played some tic-tac-toe, and had a yummy breakfast and lunch by the water. Then we came home and decided to try out our pool (which we have only used ONCE this summer because of the aforementioned crappy weather)...and it was just GORGEOUS! Since the pool is at the bottom of the property it was quiet and peac...

Okay, so I couldn't resist that title heehee.....it's FINALLY a nice warm summery day, so Jem decided to go outside to try his new water hose thingy (that he saw at his friend Matt's house, and I ended up getting on clearance from Target for like $1.80 - I kid you not!). While I was taking some pictures of him having fun, getting wet....I looked over to our lavender bush and saw all these bees buzzing around, going about their business. So I turned my camera over there and got this great picture! Pretty neat, right?

Why is it always the coldest day on earth when we decide to go somewhere that requires sun and warmth? *LOL* Despite the gale force wind, clouds and cold weather, we took a ferry across to Jetty Island for the morning. It was a nice place to spend the day (it would be way nicer in the sun though!) and there was so much beach to explore. I want to do it again sometime, definitely! Here are some pictures of Jem and River (and our friend Paris) from today's excursion. On the Ferry. On the beach. Climbing and Exploring!

During the summer, the city puts on free concerts on Thursday nights. Since River was staying for a sleepover, we decided to take the kids there. It was really nice! A ukilele (did I spell that right?) group performed tonight, and played all kids of songs (on their 2 dozen ukileles of course haha!). Just watch Jem dancing to the music....he really got into it! These coincide with the 'Farmer's Market' which is just a small gathering of vendors with food, produce & flowers. It's a nice evening out, very relaxing...a great way to spend a summer's night!