A Summer Smattering

I'm so backed up on blogging about our summer exploits! I could do whole posts about so many of the things we've been up to, but you'll have to settle for the super condensed version. So here you have it, a summer smattering...

I should probably start right back at the beginning of the month. For the fourth of July the girls rode in a very cute little parade with Gabriella's playgroup and we enjoyed a BBQ at our pastors house with friends.

A few weeks ago we enjoyed berry picking (raspberries, marion berries and blueberries) at Sauvie Island. We love going to Sauvie for our pumpkin each year and it was fun to make a summer visit.

We left just as the light was starting to get good. I really wanted Gabriella to stand in this glowing golden wheat field, but she would have none of it.

Our church enjoyed a beautiful day of baptism down at the riverfront. Afterwards we enjoyed spending time together with some food and games at the riverfront park. You can see more pictures I took at the baptism here.

This is Becky. She has a pretty amazing story. She inspires me with her faith and courage. It was wonderful to be able to stand with our friends as they professed the change that Jesus has worked in their lives.

We made it down to the Lake Oswego library to see a free live "Reading Between the Lions" show. Reading Between the Lions is a show on PBS that focuses on early literacy (phonemic awareness etc..). It is super cute, but Gabriella hasn't watched it on tv in a long time because Caillou is her current choice when she gets a tv show of the day. It was a great live show and we were able to meet and chat with the characters and their voice actors/puppeteers.

Leona!

Jonathan chatted with this guy. He was super nice.

The kids were totally entranced.

This lady does both Leona and a few other minor characters like this "Dixie Chimp". She was also super nice, but she looked totally different than I would have expected from her voice.

Gabriella had her first trip to the Portland Art Museum. She was pretty excited to see the Monet they have. The museum was actually celebrating the acquisition of a new sculpture of Ganesha so they had free admission and lots of Indian cultural activities. Gabriella was able to do a sand paining. Juliana pretty much slept through the whole trip in her stroller.

We were hoping to see "Sand in the City" in Pioneer Square after we finished at the museum, but we made it just in time to see them tearing down the sand sculptures. Gabriella was a little bummed she missed the kids sand play area, but tt actually ended up being pretty entertaining so we grabbed some food at Taco Del Mar and watched them work.

So there you have it. Just throw in my work, Jonathans internship, some pool trips, playgroup dates, creek splashing, visits with friends, library trips, birthday parties, church community get togethers and art projects and you have our July in a whirlwind. We've kept busy, but enjoyably so.