Three Little Climbers

 I'm too tired to make this much of a post tonight but before time slips by -as it always does- I wanted to get these pictures up. We had a super fun day with our three littles. The big kids were doing their own thing so we loaded up the kiddos and headed for Seattle Center. 

There is a fantastic new park near the EMP. Or at least it's new to us. The kids could have climbed all.day.long. The girls are such climbers and seem to have no fear of heights at all. I think Jo's only intimidation was all the other kids. 

Millie is a monkey to the core

Look mom, we're twinning.

This guy on the other hand. He's a little more fearful. Funny how impulsive he can be with some things but when it comes to heights he's pretty cautious. But it only took him a couple tries and he was all over that jungle gym. The girls cheered him on and Amelia would wait for him at that top.

Just a little perspective. I had a few butterflies.

This cracked me up. The story of our lives..."daddy is allergic."

Of course there was shaved ice after all that climbing

And a little bit of playing in the fountain before heading home

This is a perfect picture of their personalities. Z the outgoing, do the opposite of what mom says. Amelia, I want to follow the rules but I'm going to push the boundaries as far as possible. And Josie, the rule following, keep everyone else accountable and hang in the back until someone needs my help.

See what I mean

It was a strange feeling not having the big kids with us. We are realizing that more and more this might be the case. They are usually great sports about doing the family outings but the gap sometimes feels so big and their schedules so packed. But I will keep pushing for the family days all together for as long as possible. Like until they're bringing their kids along. 

Ferry Riding [Summer Traditions]

For four years now we've had this tradition of taking the ferry from Bremerton to Seattle on a sunny, summer evening. It started as a spontaneous little trip (check out how little they were here) and has now become a summer must do. 

It was another fun ferry trip and one more check on the summer list. We're trying to fit as much in as we can in the next two weeks. I'm quite positive that each summer seems to go a little quicker than the last so we must soak up every last minute.

game.set.match

Rocky grew up playing tennis. He has played more years of his life than he hasn't and he's taught and coached most of that time too. So one might assume that our kids are little tennis players following in their father's footsteps. Not so much. For one reason or another it just hasn't worked out for the kids to play much tennis. This past spring Rocky was hired as the Men's Tennis coach at his Alma Mater~Pacific Lutheran University. This is not only a huge blessing but an amazing honor to follow in the footsteps of some incredible coaches.  He is beyond excited for this new journey and that excitement seemed to rub off on the kids too. The night he was hired Sam and Maggie took their racquets out and attempted a match in our driveway. Apparently he had to be hired as a college coach for them to appreciate they had a pro living in their house!

        We hit the courts one night in July

so the whole family could get in on the tennis action.

Maggie keeping her eye on the ball

Sam just wants to hit it out of the ballpark

Miss Millie....loving every minute of her lesson!

                                                       The ball girl was pooped out

Love this one of Millie. So happy to be learning from her dad the pro!

Once the tennis was over the kids wanted to race. I couldn't turn down Sam's challenge. I'd love to tell ya I won but let's just say it's been a long time since I've done any sprinting and four tennis courts length and back is a lot longer than I though it was.  Yep, he beat me.

Love-Love