The Vance's: August 2014

We really have had such a wonderful summer. I always try to not overpack our schedule but somehow each summer gets busier and busier….luckily it's all super fun stuff. As much as I'm looking forward to new routines and schedules in September, this month has been pretty great.

Matt and I went to the first Seahawks preseason home game a few weeks ago. I don't get to go to games very often so it was fun to see all the Superbowl stuff around the stadium. The best part of all was seeing the Lombardi trophy up close!

A great game with the Seahawks having a huge win!

That same weekend Carter asked us to go on a hike one morning. We always love the opportunity to let him run and explore in a wide open space. St. Edwards State Park is quickly becoming one of our favorite places to go. It's only a 10 minute drive from our house, has miles of hiking trails suitable for kids, a huge playground and water! The kids did a great job hiking about 2 miles before having a meltdown over tired feet and empty tummies. I'm hoping to come back here in the fall to see all the beautiful trees changing colors!

Swim lessons are in full swing and the kids are learning so much! The teachers definitely push them to get under the water just one more time, blow a few more bubbles and swim just a little further than they are normally comfortable with. But the kids have accepted the challenge and Carter has now mastered his back float and can swim from the middle of the deep end back to the edge. Lucy is super comfortable dunking her head under the water and can correctly kick her legs to move herself around the pool with a noodle under her arms. She is still working on the back float but getting more comfortable with that too. It makes for a very long day since swim lessons are on the same days I work. So we leave the house at 7am and don't get home until after 7pm! Tired kids and a tired mama but worth it for a month of fun.

We aren't really "yard people" but do our best to keep the yard maintained and looking decent. The other night Matt needed to cut the grass and instead of his usual playtime Carter insisted he help Matt. Such a cute father/son moment.

We had 3 BBQ's in a week and definitely felt the love from friends and neighbors! That has probably been our hardest transition since we moved to Bothell 2 years ago. Summer in B'ham meant BBQs with friends almost every weekend. We've made lots of friends but just haven't really had many organized get-togethers in a while. Our neighbors hosted a neighborhood night out, then we had a birthday party BBQ and finally a long-time friend BBQ at our house last week. I've been friends with Heather and Katy for…well, forever and I was so happy we could get all of our families together one night to just eat and catch up. The kids played together perfectly and none of us wanted the night to end! Can't wait to catch up with just the girls in another month.

Because of all the fun we've been having our usual bedtime routine has gotten pushed back later and later each week. We are running these kids all day and night and even though it's fun, they are tired! I figure we'll get back into our routines and "normal" lives soon enough. For now let's just enjoy the last bit of summer weather, beach days, hikes, friends, BBQs and parties. And this sweet little girl will continue to fall asleep on the ground each night.

In an effort to enjoy every last bit of summer we decided to plan another camping trip. Last year was the 1st trip for the kids and although it wasn't awful, it wasn't amazing either. They had a hard time falling asleep and staying asleep in the tent and we were all a bit grumpy by the middle of the night.

Well, this year fully redeemed any bad memory from last year! We all had such a fun time and can't wait to book a longer trip next summer!

We started the morning by finding a state park near our campsite to go for a hike. The kids love hiking and we love how they can just be free to roam and explore. Any chance I can tell Carter "yes" instead of "no" is great. And being outside means he's usually free to touch almost everything and run until he's exhausted. Sadly our research of Isabella State Park wasn't exactly what we expected. We had read about some winding loops through the forest that led to a beach and instead saw a private fishing dock with a nearby grassy field full of bales of hay. We made the best of it anyway and spent about 1.5 hours exploring, running and eating lunch.

We aren't really country type folk but there is still such beauty in this.

Lucy got tired about 3 minutes into the walk. Lucky for her she got a piggy back ride. Unlucky for me, I left my Ergo carrier in the car.

After a short winding loop we discovered the middle of the field, complete with hay for climbing and jumping.

We had a quick bite to eat and then drove a little further to Potlatch State Park. When we checked in the park ranger said we got the very last campsite in the far back of the park, furthest from everything. While usually that would be annoying it was just perfect for us! Kids could play away from the busy street, there weren't any other campers next to us and at night we weren't bugging anyone and no one was bugging us! Plus, it was a huge site, more than double most of the other sites.

The kids' favorite activity: jumping on the mattress in the tent!

It was nice to just be away from all the business of life and sit and relax.

Then we headed down to the beach. The tide was in pretty far so the kids couldn't play too long but of course managed to get completely wet and dirty.

Later that night we ate hot dogs, started a campfire and roasted marshmallows!

Lots of silly time too!

I never did count how many marshmallows each of the kids snuck while I was roasting mine but the bag became empty pretty quick!

We had a pretty good night sleep considering I shared a mattress with both kids who slept on top of me instead of in/on their own sleeping bag and Matt with a tiny mattress next to us. Normally we are pretty early risers but we all slept until 7:15 which I consider a huge success!