before the 4th...

Bryan got back from Spokane late Tuesday evening and then was back to work the rest of the week.  It was a miserable rainy week and the kids were aching to see their dad so I took them to his school to run around in the gym for a bit.  Even though he couldn't hang out with us it felt good to be in close vicinity...

 I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE that this little girl has taken an interest in basketball just like her momma.  We spent the afternoon practicing our dribbling skills before we played some hula hoop games...

 

 That Friday we convinced Daddy to take a vacation day and take Emily crabbing with Grandpa Jim.  They got skunked but had a wonderful day out on the bay...

Daddy packed all sorts of great things for her to eat (soda, cookies, donuts and chips) and she may have started to get a little crazy...

The boys, Grandma Emily and I spent the day doing all things Jack.  We started at Schu Farms where we dined on fresh pie, sucked down honey sticks until our bellies ached and then fed the goats and chickens...

Jack was a little cautious about feeding the goats so Grandma Emily helped him out...

Then it was off to feed the chickens.  Jack LOVES chickens.  Every bird we see he teases us and tells us it is a chicken even though he knows it is a chicken.  He thinks it is the funniest joke ever...

When a handful of feed was out he would sprint back to the barn to buy another handful...

Then we got back in the car and headed to the local John Deere store to look at the TRACTORS.  Before we even pulled into the store Jack was bouncing out of his seat yelling, "TRACTORS!"  We made a few little purchases, grabbed some take out pizzas and then headed up to Great  Grandma and Grandpa Fox's for lunch.

Charlie got in a good nap while Jack toted my grandma around everywhere...

Before we left Jack took a quick ride on Great Grandpa Fox's tractor....

"CHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESE!"

Charlie was more facsinated with the dirt and big yellow tires...

On Saturday we caught word (thank you Alison!) that the Bellingham Joneses were camping at Skagit River Woods.  Since this is our neck of the woods we were quick to jump on the opportunity to join them.  We tend to be the early bird Joneses...good for great afternoon adventures but home with babies in bed by 8pm or 9pm. 

The kids were super excited to check out the fire as soon as we got there...

Then we took a bike ride down to the playground...

Only Jack would think of this.

1.  Carry a train to the top of the playground (don't mind that he had to climb a chain wall to get up while trying to carry it.) and set it at the top of the slide....

2. Then push it down with all your might...

3.  Chase after it as fast as you can...

4. Do it all over again only this time try to ride on top of the train while it goes down the slide (shucks...don't let your mom catch you before you go down like my mom did)....

After playing for a bit we spotted cousin Alison and headed back up to camp and spent the rest of the afternoon eating snacks, telling a million knock knock jokes and reading princess stories...

Around 5:30 we made our exit as the next crew of kiddoes arrived. 

We headed on back to Bay View for dinner with Grandma Patti and Grandpa Jim.  As usual, as soon as we got there the kids took off running through the yard.  You would think we keep them locked in a box the way they run all over this yard...

Grandma Patti made us our very first strawberry shortcake of the season and it was delish...

 As the sun went down we gathered by the fire to settle in for the night.  Seconds later Emily was pleading for a tractor ride...

 These were a few super fun days to spend before our BIG third and fourth of July celebrations...