15 years and counting

Just got back from an amazing trip

celebrating an amazing 15 years together.

Couldn't be happier.

Pictures and details to follow....

Little fish

We finished our first week of swimming lessons at the Henry Moses Aquatic Center in Renton. After staying up until midnight to register the girls (I heard they are popular and fill up quickly), I am so glad they are worth it! We go at 11-11:30 each day, and all three girls are in different classes. I am very impressed by their organization and instruction, and the kids are loving it. It is an outside pool, but the water is so warm that even on the chilly days it doesn't bother us. And I do mean "us" because I am lucky enough to get into my swimsuit each day and be with Addison. Here are some highlights from our first week, thanks to Becky for coming one day and snapping a bunch of pictures.

Symantha and cousin Brayden (they are in the same class)

 One of the downfalls of all being in lessons at the same time is that I am not there to see that Symantha OBVIOUSLY needs her ponytail put back in. 

Hailey

Addison

It is so nice that Addison gets to do it instead of being sad about watching the other girls. We do all sorts of fun songs and games in the water and she is getting way better at going under water and doing "reach and pull".

The other bonus to having swimming lessons here is that one half-hour after swimming lessons is over, the public session opens for the whole water park. We stayed on Monday with Kurt, Steph and all the kids (along with their significant others).

Colby, Hailey, Amanda, Austin

Aren't they cute?

And they are cute, too:)

Week two of swimming lessons starts today.  Looking forward to it!

Cle Elum, Take 3

We escaped to Cle Elum once again last weekend, but this time it was to escape the heat at home! It was more comfortable to head to our air conditioned camping trailer over the mountains, then stay home and bake here. Grandma and Grandpa Edwards joined us for part of the time and it was fun spending time with them. Plus, it gave us a chance to add some new activities to our Cle Elum "routine".

Things like jump roping...

Symantha loves it, Hailey tries REALLY hard, and Addi just stands there and smiles. Or she takes the jump rope and turns it into a leash for her pretend dog...

We also headed to Lake Kachees for some hiking...

Addi was really mad at the people who had boats, and kept saying, "They should share!" I agree, it really wasn't fair and it would have been nice if the strangers would have shared their nice boats with us.

But hiking was good, too.

Don't Hailey and Derek look alike in that picture?

Back at the property, the big girls did some "Swing Surfing". They had a song to go with it and everything.

And of course, the old standby of riding the quad (or chasing after it)

And just loving each other.

Addi's hair

I love this girl's hair. 

I love the little curl at the end. I love how soft it is. I love doing all different things with it (when I have time). 

I even love it when it's messy like this...

Symantha had the same hair, and I loved hers too.

Here is Symantha at the same age as Addison (2 1/2)

In so many pictures, I can hardly tell who is who.

But Symantha's needed to be cut at some point, and so will Addi's. 

I do not want to cut it and am holding off as long as I can.

But I see it coming in the next couple of months.... sad.

August 10 on 10

Got home too late to actually post these on the 10th, but close enough!

Cuddling with wool blanket in AUGUST

Goodbye to Daddy

Happy birthday, Mom!

 At the library

Pink blanky is returned after three days missing

Grocery shopping

Looking at Mommy's scrapbook

Heading to dinner with some of my favorite girls (AJ, Chrissy, Heather)

Dinner wasn't quite enough... headed for dessert

Time to kick my feet up

The Sprayground

Amy Jo found a great park in Tacoma (which I think some of my friends have been to - Jefferson Park?) and we headed there on Wednesday. The weather was hot, the park was a nice mix of sprinklers and toys, and the daycare kids were clearing out by the time we got there.  Perfection.

I promise, I just let her do this long enough to get a picture, then I said it was yucky:)

Secrets

It's one of the things they do together.

It's usually

"I love you Daddy"

or

"I love you Baby"

or

"Go tell Mommy I love her"

It's always cute.