Kurt’s parents gave us there piano. They are trying to downsize as they are retiring and trying to move. We are so excited to have it in our home. We had our first Family Home Evening with actual music and not us singing acapella. Jake is going to start lessons in a few weeks. We have already spent lots of time sitting down playing music (the boys just hit keys and pretend to sing). I can’t wait to watch my boys develop musical talents. Thanks John and Angie!

Kurt played his violin again this year in our community orchestra for the summer musical. This year they did Hello Dolly. He told the director in the spring that he wasn’t going to be able to do it this year because he would be out of town the week of dress rehearsals and for two of the performances. She begged him to come anyways and said she would get a friend of hers to replace him for the times he was gone. They really needed him to play. He did a great job. He said the music for this was really fun to play.

Josh had two days to celebrate his birthday. We woke up and he got to open his gifts from us. We gave him a picnic bench to go in the backyard. Jake gave him some musical toys that they pretended to be a rock band. He also opened his gifts from Grandma and Grandpa D. We had lunch out on his picnic bench. Kurt had a performance that night so we did cake and ice cream the next night. I made him a barnyard cake. It turned out really cute.

Josh has grown up so much in the last few weeks. He has decided he is too big for everything. He will not sit in his booster at the table, he climbs into Jake’s seat in the car, and he throws a fit every time he has to sit in the shopping cart. We gave in on the booster but not the other two. We have been taking his rail off of his crib a few times in the last few months. At night he would throw a fit and we would have to put it back on to get him to go to sleep. He finally has agreed to have it off the whole night. He has only fallen out of it a few times. He still needs one nap and is ready to go to bed early. He also has been weened from his binki. He had three left a few months ago. He lost one and bit holes through the other two. He was devastated for two weeks. Every night he would look under his bed hoping to find one and he would walk around the house asking for it. Luckily, he still had his blanket for some comfort. He loves putting on his shoes to go places and loves waving goodbye to dad in the morning and blowing kisses. His favorite tv show is Curious George. We tease him and tell him it is because they talk the same by grunting. Josh only says a handful of words. But, he loves yelling Jake’s name all the time. He knows all his body parts. He has the best laugh and loves to be tickled. He is such a happy easy going little buddy. Birthday pictures and video to the right.

We had a very fun week on vacation. We started in Portland. My sister had a baby. We met my family there for the baby blessing. The boys loved playing with their cousins. We spent time visiting with family, taking a walk along a boardwalk, and playing at the school playground. For the 4th of July we went to my brother in laws office downtown to see the fireworks. We had a great view of them being shot off of a barge on the waterfront. It was a long firework show accompanied by some music from the Blues Festival.

After a few days there we drove to Oregon City to visit with Kurt’s sister’s family and meet up with his parents. We then drove to Seattle for a few days with his parents where we had lots of activities planned and no rest time. We thought Seattle would be cooler but they were having record heat highs and it was hot.

Day 1- Woodland Park Zoo: Jake woke up not feeling good with a fever so he sat most of the time in the stroller sleeping. Josh loved the animals and kept growling at everything. It was a big zoo with giraffes, elephants, bears, gorillas, a hippo, penguins, lots of varieties of birds, lions, tigers, and more.

Red Mill Burger: This was one of many places that Kurt had to eat at in Seattle. It was really busy but yummy.

Museum of Flight: This had lots of different types of aircraft to view. We got to walk through a Concorde and a retired Air Force One.

Mariners Game: This was Kurt’s favorite. Kurt grew up going to a few games with his dad and has great memories. The field was very impressive. I wish Jake had felt better so we could dance and cheer with the rest of the audience.

Day 2- Seattle Aquarium: Jake was feeling much better and ran around looking at all the sea animals. Josh had a fever and was really cranky. We got to see lots of feeding of different animals.

Ivars: Another one of Kurt’s eating picks. Jake loved feeding the seagulls that wait around for leftover french fries. You just put your hand out with food and they swoop down to eat it out of your hand.

Argosy Cruise: This was my favorite. We got on a boat that cruised around and had a narrator pointing out sights as we drove by. I loved being on the water.

Pike’s Market: We walked through all the shops and saw some fish throwing that Jake thought was really funny. It was so crowded and hard to walk anywhere so we didn’t stay long.

Ferry: We got on the ferry and rode it over to Bainbridge Island and back. We watched all the cars, motorcycles, and bicyclists get on and off the ferry.

The Crab Pot: Again this was on Kurt’s list. They brought a bunch of different sea food and dumped it on the table for everyone. Kurt was in heaven eating it all.

Space Needle: With our pass we got two rides on the elevator to the top of the Space Needle. We took the first ride at night. It was fun to see the city at night with all the lights. Josh screamed most of the time at the top. I think he was tired and wanted to go to bed. It was a long day.

Day 3- Space Needle: Our second trip was during the day. Jake liked this even more. He kept asking where things were that we had seen during the rest of our trip.

Science Center: This was like our Children’s Museum at home. We didn’t spend too much time here since we only paid for a few hours of parking. It was a little run down and we were glad that we saved it for the end so we didn’t waste much time.

We then drove back to Portland and then back home. It is always a good feeling to be home. Pictures are to the right. Click on one to go to our Flickr page to see all of them.

We love living in a place with so many fun things to do. This last weekend our city had Fort Herriman Days. On Friday night we went to the park to see the classic cars and participate in Touch a Truck. The boys got to climb in trucks like a fire truck, police car, a truck with a crane, backhoe, and lots more. They got to honk the horns and touch all the buttons. It was so fun to see them climb into everything so excited. Saturday morning Kurt and I ran in the Step Rock 5K. Our times were about the same as when we ran our last race in the fall. The course was much harder and had lots of hills. We then rushed home so that I could take Jake and Josh to the parade. Jake was so excited to catch all the candy. Josh had one piece in his basket for a long time before he realized that he could get more to put in there. But whenever someone would put a flyer in his basket he would throw it back out. Only candy belongs in him. Jake gladly took the extra papers, he thought he was going to get something with them. In the afternoon, Kurt had to sit at the Herriman Art Council booth since he is on the orchestra board. Because he volunteered we got free wristbands for the boys to go on all the rides. We spent three hours walking the booths and on the rides. We didn’t quite make it to the fireworks that night. Everyone was so tired.