B.A.D. is good.

today we headed over to the Brownsville Marina for "Brownsville Appreciation Days". katie was performing a program with her music class. i was quite proud that she actually got up on stage and sang (or at least lip-synced.)



her good buddy sophie came to watch her, and when she was done i took the girls on a little sailboat ride in the harbor right there while nathan and steve went to the "daddy playpen" (otherwise known as the beer garden.)



after that we all went to grab some burgers and dogs for lunch, and then we walked out on the pier. as we were walking, one of the crew from the sailboat "lavengro" asked us if we'd like to go on a 1-hour sailboat ride for FREE. being the thrifty person that i am, i jumped at the opportunity. the boat was leaving in 10 minutes so i high-tailed it back onto shore to hunt down austin. when i found him he was with britt and cici, so they all came on the sailboat with us.


the lavengro.


katie and austin, ready to set sail.


cici and britt.


steve and soph-ball.


the crew wasted no time putting everyone to work. here's nathan and austin helping to hoist the sail.


watching the sail hoist.


captain sophia, bringing the boat into shore.


nathan.


me.

thanks for looking!

back to school.

today my older 2 kids went back to school. on one hand i dreaded it: the return to SCHEDULES, and HOMEWORK, and RESPONSIBILITIES. on the other, i rejoiced: a little peace and quiet, a reprieve from all the bickering and craziness during the day.


katie, in front of her second grade classroom.


this is the most cooperation i could get from austin; what can i say, he's a 16-year-old boy.

while the older ones were at school, sam and i took the opportunity for a little playtime at the park. funny how one of the hottest days of the year so far is just in time for back-to-school. at least sam got to take advantage of it though. we checked out the new play structure at lion's park. not terribly impressed with it, but they DID have this cool rock that spouted water into the sand around it for a "sandcastle-building" area. he and his friends had a ball playing in that mess.


sam and gabby, on top of the rock. NOTE: disrobed barbie in gabby's hand, she was apparently playing "naked barbie pool party", good thing sam likes that game too.


sam.


when the kids were all done playing, they were SO full of sand.....


that we had to strip them down and hose them off. (good thing they are all adorable enough to get away with running around the park in their skivvies!! :)

thanks for looking!

Bremerton Blackberry Festival.

we went to the blackberry festival last saturday. the weather was beautiful (so nice of summer to finally make an appearance the week before school starts back, eh? but whatever, i'm not going to complain.) we walked around and checked out the vendors, ate lots of yummy food (of which the highlight was fry bread with blackberries and whipped cream on top, YUM) and sat and enjoyed a couple shows at the children's stage.


chalk art contest entry


sam coming out of a bouncy toy.


manette bridge as seen from the end of the boardwalk.


ferry coming in!


sam investigating the waters.


sam and mommy.


aus with his girlfriend meghan and his brothers.

thanks for looking!