My friend Molly Shaw, her son Spencer and friend Niki and I all went hiking on the Eagle Creek trail. This trail burned out a few years ago but has recently opened again. So sad to see all the burned trees but so amazing to see the new growth...nature will survive.
A blackened tree on the trail
I had never hiked this trail before and it was so beautiful! I want to bring my kids here some time.
Had to stop at the Eastwind drive in for the biggest ice cream cones ever...these were the "small" ones!!
Hyrum and Julian spent the day wandering around Portland while I was in Virginia. Sometimes it's nice to explore the place you live like a tourist:)
Sailing on the Skinny Dan. We are loving exploring this new part of the Columbia River now that our boat is docked in St. Helens.
"Forced" family fun at Cannon Beach with Julian. He says he hates the beach 😏
Something in this tide pool was glowing this awesome iridescent blue color, I'm not sure what it was but it was pretty cool. We always hope to see puffins on Haystack Rock when we visit but so far no luck...one of these days we will come at the right time!
Julian on his very last day of Middle School (8th grade)
Evergreen Middle School hosted an outdoor "walk through" graduation for the 8th graders. Not very exciting but the teachers were all there cheering for the kids and they received their 8th grade diplomas.
A little celebration for my 8th grade graduate!
I hosted a graduation party for Julian and some of his friends, Ainsley, Caitlyn and Ian. They played kubb, we had Panda Express for dinner and then they watched a movie. I'm so glad he has a great group of friends.
These 2 finished their first semester at OSU with a 4.0 GPA. I am so proud of them and all their hard work! Also, it took us 4 hours to pack up and move out of their dorm room...how could these kids have so much stuff in such a small space??
I decorated their doors at home with hearts and a "We missed you" sign 💗
We went for a walk as a family. It's so fun to have my boys all back together. I know Julian loves having his big brothers home!
I volunteered to help in the "kitchen" (let's be honest, it was a tent with some camp stoves!) for our Stake YM camp. Julian was really not wanting to go and so I offered to come with him and bring our tent trailer. I think me being there helped him a lot. He says he had a terrible time but I think deep down he had some fun.
The camp had all sorts of activities the kids rotated through each day. I thought the axe throwing was pretty cool.
Julian and his friend Josh playing chess during some down time.
If he was bored he would come help out in the kitchen. He was actually a pretty good chopper and was willing to do whatever we needed.
Hyrum has started sailing in a race every Thursday. He and his cousin, Scott Ashby, have been in 3 races so far and they have so much fun each week. This is a photo with Scott and a random guy that was at the docks just wanting to go for a sail...so they picked him up:) I'm so glad Hyrum has found a passion that he loves and looks forward to doing any chance he gets!
We went strawberry picking and made a bunch of delicious jam!
Family bike ride from Orenco Woods Nature park...
...to McBee's for some yummy crepes and milkshakes! Our summer is off to a wonderful start!
