Sammamish Summer 2016 - Part Three

RASPBERRIES One of the best parts of going home is the raspberries! Washington is one of the top raspberry producing states in the country and our July trip normally corresponds with the picking season. We go to Harvold's farm in Carnation and this year we brought home 29 pounds!! Most of the berries were used for jam (I made 10 batches this year) and the rest went into crumble, smoothies, or straight to our stomach :)

ORCA SPLASH PARK We took the kids to a nearby splash pad and playground for a picnic lunch. It was overcast when we arrived, so we ate first, but then the sun came out and it warmed up enough for the kids to get wet. Sophie was really timid at first, but her cousin Anne helped encourage her, and by the end she was even climbing up the big whale!

REMLINGER FARMS FUN PARK We almost canceled this adventure due to rain, but at the last minute decided to go and we're so glad we did! It was still sprinkling when we arrived, but soon cleared up and the bad weather helped keep some of the crowds away. Some of the "attractions" made me laugh, but the kids were the perfect age to enjoy the park and were able to go on all the rides except the pedal cars. Sophie and Will really loved the roller coaster and rode it three times. Other highlights were the mini Ferris Wheel, the hay pit, and train ride. 

BOATING We had to go out on the boat in shifts this trip since someone always needed to stay behind with Dave. Unfortunately this means I was never able to see Dave do anything, but he did take a video of one of his wake board runs for me so I could watch later and he has improved a lot in the last few years! I was able to water ski a couple times and Sophie took a tube ride. We also took turns in the kayaks. I'm looking forward to next year when Davey can participate more!

Sammamish Summer 2016 - Part Two (4th of July)

We had a typical northwest 4th of July, meaning that it was cool and rainy.  We hung around the house in the day and let the kids play. Luckily the weather was never enough to threaten the fireworks, and we were able to go out on the boat in the evening to watch the lake show which never disappoints!

Sophie with her cousins Will and Anne. They played so well this trip! Sophie is already looking forward to seeing them again at Christmas. 

My dad grilling our burgers in the rain

The kids had some ice cream cones out on the deck where they could watch little firework shows going off around the lake. Sophie insisted she wasn't cold, but it made me shiver to look at her. 

Only in the northwest would you need to wear a down coat in July :)

Once it got dark we went down to lake. The neighbors do a good show off their dock that we watched before going out on the boat. The noise was a bit much for Sophie because they were right over our head, but she wasn't scared!

A lovely picture of us on the boat headed out for the big show. Davey was a brick in his life jacket, but didn't protest too much and eventually fell asleep and stayed out for the rest of the night. 

The fireworks are launched from a barge in the middle of the lake and from our boat we are able to get great view! My favorite part is hearing the echo off the surrounding mountains, and seeing the reflection off the water. God bless America!!

Sammamish Summer 2016 - Part One

We just returned from one trip and have three days at home before we head out again. I was going to try and blog everything in one post to get it done, but I have a gazillion pictures and it would have turned into a novel. I decided to break it down into a few smaller, but still long, posts and here's installment one:

THE DRIVE We left at the end of June to drive up to Washington to visit all of my family. It was the perfect time to leave as Utah was reaching 100 degrees, while the northwest was still in the 60s-70s. My sister lives in Eastern Oregon so we stopped at her house for the night. It was so nice to spread the drive out over a couple days, especially with a baby that wants to eat every couple hours. Davey did pretty good with only one crying fit, and Sophie mostly listened to Disney music, napped, and watched some shows I had loaded on the iPad. 

MARINERS GAME Our first activity was a baseball game with the whole family. Dave and I were put in charge of the kid party wagon (all 5 carseats fit!), and after everyone aired their initial grievances, the drive actually went great. Sophie was too young to understand a lot of what was happening at the game, but did enjoy the music, snacks and atmosphere. It was also Italian heritage night so we all got free t-shirts. Best of all, the M's won! 

LAKE TIME Of course our main activity in the summer is the lake. The weather wasn't the best while we were there, but every time the sun did come out we would run down for some fun, and if it ever was too chilly, we just jumped in the hot tub afterward. The kids really enjoyed throwing rocks off the dock and taking turns going out on the wave runner. My dad also got out the fire pit one night for some marshmallows and s'mores. 

MINI RAGNAR My family has participated in the Ragnar relay race the past four years, but decided it was too much to do it again this year so my mom arranged a "mini" ragnar race around Lake Sammamish. The total distance was about 24 miles. The first car was my mom, me, Dave, and my sister Amy. Dave's portion was supposed to be just over a mile, but we messed up the exchange, and by the time we caught up to him he had gone close to four miles. Go Dave! After we were done we went back home to watch the kids and my mom, Nat, and Brodie ran the rest. At the end my mom ran across the finish line with Sophie and Anne and then we enjoyed a picnic lunch and lawn games at Marymoor Park. 

PICTURES SUNDAY On the 3rd of July we went to church. My kids wore their red, white and blue and I was finally able to get a cute picture of them together. After naps, we also all went down to the dock and took a group picture. It had been a couple years since our last Lambert Family photo and the kids have grown and Davey and Faye have joined the family. I'm not sure if it's going to be a Christmas card photo, so I won't post it here yet and spoil things. After the group photo, however, we took a picture of just our little family that actually turned out. I love it!!

June Roundup

We are in Washington right now, but I can't start blogging all our vacation fun until finish out June. It was a pretty low key month. I worked for three weeks at the school to get ready for next year, but also had a lot of time off to do stuff with the kids. Dave started the job application process (!!!!), Sophie finally started telling us when she has to go potty (instead of the other way around), and Davey was just his pleasant self. We also signed the lease on our town home for the fourth and final year. Our landlord has been great and only raised the rent once by $25 over the four year period. The heat arrived and we had several 100 degree days that made us extra excited to head out for the cooler northwest.

Enjoying the sharks at the aquarium

Chatting with daddy

Sophie LOVES bath and takes a good 90 minute bubble soak every other day

Playing wedding princesses

Watching some morning cartoons

My handsome boy

After seeing Doc McStuffins hold her baby sister on TV, Sophie finally started showing some interest in Davey and asked if he could sit next to her for a minute. 

Chilling poolside

And some Sophie moments:

• We were at the store and I was getting something off the top shelf and she told me "Mommy, you are too medium to reach high things."
• Sometimes she will ask me if I need a new battery when I look tired, and then pretend to put one in my back to give me more energy. If only it was that easy...

Family Swim Night

The kids are both napping right now (a rare treat!) and we are leaving town in two days, but looking at pictures is more fun than packing or cleaning.... so here goes a blog post so this time can be classified as "productive" instead of "lazy".

Last night we all went down to the neighborhood pool after dinner. We've been swimming a lot in the last couple weeks, because that's pretty much all you can do when it's 100 degrees out, but this was the first time we could all go together. It was so nice to have two adults so one of us could swim with Sophie, and one of us could take care of Davey. We had also bought some pool toys at the dollar store (so bath toys could stop pulling double duty) and Sophie was excited to try them out. The best part was we were the only ones there! On a warm Saturday night! That's pretty much a miracle :)

My little fish

This was Davey's first time in the pool. He is too little to wear sunscreen so he normally watches from the shade on the side, but since we went in the evening this time he was able to get in. He was happy for about 5 minutes and then decided he was done. 

Feeling better now that he's warm and dry - look at that belly!

Video: At the end we had Sophie race Dave a few times to wear her out before bed. At the very end of the video, right before I cut it off, she says "Daddy, I have a wedge" :)