Garden Update

I posted earlier in the summer about my garden and I just thought I'd post an update.  The good news is that it's growing!  And now we're actually reaping the benefits of fresh veggies almost daily.  Love it!

The harvest one night.

This one got away from me - can you say zucchini bread?

Another harvest - and a blueberry/blackberry pie I made.

Blueberry jam from home grown blueberries (OK, technically they are not my blueberries, but my neighbor doesn't harvest them!)

Blue berries after a rain

Rain drops on a spider's web.

Back to School

I feel like I'm the last mom in the country saying that her kids are back to school, but after a very long summer break, today was the momentous day!

Yes, I fought back tears as I sent my baby off to high school!!!

Steve will be driving Cannon and our neighbor's girl, Abby, to school.  Nicest bus ever!

Two hours later I loaded Emmy and London up for their first day in fourth and second grade.

Going into school...

London and Mrs. Neal

Emmy has a split teacher classroom - they both teach half the week.

Emmy and Mrs. May

Emmy and Mrs. Hanson

I was doing pretty well not crying until I got back in the car and heard Rascal Flatts' song, "My Wish" and then the tears started flowing...

I hope the days come easy and the moments pass slow
And each road leads you where you want to go
And if you're faced with the choice and you have to choose
I hope you choose the one that means the most to you

And if one door opens to another door closed
I hope you keep on walkin' til you find the window
If it's cold outside, show the world the warmth of your smile
But more than anything, more than anything

My wish for you
Is that this life becomes all that you want it to
Your dreams stay big, your worries stay small
You never need to carry more than you can hold

And while you're out there gettin' where you're gettin' to
I hope you know somebody loves you
And wants the same things too
Yeah, this is my wish

I hope you never look back but you never forget
All the ones who love you and the place you left
I hope you always forgive and you never regret
And you help somebody every chance you get

Oh, you'd find God's grace in every mistake
And always give more than you take
But more than anything, yeah more than anything

My wish for you
Is that this life becomes all that you want it to
Your dreams stay big, your worries stay small
You never need to carry more than you can hold

And while you're out there gettin' where you're gettin' to
I hope you know somebody loves you
And wants the same things too
Yeah, this is my wish, yeah yeah

Boat ride

I've been dying all summer for a boat ride, but since we don't own a boat, we're kind of at the mercy of our friends who do own boats to have a ride.  We were lucky enough to go out with Kelly and Mike while up in Anacortes and the next day our neighbors, Paul and Becky, invited us out for a ride on Sunday.  Boy did we luck out having two boat rides in a week and on having a gorgeous weather for them.  Stevie has never been out on the waters around here since the two other times we went last summer, he was on call or sleeping post call so it was a first to see what the land looks like from the water instead of the other way around.

We started by heading over to Cutts Island, a small little bump of land just off the beach of Kopachuck State Park.  This place is unique in that at low tide there is a jetty of sand that extends quite far out so that you can walk along it.  From a distance it looks like people are walking on water!

Cutts Island

Walking on water!

The tides move fast around here so after 10 minutes, it was time to get back in the boat as the water was getting too high.  They then pulled out the tube and we all had turns tubing - it is fun!  Yes, I put on a "shortie" wet suit.  The water is just not warm enough for me!

Emmy getting ready to go

London

Cannon

Stevie getting ready to go.  This was his first time tubing.

Despite being his first time, Stevie was really daring!

Me

After we'd all had a turn, we stopped at Penrose Park for a paddle and a picnic lunch.

London and Paul

What a great way to spend a beautiful afternoon!

Emmy was quite enjoying the candy and soda the Hildebrands fed her.

Visit to Ms. Kelly's

Despite the fact that our good friends and former neighbors, the Payne's, are only 2 1/4 hours away, we seem to rarely see them.  We are busy, but Mike and Kelly and the boys are REALLY busy.  Still, busy-ness shouldn't be an excuse so I made sure that we got in a trip to their house before the end of summer.

Since Stevie was on call, the four of us (plus the dog) headed up for a day of fun and visiting.  Kelly and Mike have a great new house in La Conner, Washington which is a really cute little town deep in the heart of Skagit County.  This part of Washington is particularly picturesque because of the agricultural fields and barns all framed by the Cascade mountains in the background.  It was begging for a photo safari, but since I only brought my point and shoot camera and since I had three impatient kids in the car, you won't get any great photos on this blog post...

We went into La Conner to look around at the stores.  Of course in order to accomplish this, we had to bribe the kids with ice cream.

Kelly

London is excited about him shaved ice!

Enjoying our ice cream

After looking around for a while, we headed back to Kelly's to prepare to go to the lake for a boat ride!  The kids and I were really looking forward to this and we enjoyed a beautiful evening on the lake with Kelly's boys wake boarding and my guys tubing. 

Emmy and London hanging out in the cutty.

Dave and I

Dave wake boarding

London

 Even Emmy gave tubing a go for the first time.  This was a huge step as last summer she wouldn't even go on a boat if it was going more than 2 miles per hour.  She gave strict instructions to Mike, though, not to go any faster than London went!

By the end she didn't want to get out, but alas the sun had dropped behind the mountains and the temperature was dropping so we had to go (bare in mind it was only 72 degrees to start with - and that's air temperature!)

Thanks Mike, Kelly, Dave and Matt for a great visit!