Alex's First Haircut

We cut our baby boy's hair and discovered that he's actually blond!
Here he is before the haircut (with a particularly wild 'do) . . .
. . . and afterwards, with the master barber himself.

Seattle Pictures . . . finally!

When my brother, Joe, was here visiting last month, I overheard the following exchange between Abby and him:
Abby: "My mom is exhausted."
Joe: "That's because she's raising YOU."

Too true, Joe. Too true. Things are a little busy around here, trying to keep up with three little ones. They are worth it though! Blogging is just one of those things that has fallen through the cracks during a fun, busy summer. Here's my attempt to catch up a bit.

We had a great trip to Washington in June! Here are some highlights:

The entire Linscott fam., as well as Luke's Grandpa Al and Uncle Paul

Fishing on Beaver Lake, where Grandpa Al lives

We spent one day near the ocean at Bowman Bay. The views from there were beautiful!

Katie and Abby wading near the tide pools

The "Original Linscott Crew" (Luke with his mom, dad, sister, and brother)

Abby and Katie had so much fun with their cousin Emie (who is two weeks older than Katie)

Lance and Luke caught these huge crabs at Bowman Bay

Abby . . . the sisters-in-law: Teisa, Lara, and me . . . Mike and Lara . . . Grandma and Alex

Alex made some new friends: Great Grandpa, "Uncle" Mike, and Aunt Lara

Some of the beautiful flowers in Great Grandpa's yard

We took some walks and hikes through beautiful Northwest forests.

Abby with Great Grandpa . . .

. . . and hitching a ride with Grandpa

Katie enjoying Beaver Lake

A canoeing expedition

It was really fun to meet my friend Heidi and her cute family for a picnic at the park. We have oodles of memories together, going back to fifth grade, so it's always great to see each other. She and her husband, Derek, along with their four kids, live in the Seattle area. We always try to get together with them when we're there visiting Luke's grandpa and uncle.

Our kids had a great time together (and proved to be evenly matched in silliness!).

It was a great week!

Seattle Trip

We returned a week ago from a great trip to Seattle, WA, with Luke's side of the family. It was so fun to see everyone and to be in such a beautiful place. An added bonus was the sunny weather!

Coming soon: more pictures and details than anyone could possibly be interested in!

Abby and Katie with their cousin Emie (photo courtesy of the illustrious Michael Burton and his fancy camera) :)

Alex Discovers the Pet Gerbil

Hey! There's the coolest little furry thing running around in here.

"You've gotta check this out, Mom!"

Amateurs

We've decided to give our vegetable garden a shot this year. Since we're amateurs at best, we chose cucumber, carrots, watermelon, and pumpkin this year. Depending on how it goes, we may venture into such challenging species as the tomato next year. Here are a few pictures of us admiring our vegetable sprouts.