The first ever Coombes family camping trip

The first few days in September we spent camping. It was our first camping experience as a family....(besides the 2 nights we slept in a tent in our backyard back when the temps climbed into the 100s and no one had air conditioning here...) We stayed at Lake Pearrigyn State Park in Winthrop, WA.

Here we are with the tent all ready for sleeping!

We had beautiful weather the entire time. Millie loved the beach and quickly made new friends! She even got to go on a boat ride with her new friends.

Getting ready for dinner.

Relaxing and reading.

Having fun in downtown Winthrop.

Enjoying a nice cold ice-cream cone. There is a country western theme to the entire town.

Playing a game of croquet near an apple orchard.

Sipping some cider at the Methow Ciderhouse.


Downtown Winthrop. Camping is done for the season for us, but we definitely will be heading back out to the campgrounds when the warmer weather arrives in July and August again.

End of August fun!

Summer really hit it's stride in mid-August. We had some really hot, sunny days and loved every bit. Millie and I posing in front of a car at the antique car show in town.

Riding a horse and buggy during Snoqualmie Railroad days.

Catching bugs.

Splashing in the swimming pool.

Going to the Everett State Fair...

...and watching pig races!


Millie and Papa going for a ride.

Yeah for summer!

Visiting Mt. Saint Helens

On Friday we visited Mt. Saint Helens. It took us about 3 hours to get there, but it was a beautiful drive. The volcano is just spectacular to see in person.

It is hard to imagine this once had a mountain peak on it and was surrounded by lush green trees. The 1980 blast changed the entire landscape.




A picture perfect day again!

Enjoying more of summer

Millie thinks its fun to look for fairies outside. Nanna and Grandpa sent us a book with beautiful pictures of fairy houses. Millie found two she liked and together we made a fairy home.

Here is the fairy house...

and here is their vegetable garden.



Our own garden is growing very tall. The tomatoes are taller than Millie now, but still have mostly green fruit. Right now we are getting tired of eating so many zucchini and beets. We have quite a lot of them!

Playing on the tree swing.



Taking a break in the playhouse.

Lola and Grandpa came to visit about 2 weeks ago and we had a delicious BBQ outside. Grilled oysters, mussels, fresh crab and we even had a Peking duck!

Time for grilled oysters.

A summer feast!

Lots of fresh beets!

I feel like we waited 11 long months to get this beautiful, warm, sunny weather. We have definitely been enjoying every minute of it. I love that we spend so much time at home just playing, gardening and lots of relaxing during our favorite season!

I love August!

It finally warmed up and we have been making the most of our short summers here. We headed down to the Snoqualmie river with our neighbors and the kids had a great time playing in the shallow pools of water.

Relaxing in the sand.

Our vegetable garden is growing. We have broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, beets and radishes in this raised bed.

Our hostas love our NW weather and the parsley and sage is growing fast too!


Zucchini, yellow squash, cucumber and more tomatoes.

Grown in our garden!

And yes, the sun does shine here. We even warmed up to 80 degrees and had to cool off in sprinklers. It does feels like 100 degrees to us when it gets to 78 degrees!

Mike came home from Iraq 2 weeks ago and Millie and I love having him home with us everyday. We are so lucky.

Clematis on the vine!


Outside BBQ dinners.


Sun setting across from Mt. Si. The sun just makes everything pretty here!

Gearing up for a hike to Denny Creek.


Off we go to Franklin Falls/Denny Creek.