Summer!

Chloe and her Uncle Patrick.

My gorgeous anniversary roses.

Isla finally got her Dairy Queen bike ride!  She powered through and made it up the big hill, which is really tough.  I'm so proud of her!  Ice cream sure is a strong motivator.

Brennan is such a great big brother; he shouted out encouragement when the going got tough.  (None of these ice cream photos are flattering in the least, but I'm posting them anyway.)

Made it!

Not quite.

Sweet baby Jack and his beautiful Mommy.  It wasn't that long ago that Laura welcomed Finn into the world, and now she has two boys!

And now, some plant photos. Get excited. ;)  I'm really happy with these little orchids.  I've had them for over a year and I'm so happy that this guy re-bloomed!

The berry patch, complete with netting so the birds don't steal our harvest.  We have two blueberry bushes, a transplanted raspberry (we think) and a back-from-the-dead blackberry.

Some nice berries waiting to ripen!

The garden is starting to look a little greener.  I had started tomatoes and peppers inside, and the carrots, beets, lettuce, squash, beans, and melon are direct sow.  We bought one "back-up" tomato plant from Home Depot just in case..try to guess which one he is.

We have apples, (and cedar-apple rust, but we're treating that.  We've learned a lot about fungi, borers, and sawfly larva with all our new plants this year.)  This is a 5-apple tree, basically 5 types grafted onto one trunk and it's self-pollinating.  The kids noticed that some of the tags were still on the branches and "helped out" by removing them... so now we don't know which type is which.  We'll have to have a taste test come fall.

Someone moved into one of our birdhouses!  I'm not sure what type of birds they are, but they are small, plain, and have a very pretty little song.  Hopefully we'll get to see some babies one of these days. 

I have high hopes for these guys, although the amazing petunias we had in Anacortes might have set my standards too high.

We had added two bushes to the preexisting rose bed and it was very exciting when they all started blooming.  The smell is amazing.

The new October Glory maple that will hopefully offer some privacy in a couple of years.  I can't wait to see what he looks like in the fall!

I took the kids on a morning jog/bike ride and we came across this guy down by the stream.  He was surprisingly large!

A quick snapshot of my view of our jog.  Definitely not as relaxing as a solo run, but we had fun.

Kellan really loves bunnies and he was enthralled with one of the rabbits that was hanging out in our yard.

School's out!  Brennan's class had an end of the year party and Cristina was kind enough to watch the other two so that I could attend.  They played games and enjoyed some popsicles.
  

He received a certificate for completing Kindergarten.  I can hardly believe that we have a rising first grader!

A little brotherly love.

Kellan has a good life.

 Happy birthday Patrick!!!  We celebrated Patrick's birthday with some carrot cake cupcakes and lots of love.  That weekend we continued the family b-day fun with a camping trip; more on that to follow.  Happy birthday Sweet P/Daddy, we love you!!!