We're going on a trip!

So life with 4 under 4 is just not challenging enough, so -snerk-, hah! -laughs til she cries-

....

Ok, sorry about that. Anyway, we've decided to pile the whole family into an RV and take a road trip! We'll be visiting friends and family along the West Coast and will be gone for roughly three weeks in September. It's going to be exciting!

We're not roughing it - we'll be staying in a 33 footer palace. We've got a lot of cool places to stop and see (Jelly Belly factory anyone?) and we're looking forward to introducing the babies.

We took the whole family over to the rental place last weekend to sign the papers and do some test drives. The girls were in absolute heaven as you might expect (we'll see how they are by hour 2 of the trip though ;)

Babies just chilled in the stroller outside, moving carseats is a pain.

Their future home for the next month. So much schooling will be done here! So much.

Afterwards we stopped by Wendy's for some lunch. I predict this will happen a lot in September.

Beach day!

Our summer weather is already petering out but we managed to grab one more beach day here in Washington. This was a new beach we hadn't been to before, and visited with friends. Lots of sand! The babies hadn't seen so much sand up close before, they definitely got a sampling.

I'm discovering that Lily doesn't sleep unless it's in her own bed, so she's a little weary-eyed here. Still enjoying that sand though!

Theo sleeps great anywhere ;) He was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed the whole time due to his ability to nap in the car.

Girls building sand castles. They spent a lot of time in the water too, Ellie especially. She liked to get down on her belly and float with just her chin above the water.

Popsicles! When the weather is 90+, it's definitely a good day for a frozen treat. These were melting faster than the girls could eat them - I had to help!

An assortment of cute

Our internet was down for almost a week which threw all of us for a loop. Random pictures from the last couple weeks!

Goofy shower hair.

We had a friend visiting, and you can see how interested the babies were ;)

My little Tom Sawyer.

Outdoor painting, with brother observing.

What can I say? He's just a smiley bear.

...And then there's Lily.

The girls barricaded themselves into the carseats with pillows so the babies couldn't interrupt them. Avy had a hard time with the word barricade though. "Mom, help me bunkercade these pillows please!" Yes dear, just let me stop laughing!

Lily follows her sisters everywhere now :)

I left a bowl of plums next to them for two minutes. That's how long they needed to destroy. I don't bother chopping up plums for them any more ;)

It's been hot, and it's turned my girls into little goofballs. Kidding! They're always goofballs.

Plum season! The tree went nuts this year.

Making jam! Not as much as we thought though, turns out little girls can eat a lot of plums.

Cutie pies

I can't believe they're 8 months now, then I look at pictures of them when they were born. They're so huge now! Crawling everywhere, thank goodness, and into everything.

Playdough and playing together

This is one of those moments that looks unremarkable at a glance but the story just warms a mother's heart. The girls were sitting opposite of each other and were in direct competition for resources: playdough, tools, mats, etc. I was thinking they would end up losing the activity within a quarter hour. Instead, Avy came up with a game of making "food" for the whole family, then invited Ellie to sit next to her and help. They continued at this for an hour and a half, until we told them we had to clear the table for dinner. The focus and the teamwork! I loved it :)

They're getting a little jaded

We have blueberries growing in our front yard, strawberries along our walkway, raspberries in pots by the street and blackberries in the side yard. At the first of summer the girls spent all their time hunched over the assorted plants, picking and eating - I'd have to swat them away from the no-where-near-ripe berries. Now there's so many ripe berries that they don't even pretend to eat them all; this is what was leftover at the end of the day (banana for scale). Dessert for me and Dave!

Beans and carrots are from our wonderful neighbors across the street. They also bring us fresh fish regularly and have planted a gorgeous Dahlia plant just for the girls to pick from.

Closing out July

It's been a busy month! August will continue to be so with Daddy on vacation and summer in full swing.