kate is eight.

(so what? i wanted something rhymey, but "katie turns eighty" didn't work!)


a still-groggy katie eating her b-day breakfast.


katie with her birthday posse.


the cake.


making a wish.


opening presents.


austin and megs.


hard to believe, but this may have been the last party that these guys will be the "babies" at.

this year katie decided to raise money for PAWS of bremerton, a local animal welfare organization. this is also the organization that helped us re-home our kitty, mosely, shortly after moving to WA. she raised $61.00 to donate to this deserving organization. i am so pleased with the fact that she has a cause she is passionate about (that happens to be the same as her mama's!)

wow it's been over a month since my last blog post. sorry to all 3 or so of you regular readers out there LOL as always, thanks for reading! (and if you REALLY want to make my day, feel free to comment!)

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!

scenes from the lake.

we went camping this weekend at lake quinault with some friends. here's a brief sampling of our weekend.


us, in front of our campground. it was just to the left of this sign.


sam helping tiff and andrew set up camp.


testing the water.


dimi and lauren chillin' in their tent.


austin getting some quality "benji-bonding" time :) (that was our tent up on the hill in the back)


ANYTIME is a great time for a pedicure! katie painted sam and gabby's toes for them.


dinner friday night. note how artfully andrew arranged the dogs.


katie thinks rabbit ears are HILARIOUS.


s'mores. need i say more?


dimi, lauren and aus playing "go fish" (at which apparently dimi was CHEATING *gasp*) LOL


saturday was perfect weather for a swim in the lake....


followed by a canoe ride.


benji just hanging out.


many hours were spent by the littles catching and releasing inchworms.


we couldn't leave without checking out the "world's largest" spruce tree....


thar she is.


all the kiddos.


nathan and i.

thanks for checking out our weekend escapades!

independence day.

it was a low-key day. we went over to my friend heidi's house for a BBQ...there was food and volleyball and friends and sun and lawn games and kids and a fire and sparklers and fireworks and much fun and laughter.




austin and his BFF steven (steven's mom obviously never told him about his face sticking like that....)


while we were playing volleyball, we had our very own cheer section LOL.....you can't even see the funniest part of the whole thing: "dolphins" is spelled out PERFECTLY backwards.


meghan, dimi, steven, austin.


firing up the party.


nathan showing katie and sam how to light their sparklers in the fire.


our "fourth-of-july-guy".


a bunch of the kids lighting sparklers from each other.

thanks for looking!

happy 1.1.11.

some pics from last night....we headed over to heidi's house with a few other friends for a lil' low-key celebration close to home.


girls. (moi.heather.heidi.wendy.tiff.)


boys. (andrew.steve.nathan.jeff.)


this is a bunch of FUN couples, folks ;)


heather. hovering several hundred feet above the seattle skyline LOL


it's like i was RIGHT THERE!!


heidi's kitchen floor....she LOVES confetti!


i love her ♥


sober heather rockin' the pink snuggie.


and the best for last :) my fave pic of the night LOL

best wishes for a happy.fulfilling.joyful.splendiferous. 2011!! thanks for looking!