Fall bug

About two weeks ago I caught the 'fall bug'. I've been trying hard to ignore it - to enjoy every last Summer day, for I know that in a few short months I will miss them, but its been rather tough. Despite the large doses of vitamin D and the fun adventures this summer has given us I feel drained. The things that used to excite me have lost their spunk... sunny days no longer tantalize me, instead I yearn for the smell of fall rain. My flowers, the pinks and purples, are slowly fading away and I'm giddy to replace them with reds and oranges. I'm itching to pull out the "Fall Bin" and start decorating now! Mark would kill me so I'll wait till after Labor day, but not a day later! :) I've already begun making Gracie's Halloween costume!

I pulled up photos from last fall and I have but one thing to say...

bring on the apple cider, wind swept leaves,

crisp air, corn stalks, pumpkins and home baked goodies!

I'm ready!!!

Eveland Reunion

This weekend we went to the annual Eveland family reunion. Every year it is held at "Aunt Penny's" house. Since this blog serves as our family journal I should clarify who "Aunt Penny" is for posterity's sake... Penny was married to my great uncle Gary (my grandpa Jeff's brother). They are no longer married, in fact they have been divorced for many years, but she is too sweet to forget. Anyways, Aunt penny has a house on the beach in Coupeville, and that's where we all meet for food, fun, and laughter. This year the weather was perfect; 80 degrees with a slight wind coming off of the water.

Gracie had a blast playing with her cousins Remedy & Brandon...

The girls were munching on huge chocolate chip cookies and it seemed like a great photo opp, however, it proved to be impossible to get them both to take a bite at the same time. My aunt Janelle (Remedy's mommy) kept saying, "take another bite" and before we knew it the girls had nearly eaten all of their cookies and we had no picture. I imagine it was a little confusing and unsatisfying for the girls - poor things! We laughed hard over this - probably one of those moments where you 'had to be there'. In this photo you can see the hesitation in Gracie's face...

The girls post-cookie fiasco... no signs of trauma.

There were many fun things to do and Gracie tried them all. She enjoyed a nice boat ride along the dock with Remedy...

flying a kite...

kayaking with daddy...

and taking a night walk with Remedy. Piggy-back is the only way to travel. :)

Getting everyone together for a family photo is hard work but we manage to do it every year..

As we tried to gather everyone together we yelled out "family photo time" and the girls struck a pose...

Night time fell upon us and the roasting of marshmallows began...

Even though we had nothing but the glow of a fire and the light of the moon to guide us Gracie still found a spot to dig in the rocks and play...

Just us girls...

We had a great time with the Evelands and we look forward to next year!!

Birthday beach bums

On Thursday, July 29th my sweetheart turned 29 years old. I woke early that morning to pack for a "birthday campout" I planned in leu of Mark's special day. As I gathered our camping gear I began to reflect upon my life with Mark. I thought about all of the fun adventures we've shared - the places we've gone and the things we've done. I thought about all of the smiles, winks, belly laughs, locked hands, back tickles, inside jokes, footsies, hugs, kisses, and "I love you"s that we've shared over the last 13 years. I thought about how safe, secure, and confident he makes me feel. I thought about the passion that runs deep within our relationship - when we love and when we fight. I thought about the way we fight - sometimes ugly but always fair. More importantly I thought about how easily we forgive and forget. I thought about the life we've built together - dreams we had as young teenagers now being fullfilled. I thought about the little girl upstairs sleeping - how she has stretched our capacity to love, helped us become more vigilant in doing good, and brought us closer together in ways that I think only a child can. I thought about the probability that had I never met Mark none of this would be my reality. I thanked God for sending him my way, for guiding us to the point we're at right now, and for His grace that granted us our Grace. Then I finished packing...

Gracie and I woke early Friday morning and made the 2.5 hour drive down to Shelton to pick up Mark at the WSP Academy. When we arrived I opened up the back of the Jeep to let Parker stretch his legs. I was horrified when I saw all of Mark's neatly wrapped birthday presents chewed up and spit out into tiny little peices!! Everything was fine except the most expensive item - a Blue Tooth headset - this was of course the item Parker chose to chew on!!! One of the charging cords is completely shredded. I literally had to "find a happy place" because in that moment hitting him mercilessly over the head with a brick sounded like a good idea. Anyone want a dog?

After my temper flared down a little, we hopped in the car and drove another hour to Twin Harbors State Park. We set up camp and made our way to the beach...

Grace LOVES the beach! She runs on Washington sand (tiny rocks) like an olympian, she rolls in it, and digs in it without any fear of getting too wet or dirty. She's our little beach bum!

This next picture is a warning to anyone who wants to live - if you see Mark's tongue out - RUN!!! This is a tell-tale sign that he means business! :) By the way, he's getting ready to playfully throw Gracie up in the air - no need to call CPS. ;)

Mark's dad arrived in the evening. After he set up his tent we had dinner and then we went for a night walk along the beach. It was an awesome experience standing in the pitch black darkness and hearing the waves thunderously roaring.

Saturday we went to the Tokeland Wood Fest - unfortunately it turned out to be a "snooze fest". We came 'home' and spent a couple more hours on the beach...

Mark and his dad Lynn with their "perfect angels"...

Family photo...

Late Saturday afternoon we walked the town of Westport. We browsed the gift shops, ate icecream and climbed a tower overlooking the water. While Mark and his dad were standing on the tower I decided to snap a few photos of them. Mark saw that I had my camera so he took it upon himself to create a "special moment" with his dad by man handling his nipple...

As you can probably tell Lynn was not impressed with Mark's "caress".

Late Saturday evening we decided to sit by a fire on the beach, so we bundled up and prepared to do so. Here's our little bundle of joy...

Minutes before Dusk we made our way down to the beach where scouting skills were put to the ultimate test as Mark and Lynn tried to create a bonfire despite super strong gusts of wind. The scouts won, and we enjoyed hot flames well into the night.

A few things tainted my plans (ie: Parker eating Mark's presents) but overall it was a nice weekend get-away. Mark, I love you. I'd be a beach bum with you any day. Happy Birthday baby!