"My Big Backyard" at the Botanic Gardens

There is a new exhibit at the Botanic Gardens called "My Big Backyard". It was so much fun for the girls. They have several playhouses or forts for the kids to play in. There was also a miniature clothesline with a washboard and bucket that the girls liked. They also had fun playing in the huge playhouse, dressing the wooden dolls, and playing in the "rain storm" which was created by sprinklers that sprayed off of a tin roof after sounds of thunder. We were there about 3 hours and they were exhausted by the time we left. This is definitely an activity that we'll do again.

August - Maylen starts school

It is so hard for me to believe that Maylen is old enough for Kindergarten! It still catches me by surprise. I know she is academically ready, but it just flew by so fast. We enrolled her into Harding Academy, a Christian school that seems to be a great academic fit for her. I think she'll do great this year, and she'll be provided with lots of venues to grow- mentally, spiritually, physically. Harding has required uniforms and Maylen is very excited about these uniforms. I'm glad in a way for them too. I have feared that once she was around other kids, she may be influenced as to what she would want to wear. So far, she has been excited every night about putting out the uniform that she will wear the next day. And she was especially excited that Kit could have a matching uniform, too!



Maylen had her "Meet the Teacher" night, and she got to tour her classroom. The night before school started we had a special dinner for her. My sister helped Maylen make a special school cake, I decorated the table in Harding colors, and "going to school" books. I hope to make this a tradition in our family.



Maylen's first day of school



Maylen and "Miss" Tracy



Maylen with Tessa, her friend from Mother's Day Out



William took Maylen to school on Friday, since he had the day off. She was excited that her daddy was taking her to school.



Maylen really likes her new backpack that I monogrammed for her. She's even got a lunch bag to match.

Our 10th Wedding Anniversary

On July 17th we celebrated our 10th Wedding Anniversary. William gave me flowers, a sweet card, a necklace and bracelet, and we went to dinner at Encore. The dinner was really amazing- French and very creatively displayed on our plates. Our tradition for every anniversary is to either take a trip together or to buy something that we want for the house, rather than give individual gifts. So we bought a 42" LCD TV. It was William's idea for sure, but it's been nice to watch movies on a much better and bigger tv.



About a week after we got the tv there were some terrible tornadoes in our area. It was a bit humorous to hear the girls say they were worried that the new tv would be damaged. Haha

JULY - VBS and more events from our summer.

July was a busy month for us. We had Vacation Bible School at Independent. I taught Maylen's class. The theme was Pirate Island. We were picked as one of the favorites for the room decorations by the 5th grade class and pictures of our room were posted in the VBS paper. The week was long and exhausting, but I think the kids had a great time, and most importantly learned some great bible verses and Bible stories.







William and I went to an "Around the World Birthday Bash" at the Harriman's. We were supposed to dress in costumes from different parts of the world. I dresses in a Chinese Kimono and William was a Caribbean Pirate. It was pretty funny to see the costumes of everyone and was a very fun party.



Morgan Harriman, Rachel Russ, me, Chrissy Smith


Here are a couple more of my favorite photos that I took.





Maylen had her first sewing project. She's been wanting to have a matching outfit for American Girl doll. So I made her a pillowcase dress, and she made Kit's dress. She really enjoyed being able to use the sewing machine for the first time. I'm so proud of her!

June Events: 4th of July and Pearson Family Gathering

We celebrated the 4th of July by attending Bellevue's Independence Day Celebration (which is actually held at the end of June). I've posted some pictures below.



My cousin Matthew, his wife Genna, and their kids, Abby and Noah came to visit us and we hosted a dinner for them. Here are a few pictures of the cousins playing.




Here are a few more of my favorite pictures that we've taken.

Our Summer: The Beach

It's been a long time since my last post. I have been neglecting to post pictures of the summer, and now that I'm so far behind it makes it a little more difficult to remember what all has happened.
We officially started our summer with a vacation to the beach. Adeline and Maylen had a great time playing with their cousins on the beach. It was definitely a fun trip for the girls-- not so much for me. Here are a few pictures of our trip.