Our Fabulous July

So far July has graced us with good company (my sister Hanna, her husband Sandy, his mother Leslie, and their dogs coming for a visit), sunshine and warmth, and weekend days with Daddy.  

It has been pretty heavenly.

We had a great 4th of July weekend and joined some friends at their lake house for some good food and good fun in the water:

(Sandy's mom Leslie is the ultimate grandma.  She was so grat with my girls and they loved her, would go out of their way to sit with her during meals, and she and little Lila just held hands and stood in the water looking out at the lake for a good 15-20 mintues.  Priceless.)

That weekend afforded Soren some wonderful "daddy time", and I just love seeing these two together:

We took a trip to the Reindeer Farm:

(Kenadie was a little afraid of the big reindeer but our brave little Lila didn't even flinch while they ran around her)

And the girls adored holding and petting the baby bunnies:

The fireweed is in bloom! (meaning we better enjoy every ounce of summer while it lasts):

We've gone on walks with Grandma Willardson through the "magic forest" (aka my parents' property):

We've spent a family afternoon at the park:

(Garrett and his mini-me)

We've taken drives up to Hatcher Pass and visited the beautiful Little Su River (only a few miles up the road from our house):

Apparently we've enjoyed ourselves too much and need to slow down a little because Mother Nature has brought a plague of illnesses upon our house the last week, leaving us home bound and reminding me of the days when I was a hospital nurse (minus the access to morphine, percocet, zofran, phenergan, ativan, wall suction, and laundry services--darn).

To give you a little clue about what's been going on at our home lately (and the education that it has apparently afforded my daughter), Kenadie exclaimed to me this morning: "Hey Mom!  "Poop", "puke", and "pee" all begin with the letter "P"!!  But not "diarrhea", right?!"

Oh dear......

Needless to say, I'm reeeeeeally looking forward to a complete return to health for our clan so we can get back out in the world and not have to spend another 80 degree day indoors!