Hay Time!

It's that time again! Time to haul hay and load it up into the loft of the barn.

The only fun thing about hay time is that it takes place at the barn where there are all sorts of fun things for boys to do.

Like taking your first bite EVER of a hamburger:

Seeing tractors up close and sitting on them:

and going for horse rides:

the end.

My Sunday Boys

Jasper and Jackson got some new Sunday clothes.

They match, and are the cutest pair at church.

Notice the sticker on Jackson's forehead - I love to leave it on and see how long it will stay.

Usually it makes it until we're home a few minutes, its then wrestled off by Jasper.

CHEESE!

Back To School

Jasper started 6th grade this year.

6th GRADE!

Time is just going by way too fast.

He is growing so big - he is now taller than me. I'm only 5'4'', but just last month he was still shorter. And he is also wearing a size 11 mens shoe.

I think he's gonna be tall.

p.s. I think David did a good job school shopping for him.

This means he gets to do it next year as well!

Olympic Camping - THE END

Saturday afternoon we said our goodbyes.

We miss you already!

One more night of camping - Jackson took it like a champ.

We need to do this more often.

We drove the rest of the way on Sunday, which was day 7.

7 days of camping, over 2000 miles driven. I was glad to be home.

Olympic Camping - Part IV

We left Kalaloch on Friday, and then stayed at the Cole's home in a Seattle suburb that night.

We were excited to be able to spend more time with them. Saturday morning we went to a nearby lake and put the canoes and kayaks to use.

Jackson had just about had it at this point.

Megan with Staci, Lindsay with Becky.

Fishing on the dock.

Mmmmm.... COOKIE!

Earlier this year I went to Target with Jasper. While there he found this hat and begged me to buy it for him.

I said no, so he bought it with his own money. I thought, he was crazy - who would want to wear that?

But when his 14 year old cousin saw the hat a few days later, and she said "tight hat," I knew I must be out of the fashion loop.

Now I see Sesame Street fashion everywhere! Mostly on Jr. High aged kids, as they walk around acting cool with their skate boards. I don't get this new trend.

Jasper now owns this:

His friend owns this:

Maybe I should buy myself and David these?

Olympic Camping - Part III

Did you know that there is a pretty popular series of books and movies - the Twilight series - that takes place in the Washington's Olympic Peninsula? By an author named Stephenie Meyer? About Vampires and Werewolves?

Yep, there is.

And the city of Forks is definitely capitalizing on it.

Forks was a mere 30 miles from where we were camping, in Kalaloch.

I'm not even a huge fan, but we were so close we had to check it out.

The number of visitors to Forks has increased from approximately 17,000 a year, to 70,000 since the books/movies came out.

Maybe that's why in the chamber of commerce they had the cutouts for the Twilight characters in the lobby.

Which one of these things is not made of cardboard?

And Bella's truck in the parking lot.

Twilight tours. So tempting! Maybe more tempting if the movies had been filmed here, or if the characters in the book were real.

Instead we ate at a Sully's, where they had Edward ice cream, and Jacob burgers.

And scary wooden carvings of ... ???

Olympic Camping - Part II

After camping our first night in Oregon, we drove all day the rest of the day and finally made it to our next destination. We met my sister Becky and her family out our reserved camp spot in Washington.

I've been to a lot of places, and Olympic National Park - especially on the peninsula - ranks as one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen.

The forest is beautiful and green and wet, and the ocean is awesome and breathtaking.

We stayed in Kalaloch from Tuesday night through Friday.

Jackson and his cousin Lindsay bonded instantly - she is about 9 months older than him.

Here they are eating fruit snacks of the forest floor. Like a good mother I took a picture before stopping them.

We had crafts! Staci and My mom found these cool wooden boxes from Hobby Lobby. Each kid decorated it then used it to store their treasures, i.e. crab heads, rocks, and dirt.

Here Jasper plays with Megan and Molly next to the Ocean.

And here my husband, Jasper and sisters attempt to kayak the ocean. It was pretty much impossible to get past the waves.

Here I am running from the waves.

Time Out for a Haircut

Let's take a break from camping to see some adorable pictures of Jackson getting a buzz cut.
This was also done a month or so ago - so most of his hair is back now.

I just found the pictures and thought they were too cute not to share.


I think this is his 2nd haircut - he sits really still, and loves it.

Now its Daddy's turn!