My Garden

Lately I feel like my life has gotten even busier than normal. Not only do I have the normal mom stuff to do but I have again taken on a garden. I figure since I am probably going to be blogging about it quite a bit I should include some pictures so you all can see what I am talking about as well as see some beginning of summer pictures of our Kopperskogen. We have a lot of high hopes for our yard this summer and you all will be able to see how much we actually accomplish.

Behind out garpartment. This is a pile of miscellaneous material that is going to be used in the building of our up and coming pole shed and chicken coop.

This is our newly trimmed maple tree in what will one day be our back yard. To the right is the girls playground. You can just barely see their slide in this picture.


This is all the wood that we have cut up so far that needs to be put in our not yet built shed. I am very excited for when that is up so that this area can get some grass in. We are still waiting to have a bunch of trees removed and when that happens we will have a lot more light onto our property as well as a lot more wood to cut up.

The girls' playground.

Our only patch of grass at this current time. By the end of the summer our hope is to have this edged with something and to have all the area around our garden grass as well.

And here is our garden having just been planted. I will have to get some pictures up there of it now that everything is growing and the paths are filled with hay. The weeds are killing me though so if anyone is ever looking for a service project or wants to get their kids out of the house, send them over as I could definitely use the help. The garden is 30x50.

Tacoma Rainiers' Game

Poulsbo Elementary School participated in a school program partnering with the Tacoma Rainiers last month along with multiple other schools across the Northwest. So we all headed south to go to a game and enjoy the company of friends. We had a great time.

I am not sure what happened with Kent's head in this picture but the girls sure look great. :)

Home from California

We are back. I can hardly believe that our much awaited and planned for trip has come and gone so quickly. That always seems how it goes though. I am in the process of going through the almost 1000 pictures that I took and will be posting them soon along with some stories of our amazing vacation, including Ellie's favorite ride (you will never guess), visits with the princesses and tink of course, zoo favorites, splash zones and fun with the Clinton boys. From all directions, our first official family vacation was a 100% success and we can't wait to share. Be watching.

A Morning at Bloedel Reserve on Bainbridge Island, Washington

I was so excited to go with Olyvia on her field trip to Bloedel Reserve on Bainbridge Island. The weather was a little chilly, but we dressed warm and headed to the school to get on the bus. Both the girls were very excited.

We had barely gotten started and Olyvia said, "Mom, take a picture" and proceeded to pose. I couldn't help but take the shot. My little fashion model.

Olyvia looking for frogs along the path.

Some sister silly time.

A little bit of love.

This is the group of kids from Olyvia's class that were in our group. They were a good group of kids and we had a great time exploring and seeing what we could see. Although we could have had a little bit warmer weather. The girls asked if we could come back when it was warm out and wear shorts. I told them that of course we could.

Grandma was able to come with us which was a lot of fun. The girls loved showing her all the great things. It looks like she has grandaughters that are taking after her love of the outdoors.

BOOM! by Tom Brokaw

I recently finished the book Neither Here Nor There by Bill Bryson and have been contemplating what to read next. As I was glancing through the books on my shelf I came across a book I purchased last year and haven't yet had time to read. It is Boom by Tom Brokaw. The book is a little daunting from the outside. It is thick first of all which is a little tough as I started to think about how long it would take me to get through it in all my business. But I pulled it off the shelf anyway and as Robb and I drove to dinner that night I read aloud the preface. I am now hooked. I will definitely keep you posted on how it goes but one thing is for sure . . . it looks to be quite an adventure of a read.

May's Question of the Month.

I can't believe it is May already, especially with our upcoming Disneyland trip just around the corner. Wow, time is just flying by and there really isn't anything I can do to stop it or even slow it down. I just have to enjoy it as much as I can each and every day.

Another month means another question. Seeing as we will be going on our first official family vacation just the four of us, I thought I would focus this month's question around family vacations.

What is your favorite family vacation story either from when you were a child or from a vacation with your own children? I look forward to hearing the stories and if you have any vacation advice for traveling with children I can always use more.

Silverdale Waterfront Park

Last month the girls and I headed to Silverdale Waterfront Park to join up with my mom and sister and neice, little Curly. Although we were initially met with fog and cold, we ended up having a great time.

We were the first ones to arrive and the girls were not at all excited about the fact that it was practially freezing outside, the toys were all wet, and according to them "it's too cold." (Imagine that being said with a really big and pouty lower lip.) We wandered over to the play area, visiting with grandma and waiting for Auntie and Leilah to arrive, all the while the girls exclaiming that they just weren't going to survive the cold and need to go home or at least go get some hot chocolate.

We weren't there very long before Auntie and Leilah arrived. I could see them coming across the parking lot and mentioned it to the girls. No sooner did I mention it and they were running across the park towards the parking lot and towards their cousin.

A lot of our time was spent on the swings. Olyvia and Ellie were having a great time swinging and Olyvia was loving being the big sister/cousin and getting to push them and teach them how to pump their legs to go higher.

Just before leaving the park, Kristin noticed there were some boaters out on the water rowing in the fog. I was able to get over there just in time to snap a shot of them.

I look forward to our next trip to the park.