Summertime Fun

Whew, summer flew by and I didn't update the blog once! Here is a summary of our busy, fun-filled summer.
We got outside as much as possible. Here are Tilly and her friend Soren making shell pancakes at Boulevard Park.

We got tired of waiting for the sunshine to come to Bellingham so we found some in Walla Walla. There was a BMX race so we made the drive East and got to stay with good friends who live there. Below Chris and Tilly check out the track before the race.

Tilly doin' the farmer's market Walla Walla style.

Bubble entertainment during the races.

Chris won a big trophy - good work Dad!

Tilly and Clementine on their way to the Junior Ski to Sea Parade.

This year Chris had help with the yard work.



Tilly's friend Isis had her birthday party at Lange's pony farm. It was Tilly's first time riding a horse or pony and she loved it! Here she is warming up for the real thing.

Safety first! All the kids with their helmets on.

Tilly's pony's name was Blue. Chris said we could get one if Mimi and Pop Pop took care of it.

Tilly and Clementine watching the Ski to Sea Parade in the rain.

On race day, the weather wasn't too bad, so we hung out in Fairhaven and played at the beach waiting for the kayakers to come in.

Family photo - Memorial Day weekend. I think I'm about 7 months pregnant...

Tilly's first popsicle ever - she only tried it because it was purple.

Tilly raced her bike this season at Bakerview BMX park in Mt. Vernon. She loves it. She said her favorite part about racing is 'all the people clapping'. Here Tilly is practicing before her race.

We went to the cabin in Mazama for Father's Day weekend. We took a hike to Cedar Falls and Tilly walked (well, ran) almost the whole 2 miles there.

We had a snack at the falls and headed back. She slept in the backpack almost the whole way back.

This was our second summer taking swimming lessons at Bayside Pool. Tilly's favorite day was 'Friday Fun Day' where the kids got to go off the diving board and down a slide. She still won't put her face in the water, but there is always next year!


We went to one BMX race in Langley. Tilly had so much fun and...

...even won her first trophy!

We spent the 4th of July at the House of Hongs for a bbq and some fireworks. Tilly wasn't a big fan of the fireworks and chose to spend her time putting them out with Titi's firetruck.


Take cover!

For Chris's birthday we went to the Vancouver aquarium. Tilly's favorite part was the belugas, but she loves looking in all the tanks.


At a playground in Stanley Park.

We love berries, so we went berry picking twice - one with Mimi and once with friends Brooke and Oliver. I wasn't hearing any berries hitting the bottom of Tilly's bucket, and when I asked her why, she said 'I can't help it - they taste soooooo goooooood!' I can't say I blame her.

Tilly and Oliver spent their time trying to find the biggest berry.

We got LOTS of blueberries and Tilly was really excited about it.

Fun in the sprinkler.

Tilly and Clementine playing on the rocks at Boulevard Park.

Tilly took a dance class this summer taught by her friend Lucy's mom Amy. It was chaos at best, but so fun to watch.

Well, there is a taste of our summer. Wish it didn't go so fast, I'm already missing the warm weather!

Fun with Friends

I'm still catching up on some old news and photos, so bear with me! Tilly did a lot of growing up when we got back from Hawaii. She stopped wearing diapers during the day while we were in Hawaii, and when we got back decided she didn't want to wear them at night either, and it has been great. Of course, we've had a few accidents, but we have been diaper free ever since we returned. The other thing she decided she wanted to do was give up her bee bops (pacifiers). We rounded up all we could find, put them in a ziplock baggie and took them to the toy store to trade them in for a toy of her choice - a stroller for her baby. It only took a couple days and she forgot all about those bee bops. And boy was she excited to go pick out a purple stroller!

We missed Clementine's birthday while we were in Hawaii so we had a mini celebration when we returned. Tilly picked out a ukulele for Titi while we were in Hawaii and we opened presents and had cupcakes when we got back.


Bellingham had its first annual St. Patrick's Day Parade this year and we dressed up Tilly and Clementine and pulled them in the Hong's wagon for the event. They loved it!

Tilly on the hippo at the Woodland Park Zoo.


For Easter we celebrated with Mimi and PopPop. Tilly opened an Easter basket and hunted for eggs.

And Mimi made Tilly her own bread bunny - I don't think she wanted to eat it at first!

We've been having lots of fun blowing bubbles lately.


A couple weeks ago we met our friends Molly and Soren at Boulevard Park for some fun on the beach. Tilly and Soren watched crabs and built sand pancakes on the rock. We're looking forward to more sunny weather so we can get out some more!

Totally Random

We made it to Vancouver for some Olympics action back in February. 8 of us dressed up in our most patriotic USA gear (well, some more dressed up than others) and caused some trouble at a hockey game.


After the game we found a tank (?) to play on, and had to recover some of the beer the guys stashed in the bushes before we went into the game. I still can't believe it was still there...


Right before we left for Hawaii Tilly decided that she didn't want to wear diapers anymore - okay, maybe with the help of a little bribery. We went for a bike ride and made a stop at Rocket Donuts after a very successful day on the potty.


We headed to the cabin in Mazama to enjoy some snow before it all melted and had a great time. Tilly threw snoballs, went sledding, built snowmen and played at her 'snow table' with Mimi while Chris and I went cross country skiing. Now we are waiting for the warm weather over there to get out of some of this rain!