Washington Trip

This summer, my little sister, Pamela, was getting married in Tacoma. So we decided to drive out and make kind of a longer trip, and spend some time with family! This trip was so nice for us! We had so much fun seeing everyone, and just hanging out!
We stopped in Yakima and stayed a few days with my parents. The kids loved that we were finally getting some extended time out of the car. They especially loved that there was a back yard they could just go play in without needing Mom or Dad with them!
After that we went on to Puyallup and spent some time with Isaac's family! Again, the kids absolutely loved the enclosed back yard, and they loved the legos! And we all really enjoyed just relaxing, playing games, and having fun!
Jacquelyn and Doug watched the kids so we could go to a Mariners game.

Of course, we went to my sister's wedding!

We went to Lincoln Park in Seattle, where Joslyn got to try out her new kite she got for her birthday!

We went to Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium! The kids absolutely loved this! Especially the Aquarium and touching the sting rays and sharks!

Of course of all the things at the zoo, Dorian's favorite was the lady bug on the trash can! Can you find it?

And it's not a real trip to Washington, unless you go to Mt. Rainier!

Fun in the back yard, using hose connections as microphones!

On the way back to Minnesota, we got to spend a day with Joshua and Rebecca and their family. During the whole trip up to this point, every time we got in the car Joslyn would ask, "are we going to Agnes' house now?" She always has so much fun with her cousins! I didn't get any pictures, but we had a lot of fun. The sand dunes were such a big hit with the kids!

The next night we decided that instead of getting a hotel, we were going to camp. It was rough without enough sleeping bags for everyone, and no pillows, but the kids still thought it was great and had a really good time!

 

It was a long, and very fun trip. It was so fun to spend time with family, and really nice to spend time with just the four of us on the long drive. But we're glad to be back and be getting back into a routine again!

Joslyn's Birthday!

This post is really late! About a month ago, Joslyn turned 4! I can't believe how big she has gotten! She is so kind to other children, especially to Dorian. She always helps us (and other people at the play ground) understand what Dorian is saying, and she is always eager to help others. Recently she has said the wants to be a mom that is an astronaut, a doctor, and she wants a horse when she grows up! She loves to laugh and be silly, and she is such a great little singer! We sure love having her in our family!

This year Joslyn's birthday kind of went on for a whole month! She really wanted to have a birthday party with her friends in Minnesota before we went on our trip to Washington. So we made her a Lego Batman cake, and had some friends come and play!

Then on the day of her birthday, we were in Puyallup with Grandma and Grandpa Swift. So we had some family come over, and she got to have this beautiful cake that Grandma made! With a heart inside!

And some more birthday fun in Puyallup!

And then, because we forgot to bring her birthday presents to Washington with us, she got to have another birthday party when we got back to Minnesota! (Sans cake and ice cream this time.)

Fun Summer

It's been a great summer so far! The kids absolutely love being outside and doing things. And there is so much to do around here. I think the kids favorite thing though, is just walking to the wading pool about a mile away from our apartment.
Some highlights so far were when Jacquelyn and Doug came for a visit. I guess I forgot to take pictures, but it was really fun! We went to Fort Snelling and looked at a bunch of cool stuff, and then we went to the Fort Snelling Cemetery to see Jacquelyn's grandfather's grave. We also went to Minnesota's largest candy store! It really fun! Jacquelyn found some candies that she used to eat when she was a kid that she hasn't seen in a long time. It was fun to show those to the kids. The kids each got to pick one thing from the candy store, Joslyn picked this giant lolly pop

 And Dorian picked out a bag of pretzel and cheddar gold fish haha!

A few days after they left was July 4th. Our ward had a brunch planned at a park, but it was super rainy and thunderstorming, so they moved it to the church. It was still really fun though. They played indoor kick ball, and Isaac's and Dorian's team won!
Later, the rain cleared up, and we were able to go to the firework show in Stillwater. They said this year it was the biggest firework show in the state. It was really cool. We got there at like nine, and just grabbed the first spot that we found. We thought the fireworks would be really far away, but they ended up being right in front of us!

The other day while we were playing at the park, an ambulence and police car showed up. Dorian really loved the sirens and lights and just before they left, one of the police officers gave the kids some sticker badges!

Illinois High Point

We decided to try and get the Illinois high point early this summer. It is privately owned, and to avoid having people coming to their farm all the time, the owners open it for only four weekends in the summer. Because we have a lot of stuff going on this summer, we decided to go to the first one, just in case something came up and we wouldn't be able to make it to a later day. And we got our 8th high point! The hike was a little over a mile there and back. And it was fun because pretty much everyone who hikes there are high pointers! For one of the guys we talked to, this was his 38th high point! I felt a little silly calling myself a high pointer after that, but I guess everyone starts with just one!

After we did the high point we drove out to my bother's house. He moved out to the Chicago area last summer, and my sister-in-law just had their seventh kid! My mom had come out to help out with the new baby too, so it was nice to see her for a while. We didn't stay with them very long, but even the short visit was really nice.

Joslyn and some of her cousins after church on Sunday!

 We drove back home from Illinois on Monday, and when passed through Milwaukee we decided to stop at the Horticulture Domes. They were conservatories of plants from three different climates. It was pretty cool, but we didn't think it was worth the amount we had to pay. We have been pretty spoiled by the awesome free conservatory that is by us.

This was a life size sun dial

One of the domes was a rain forest climate, one was a desert, and the third was called the show room. I think the show room was one that they change a few times a year. 

The coolest part of the Domes was the dinosaur thing they had going on. They had dinosaur statues and signs that told all about them. The kids really enjoyed it.