Summer is here!

We had our first pool swim of the year on Sunday. Just an hour later, a dark, loud thunderstorm rolled in. Spring/summer in Oregon! Miles' birthday party was that evening, and they had to move the party inside. It was drying by the end, though. I like this photo. It represents my kids' love for Miles, wearing the vests he asked them to wear. Kari, especially, hates dressing up but wore the vest to make Miles happy.

Jen and I were picking strawberries when unexpected rain clouds left us pretty well.  It was warm, though, and we both had hats. :) I've picked a lot of strawberries this year. I picked 60 lbs in four hours the first time I went and had some pretty sore legs for days afterward. I listened to an audiobook when I went alone. It was great! Mom and Dad bought 25 of the 60 lbs, so I didn't come home with quite as many as it sounds. I took the kids, plus Kate, a second time, and we picked about 30 lbs in 45 minutes. When I went with Jen it was mostly to chat and help her get a bunch of berries for her family. I enjoy picking berries and find it satisfying. Feels good to look at the fruits of my labor, literally. :) We ate a ton of strawberries this last week and shared a bunch, too.  Oregon Hood berries are the best!

This week after school got out has been a week of driving kids to camps. I drove in circles for four days straight. It was kinda fun, as I was able to chat with friends who also were coming and going, but I'll be glad later today when it comes to an end. We were getting our house painted, and I'm sure the painters thought we were crazy since I was only home for a few minutes at a time and was driving different kids back and forth all day. Our house looks great, though! It's pretty much the same colors as before, just a different color trim (a greenish grey) and a slightly darker red for the door and shutters. I love it!

Here was the schedule Monday-Thursday:

9:00 take Kari to Barlow for tennis camp

10:00 take Joel to Gordon Russell for basketball camp

10:30 take Aubrey to West Orient for basketball camp

11:30 pick up Kari

12:00 pick up Joel

12:30 pick up Aubrey

1:00 take Joel and Grant to Barlow for tennis camp

3:30 pick up from tennis camp 

4:00 take kids to Barlow for tennis academy (M/T/Th)

6:00 pick up kids from tennis academy (M/T/Th)

I only forgot a kid once :) And it was the one with a phone. Grant and I had just gotten home when she called, and we zipped over to Barlow. We were only 9 minutes late. Not too bad for the craziness of the week. ;-) At least that's what I'm telling myself. 

On Wednesday, the girls and I went shopping while the boys were at tennis camp. They each had gift cards to spend and some ideas of things they wanted to purchase. We ended our shopping time with Blizzards. It was such a fun afternoon! I've wondered if this day would ever come--the day when I'd go shopping both my girls, and all of us would enjoy it. Treasuring this time.