Summer Strolls

I thought this duck was cute. :) It almost looks like it's smiling, doesn't it?

Watery Wednesday

There are still a few more weeks left of summer, but I can tell that autumn is coming. I love autumn, with the leaves changing colors, and the feel of change in the air... But I am going to really miss summer. Something I am going to miss about this summer is taking walks with Mom, my siblings, and Grandma (almost) every week. One of our favorite parks to go for our walk is Fort Steilacoom Park in Lakewood, WA, which is a very pretty park. We like to walk through some fields of grass, go through the Gary Oak forest, walk under the cottonwood and poplar trees near the lake, then go by the lake and watch the ducks that swim there.

 

The paint on this barn is not, in any way, purple-y. If the photo suggests other wise, it's because of the way I edited it.

Barn Charm

After that we might go and see the Hill Ward Memorial and walk through the labyrinth they made there, and/or go and see the barns and look for the cliff swallows (read more about them at my moms blog).

While we're walking, we like to pick some of the long pieces of grass and tickle each other with one of them. This is especially fun if you're able to sneak up behind someone and make them think that there's a bug in their hair or something. We all (especially Grandma) have a lot of fun with this. :)

We often go on these walks later in the day. We like to see the sun set, and by the time we get home, it's usually almost dark outside. I do love autumn -- and winter -- but one thing I don't like about it is how it starts getting darker outside earlier then I'd like.

What are you going to miss about summer? What are some things you're looking forward to in the upcoming months? :)

Fort Nisqually

I just realized that I have used collages a lot recently. I hope you don't mind that I'm doing some more in this post! They're just so useful when you have a lot of pictures but don't want to clutter your post with a bunch of big pictures. =)

A couple weeks ago we went to the Fort Nisqually Living History Museum for their Brigade Encampment event. Every summer we look forward to going to Fort Nisqually for Family Fun Night and Brigade Encampment. We love both events, and have gone to them almost every year for more then ten years! Family Fun Night is in July, and Brigade Encampment is in August.

From their website:

"Fort Nisqually is a living history museum where volunteers and staff, in period clothing, demonstrate the crafts of the 19th century and engage visitors in historic dialogue during the Living History Days and other events throughout the year."

"Brigade Encampment has something for the whole family including the popular 'Engagé for the Day' program and Kids' Alley where visitors may participate in hands-on presentations. Upon learning new skills, such as firestarting with flint and steel, blacksmithing, or spinning wool, visitors can sign on as an honorary apprentice for the day with the Hudson's Bay Company!"

We all learned about different trades and crafts from re-enactors, and got beads for everything we learned. Once you had collected at least five beads, you could become an honorary apprentice for the day with the Hudson's Bay Company. We collected quite a few beads in all, but there was one thing we wanted to do first before we signed on as an honorary apprentice....

A Punch and Judy puppet show! I remember watching these every year, and this year they had new puppets. The girl who does the puppet show is really good, too. Everyone has lots of fun watching it, and there are a lot of people laughing.

Weekend Reflections

While we were collecting beads, this camera caught our eyes. For one thing, it was pretty cool looking, and it had an awesome reflection in it's lens. =)

While we were becoming honorary apprentices, I noticed another reflection that I wanted to take a picture of (above collage, last picture). =D

First Beach

A few weeks ago we went to First Beach in La Push, Washington, while on our camping trip. It was really nice there. We all had a lot of fun splashing in the waves. My little brother had a lot of fun with that & he got really wet!

The end of the beach was where we saw most of the sea creatures.  You can see two kinds of barnacles and some mussels in the first photo in my collage (above). The second photo was actually taken right after we got there, and, as far as I can tell, doesn't have any sea creatures in it (so I guess this is kind of the "odd one out"). The third photo is of a sea anemone; I think it's the same kind of anemone as the ones shown in the photo below. And the last photo is of a star fish. :) While writing this I noticed what I think looks like a heart on one of it's arms, toward the bottom of the photo. Can you see it?

Guest Heart Thursday

I hope you're able to spot the heart in the photo above. :) I didn't notice it until I looked through my photos after I got back from the beach. I'm glad I was able to take a picture of it!

kite flying at sunset

I took these pictures a few weeks ago at Crescent Beach & RV Park in Washington (read about in my previous post). While the rest of my family were setting up our tent, I noticed that someone was flying a kite over by the beach. The sun was setting, and I thought the silhouette of the of the kite looked neat against the cloudy sky. We had recently got a new camera with a nice zoom, so I was eager to try it out. I grabbed the camera out of our van and snapped these pictures.

** I am posting this post a few months after I originally started writing it. I noticed I never posted it and decided to finish it up. I also decided to post it at the date that I started writing it at.

the glittery section of our dining room

wordless wednesday