Summertime

Saturday we spend the morning doing yard work, but then later in the afternoon Daniel had tons of fun playing with water balloons. He would fill them up, then my dad would try to hit him while Daniel ran around.

Last school year I took a French class at our homeschool co-op. This year we're not doing any co-ops, so I've started teaching myself French. I've checked out all sorts of books on the subject in our library system and have been trying different books out, figuring out what works best for me. I'm really liking the Easy French Reader, that I picked up at Half Price Books (one of my favorite stores). 





Tuesday afternoon we had my friends Carrie and Rose over and we had a fun afternoon walking all around the neighborhood, along with my siblings. Then we went to Starbucks before browsing around Fred Meyer, where we listened to all the birthday cards with music, looked at the toys, and tested out all the furniture.





I'm not usually a big reader, but lately I've really been enjoying some of Agatha Christie's book. We discovered the Poirot movies and TV shows earlier this year and really enjoy them, so I decided to give the books a try. So far I've only read the books with Hercule Poirot, the Belgium detective, and right now I'm currently in the middle of my fifth one, The Mystery of the Blue Train. Christie does a marvelous job of keeping the reader guessing who the murder is throughout the book.

What have you been doing this summer?

A Hiking We Will Go

My family and I went on a short hike, one mile each way. It rained quite a bit while we were driving to the trail head, but we stayed dry while we were there. The sun even came out, eventually. The trail followed the river for the first part, until we started going uphill.

It was quite cold on the way up and the trail was filled with mud puddles. I loved all the water drops the rain had left on all the leaves.

I thought these white flowers were pretty.



The trail lead us to this, Franklin Falls.

Project 52: Week 28

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Hiking along the river on the way to see a waterfall. More photos to come!

Drip Drop

Water droplets pictures are some of my favorite photos. The leaves on the rose bushes in our backyard were perfect for photographing, since it had rained that morning. 

Tulip Fields

This past Thursday we went to see the tulips along with several other families. We had a bit of rain while driving there, but we didn't get rained on while we were there. The overcast lighting was real nice for the close ups that I got.

Project 52: Week 13

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I love the look of raindrops on blades of grass.

Quack, Quack!

Yesterday our family went for a walk and we passed by this pond with a whole bunch of ducks. Some of the ducks didn't let me get too close, but these two did. And for some odd reason, while I was busy snapping pictures of these two, I called them penguins... 

Drip Drop

Wet

After raining all night, everything is quite wet, even the car. I never knew rain on the hood of a mini-van could look so cool. And I love the lighting....

Afternoons at the Beach -Ocean Vacation-

I'm home! Yesterday evening we arrived home from our beach vacation, and I have many pictures to share!

Besides my family, Grandma Margie, Grandpa Don, and Aunt Carol vacationed with us.We rented a beach house on the coast, right on the ocean. Out the large living room windows, we had a fantastic view of the ocean! And the house was right next to the beach access, so in a minute or so, you could walk from the house, to the sandy shore. We had some warm days, but even on the colder days, we could still enjoy the lovely view. Now for some pictures!

A sand castle my sister built.

A glaucous winged gull.

The lovely, but extremely cold, ocean water.

Another gull...

My footprints.

Another sea bird.

My dad running from the waves.

They had these binoculars at the top of the beach access.

Aunt Carol, Grandma Margie, and Tiana, out in the cold, cold water. Brave people! ;)

This guy was sitting on top a pole, and just before I was snapping his photo, he decided to fly away, and I got this shot instead.

My sister and I.

I have many more pictures to share, that I'll be posting throughout the week. :D

I Heart Faces - Beach Fun

When I saw that the theme was fun at the beach, I knew I had to enter. I had a few favorite shots from the beach this year, but I decided to go with this shot, of Alina, when she was playing beach ball with Tiana.

Water Droplets

A Day at the Beach

Hope your all having a marvelous summer day!