July went like this...

July was glorious. The weather was great and I didn't have to find one indoor activity to entertain the kids all month. We never hit the movies or Chuck E Cheese once!

I managed to force them to go on a hike with me one morning. We drove out to the McLane Nature Trail, but when we got there I found that you now needed a Discover Pass to park and since all the other cars had one hanging I didn't think it was worth it. So we headed down to over to Watershed instead. I thought that it wouldn't be too hard to navigate the loop, but apparently it was. When I couldn't seem to figure it out we all decided that the best thing to do would be to retrace our steps. The kids were good sports about it and we had a fun, active morning together. 

Sam is always happy up in the backpack

Taking a little rest

We also managed to make it out to the fountains in Bremerton. I convinced Johanna to go with me and give it a try. She wasn't feeling well, so she was a good sport to come along. The kids had fun playing and it was a beautiful afternoon. The only problem was that we stayed later than we probably should have considering that we were camping the next day!

Sadie is like the sister Olivia never had

Sam also had fun hanging around the edge of the pool

I just love ferry boats

There was of course time for Coldstone before we left.

It seems to have done something to Thomas' face though!

Call us gluttons for punishment, but we also went back to Ensign ranch only a week after we were last there. It was a fun trip, but the big bummer was that we were way out at Far West and it was a long way to anywhere, including the campsite. It involved quite a lot of hauling from the cars and that wasn't super enjoyable. 

The boys played a bit of football

Zach got to ride again. This time he went on Zach.

Zach the horse has a fairly similar temperament to Zach the Cammack. He is grumpy and stubborn. He decided that he didn't really want to get led around the field and was only willing to go where he wanted to go. He kept running into me and I didn't like that very much, especially since I had Sam on my back so Olivia kind of got the shaft when her ride got cut short.

Thomas went out on another trail ride.

This time cowboy Spenser went with him.

Thomas and Spense with all the girls!

It was then time to head down to the slip and slide where Spenser yelled at a couple of boys for taking some of our younger kids out. It was all fun and games and then it was time to head home.

Thomas and Henry

Olivia, Abby and Sammy

Thomas also had his first tournament. The timing wasn't exactly awesome since Spenser was gone at Ragnar, but with some babysitting help we managed to make it work and Spenser even managed to get back in time to see his last game.

Excited to get going

Thomas was thrilled to be picked as a starter. He wasn't so thrilled that he had to play right back, but he had a good game and showed some promise. Here he is bowing his head and praying for a win.

The boys managed to pull out a win the first night, which gave them some confidence. Sadly, the rest of the tournament didn't prove quite as successful, but it helped them to see where they are and what improvements they can make. Their coach was also gone for the weekend because he plays college soccer and so having a different coach each game was also difficult for them I think.

We also managed a trip to the zoo with the Johnson kids and we took Ryan along too since we feel bad that he doesn't get to go too many places because his mom is at work. The day was a little cooler, but that's always the perfect weather for walking around.

The boys

The gang

Olivia likes to have her picture taken on as many statues as possible!

The kids loved seeing the elephants wandering around.

Monkeying around

Sam was a champion. I carried him around in the backpack while he was awake so that he could see what was going on. He thought that the animals were pretty interesting. I gave him a bottle in his stroller a little later and he went straight to sleep. He is a keeper.

We also ventured out to Tacoma to a new outdoor wave pool they just put it with the Johnson's and Penrods. The kids had a great time and I was surprised that it wasn't more crowded. We will definitely be making a few more trips up there before the summer is through.

 

 Sam just wandered around in the shallow end.

He will have much more fun next year.

At least one of the boys has a responsible mom!

A common sight this summer

Of course we made some time for lego building. I still need to send these photos into the Lego Club magazine.

A soccer stadium complete with concession booths.