Son Dulce plays at Pig Out in the Park

Well, it was another fun night for Son Dulce! They played tonight in Riverfront Park during the annual Pig out in the Park festival. They were on the Clock Tower stage (I guess there were other stages around the park with other live music) and played from 8:30 pm until 10pm. I brought the girls down to watch their dad and they loved watching all the people get up and dance to the fun Salsa music. They were very tired -- too tired to get up and dance -- so we had to leave a little after 9pm. Martin saw that we were there supporting him and I was able to get a few pictures (although they were all pretty dark because it was late), as well as a video. Press the arrow in the file below to hear about 1 minute of their show tonight.

Fun at Silverwood!

I had been promising Audriana all summer long that we would go to Silverwood.....well, I fulfilled my promise, with only a couple of days to spare before school started. It was such a fun day. We met up with my childhood friend, Kara Steinberg, in Coeur d'Alene and headed up together for a fun filled day. Sara Steinberg is Audriana's age and Ryan Steinberg is Sofia's age - -which was perfect that they each had a little "partner" for the day. Her older kids, Jake and Marissa, each got to bring a friend so they had a partner, too. The day began quite chilly (and it had rained early on that morning), but that was not going to stop us! In fact, it worked in our favor because the park was empty! The kids were able to get on all the rides with no lines at all. In fact, many times they got off a ride and were able to get right back on it if they wanted to! It was so great. We rode the train around the entire park, saw a Magic Show, and even caught the Ice Show, which featured about 8 professional ice skaters from Europe. We sat in the front row and the girls really got an up close and personal look at ice skaters doing turns, spins, and jumps. Their eyes were so wide -- in fact, at one point, Sofia said (in a loud voice) "I can do that!" It was so funny. Kara had bought some Kettle Corn for the show, so that kept them all entertained, too. Let's see.....what else....Sofia's favorite ride was the kiddie train roller coaster that she went on with Mom (and again with Miss Kara) and she also loved the Dumbo ride. Audriana loved the log ride (so did Mom!), and the Scrambler. It was so much fun to see them so excited. Because it was a bit chilly, we did not even attempt to go to the Water Park -- we will try to save that for another time. As it was, we spent almost 8 hours in the park. The girls were exhausted by the end of the day and slept the whole way home. They woke up just to get out of the car and crawl into their bed. It was such a fun day - and the best part for me was getting to spend it with Kara and her family. Sara and Audriana on the airplane ride.

Kara taking a ride with Sofia -- she is a thrill seeker -- at 2, this was her favorite ride!

On the Merry Go Round!

Mom and her girls! This is the train that we rode on around the entire park. The best part was when we were "held up" by train robbers! The girls were a bit scared until I told them that all we needed to do was to give them some money (for charity) and they would get off the train. It was really cute.

Here's the whole bunch of us!

Ryan and Sofia on the Dumbo ride.

Sara and Audriana waiting for the Scrambler ride.

Take a look at who's driving -- she did pretty well, too.

Sofia and Ryan loved the airplanes!

More Peach Pickin' Pictures.......

The Peach Festival at Greenbluff

What a perfect summer day for spending some family time up at our favorite orchards in Greenbluff. We have made this into a yearly tradition -- one that began when Audriana was just 10 months old. We have gone each year and I have dutifully captured the fun through photographs each time. I look back on those pictures of her in 2003 -- with peach juice running down her chin -- and feel such a sense of happiness and gratitude. Martin and I love that our girls are able to enjoy the real "fruits of life". Martin loves to show them how the fruit is grown and how it gets to our table. He's so good at that -- although, he really wishes there were more organic options up in Greenbluff. Their is Cole's Orchards, which is organic, but they basically only offer apples during apple season. For now he will just peel the skin off of the peaches for the girls. God love him!

Maria and Miss Joye were able to join us this year and the girls had a ball together.

Taking a little tractor ride out to the peach trees! Hold tight, girls!

Ahhhhh.....the delight of some fresh peach ice-cream. Except they were all out of peach, so the girls settled for fresh huckleberry. It was so awesome (I only know that because I was the official "drip" catcher that day).

A day at Loon Lake

A Sunday trip to Ephrata

We decided to take a drive down to Ephrata this past Sunday to see Scott and Lisa, Ryan, Noah and little Micah. The kids were so excited to get there that the 2 hour drive went really fast.

Noah, Sofia, Audriana and Ryan at the park.

Swinging together....

These two could not be any cuter. They just love each other so much.....

Back home for some fun in the sprinklers

Wheat, Wheat, and more Wheat!

My friend Jill lives in amidst some wheat fields just south of Spokane and I have been talking about getting the girls out there for some pictures all summer long. Jill emailed me on Friday and said that I had better get out there this weekend because the wheat was going to be cut in the next few days! Thanks Jill - the pictures turned out great!

Jill turns the Big 4-0!

Happy Birthday Jill! Jill is one of my best friends from High School. We had many fun times as "kids" back in the day (20 years ago!), but we've had even more fun as adults and parents. She has always had this knack to make me laugh -- and not just a regular laugh, but big, real, gut wrenching laughs. I remember getting kicked out of class a few times because I could not stop laughing at something Jill did. She's a wonderful friend and a wonderful mother and wife. Her oldest, Jolee, graduated from the same high school that we did 20 years ago. Now that makes me feel really old!

Here we are with Rachel - don't even get me started on the stories and memories that the 3 of us have together. These 2 girls make me so happy and proud to have had them as best friends for all these years. I am such a lucky girl to have been blessed with good friends my whole life...

A Camping We Shall Go....!

Well, just out to the deck -- but Audriana loved it. She has been begging us to "go camping" on the deck. What she really meant is that she wanted to sleep in her sleeping bag, in a tent, on the back deck. Okay, so it's not real camping, but just good enough for a 5 1/2 year old . Sofia got to sleep with Mommy in our bed and Martin got to sleep outside with Audriana.

Here they are getting ready for the big night. The funny thing is that we don't have a real tent - only small "kiddy" tents - so Martin got a few of them out to test which one he would fit in. He decided on the yellow bus tent (with his feet sticking out from underneath - it was hysterical!) and Audriana slept in the one you see below. They were right next to one another and pretended that they were in seperate little houses. It was so cute.Here they are! Just before bed time. The summer has been a hot one, but this particular night was very cool and chilly. I didn't think they would last very long before they both came in because they were cold......Well, they made it longer than I expected! This is them at 5:20 am just after they came in from outside. The only reason they came in was because the automatic sprinklers came on outside (which startled them awake). They both snuggled up in our bed and fell back asleep. So sweet.