July Happenings

 Pool time

Dutch baby for dinner

Lazy mornings

Shows and movies in the evenings

Sleeping through the (terrible) Barbie movie

Redeeming our movie experience with Mission Impossible (7?)

Playing Sea of Thieves with Miles 

Paddleboarding Adventure with Jen

 Instead of getting together for coffee, Jen suggested we do something "fun," since we both had the day wide open. So we went paddleboarding! We just bought two paddleboards earlier this month but hadn't tried them out yet. So, Greg helped me figure out how to inflate/deflate them the night before, and I picked Jen up the next morning to head out. We went to Estacada Lake, a place Joel has been to this summer, pumped up the boards and made our way down to the water. Neither of us knew what we were doing, but it was fun to figure it out together. I tried to stand up and immediately fell off into the water. Jen tried later and was able to stand, but then she lost her balance and fell in, too. We sat the rest of the time. :-) We took our time and after an hour and half, we made it to the bridge but decided to head back, as we were hungry and thirsty (neither of us thought to strap water and snacks onto our boards). We were quicker on the way back. I had shaky, rubbery legs from kneeling the whole way back, but we made it back on shore and ate our packed lunches before heading home. It was great to chat and catch up and to just have some quality time with my friend. I'm a sit-down paddleboarder for now. Maybe someday I'll be a stand-up paddleboarder. :-)

Joel at Young Life Camp

 Joel had a blast at Young Life camp at Washington Family Ranch. 

Rockaway Beach '23

Waited in long lines for ice cream at the Tillamook Creamery, but it was worth it for the specialty flavors campfire smore, dark chocolate and raspberry custard, and blueberry cobbler custard. Yum. Read books, enjoyed sunshine and very little wind, and played games. The kids, of course, went in the ocean and boogie boarded. Kari was only able to join us for two nights because of her work schedule, but we were glad she could make it. Grant stayed a couple more days with Russell and Ellery after we came back.