This Evening

 This evening was just one of those nights. Too hot to get much of anything done, the swimming pool beckoning us after dinner. We skipped the dishes, headed outside, and enjoyed what is sure to be one of our last summer evenings this year. Sleepy baby soaked himself in the kiddie pool almost immediately, so skinny dipping seemed the way to go. He splashed and played and squealed with glee before heading over to cheer on his sisters' lively game of 'monkey-in-the-middle'. And cheer he did, with great enthusiasm. Then he crawled around, explored, and was happy to find a lone plastic dinosaur, left behind from one of yesterday's games. After climbing on and off of the little tykes picnic table a few times, greater mischief soon found him and, after checking if anyone was looking, he headed for his favorite thing...the stairs. After reaching the top he surveyed his little kingdom and found, right at his feet, three little pots full of glorious dirt.
He played with it, talked to it, and had the best time any little boy could possibly ask for, before finishing the evening off with one very thorough bubble bath and falling fast, fast asleep.

The Lagoon

We happened upon a little, out of the way cove while hiking a few years ago, and it has become one of our favorite places on Earth. We've affectionately nicknamed it our lagoon, as only once have we ever encountered anyone else there. There are beautiful grassy trails, a little sandy beach, and plenty of rocks and logs to climb on and play with. A bonus, it is on a good sized lake, so we can paddle out a bit and the view is amazing. Every once in a while when it has rained and rained I admit I have those, "WHY do I live in the Northwest?" type moments. Then we head 30 minutes away to some place like this and I'm reminded, "Oh, yeah, THIS is why."

Summer Arrives

And its finally, finally, finally warm enough to play in the pool! That makes three (okay, four) happy girls around here!