FSY Week

We had such a fun, adventure filled week! Paige kicked off the week and went to FSY (For Strength of Youth Conference) and was away from us from Monday to Saturday morning. She dealt with some homesickness but had an incredible overall experience and had an amazing roommate and made some great friends.

While Paige was away, we played all week! We dropped Paige off in Tacoma on Monday afternoon.

Then we went from there is Owen Beach to spend some time on the Sound.

Juliette was brave enough to go out on the paddleboard in the ocean water while the other two played with sand toys and dug in the rocks.

I got this amazing picture of Juliette!

We enjoyed the water, spotted a few seals, threw rocks in the water, and enjoyed the afternoon soaking up the sun.

Tuesday was filled to the brim with fun adventures. We first made our way up to Seattle to go to the Seattle Aquarium. I loved visiting with Juliette on the way up and I got free tickets through the library, so we got into the aquarium for free! 

We loved the big aquarium in the new section!

The girls played on the playground for maybe 5 minutes. There were so many people and kids since the World Cup game was yesterday.

So instead of hanging out in Seattle, I made the decision to go to Lincoln Beach and play on the playground there, see the troll, and enjoy some more views of the Sound.

Then we had such a fun evening with friends! We had dinner together on a boat with the Keene's on Lake Sawyer. It is so much fun! We enjoyed some pizza and had a nice relaxing ride looking at the house. It was so relaxing and fun.

We got warm and so I said to Juliette- if I jump in, will you? I don't think she thought that I would do it and so she said yes and I made her make a pinky promise. Then we jumped in together and it was such a fun way to cool off. Baylor was not a fan of the wakes from other boats so we Nate got off with the younger girls. Then we took the boat out again and got to go fast and Celina even went water skiing in her dress. It was such a fun night with friends with a stunning view of Mount Rainier!

Wednesday, I had my Inklings group in the morning and then we went to Family Fun Center and played some mini golf.

We all got a hole in one

Juliette spent the evening designing and sewing her own, one of a kind, sweatshirts. They turned out awesome!

We got a call from Paige every evening and we loved hearing about her day.

Thursday after lunch, we drove to Kanasket Palmer State Park. Juliette got to do some drawing, the girls loved climbing over all the rocks and eventually got soaking wet and had fun playing in the river.

We often played Clue in the evening, and this night was memorable since I was crying since I was laughing so hard. We have loved having Juliette around!

Friday's adventure, we waited for Nate to get home from work, and we made our way up Snoqualmie Pass and even Lily got to join us on this day. First, we had a picnic up there and then walked through the tunnel.

It was pretty cool (literally and figuratively) and was so fun!

Then we went to Asahel Curtis Interpretive Nature Trail. It is always a beautiful trail to walk, so many fun rocks and fallen trees to climb on, cool bridges to walk over, and a stream to explore. We taught Lily and Juliette about different species of plants and trees.

The best part of the day was watching Juliette and Nate getting wet with throwing rocks in the water and splashing each other. We were laughing and Nate was for sure winning and getting Juliette soaked. The unfortunate part was driving home. It took us about 2 hours because of a road closure.

Paige had a great group to hang out with at FSY!

Paige knows her mom well and sent me this picture during her week. I do love chocolate cake!

Paige got home early Saturday morning and went back to bed for a few hours. The rest of the day was pretty chill with cleaning and laundry. We got free slurpees and then Paige and Juliette went to the stake dance in Kent and had all sorts of fun.

Then Sunday was church and another day of chilling, watching a movie, and Shrinky Dinks.

I can't believe we are already down to just one more week with Juliette. We have another fun week planned. The time has gone by too fast, and we will miss having our extra sister around.

4th of July- A 250 Year Celebration

We always look forward to the 4th of July in the Smith household. It is a favorite holiday for most of the original Smith clan and even though it is not quite the same compared to the good old days we still had a blast!

Lily had the idea for the family to kick off the day with a 4K on the 4th. She planned the run and I planned the other details and breakfast afterwards. I had Paige and Juliette make the start and finish banners and then add some bubbles and music to it plus some food and we had a fun start to our day.

The crew right before the "race".

We even started with saying the Pledge of Allegiance before Lily explained the race to everyone. Most people kind of paired up and I loved that my girls had fun and had someone to run with. Aaron brought some friends from Ellensburg, and they have girls that were the perfect age for Baylor. She had someone to play with all day and loved every minute of it.

It was fun to cheer everyone on and there was a big crowd on the hillside as the numbers grew of those that had finished. We enjoyed a great breakfast before going to the park for the ward BBQ for lunch.

We had our ward and Pine Tree Ward together for a BBQ and to celebrate our freedom together. Paige and Nate decided to stay home but I loved it. McCall constantly wanted to play with Aaron. Baylor had family and friends to play with, and Juliette hung out with Bella and Lizzy for awhile. I loved visiting with different people and really enjoyed the afternoon.

Then the rest of the afternoon, Paige and Juliette hung out at our house and watched a movie and did some crafts. I stayed at Nona and Pop's house with lots of the younger kids since most of the adults went to the Outlet. Baylor loved playing with the other girls, and I even got to enjoy a nap with McCall on the front porch swing.

Then it was time for the annual chalk drawings to get our evening started.

Then we had an amazing dinner of tacos and then we just spent time in the yard playing yard games, hacky sack, visiting on the front porch, chilling on the garage roof, and enjoying the firework show that the neighbors were putting on.

The whole gang for this year!

We enjoyed some sparklers and snakes before heading over to the lake for the big fireworks.

It was a great way to end the evening, and we had a wonderful celebration of living in the best country. I love being an American.

We laid on the roof for a little bit to enjoy all the fireworks going on all around us and ended with a few more sparklers and fun before calling it a night.

Happy Independence Day!