This is the best time of the year to be in Leavenworth - the sun is out, the temps are warm, and the colors are changing. Bennett was trooper as we did some painting and projects at the cabin - he found ways to entertain himself with the few toys and small spaces. (He had an ear infection here that traveled to his eye which is why his right eye looks droopy - it's all cleared up now)
There was lots of swinging at the cabin of course

Finding new ways to eat - "helping" us with the projects turned into raspberry skewers, yummy; and so manly!

Fall is here but Bennett still loves to be outside all the time so we've outfitted him in some fun new boots - which he wants to wear all the time.

Picnic with Avery - she got to spend the day with us like old times and the kids were so happy all day.

They expressed their happiness with endless smiles and kisses.

Come on Everybody...

Brent and I had the opportunity to be attendees at a great event last Friday. This event was the launch of the Ben Towne Foundation - an organization that is going to do amazing things for the treatment of pediatric cancer. This, of course, is close to my heart. Did you know that 1 in 300 children will be diagnosed with cancer? Yet, The National Institute of Cancer allows only 3% of it's funding to be allotted for pediatric cancer research. This is alarming to me. Brent and I rushed home after a moving and tearful night to hug our little man; life is so precious.

Jeff and Carin Towne, in conjunction with Dr. Jensen, are going to do amazing things in honor of their son, Ben. Check it out; and spread the word. This will be big.

Arizona

We flew to Tucson for a sisters vacation to visit Gram. The traveling was so smooth - Bennett got his own seat next to me on both flights. Although on the way home, he spent quite a bit of time in Aunt Jenny's lap - thanks Jenny, we love you!

Water time!

Naked pool time

Story time with Grammy

Masterpieces take great concentration to create

Handsome boy

Helping Gram with the corn - he ate a whole cob by himself for dinner

Baking Snickerdoodles

Gram's backyard (looking for Roadrunners)

Beautiful Maya was such a trooper - she was a sick baby during the vacation but you barely would have known

Gram had a rock collection that Bennett loved

Poor Aunt Jenny ("GiGi) - the kids "helped" her with everything

Testing out the golf cart

Crayons were a lifesaver on the plane

Snuggled up at home in his own bed after being a super traveler

18 Months

He's in love with the garbage truck - every Wednesday morning we head outside and wave to the truck and watch them pick up the trash
We found a great hike near our cabin - Hidden Lake

Watching the birds with Daddy

Splashing in the water with Mommy

Our little man is so much fun - I just can't believe he's a year and a half already. Every day is an adventure and he makes us laugh so much. He's such a sweet, lovable boy who is very sensitive to others emotions and shy with strangers and but at the same time, he's all boy: active, messy, loud, and rambunctious...we love it all!

Heat Wave

Hiking Wallace Falls
Happy campers on the way up...napped most of the way down

Watering the flowers at the Childrens Museum

Tending to the carrots

Lots of pool time lately

A family shot from the crabbing trip

Backyard pool time at the Johnstons

The Summer Haps

Softball is added to our list of ball sports we love to play

Sharing milk with Avery - true love

Berries!!

Water fountain park in Kent with cousins Evan and Ruby

Picnic at Greenlake with the ducks

Finally, some sun!

Bathrobe time after pool time!

Friday pancake breakfast while camping on Lopez

Building sandcastles at the beach

Watching Dada pull in a lot of crab for dinner

Rained out...camp was wet and Bennett was in heaven

Home and dry - baking zucchini bread with our harvest from the garden

Summertime

Summer has finally arrived! Bennett is 17 months old and impressing us everyday with his developing personality and skills. Here's what he's up to lately:

- Being outside - whenever possible, as much as possible.

- Swimming - he loves to play in the wading pool and paddle in the big pool, he'll even dunk under with us

- Balls - especially basketball, but he's really not that picky. He loves to throw, shoot, hoard, bounce, and carry them

- Bikes - with all my STP training, he's fallen in love with the bike (and is very disappointed when he doesn't get to come along on a ride). We bought him a trike that he loves to ride to the park

- New words - he can say "mama" "dada" "lola" "ball" "up" "down" "uh-oh" "agua" "thank you" and sign many more (my favorite sign is "hot")

- Animal sounds - elephant, bear, lion, dog, chicken, and duck

- He loves, loves, loves his Dada - he often won't let me run the bedtime routine if Dad is around

Swimming in the pool in Yakima over 4th of July weekend. He is a true water baby and will jump right in.

Dog couch - Yakima is hard work for the dogs...mice to chase, canals to swim, orchards to explore. Hannah, Lola, and Olive slept well all weekend (and for days after returning home).

His new trike! He looks distressed here because I stopped very near the park for a photo op and he wasn't too excited about the delay.

Riding the tractor at the zoo.

Proudly carrying the first zucchini harvested. We've had lots of lettuce, chard, and herbs so far...still waiting on the rest of the bounty.