ready for the beach....a little early

In case you don't know I LOVE the beach.  I am already looking forward to next summer so we can spend as many weekends as possible at the beach.  Today while running errands I found a bunch of buckets and sand toys on sale for 50cents each at Target!  I stocked up!  I've got a bucket for all the kids next year, even little baby Flynn :)  Hope all is well and I'll see you at the beach!....in 11 months.

Uncle Dan sent me this video.  Thought you might enjoy this.  I love classical music but I also love the creativity and humor these guys have.

Camp Bethel

I'm coming up on the end of the vacation pictures! well the Corier family vacations....there are a few more things from August and then I'll be caught up :) Our last trip together was the Corier family reunion at Camp Bethel. The kids had a blast, they mostly played in the sand and swung and spent a great day at the beach running in the waves and doing bumper cars (the grown up kids got to do bumper cars with the little kids because none of them are tall enough yet, we had fun too)

Here is Desmond ready to play!

This picture of Sam reminds me of that movie the Sandlot, because he is wearing dark jeans that are rolled up with his tennis shoes.

up to bat

Wesley is ready to hit a home run!

The girls loved this little play set. They played on this thing for hours. If I had a backyard I would put one of these in there (do you think I could get an advertising credit or something for trying to sell y'all these play sets?)

Whether in the volley ball pit or at the beach the kids could not get enough sand!

This was after we got home from the beach, we all got cleaned up and brushed all the sand off and the kids immediately went to play in the sand pit.

V playing in the ocean. She loves to run in the waves.

Wesley and Sam were trying to throw as much sand as they could into the waves, to try and build a wall or make the ocean smaller or something.

Allison chilling on the beach.

Allison in the pacific ocean....she is NOT a fan ( seems like she takes after her Aunt Katie, who prefers to experience the beach from the warmth of the car)

Emily and Allison

It was so fun to spend the day at the beach. I'm sad that Summer is ending and we probably won't go back to the beach until spring. Someday I want to live on the ocean, I love the sound of the waves at night, it is so relaxing.

Well that is the end of the pictures from the Wood/Flynn family visit. We had a great time and I'm so glad that our kids get to know their cousins while they are young, it can be so hard to have those family connections when we live so far apart, but I'm glad that we get to spend time with everyone at least once a year. We love you guys! Thanks for coming to Washington :)

Family pictures

New rule for family pictures: they must be done on the first day of vacation before everyone is tired and ready to go home! None of these picture are particularly good but they are pictures of us as we are this year :)




Ok this one is pretty cute.

Brender Canyon farm house

Ok so the girls are happily building a fort in their room and using their mattress on the floor as a trampoline, the laundry machine is humming along, the dishwasher....well I'm skipping the dishes for now :) I would much rather put up pictures than do dishes! These pictures are from our trip to Leavenworth for the first ever Timm and Margie Corier family reunion! We stayed in an old farm house in Brender Canyon. It was gorgeous. We had so much fun. It was so peaceful out there. The kids just ran around the yard and played and made noises at the chickens. Emily got pecked by a chicken! I'm assuming that since I haven't heard anything about her leg falling off that she has recovered from her chicken attack.

The kids wanted to play badminton. The game pretty much devolved into the adults taking turns hitting the birdie over the net for the kids and the kids chasing it.

Team one: Violet and Wesley

Team 2 Claire and Sam ( these may not have been the fairest of teams)

Kya sitting out on the porch.

Violet being a goof in the play room.

I can't get over the back drop for this picture. The farm was gorgeous! So here are the girls in a kiddy pool right next to the mountains in Cashmere, WA.

We had a b-day party for Claire with all the cousins. Claire is 2 now! I can't believe she is growing up so fast! Thanks everyone for celebrating with us.

The birthday girl enjoying a cupcake....thank goodness for Safeway I just couldn't stand the thought of turning the oven on in August.

Claire got a tea set for her b-day and all the kids had a little tea party. It was so cute.

The day after we got home from Leavenworth we had one day to do laundry and get packed for our trip to the beach. The girls just ran around in swimsuits that day and since I was neck deep in laundry I was grateful for their minimal approach to clothing that day.

These girls love vacation!

BBQ's, Babies, and Bison

Ok thus begins the great picture round up of August 2011! With all the family in town we had a BBQ with the Brown side of the family. It was so fun to catch up with cousins.

Here Porter! He is such a doll and has the cutest little baby rolls. He is very kissable!

Miss Allison ready to play in the pool.

Here is Kya, doing what she loves best...playing in the dirt. I swear Katie I am sending you some sort of mud making machine for Christmas....enjoy :)

It was a gorgeous sunny few weeks and we all had a ton of otter pops.

Peter and Violet at a family picnic in the park.

V and her Grandpa.

Allison in the swing.

Sam peeking through a porthole.

We also went to NW Trek with all the cousins. They have a really cool discovery center for the kids with puppets and activities. The kids loved it.

They had baby lambs!

Rams...
And of course Bison.

On the tram
Claire is taking a time out for Oreos. Have you had an oreo break today?

Diana turned 30! And my parents had their 32nd anniversary! We had a big dinner together.

Violet showed Gma how to play games on the ipod.

The girls played dress up with the ballet stuff.

Claire liked the big purple tutu...it's perfect for working in the garden.

BEST DINNER EVER! Scallops, clams, shrimp, strawberries, salad, blueberry muffins, Crab legs and Halibut. I love that my parents anniversary and Diana's b-day are the same weekend, we always get to have double the celebration! I had a hard time eating anything the next day because I kept dreaming of seafood.

Check out Claire's face. She is helping Diana blow out her candles.

Claire being goofy. The next day was monday and we spent the day getting ready to head to leavenworth for the Timm Corier reunion. Those pictures are next.

Have a great day!