Shark Bait Ooh Hah Hah

Well, one swim lesson session down- one to go. Alyssa passed from "Turtles" to "Seahorses. Julie and Jake will remain in Sharks. I love taking the kids to the pool each day and watching them! Julie does well on her dive. Jake does well on back stroke....and wishes "cannon balls" were part of the curriculum! Alyssa got alot better at backfloating- but above picture is her working on her crawl stroke.

July 4

We had a great time on the 4th of July. We had an afternoon BBQ

at my parents. My grandpa and grandma were there, along w/ my aunt & uncle,

and brother & sister inlaw. Here we are in front of the flag.

Due to gas prices my brother got a moped. He brought it and everyone took a spin on it.
I drove it once- and was a tad nervous. I used to drive my dad's when I was Julie's age...no fear of course....but I guess I lost my cool.


Jacob was very keen on his uncle's arsenal....and I am not kidding when I say
ARSENAL! My brother has a hidden weapons permit- and brought alot of his stuff to
show us. Let's see, there was: brass knuckles, a metal wand you snapped to extend out(used to cane or smack someone in the temple), a couple hand guns, and at least 3 war rifles...that looked like machine guns (but were semi auto). The one Jake has has the bayonet attachment on.
He is looking forward to guns safety classes when he is older, and going duck hunting & such w/ his uncle.


Besides the moped & guns uncle Jon brought oysters to grill for appetizers. It was a first
for Solon, Jacob and I. Jake had just this one, seasoned w/ butter, garlic, and salsa. He said they didn't have much taste- but declined seconds! I tried 2 each seasoned differently....they weren't
my cup o tea.

Here is Alyssa eating a festive cookie. After we ate we did a few sparklers and headed off to my inlaws. We went down the road w/ them to a neighborhood BBQ/ fire works show. My neice and nephew went too. As it turns out the kids were more into playing on the play set than watching the fireworks. One of the ladies that came had the GREAT IDEA to bring tons of glow bracelets. It made it nice to keep track of where the kids were in the dark. Unfortunately, I had forgotten my camera & have no pics w/ the Elenbaas side. The above pics are from my dad.
Well, we love the 4th. We are grateful for the freedoms we have as Americans, and pray those freedoms will continue.

Seaside with the Allinsons

Here are some kid pictures of our Seaside camping vacation with the Allinson family.
They have invited us camping w/ them at least once a summer since Julie was a baby! We make fun new memories w/ them all the time. We enjoyed many things in Seaside-the beach (the dog's favorite), the shops, rides, swimming, smores, playground...ETC! Above are the buddies @ the beach, and below is Julie trying to be a big girl helper w/ the baby...& Levi enjoying licorice(while everyone else was eating ice cream). Until next time......

Father's Day Weekend

On Sat. we had a joint 60th birthday party for my mother/father

inlaw. It was an open house hosted by their kids, and I think it went

pretty well.

Here is my handsome baby daddy! 2 things he loves: his guitar & his ice cream, so we gave him some music....and a new ice cream scoop. It was a good day. We had a BBQ @ my folks . Below Alyssa is husking the corn...yum.

Cousin Campout

So, the weekend before last we had our 9th annual cousin campout. If you are on the Elenbaas side of the family, and an adult cousin (no kids)..your in.

We have been to Mazama, near Mnt baker, Ellensburg, Deception Pass, Bridgeport, and now The Black Mnt. Ranch.

Sometimes the weather and bugs are against us- and sometimes we have more amenities than other times, but the company is always great.

This time we had alot of amenities, mild weather- but also mild bugs :)

Above are pics of Solon 1) golfing on the golf course 2) showing some affection from the pool

then there is the group photo * Ben & Jess not pictured- but they were up all day Sat, and I feel horrible I didnt take a picture before they left.

Days on the farm

I seem to be behind in my blogging. These are pictures taken Mother's Day weekend, when we were at my in-laws. We went up this past weekend too, for our neice & nephew's joint B-day party. We spent some time w/ my side of extended family for a BBQ. Alot of Solon's weekend time was doing landscape work for my mother in law, I would be jealous....but it's been a long time coming for her!...The only other things that are happening:

• Our washer broke, but Tim got it working again
• The kids are signed up 4 their swim lessons & penciled in 4 their week@ grandma's
• Julie, whose hair is flowing in above picture- got a bob haircut
• Jake is on his last week of baseball

I am looking forward to summer (dare I say break?)

Eat your heart out Hank :)

This is my dad's new toy. A Miata! My grandma passed away last fall, and he put his inheritance towards it. I know she'd get a kick out of it. It is a hard top and we all sang the transformers theme when my dad put the roof down!Well it sure is fun, and my dad is being very relaxed w/ it ....even letting my mom eat in it & helping the grandkids drive!! He used to name all the old beater vehicles he had.....and they were women's names (good job Kaleb A for not being sexist and naming your camper "hank")! We'll see if he names this one!