Hurricane Ridge

Yesterday we took the girls up to Hurricane Ridge. The last time we were up there we only had Abby and Ellie home. The weather was perfect and we lucked out that it was a free entrance day into the National Park. We hiked all the easy trails and spotted quite a few deer. It felt so good to get out and spend some time together in the fresh mountain air.

The whole gang ready to head up the mountain trails

Stalking a chipmunk

The Olympic Mountains -- these are the mountains we see from our front deck.

For some reason the soundtrack from the Sound of Music keeps running through my head when I look at this photo.

More Weekend Photos

Ellie and Abby -- loving sisters and best friends

Having fun with the parachute

Maddie

There's nothing better to do on a warm, lazy summer afternoon

than share a hammock in the shade with your sister.

Ruby still doesn't smile much for the camera

but she really did have a great time with all the girls!

Weekend at the Beach

We spent the 4th of July weekend at the beach with three other families for our 7th annual "Spicy Girls" reunion. Three of the four families that traveled with us to Changsha, Hunan in June 2002 were there. It is amazing to watch these little girls grow up. They are all so beautiful and smart. Even though we generally don't see each other but once a year, the girls just pick up right where they left off the year before. They truly are "spicy sisters" and are all so close to each other.

The first activity of the weekend was horseback riding. It was very exciting for our girls since they had never done this before (except for the tame pony rides at the county fair). Very nerve wracking for this mom to watch her babies sitting alone on top of very big animals!

Watching the hometown 4th of July parade -- it was all about the candy!

Four of the five original "Spicy Girls" -- can they really be almost 8 years old already? Every year we have taken a photo of the girls sitting together in the same order that they were in their red couch photo. I will post each year's photo in another post.

mmmmm - smores!

Stuck in the Shower

Every morning when I take my shower, Ruby gets my towel and lays down on it. She patiently waits for me to be done and then excitedly hands me the towel. Well this morning our ritual started out just like any other morning -- except that she fell ASLEEP -- right in front of the shower door! So there I stood, stuck in the shower, debating what to do. I finally decided to go ahead and try to open the shower door. By doing it slow enough, I was thankfully able to slide it past her face just far enough so that I could squeeze out. She slept like this for over an hour!

Waiting for mommy to get out of the shower

Fun in the Sun

There is no place on earth more beautiful than Seattle on a warm sunny day! We have all really enjoyed these past few days of 80+ degree weather. We dug out the swim suits and got a little blow-up pool for Ruby to play in. I'm not sure who enjoyed it more -- Ruby or the big girls!

Splashing with big sisters

Testing the water

Ruby loves the water just like her sisters

Beautiful Abby

Four big sisters squeezing into little sister's pool!

Backyard Sisters

We are finally starting to have some beautiful warm sunny days around here. According to the local weather records, it was the first Memorial Day weekend in Seattle with no rain in 40 years! The girls love playing in our huge backyard, which on any given day can be a princess castle, vast desert, wild jungle, kung fu panda hideout, or secret garden. And all this is much more fun to do in shorts rather than rain coats!!

Bath Time Fun

Can you believe that this is the same little baby who cried pitifully during every bath I gave her in China just a few weeks ago??