July Extras

Esperanza loves to help daddy wash the cars.

While going through some totes in the garage, I dug out this old dress of mine. I seriously LIVED in this dress from the age of maybe 6 to about 9 or so. Still love it. Somehow, it fits Esperanza already even though she's only 4. It's long on her, but it fits perfect everywhere else. And, she loves it.

 Playing in the sand at the Washougal River

 Ezra is still a little young for this thing, but he gets on it and pushes the button to cruise along. He laughs and enjoys it a lot. But, he's still working on the whole balance thing so he's taken a few falls along the way.

 We visited our friend Jessica and her little ones Nicholas and Ella one sunny afternoon. This was the best picture I could get of all 4 kiddos.

 A day at the Camas Farmers Market

 Bath time is so peaceful when it's just Ezra in the tub

 Esperanza and Daisy - BFF's

 Geneva, Antonio and Anycia came by and spent an afternoon with us earlier this month. 

 Ezra wants to wear Esperanza's clothes. Why not? 

 The kids love the pool

 We met my friend Val during her lunch break one day at the duck ponds

 Ezra and I joined my mom one afternoon for a stroll along the Columbia River and along the dike.

 Ezra spends a good part of every day digging in the dirt pile in front of our porch. He loves dirt. He would prefer water but I try not to mix the two very often. Dirt can be wiped of, water can be dried, but mud requires a bath.

 Sparkles is in fact a rooster. He crows off an on all day. Because he's a young rooster, his crow is kind of pathetic. I compare it to the voice of a teenage boy going through puberty. It cracks and it almost sounds like he is choking when he tries to crow. It's quite funny. Because we live in the city, we can't legally keep him. Once we get a formal complaint, he'll be dinner. Until then, the hens and I enjoy having him around.

Strawberries are going strong still

 Esperanza doesn't take regular naps, but there are days that she gets really sleepy and needs one. Rather than admitting that she's tired, she gets very emotional and upset about the littlest of things. After yelling and screaming at me, she'll stomp off to the bedroom, slam the door and crawl under the bed and fall asleep. 

 The other day Esperanza fell and scraped up her face and shoulder pretty bad.

 We went to the Vancouver Farmers Market the other day and there were several other events going on downtown Vancouver at the same time. A car show and a fire department event. Here's Esperanza climbing out of the bouncy slide at the fire department event.

 This summer's neighbor kids are much mellower than last years. Meet Elijah and his little sister Marilee. They are the grandkids of the neighbors on one side of us. They visit us several times a week and are a joy to have around. 

 Just like Esperanza at this age, Ezra has an obsession with cat and dog food. At home, Ezra eats the cat food (since Lucy runs away from him) and at my moms house he feeds it to the dogs. Daisy loves it.

 Beer, book and new shoes on a warm summer evening. It's a rare kid-less moment. I am on the 3rd book of The Hunger Games series. For the first time in several years, I also bought myself a brand new pair of shoes lately - Keens (I've bought used shoes, but not new). I originally had a different color/style but they weren't as cozy as I'd hoped, so I traded them in for this pair and absolutely love them. 

 REALLY wish we had a double stroller. But this works.