Grandpa Kirby in town

In mid-July, we had a nice weekend visit from my dad, Kirby.   One afternoon, we headed to Emerald Downs, which is our local racetrack.  We had a fun time watching the horses (and losing some money).   We hit the swimming pool, went out to eat, played some bocce ball, and enjoyed reading the new kids’ books that Grandpa brought us!

Golden Gardens + Ballard Locks

One day in July, I took the kiddos over to the west side of Seattle to visit the salmon ladder at the Ballard Locks.  We do this every summer to see the salmon going through the locks to enter Lake Washington, which I always think is amazing.  It was a hot, sunny day, so we had a picnic at nearby Golden Gardens park, right on the water.  These are the days we will miss when the rain comes in the wintertime!

And at the Ballard Locks…

Vacation Bible School

Our family had a great week together doing Vacation Bible School at our church in mid-July.  I volunteered to be the teacher for the 5-year old class, which A&H were in.  We had 18 kids in our class, so it was a busy week!   VBS is a great summer-camp-ish experience where the kids sing songs, do crafts, outdoor games, science projects, and hear more about the Bible.   They made new friends and LOVED all of the activities we did… especially snack time.  The week of VBS included over 350 kids, and about 150 volunteers.  I loved getting to know other great women in our church, so I was grateful to have a chance to do this.  I coerced Greg into being the photographer for three of the days, so he got to be part of the fun, too.  It is always one of the best weeks of our summer!