A day on Bainbridge Island

Today, we had a fabulous outing to Bainbridge Island! The kids love the ferries, so I thought it would be fun to go over there for lunch. The ferry leaves downtown Seattle and is about a 30-minute ride over to Bainbridge. We walked into the little town near the ferry dock and had a delightful lunch outside at the Streamliner Diner. I sat next to an older couple who happened to be from Minneapolis, so I ended up having a lovely conversation with them while we ate!

The kids were super well-behaved, which earned them a trip to Mora's ice cream shop afterwards! YUMMY ice cream, I have to say!

It was over 80 degrees today, and a fabulous day to be out on the water. I cannot say enough how much I am treasuring these days with my precious kids. This summer has been delightful, in a million different ways. We have done a lot of wonderful activities that we will all remember. I thank the Lord every day for how wonderful my three kids are! Today was such a treat!!

The Olympic Mountains... without snow...

The favorite activity of the day: Watching cars drive onto the ferry...

We ate lunch outside where Drew watched the traffic go by the whole time. Twice he said to me, "I couldn't be happier." Hilarious.

"Sailboats, Mommy!"

Jackie's Big Summer Project

Okay, so if you know me well, you know that I love a good project! Well, this summer I took on a doozy! I decided to tackle the side yard in our house, putting in two big retaining walls, backfilling them with 3 yards of dirt, and then planting a bunch of new plants. Wow! It was a ton of work, but it looks great!!

This project took me several weeks to get done, mostly because I did about an hour a day, while my kids were napping. I did a grand total of about seven trips to Home Depot to buy the retaining wall bricks to put in the back of my Sequoia. The hardest part of doing a retaining wall is getting the wall to be level; so, I had to use a level to make sure that each and every brick was perfectly flat and level. Wow - not for the faint-at-heart!

Then I found a guy on craigslist who was giving away fill dirt for free! He even brought the truckload to my house for me. Yea! So, then I spent several hours moving the dirt from the tarp on the lawn to behind the new retaining wall. When all of that was finally done, I was delighted to have a whole new area for gardening and putting in new plants! (I have realized this summer that I am really a gardening fanatic... does this mean I am getting old?)

My dad was in town and helped me put in the three big plants on the back row (thanks, pop!). Greg also helped me put in some landscape lighting so that the Japanese Maple in the back row now has a light on it. My neighbor Sue was a delightful help, too, as she helped me get out lots of roots, and also loaned me a stash of gardening tools!

Now, I get to kick back and watch it grow! Check out the pictures at the bottom where you can se the "before" photos - it was ugly! The laurel tree was totally overgrown, so I had to trim that back a few feet, then I also pressure washed the fence, and spent a few hours pulling out all of those yucky roots. I told you this was a lot of work! And I did 97% of it myself! Now... can someone buy me a massage and hand me a beer??

The "before" photos... very overgrown and not very pretty!

Camping...again...

We just returned from a 36-hour camping trip with our dear friends, Mike and Kathleen Self (and their cute kids, Maddie and Mason). Kathleen and I were college roommates at Wake Forest, so we love it when our families can get together. This time we met half-way between our houses, at a campsite in Washington called Millerslyvania. (Terrible park name, but fabulous park!)

We had a delightful time swimming in the big lake, having s'mores around the fire, eating blueberry pancakes for breakfast, and taking a long hike this morning. The hike included the "JellyBean Challenge" where each kid had to find specific items on our made-up scavenger hunt list in order to earn a jelly bean each time. A hit, suffice it to say! Andrew's favorite activity was riding his trike around the entire campground, 24/7. That is why his helmet was on the entire time... :)

I think Greta has the most fun out of all nine of us on the trip. It is delightful to watch life through her 2-year old eyes, where everything is new and so spectacular for the first time. When she was swimming in the lake (in her diaper), she just thought that was so hilarious and so fun... giggling for an hour straight. I love her joy in life. Oh, and you can watch the videos below to see more fun, including how Greta ate her s'more. We love camping!

And a few fun videos...

A weekend in Princeton

We had so much fun spending 3.5 days in Princeton, NJ for Adam and Christy's wedding. It was a blast! Here are some pictures of the extended family, the church where the wedding was, the rehearsal dinner, and more...

Greg and Robbie and several others did a great rendition of an old hymn during the wedding ceremony. Here they are practicing...

Christy's Bridal Shower

The day before Christy's big wedding, we all hosted a bridal shower for her. It was in her apartment complex in Princeton and it was SO LOVELY! Julie (Christy's sister) and Dianne (Adam's mom) were the two heroes who put it on, and let me tell ya, it was spectacular! Beautiful fun festive decorations, wonderful flowers, and the yummiest food ever! Too bad that boys were not allowed! We all got to meet many of Christy's great friends, and it was a delightful time for all of the women in the family to hang out. I took Hailey with me, and she was a good helper, opening many of Christy's gifts for her. :) I would love to have an fabulous all-girls brunch like that every week! We love you, Christy!

Oh, and this pic that included Greg and Andrew was taken AFTER the shower. :)

Judy Lang, Christy's mom, who also celebrated a birthday that day!

Judy, Christy, Julie, and Aunt Jackie

Aunt Jackie, Christy, and Aunt Susan

Hailey and I with wonderful Aunt Julie!

The hostesses with the mostess! Julie and Dianne - world's best catering and decorating duo!