Recent Events

I have not been in the blogging mood at all lately - maybe it's the nice weather...

Here are some pictures of what's been going on around here these days.

With afternoon preschool approaching this fall, we are weaning Sam from his daily nap.  It hasn't been easy (the boy LOVES his sleep) but I've really enjoyed having that extra time with him every day when Declan naps.  He loves to play on the computer - PBS kids online and Photo Booth are his favorites.  We also play a LOT of Go Fish.

The last few weeks, Declan has unleashed his inner artist.  He is now very intense about coloring and drawing and will sit for 20 minutes at a time working on one picture.  (That might not sound like a long time, but believe me, it is for a Ratchford boy!)  He uses tiny little detail, drawing small circles and little "letters."  It's really fascinating to watch him at work!

The kids have their last week of school this week and are excited for summer.  Grace wrapped up a huge class biography project and did an amazing job learning, writing, and teaching the class about Sacajawea.

Baseball season is over.  We loved it, but it will be nice having our Wednesdays and Saturdays back again!

We had several days of pretty hot weather and spent lots of time swimming in the backyard.  (I've been living in Washington almost two years, so it's true that my idea of "hot" has changed.  It really only got into the low 80's.)

Last week we went on a drive to Blanchard Mountain to the Samish Overlook.  It had an  absolutely breathtaking view of the San Juan Islands and Skagit Valley.  

We did some exploring and hiking in the woods, but sadly, this was the last picture we got before Garreth accidentally dropped the camera!  It's been weird not having a camera all week (Garreth said it's like me not having my arm) but I don't feel too bad, since I now have to buy a new one!  (I never liked the shutter speed on the old one anyway!)  But we missed out on a few great photo opportunities this weekend, like the Demolition Derby (I seriously love a good demo derby - does that mean I'm white trash?!) and the Scottish Highland Games.  (And we finally were there at the right time and got to see the athletic events - the caber toss was our favorite!)  Shopping for a new camera is on the to do list this week, so hopefully we'll have lots more pictures to share soon!