PLAY GROUP + VOLUNTEER PARK

Last week I shared some photography tips at our church playgroup and this week we went to Volunteer park to try out some of those tips. Here's a few photos that I got:

 It was a pretty spot, but she did not think so!

 This is the face I get from Aubrey these days!

 Her friend Mia, was the most cooperative.

 I love the look of this water tower and we finally climbed up to the top (inside).

 There's also a conservatory full of beautiful flowers and cactus.

DOLLHOUSE RESULTS

I finally have the exterior done! (well, almost - I need to paint the base and maybe add a few steps up to the porch). Making miniature things is very addictive!

 I bought the front door but couldn't justify spending $6-8 for each window plus $20 for the large one! So I found some skinny Popsicle craft sticks and made my own. I'm sure I could have done a more professional job if I used wood glue and clamps - but I'm not that dedicated.

So instead I just used a hot glue gun. I also made the shutters from regular popsicle sticks and mat board. The window flower boxes were also popsicle sticks and I found the smallest fake flowers I could find at the dollar store. They were only white, so I painted some of them.

 The porch was the last big piece to put on. I needed Jared's help to coordinate it and to wood glue and nail the base on.

 What's a porch without a swing? Last night I made the swing (popsicle sticks, tooth picks and a necklace chain) and the window boxes.

 Today I used overhead transparency sheets for the glass of the windows and made this little table out of (you guessed it) popscicle sticks. I had these little wooden pots, so I painted them and added some more flowers and leaves made out of florist tape.

I found my butterfly punch and couldn't resist making a tiny butterfly to perch on the flowers. Can you spot it?

Can you believe I only had to put about $15 worth of supplies into redoing the whole exterior?

The only supplies I bought were: yellow paint, popsicle sticks, flowers and the front door.

Now we're trying to figure out how to wire it and then I can work on the inside.

What color curtains do you think would look best hanging in the windows?

Right now I have a yellow and white stripe, ivory and black stripe, white with black polka dots or an ivory botanical pattern - or none of the above?

TWIN FALLS

Yesterday we hiked to see Twin Falls which is about 30 mins outside of Seattle off the I-90 near North Bend. It was nice to go somewhere close-by and see such beautiful scenery!

It was a mile hike up to see 2 falls with great viewpoints.

 Taking a break for a snack.

 constant breaks of course.

 The payoff

 This is on a bridge that crosses just above the first falls (previous photo).

 The 2nd falls from the bridge.

 pep talk.

she got a little moody and tired by the end of it, but she did walk most of herself and didn't fall asleep (big contrast from last time). We had to chant "ice cream" the whole way back to keep her motivated. We stopped at MacDonalds for a cone on the way home.

OCEAN SHORES P.2

I just remembered I had photos on my iphone as well:

 Here's an example of the decor of the house, we like to call the jungle room.

 While the guys and Lauren went surfing, the women and kids went into town and checked out some stores. We also rented 2 surreys (I think that's what they were called), 2 person bikes. We had to squeeze in a child between the peddlers and 2 little ones on each front.

 Aubrey and Lindsey

 Had to check out the shark store - and that's just what it was, a gift shop of all things sharks.

 Little guy passing our path.

 We visited the Interpretive Center which had a lot of fun exhibits and things to explore about wild life and the history of the area. All the kids left with a sand dollar, a polished stone and lots of coloring papers and sunken ship maps.

duck foot prints

OCEAN SHORES

Last weekend we went to Ocean Shores, where we met up with Brent, Tracey + family as well as the Binsteads. It's only 3 hours from our place. It's a small ocean town on a pan handle on the west coastline of Washington. We all rented a house together - it accommodated 14 people! It worked great even though it was outdated and had some quirky things.

It had 3 bedrooms, living room and bathroom on the main floor with 1 bedroom, bath, kitchen and living room upstairs. It also had a hot tub on the side as well as a washer and dryer. It was a short walk to the beach as well.

 Conner was kind enough to carry her or give her a piggy back ride so she didn't have to walk in the sand!

 For some reason she'll sit on the sand but not walk on it.

 or this is what happens.

 Kaylee + Jordan warmed her up to having sand on her by slowly burying her feet.

 This is a rare sight without any crying!

Then she started to love it.

 She even walked in it!!! Amazing!

 That night we went to the beach near our house and the weather was nice and the pelicans were everywhere. We never saw them again after this.

 The next day wasn't as sunny, but still fairly warm. We headed to the main beach in town where you could drive on the beach. Tracey + Yra went for an hour horse back ride tour and Aubrey and some of the other kids got a 5 min. horse ride. I was surprised she event did it, but she loves horses sooo much and I think that overpowered her fear.

 You can see her excitement here.

 Her sand fears are over and she freely runs in the sand the rest of the time.

 She wasn't so sure about the water though.

 but with a little help, she tries it.