in a nutshell: july: part 1

we had pretty nice weather on the fourth, which was a welcome change because the weather in the month of june was HORRIBLE! i wish i would have documented this day better because we had a lot of fun. early in the afternoon we went on a bike ride with the yorks and my brother, doug. we rode a few miles on the interurban trail in fairhaven. after our bike ride we went back over to my parents' house and the kids played in the water 'til dinner. we bbq'd for dinnner, of course. this year we opted to skip the fireworks show on the bay, sad, i know. we were thinking of poor lauren who didn't nap all day. so we let the kids do a few fireworks in the backyard and called it a night. it was a fun day, but we hope to get back out to the show on the bay next year.

next up: our girls' weekend!

finally, the four of us (crystal, jessie, tif and i) were able to spend a weekend together without kids or husbands. of course we love our families, but it's nice to be able to get away and play every once in a while. three years ago we planned to make this an annual thing. well... that didn't really happen, but this year we made it work.

jessie, crystal and i drove down to tif's neck of the woods. we spent a day/night at the oregon gardens in silverton, oregon. this place was fabulous! the gardens were beautiful, i wish i would have had my camera with me in the gardens. the ones i put on here i stole from one of the other girls. our accommodations were fantastic, and dinner and a spa package were included in our stay. i got my first ever massage. it felt great, but i have a thing about strangers touching me, so i'm sure i wasn't as relaxed as i could have been, but it was still great! i'm sure i was more relaxed than crystal who talked the whole time and became best friends with the woman massaging her. lol!

we spent the next evening in portland. it was a little less relaxing, which i guess we should have expected going to the city. we got to experience public transportation at night in down town portland and did a little shopping. i think we all felt a little rushed there. we didn't really plan enough time for portland, which in the end i guess is fine because we all had such a great time at the gardens.

our drive home was pretty much a nightmare for me. well... besides the good company. we were stuck in traffic for FOREVER! which is the worst when you're excited to get home and see your kiddos and husband. but my girls made the best of the situation and rolled down the windows and cranked the stereo, while i tried to not blow my brains out over the traffic.

i so so so hope we make this girls' weekend thing work again next year.