too much fun!

I can't believe how much FUN all of the kids are having!

All 7 cousins at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Rolli and Vivian have been there for a week now.

Marshall and I visited over the weekend.

They still love us but are getting along just fine.

Hannah, Rachel, Caleb, and Mason

Caleb was swinging the girls in the hammock, trying to demonstrate his strength and Mason was yelling something very important!

Of course they are all eating popsicles too.

Vivian enjoying the over abundance of popsicles.

Rolli doing what he can with his popsicle.

Great-Grandma and Grandpa Dudek with Louie.

Watching the wild grandkids enjoying their summer freedom.

play-cation

Rolli and Vivian are on vacation for the next two weeks!

Whoot!  Whoot!

Unfortunately I'm in Spokane for a mandatory clinical rotation (boo!)

No vacation for me.

And back in Wenatchee... Marshall is home alone on vacation from work (lucky!)

With the kids gone it's like a vacation for Bella too.

Look at this!

Grandpa Rollin bought a new swing set for all (7) of the grandkids!

Rolli and Vivian's oldest cousins, Hannah and Rachel, are already at Grandma's house.

On Wednesday my sister Ruth and her three children will get there too.

And 

Great Grandma and Grandpa Dudek have decided to drive north to Yakima on Thursday!

This is starting to sound like a little mini family reunion.

I'll be back in Yakima on Friday.

Then on Sunday my oldest sister Esther will be in town too.

Yep!  This is one Family Reunion!

in 1 small house with 3 bathrooms (counting the one in the garage), 4 bedrooms, 3 playpens, and 7 grandkids.

Rolli and Vivian are already having fun!!

growing up

growing up... 

I'm talking about my friends and I.

Amy and I woke up way too early this morning to watch Katie drive away towards Georgia.  

She has been accepted into one of the top ranked Physician Assistant schools in the US.

I was kinda sad to see her leave.  But mostly proud.

I'll miss Katie while she is away studying.

"Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it.  

Boldness has genius, power and magic."

Johann Wolgang Von Goethe

  

Hannah, Katie, and Amy

See you in December!

preserving

We love cherries!

But our little family of 4 can't eat 6 bags of fruit before it spoils.

Sunday after we picked all of those cherries I went to work preserving.

I cleaned and pitted 6 gallons for the freezer.

Frozen cherries will make a delicious addition to our avocado and pineapple smoothies.

Then on Monday I made two batches of cherry jam.

Looks like we'll have enough to share!

I put a tiny bit of almond flavoring in one batch.  

Rolli and Vivian were my taste testers.

They couldn't get enough!

Both kids carefully picked/licked the jam off of the crackers and asked for more.

cherries!

Mmmm, cherries!  A little late this year but still 'oh so delicious!

Jeannie let us know about a cherry orchard that we could help ourselves to.

Thanks for sharing the wealth!

Marshall, me, Rolli, and Vivian grabbed a ladder and went cherry picking.

sun-ripened, tree fresh cherries.

Marshall.

All of the lower limbs were already picked over so we had to use the ladder.

It is so nice of the owners to let random people harvest the cherries instead of just letting all that fruit going to waste.  Thank you!

Vivian found the treasure.

Rolli is in on the loot now too.

Somebody has obviously been sneaking cherries.

"who told you I've been eating cherries?"

Even though he nearly shoves his whole hand in his mouth he still misses.

Cherry slaughter.

"Hi Dad!  Need some help?"

"hmm?  I'm pretty sure we could climb up and help."

Insta orchardist in their overall carhartts.

two toddlers + one cherry orchard = fun! (and happiness for Mommy)

little Big kid helper.

break time.

One picker and four mouths... we still got 6 grocery bags of bing cherries!

That's a whole lota fruit!

summer concert

Last night we enjoyed the free LIVE music at Centennial Park.

Cafe Mela has organized a summer concert series with a family friendly venue.

 Kids were dancing/grooving around in the grass, the music was just loud enough, the beat slightly funky, and the weather pleasant.  

you can find the schedule here https://www.caffemela.com/events.html

I'm sure that we will be attending future concerts.

Daddy's girl.

Cute as ever in her new tutu from Grammie.

Rolli is watching the crowd of kids and moving closer to the dance party.

Vivian watching her brother venture out on his own.

Now she's thinking about leaving my side.

Vivian eventually made it down next to Rolli.

And the two of them did some exploring with a random dance move every now and then.

Lesa and Grammie Kathy joined us for the evening outing.

peas please!

Peas yes!  Please no.

Vivian is all about grazing in the garden.  

But she won't have anything to do with "please".

Now that the raspberry bush is just about picked clean Vivian has moved to the peas.

Vivian being vocal about the peas.

(still refusing to ask nicely)

"work with me fingers, don't drop the little peas."

"peas, love and happiness!"

Rolli is wondering how he is going to get the peas out with only one hand.

He didn't want to drop the shovel in his other hand.

He decided to just eat the whole thing...

then spit it out later.

It makes me happy that the kids are enjoying the garden with me :)

Splash Pad!

Last weekend we went to the Splash Pad again.  This time with Daddy, Grandpa Roger, Aunt Lindsey, and cousin Miles.  Good times!

Rolli likes running through the puddle (not the Splash Pad).

Vivian and Daddy splashing in the preferred puddle.

Vivian, cooling her feet.

Miss Opportunist doesn't miss a thing.  

Grandpa went to buy a snow cone and got a new BFF. 

Yum!  Sweet cherry coolness.

Thanks Grandpa!

I'm sure we'll be back this summer!

Sunday brunch

It is a pleasant day in Wenatchee today.

July 10, 2011.

Ten years after the 30 Mile Fire.

Some day Marshall and I will tell the kids about the four firefighters who lost their lives.

Hopefully we will be able to teach them to respect and cherish each day.

For now they seem to be convinced that the world revolves around themselves.

While my thoughts were up north Rolli and Vivian found their way to the raspberries.

A couple hungary toddlers fending for themselves.  

Helping themselves to the raspberry bush.

Serious foragers. 

Pick the berry.  Eat the berry.

Grandma's dress

It's been almost two years since my Grandma Ruth passed away.

I think about her often.  Especially since my first born were twins, just like hers.

I would visit Grandma several times a year.  

They were usually short visits and I rarely stayed the night.

I always took some sort of needlework to keep my hands busy while we chatted.

It's probably fitting that I was the one to finish knitting a dress that she had started.

The pattern was out of a 1980's knitting magazine.

I'm guessing that Grandma had intended the dress for my cousin Cassie.

Grandma had knitted the front and started the back.  

I finished the back, knitted the sleeves, and did the finishing work.

It was completed last summer.

Vivian wore it today for the first time.

(it's really hard to take pictures of a busy toddler)

Vivian like wearing the dress so I let her wear it the rest of the day.

I'm pretty sure that it is a christening dress.

Lacy and long.

She loves exploring in the yard and the dress was just perfect for a chilly evening.

Out in the garden I stuck a bean leaf on Vivian.

Silly!

smoothie

Avocado, broccoli, banana, vanilla yogurt, and a dash of cinnamon.

Delicious!... and a little messy.

Rolli drinking his yummy smoothie.

This kid is ridiculous.

At least he is 'using' the straw. 

He insists on being independent.

"Thanks for the goodness Mom!"