June June Glorious June

June flew by with so many activities and happenings.  Sophia started the month by inventing/ creating a swing for her teddy bear.

Then Amelia had a field trip with her Kindergarten class to Tolmie State Park, and I got to come along.

 It was very low tide . . . 

 and the sand dollars were so abundant it was almost impossible not to step on them :(

Next came strawberry season - and between me and my helper, Sophia, we picked a flat of strawberries in no time at all; which she then helped me make into multiple batches of strawberry jam.

Sophia had so much fun picking, that she went again that evening with Daddy and Amelia to pick another flat or two.

One of Amelia's pictures from her art class was selected by her art teacher to be displayed at the Lacey Spring Fun Fair (too bad we didn't know that in advance, since we didn't make it to the Fun Fair).

Sophia completed Joy School . . .

and Amelia completed Kindergarten . . . and school is out for the summer!

One of my best friends came to spend 10 glorious, fun-filled days with me and we spent it being tourists.  There is a sculpture park in Tenino . . . and although it is closed, there were a few sculptures out to view so the drive to the middle of nowhere wasn't completely a waste of time.

We went to the glass museum in Tacoma - and that was amazing!  The girls didn't break anything, ha-ha, and we all thought it was cool to watch them make/ blow glass into shapes. 

I got a babysitter for the girls and Carol and I went to the Seattle temple.

On Saturday, all of us, Ken included, went to Mt. Rainier for the day.  It was a perfect day to explore, hike, and enjoy the beauty all around us.

When we got there, the mountain was covered in clouds, but eventually the sun came out and we had a wonderful view of the snow covered mountain.

Our next day trip was to Ruby Beach.  It's a long drive, but worth it.  Such a cool place to explore.

 The girls found a "teeter-totter" to play on.

 And loved touching the "sea creatures".

In the middle of this month, Amelia started a 4-wk class of gymnastics.  She loves swinging on things at home and is very comfortable trying new things in her class.

On Carol's last day, we headed to Seattle for the tastes, sights, and sounds of the city, not to mention all of the traffic.  The girls LOVED feeding french fries to the "dainty eaters", ie. greedy seagulls.

 And playing on the sculptures around the city.

 And this cool overlook of the city, that also happened to have a fun play area for the kids.

Carol did so many fun things with the girls and made us lots of yummy treats, and after she left we tried to go back to our normal schedule, but thankfully, Carol had left one more activity for the girls and they spent 2 fun-filled hours playing with "moon sand" while I worked.  Yeah!