Quincy...

A few weeks ago my sister in law called me to ask me if we wanted to come visit for a few days. My brother was going to San Diego for work for the week and thought it would be a perfect time for some cousin bonding. We, of course, jumped on the idea of taking a little road trip, even though I swore not to leave my house for at least 6 months after all of our summer travels. :)

We drove the two hours to Quincy and had a great time with our cousins. These boys love each other (for the most part) :)

They just got a fire pit in their back yard (which will actually be a yard soon!) :) So we made some smores one night.

This little girl, was of course, lovin' the marshmallows.

We played and played and played. We swam, we went on bike rides, we ate, we had a great time!

We went over to Wenatchee one night to ride our bikes on the cute little bike trail they have down by the river. It was the perfect summer evening and it was so nice to be out and having fun with our cousins!

I caught Tucker & Keyton holding hands while waiting for us at the cross walk...

I'm not sure how, but Tucker ended up falling off his bike, and he thought it was pretty funny...

Cute boys by the river...

And all the cute kids by the river...

Thanks for having us guys, we had a great time!

What we've been up to since we've been home...

Since we've been home, this little one decided to drive the tricycle off the back deck and gave herself a fat lip...

Good thing she's so dang cute! :)

Eating lots of pop-sickles. I got in the mood to make our own and just bought lots of kool-aid. The kids have loved it!

Visiting with our friends, the Enloe's while they were here. Playing and swimming at the Christensen's house! Tucker loves his best friend Carter!

Three silly boys!

Lots and lots of summer evening walks and bike rides! The month of August is the best up here in the Pacific Northwest. I would say summers are the best, but since it didn't start getting warm until August this year, all I can say is August! :)

And Lots and Lots and Lots of this...

We have our three of four pools that we make our rounds in! :) Thank goodness for friends with pools and pool memberships! :) Thanks guys!

This little boy is a fish now! About three weeks ago he would barely get his face wet with water and I don't know what happened, but one day it just clicked and he started jumping off the diving board and actually going under water and swimming and loving it! Actually, what it was, was that when the Enloes were here, we went out on the lake and Eric just threw Tucker in the lake like three times (with his life jacket on). He started crying the first time and Eric felt bad but Ben told him to do it again and then again and after the third time of being thrown in, he was fine! :) So, thanks Eric! I am one happy mama!

Here is his perfect cannon ball form! Not bad! :)

And I'm not sure what this is...

FHE at the Orndorff's one night with friends. Look at all those boys, I love it! :)

Oh yeah, and even doing flips off the diving board! Crazy kid!

This little girl just loves to soak up the sun! :) (just like her mommy!)

I watched my friend Emily's kids while she was at Girls camp one day and we went over to their house to swim. I didn't think Tucker would like the unsteady tube to jump off of, but I just can't get him to stop now! :)

Of course, many many lake outings. In the paddle boat at Liberty Lake with my good friend from high school, Kelly...

Taylor wasn't so sure about the cold lake water, but Tucker jumped right in...

Some cute pictures of my girl and her new favorite past time of swinging...

My good good friend from High School, Emily came into town for a baby shower. It was fun getting together with old friends and staying up way too late chatting! There is nothing better than old friends!

It's been a fun month of swimming, bike riding and playing with friends! I love the summertime, it is way too short up here in Spokane!

Last one of Alabama, I swear... :)

OK, here are the rest of the random pictures from our trip. I never can decide which ones to post and which ones to file away, there are always so many cute ones.

Here are the two babies, Angelynna & Elijah enjoying the park...

Baby Elijah, I love that chubby little face...

And Angelynna; And yes, she is naked on a picnic table at the park. That's just how we roll down south. OK, not really, my mother in law would be mortified but I don't think that she reads this blog often enough, so I'm ok to post this picture. :) She had a major blow out at the park, what else were we to do? Speaking of the south, Tucker was telling everyone before we left that he loves to go to Alabama because he gets to wear his underwear all day! I'm sure my mother in law would be happy to know that that is how he is portraying the south! :)

Tractor rides with grandma are always a hit...

We found this fabulous pool last summer like within our last three days of being in Alabama and were so excited to go there like every day this summer. So, one Thursday afternoon we get all dressed up and ready to head out the door and we decided to call them to find out if we could bring floaties or not. So, we searched their number, called them, asked them they told us that floaties were ok, but that they were only open on Saturdays this summer! We were so bummed! We only got to go once, but boy did we make it worth it! :)

One of the themes to our trip this summer seemed to be SHOPPING, as it usually is! It is just getting harder and harder to actually get to go out with all the kids! The Gap was having this great sale on all their kids clothes, so we would take turns, one day half of us would go and the other half would stay and watch the kids, and the next day visa-versa. Of course, we did our usual TJ Maxx and Target trips as well! :) I seriously got all of my kids winter clothes shopping done; I am so glad. Anyway, all the kids got some new Sunday clothes, and we had to get a picture of them in their new suits and dresses on Sunday.

Taylor in her pretty new dress and shoes...

And the treasure hunt. The awesomeness that was the treasure hunt. These boys loved it! We hid jewels and made a map and they had a ball going around the property finding the jewels where the x's were. :) So fun!

The big x with all the loot had a treasure chest even!

The map...

On another day when it was too stormy to go outside, we went fishing inside. Grandma and Aunt Meri were on one side of the 'water' and all the boys got to fish for treats. They had so much fun!

Of course, the girls had fun with Grandmas curlers...

The annual cousins picture with the train engine at the zoo. It was so unbelievably hot that day!

Best Cousins...

Taylor had fun swinging at the zoo...

And I thought this picture was too funny. Elijah looked to be really enjoying himself! :) Looks like a miniature football player.

Uncle Ben playing softball with the kids in grandmas cul-de-sac...

Tucker in action catching a ball to get Joshy out...

All the Pyper girls, Kira, Sophie, Taylor & Elia. As my sister in law Laura said (the girls' mom) Taylor looks just like my girls with a little Taraka flavor to her. :) And it's true, I can definitely see the similarities!

And there was never a want for some puppy love. This girl absolutely loved the dogs, and there are plenty to love on down there! :) I had to document this girl lovin' on the doggies!

Whew! Our Alabama trip was, as usual, wonderful and we were sad to see it end! But we are already looking forward to Christmas, we love being with our cousins and family! They're the best!