Manchester State Park

We camped a long 4th of July weekend at Manchester State Park near Port Orchard.  The campground was big and every site was private, spacious and wooded.  There was even room for 2 hammocks!

The park was at one time a harbor defense installation for the protection of Bremerton, then a fuel supply depot and a Navy fire fighting station.  This structure was a torpedo warehouse built in 1901, now its a really cool picnic shelter.

There were lots of hiking and walking trails at the park.  I think we checked out all of them!  

The ferry went by frequently and was really cool to watch.  The beach was pretty too but was stinky.

This was my favorite trail.  It went along the water and ended with this cool staircase in the trees.

Sunday we found this really cool little beach.  It was a hike to get to it, especially with all our gear, but it was worth it!  The kids had a great time exploring and building on this sand wall.

We ventured to the beach the night of the 4th to watch fireworks.  There was a big house on the corner that put on an amazing show.  We ended the night with a campfire and s'mores.  It was a super relaxing and fun weekend.  A great way to spend the 4th!

Summer is here!

Rylee started summer break by going to a friends BBQ.  They ended the night with an outdoor movie.  She had a great time seeing her friends again!

We've been blessed with nice weather so far this summer (sometimes a little too nice!) so we've had lots of time in the sun.  The kids loved playing on the Selden's giant inflatable waterslide.  The boys pretty much took it over while the girls did each others makeup and the parents drank watermelon margaritas!

We went to a nice dinner for Lance's birthday and we got to meet the Bergs' new baby Allie.  She is so cute and the perfect little angel!  Rylee loves her.

We had some days with record breaking hot weather.  We hung out in the neighbors pool and on the lake.  The temps were tolerable if you were in water!

We spent two evenings in a row on the lake.  The sunsets were beautiful and the water was 84 degrees.  I've never felt Lake Tapps this warm before!

We spent some time on the water with The Bergs.  Their kids are just so sweet!  Brooklyn loved Rylee.  Jacob loved swimming with Carson.

Such a great start to summer!  And so much more summer fun to come...

Beautiful Lake Cushman

We camped at Dow Creek Resort in Hoodsport last weekend.  It was hot.  Record breaking heat for this area.  Luckily, the campground was wooded and shady.  

On Saturday we ventured a few miles down the road to Skokomish Park to hang out in the day use area.  There was a great little beach and swimming area.  We spent the day floating and sitting in the water.   It was also great people watching!  We had camped here a few years ago, but the water was low then and the weather wasn't as warm.

Lake Cushman is absolutely stunning.  The blue-green water with trees surrounding is just magical.  It would be fun to take the boat and explore it more.

There was a really cool rope swing along one of the trails.  The kids had a blast swinging and watching the other kids jump and flip.  Unfortunately Carson got his arm caught in the rope on his last jump and got a pretty bad rope burn.  He was hurting, but was also bummed that he couldn't use the rope swing anymore!

There were some great little trails in our campground.  The kids explored the creek and found a fun little waterfall.  They made friends and picked salmon berries.  It was a great spot and I’d love to camp there again! 

5th grade graduate. Now on to Middle school!

 

I can't believe my baby has graduated elementary school!  It went by too fast.  She is very excited to go to middle school next year.  It will be the first year she is in school without her brother!  

She will be going to the same middle school I went to, although it was Lakeridge Junior High (7,8,9) when I went there.  Now it is Lakeridge Middle School (6,7,8) and it is beautifully remodeled.  Go Hawks!

So proud of my Smiley Rylee.  💗

Last day of school- 3rd and 5th

Last Day of 5th grade- Mrs Duty.  Last day of elementary school!  Rylee had a really great year.  She loved her teacher and did really well in school.  She missed her friends though, and wished she could have been in school full time rather than 2 days a week.

Last day of 3rd grade- Mrs. Corbaley.  Carson had a great year as well.  He thrived at the schoolwork and breezed through it all.  He was usually done with school after about an hour.  His reading has improved and he is excelling at math.  He didn't mind the home school or the 2 days a week of school.  Most of his friends live in the neighborhood so he was still able to see them often.

Now on to summer break!!  👍

Spring Baseball/ Softball

The kids just finished up their baseball and softball seasons with the Bonney Lake little league.  Carson's team definitely started as underdogs.  I don't think they won any games.  They started off slow, but improved so much over the season.  Their last game was so fun to watch!  Carson pitched in quite a few games and did a great job overall. 

Carson was also chosen to be on the all star team.  Each team from BL little league chose 3 players to play on an all star team, then the 2 all star teams played against each other.  Carson was very proud to be picked for the team and he did a great job!  Sadly, the team did not win the all star game.  But the boys were still so happy to be a part of it.  These were the three boys from Carson's team that were chosen- Liam, Landon and Carson.

Rylee had an amazing team.  She had so much fun and made so many new friends.  She really enjoyed playing softball and did a great job!  She had some good hits and some great plays in the field.  She liked playing 3rd base and shortstop the best.  They ended the season 5-7-2.

Rylee made hair ribbons for her teammates.  They were really cute and the girls loved them.

A short video of a great hit by Rylee

Rylee's team cheered pretty much nonstop during every game.  They started with this cheer every game.  I loved it and had to get it on video.

Now on to Parks and Rec baseball and softball!