Summer....at last!!!
Wow, it certainly took a long time for summer to arrive in the Pacific Northwest but it is finally here. We had a few nice sunny days and then a HOT weekend in the 90's. And clear blue skies, it was gorgeous. And after last week being so crazy, it was nice to have the great weather and just relax in it. Saturday we had a fun time celebrating Ella's 4th birthday - Happy Birthday Ella!!! It's nice to have them all back on this side of the state!!!

On Sunday we spent the afternoon/evening out on a friend's boat. Incredible weather - while it was in the 90's at home, out on the water it was sunny and warm, not too hot. And even at the place we docked to have lunch and play....not sure where that was though but it was one of the islands in Puget Sound. Fun day - Hayley was so excited to go tubing for her first time and wanted to spend the day doing it going as fast as possible. Ainsley - not so thrilled. She is nervous being in the water plus the fact that it takes her a while to adjust to new places/experiences so while she complained all day, she DID talk about it the whole way home and the next day and how wonderful it was. Sigh. Definitely need to sign her up for some swimming lessons this summer and get her relaxed in the water. Hayley is like a little fish and not quite enough fear in her. :) And alas, the camera got left in the car so no pictures. Oh but we did get to watch a lightning storm the entire way back to the dock - it was so cool! A great great day with friends....and NO sunburns, whoohoo!!!

The sun has also made a big impact on my garden. With all the rainy grey days we had, it was just not doing well. But I think the first sunny day my tomato plants literally grew a foot overnight. It was wild! The garden area is on our side yard and it has been a lot of work to get it from this: (yikes, we look different!)


To this:


My mom will be so happy about this post, but I am really enjoying gardening!! Shocking!! I truly never cared for gardening or digging in the dirt, but I have to say I even enjoy weeding because of the results. The garden area is such a manageable size which is why I haven't done much planting in the rest of the yard - the size just overwhelms me. This year I'm growing 3 kinds of tomatoes, mesclun, baby carrots and two kinds of green beans. Plus an overgrown rosemary (anyone want rosemary?), two giant lavender plants, a peony, a hydrangea (my favorite) and an enormous amount of crazy groundcovers that eat everything in their path. Literally, the mint is eating a stepping stone. I also have 3 raspberry plants and 2 blueberry plants though they aren't quite in the garden area. AND awaiting the basil plants from my mom. Still have sweet corn, pink popcorn (yes, I said popcorn!) and cucumbers to plant. I've turned into a garden freak - who would've thought? Here are some photos of my labor of love.

My poor car was so ridiculously dirty. I mean, those $6 gas station car washes are great and all but really they don't clean so well. Nor do they clean the inside of the car. Minivans seem to have been designed with built-in crumb magnets. Disgusting. Before I vacuumed, I emptied all the STUFF out of the car....I filled up TWO laundry baskets!! Crazy. So we washed the car today. Yes, it was a warm sunny day and washing my car in the sun was breaking a cardinal rule in my family, that has been drummed in my head since birth. Please don't tell my dad, he'll take away my car keys. :) But it had to get washed and the kids needed an outdoor activity that involved water. Plus they say you get better gas mileage with a clean car. Huh. What a concept. So, guess what? My rims are silver!!! Who knew? It's not perfect but it's clean and I can see what color it is again. And Dan was oh so nice to sneak outside with the camera and take some pictures of us hard at work. Thankfully it was BEFORE I sat on the ground in the puddles to scrub the tires and ended up with soaking wet shorts that looked like I had an accident. Oops.


So there are a few things we have been doing in the warm sunshiney days. It's actually been quite peaceful and relaxing around here as the girls have adjusted to Hayley being out of school. And I've been doing MY best to keep my patience level up and just chill. It's been a great start to the summer. And we're all looking forward to the 4th of July bash at mom & dad's this Friday!