Summer Fun!!!

Warning* This is going to be a very long post because we have (so far its only Aug 9th) had an amazing summer full of fun with friends and I have not been blogging it! So i decided that I would do one MASSIVE blog to recap some of our highlights from this summer so far. I have to say at the beginning that  we are INCREDIBLY blessed to have lots of friends who are very generous to us (you will see what I mean).  There will be lots of introductions of these wonderful friends who have allowed and been involved with our summer trips and, as you all know I can not resist, there are lots of pictures :).  Enjoy!

Zoo with Overbys (June 5th)

An amazing day at the Portland Zoo with my good friend Heather and her two wonderful kids Stanley and Holly.  I'm so blessed to have amazing friends, especially ones with annual zoo passes :) hehe 

Heather & Kids

Amazing 2 1/2 year old Stanley

And precious, precious @ 2 month old (I think at this point) Holly Rose

Stanley & Katey are very good friends :)

They loved the Monkeys!

We loved the animals too, but I think for us moms, lunch in the park was the highlight of our day!

Playing...

Flying...

Rolling ...

And lots of tickles...

And loves!

Definitely a highlight to begin the summer!

OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science & Industry) With the Cogars

(June 4th)

Again, we were very blessed to have other amazing friends that just happen to have an annual pass to Portland's OMSI. Another fun packed day!

OMSI is all about exploring, and Even (the oldest of our friends Josh & Julie Cogar's three kids) was helping Katey to understand this in the insect science section.

Do you think she got it?

I think she had more fun "sharing" with their youngest Ella who is only a couple months older.   

Her & Ella are pretty cute together and made sure to hold hands when crossing...most things :)

They checked out the reptiles together....

but when it got to the play room..

they found new friends :)

And new games to play :)

But a favorite of both girls was the water area!

Such a fun, although damp, day! And the kids even slept on the 45 min drive home! And that makes for a GREAT day! :)

Bonfire with Youth Group

(June 23rd)

Another close, although different aged, group of friends is our amazing youth group. As a disclaimer, you think kids move fast, try getting pictures of teens! So the absence of any very important youth in this post does not mean un importance in my book!  This outting was a bonfire hosted by one of the boys who goes to our youth group (and also just happens to work with Joe at the city)..

...The illustrious Greg (AKA host) :)

Peter Light (AKA Katey's other big brother), his mom babysits Katey every other wed night except this one so that Joe and I can be involved with the youth group, and we have kind of adopted them as a part of the famiy :)

Whitney, Aleighsha, Emily & Alli just doing what girls do and sitting around looking pretty!

Its a big slide! Good thing Katey was there to help Charrisa go down :)

 and to help Alli cross the parking lot :)

and Whitney drink her water.

oh and to help set up for the game!

Although when it started she mostly just watched the crazy people running around holding hands..weirdos :) (the weirdo on the far left is our youth paster, Mike. : )

Charrisa, Emily 

Whitney,

and Sydney mostly just watched with Katey and were not so enthusiastic cheer leaders :)

Mike's son Zeke tried to intervene and  teach Katey another game.

Katey tried...

but it didn't come as naturally to her...

so she gave up and instead

They picked flowers :)

Very fun evening!

Wildwood...with lots of people...

(All summer)

Wildwood is a state park that is just 15 mins away from home and this time...we have our own annual pass! We get to go there often with friends.  There is a maze of run/walking trails along with big open grass areas and a play structure that Katey loves! The following are excerpts from a few different trips that I happened to bring the camera on :) 

After church excurusion!

Amelia, Charissa, Peter & Crystal in the back, and Melissa's the one kicking my kid (hehe just kidding but she is the one in the front with Katey :) :)

It was a very serious trip...

And no one did any playing...

or running

or swinging

or climbing

Or had any fun!

And since I wasn't the only one taking pictures...

we even got a few of me :) (look closely at the first one)

Katey cheek loves!

Our family! 

Another day...

A Saturday picnic with the Overby's (Daddy's got to come too this time!)

Stanley and Katey LOVE this play structure!

Katey loves to jump on the bridge

Joe playing Heather's yukalaylee, so fun!

watching Daddy

Holly :)

I just loved this picture of Holly adoring her mommy.

Wildwood water day with the Cogars :)

Julie and her two boys were here as well, but most of my pictures just happen to be of Katey and her friend Ella.  I mean, they were sooo cute, they kept begging for pics!

sharing lunch on the play set,

Ella has a ball...

"Uh oh! Run for cover!"

"Whew, I think I'm safe in here!"

Down at the river...

girl time :)

There look! Julie and the boys are in the back ground! I did get them in pictures :)

Ok, back to the girls :) hehe

"Cold!" face

But i still got a smile :)

Fun, fun, day and it was back to the house for naps and a little break for the mommy's before Daddy's got off work and came home for a fun evening of hot wings and ice cream! (not together, but....well you know what I mean!)

OK at this point there are only two more main highlights I wanna share...your over half way!

Cogars, Powells & Us

(July 22nd)

This day was so much fun because our REALLY good friends the Powells just moved away and we have deeply missed them. Jessica, Riley and Fletcher were driving to Seattle and were able to stop in for the night and a day of fun and our mutual friends  the Cogars got to join us at the park, and I got a few pics :)

Fletcher Powell running away from Katey with the snacks...which of course she wants :)

Riley Powell posing in all her gorgeous almost 4 ishness :)

Katey jumping on another bridge at a play ground...still her fav thing to do!

Andrew Cogar just being cute, or should I say handsome!

Riley really missed her friend Andrew and maybe had a little more PDA then he would have liked :)

The girls, Ella Cogar, Katey and Riley Powell :) Such cuties!

Beautiful Jessica Powell and her little Fletcher!

Riley loves her Katey

And even had to join in on the loves, (hehe look closely and you'll see that Katey is doing her part of the hugging...she just can't get her arms around anything)

But she didnt' last that long :)

Even showing off his war wounds :)

"Group picture"

Katey & Ella dont really get it :)

But we still managed to get a few pics of the whole bunch! Can't wait to get another in a few years and compare! Such a fun group and fun day!

Ok last highlight and its from just this last weekend!

Our very close friends the Pietzolds are not only very close friends by endearment but also by proximity.  We live only about a mile a part and have many things in common.  Joe and Jeremy work in similar fields and together often, they are both obsessed with , I mean enjoy, geo caching, Lisa and I really enjoy each other,  Katey and their second son Ty are only months apart, and both Lisa and I are pregnant and due with our next babies only weeks apart.  We really enjoy our time with this awesome family and find ourselves together often...although for some reason there are not as many pictures?  I dont know why but I guess i'll have to work harder on that :)

This past Thursday they invited us to go up to Jeremy's parents place in Pine Hallow (1 hour 15 mins away in a much warmer, lake type area) for the day to swim! We said "Great" and got up early Sat with just our swim suits and basic clothes we'd need for that day at the river!

Katey & Daddy taking the plunge...

Zac styling!

Ty wasn't so sure about the life jacket but he loved the water!

Everyone in!

Sunset!

So as the evening got later and later we decided we were all too tired, we didn't want to drive home, and we really didn't want the time to end. So instead we spontaneously decided to stay (with no extra clothes or toiletries :), put the kids to bed and played board games and went for a midnight stargazing walk down to the lake!  And then in the morning we got up and had another awesome day!

Katey decided to wake up SUPER early and since we were all in a little space daddy took her for a walk!

They walked down to the lake and watched the sun rise...and mommy had some much needed and appreciated sleep! :)

Then at a decent hour we  all went the 1/2 mile down to the lake....

And just enjoyed the water!

Then we went back to Jeremy's parents place....

And enjoyed the water even more!

Great, Great day! 

Well, its only the beginning of Aug and we have another trip planned with the Pietzolds this weekend, a trip to Idaho next month, Joe gets to go to Washington DC end of September and i'm sure lots of other impromptu fun will arise...can't wait! Stay tuned if you think you can handle more pics :)