Jim likes to sign up for triathalons over the summer so he has goals to exercise toward. He just finished his first, the Lake Meridian sprint. He has an olympic distance in July, another in August, and a half Ironman in September.

Jim did this triathlon with two guys from work, so that was fun. They encouraged each other and traded stories after they all finished.

We are so blessed to live near another family with a soon-to-be kindergarten girl and second grade boy just like us. But we’ve been working on making more friends in our new spot. Haley brought two little girls home from school with her before the end of the year. Haley was thrilled to sit in a booster in the middle between her two friends in Haley’s car seats. It’s about five minutes on one road home from preschool, and she is technically heavy enough, so we made a special exception for them to all sit in one row.

The girls made pita pizzas for lunch.

Then they played princess. Oh my!

Then this week, JT and Haley each had a friend over for the morning: JT’s from his class at school and Haley’s from her baseball team. We walked to the park with our neighborhood friends as well.

We have a couple more friends coming over in between summer plans, and we’re happy to grow our circle here in Port Orchard.

Summer is here… in more ways than one. First, we’ve had some hot weather… which we love. Since we don’t have air conditioning in this house, we sleep with the windows open and I just love that. I love the fresh air and the birds chirping and the crickets at night.

Haley and JT broke out the slip and slide one day with their friends, and I captured some great photos. We’ve had this one for two full summers, and it finally tore while they were using it. I ordered another one that has two lanes so the kids can race, which will be super fun on the next hot day.

School ended on June 17, and I was very excited for the kids. JT got off the bus very sad about missing his friends and teacher. I told him that means he had a very good year. I greeted the kids wiht a handmade sign, and JT was little overwhelmed by the surprise. Haley had a celebration lunch with her class, and they played Jesus Loves Me on handbells for the parents. It was really good! Even though JT was a little sad, I told him to fake it for this photo series I imagined. He did a great job. 🙂

The kids got a package from Grandpa and Grandma Keene on the last day, full of books for summer ready. They loved it!

Haley also got her dress from Aunt Linda. Two weeks ago, Aunt Linda met us at the fabric store and Haley got to pick out her fabric. Then she waited so patiently (every few days, “Do you think my dress is almost done?”) and then it came! This pinkalicious-peppermint-bubble gum-twirling dress is just perfect!

Full of fun and sunshine are the best words to describe Jim’s birthday weekend. JT had a baseball game, and so did Haley.

Later on, we went out skiing with Spiro’s pizza for dinner while the kids stayed home with Madi and Ali for cousin time.

On Sunday, our church had a Bikes and Bands BBQ. We met Gena, Madi, Ali, and my mom and dad at the event for a lunch and lots of hot weather.

Most importantly, it was a great weekend spent as a family!

It’s hard to believe, but we were home from Disneyland for exactly a week and then Jim and I left for Costa Rica. I had a work trip that had been planned tentatively since April, and then suddenly it was all coming together and Jim decided to come. We flew to LAX Friday evening, then on to Costa Rica, and landed about 7:30 AM local time. We got a rental car and drove straight to our hotel, the lovely Hotel Alta in Santa Ana. They served glasses of this fabulous juice at check in.

We gathered our things and drove out to Jaco, crossing this crocodile bridge on our way. From the bridge you can see about 20 crocodiles!

We ate lunch on the main street and then spent a few hours on the beach.

We headed back to the hotel to meet up with Gloria, the other trainer, for dinner. The hotel restaurant, La Luz, was expensive but very good.

We didn’t set alarms for Sunday morning because we didn’t have to be up early, and when I woke up it was 11 AM. Wow. We walked 50 meters to the Wildlife Refuge next to the hotel, and to Croc’s Pizza for lunch.

We asked for a guided tour of the refuge, and this adorable boy (maybe 12 years old?) took us around for almost two hours. He told us all about every animal, including its story and details about it, in his adorable English. We learned a ton and he did a great job.

Sunday night, Gloria and I stayed up until 2 AM getting ready for the next morning. Needless to say, in this photo we were on about 3 hours of sleep!

The food in Costa Rica was excellent, from local delights to fancy dishes. Here is an example of a fancy salad!

The last night, we ate at La Posada de Las Brujas, which was recommended to us by some local teachers. It was yummy and cheap.

I had to take some photos of this Guanacaste tree but I just couldn’t capture it. It is about 150 years old and stands in the patio area of the hotel near the pool.

While I was at training Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday morning, Jim relaxed, napped, laid in the sun, watched movies with Spanish subtitles, and had a wonderful time doing nothing.

Breakfast in the hotel restaurant was included in the room fee, and it was so wonderful. We just ordered whatever we felt like off the menu each morning, and didn’t pay for it. The Costa Rican coffee won over Jim and I quickly, and we brought home a bag of the hotel’s proprietary roasted beans.

Wednesday we said good-bye around lunch time. Here’s our group of teachers!

Jim and I got to the airport with plenty of time to spare. We flew to LAX and landed about 9 PM. Then we found out our flight to Seattle was delayed an hour, so we didn’t land in Seattle until 2:30 AM. I drove home and Jim caught an Uber ride to work. We both climbed into beds around 4:30 AM. I got up at 7 AM and went to see JT and Haley before school, and Jim got up around 8 AM and went to work!

Last week we went to Disneyland! And the beach. And the Lyon Air Museum. It was pretty awesome. Here is a quick five photos that summarize the wonderfulness. Basically, we surprised the children (and almost everyone we know) and flew to Orange County Monday morning. We spent three days at Disneyland and flew home Friday evening. It was so. much. fun. We had waited to go until our kids were old enough to ride the roller coasters, stand in line, and eat on the move. It was the perfect trip for us and we loved every minute. Literally. More photos in a Sway here.

Want more photos? View our Sway. Scroll down through the photos or open in a full screen using the ellipsis button and then choosing Open in new tab.

Haley had two field trips this spring. One was to the bee farm, and Grandma Keene took her. Then her class went to the library/beach/picnic lunch in the park on a gorgeous 75-degree morning, and I got to go!

The story time at the library was fab.u.lous. I’m not sure where Port Orchard dug up this gem of a librarian, but Mr. Nathan rocked it.

We did a scavenger hunt on the beach, and Haley held a little crab! (Fuzzy photo…)

Throwing back the crab

Then we had a picnic lunch with played with friends at the water front park. It was super fun!

JT’s school hosts a spring Eaglet day, when prospective kindergarteners get to come enjoy an hour of class and a short recess to get excited about next year. I was so glad to be able to take Haley to this special day.

Haley was thrilled to know to girls there: Jozie and Miley. She’ll also know Ashley from her t-ball team at kindergarten next year.

Headed in

Each child was assigned a kindergarten helper to guide them through an Eagle craft. Haley was paired with Jenna. What’s fun about that is that Jenna’s mom and I were good friends in school, starting in fifth grade!

It’s amazing how fast time flies. Here I am on my seventh Mother’s Day, and it still feels new. Jim and the kids let me sleep in a little, enjoy coffee in my bathrobe and a long shower, and breakfast made from scratch before we left for 9 AM Sunday School. The kids were dressed and ready before they even helped with breakfast!

We really had no plans for the day, which is exactly what I wanted. We took naps, laid low, and walked to our HOA park in the afternoon.

Haley can swing by herself! Finally!

We had a yummy taco bar dinner with ice cream sundaes for dessert (my choice) and I was smothered in love and kisses all day. It was beautiful!

Okay, so I hosted a Thirty-One party in April and I thought it might be fun if I earned enough hostess points to get a tote I’d been wanting for grocery shopping that would keep food cold longer. It turned out that I had a lot of orders and so I earned a lot of hostess points. And I thought it was a little ridiculous when I unpacked everything and had 12 new bags. But I have used them almost every day since, and I’ve had a ton of compliments on them!

My new church tote – holds all four Bibles, snacks, Sunday School papers, and more.

My headed-to-baseball-straight-from-ballet bag.

My new matching work trip bags. Inside: matching makeup and hanging travel cases!

Small but mighty: my carry-all for sunscreen, medicine, all sorts of things.

I’m so happy with my new stuff and I’m surprised how much I’m using it all. My friend Stephanie is a Thirty-One rep if you’re interested in hosting your own party. 🙂