uncle bobby comes to visit

gotta love our logan bob! he's been window washing his summer away in jackson hole & drove down to spend a long weekend with us! yay!

the beans are enamored with him. we stayed busy & had a grand old time playing, yard working, outlet shopping, round of golfing, etc.

how fun is this shot i captured on the swings? he was showing ellery how to hop off mid-swing...

the cute brothers- sure glad he could make the trip out!

the adventures of buffalo joe

'aunt jamie' published her first children's book & it is a smash HIT! it's set in jackson hole, wy & is a charming story about unlikely friendship.

ellery's been going to bed reading it to herself for almost 2 months now.

head over to jamie anne blake's blog if you're interested. :) she is so talented & we're quite proud of her.

cossette kelly turns 2!

happy birthday baby girl!

 2 years old!!

 enjoying the unwrapping

 & so excited about her pillow pet.

 but the real hit present? ellery had picked out these golf clubs weeks ago & thought they'd make the perfect birthday gift for her sister. she asked every.single.day. if it was time to give it to her. :)

it was not just a hit with the birthday girl though...

 "just showing them how it's done."

making her bday wish...

we cannot imagine our family without crazy cocobean! she overwhelms us with her humor, coordination, energy, dancing, facial expressions, singing, & pouty lip. she is such a good girl & we love her to pieces.

pool days

all summer we have frequented the swimming hole at the neighborhood fitness club.

& have loved it.

rural living

i live about 3 minutes from horses. everyone here laughs at me when i say it but i really feel like we live in the country. hahaha i mean guys, the nearest target is 7.9 miles ~ 14 minutes away!! it's pandemonium.

a week or so after the 4th our friends were house sitting for a family about 10 minutes away... on a farm.

 with a chicken coop

 & the coolest chicken ever, einstein.

 there were some extremely friendly horses

 that cossette was a little cautious of

 even if ellers sure wasn't.

 some dogs, a trampoline, & their first ride ever 4 wheeling.

 maybe it's not so bad living in the country. :)

independence day

 happy 4th of july!!

the beans :)

first we went to a pancake breakfast with a bunch of friends from church. 

 red, white, & blue pancakes & all sorts of fun trimmings.

 not to mention cupcakes!

 what's not to love about sweets at 10 in the morning? haha

taking cake from kids does not make for a great family photo.

 at least they got over it pretty quick.

next was off to the club for some swimming & sun.

girlies were so excited to have dad home from work to play & we met up with a handful of families too.

 next was home for a some quick naps & clean clothes then off to the neighborhood bbq at the park.

we love our friendly little community! amazing food, bouncy house, tons of kiddies running wild, it was great.

put our nuggets down at a friend's house & we all watched a movie. no fireworks this year but i don't think any of us even complained about it for obvious reasons. i adore the 4th!! i love our country & all that we have to be proud of. it is definitely my favorite holiday & who wouldn't love playing all day from start to finish. ;)

waldo canyon fire

i took this june 23rd, we knew it wasn't in a populated area but it made you sick in the stomach to see on the normally beautiful range.

june 26th looking just awful. eerie feeling in the air.

the 27th was by far the worst day & the heat with the lack of humidity plus the winds changing was about the most terrible conditions for a wildfire possible. we saw actual flame cross the ridge line from our front porch. :( they evacuated areas as close as 1.5 miles from our house. it looked completely apocalyptic & dark & scary. i collecting our irreplaceables so i could evac quickly if necessary. that part a little bit terrified me.

june 28th, the winds finally starting to work in our favor. i could not believe how many generous, heart warming stories we heard. so telling of what we have seen as the character of colorado springs. 

june 29th the smoke dying down. the air quality was so terrible & we were asked to stay out of it. i kept the kids home bound but had no control over my hubs. austin used our old fashioned push mower on our good sized yard & he about keeled over. literally.















we are more grateful than words can say for the fire fighters & their willingness to battle the fires on our behalf. after some panicky days & nights, i am so glad we were safe & able to be of some help. it also gave us some radiant, gorgeous sunsets for about a week.

346 homes lost, more than 2,000 acres burned, sadly an elderly couple died, & over 32,000 people were evacuated making it the worst fire in colorado's history. they expected total containment of the fire by july16th. thankfully we got a huge amount of rain & it was able to come much sooner than that.

he heeeard us! :)

drive down the coast

we drove up the coast with plans to go to a redwood forest.

how darling are these kids biking past?? 

we stopped by this cute little farm right on the water & checked it out. cossette was asleep so she & i hung out in the car while elles-a-belle went exploring with aust & my parents. i know it doesn't look it but it was quite cool & we threw a shirt from my dad's trunk on ellery.

 we continued down the road to find the gate to the redwoods.

 aaaaaand it was locked. :(

 so we decided to hit to beach across the street.

walked down to the shore,

there was a lot of fog in the woods behind us.

 i always love the super vibrant seaside mosses & plants.

 ...

 ...

 we played around the beach for a bit

being in california + having my parents look so young = people think my nuggets are theirs

but we look old enough for kidlets, right? .... eh??

cossette maybe yelled at papa when he offered her help up the little cliff side.

 ...

 i do miss the beach living so far from one.

on the way back to los gatos we stopped by this quaint, antiquey berry farm.

 gramvi & coke

 homemade pie. i got a mini rhubarb/strawberry. i did not share.

 g'pa jam tasting

SO darling! & see the "10% bike in discount *must wear helmet"?

 checking out what elles used to call straw-de-berries. i miss that.

& picking our favorites

 dinking around on a retro typewriter before getting back on the road

such a relaxing, fun afternoon & a great note to end the trip on!!