When the weather cools off...

The girls got in their swimsuits, but it was just a little too cool to swim.  So they moved to the dirt pile instead.  And then they got a bath before dinner.  

Emily's party

 Emily wanted to have a "Go Ducks" birthday party, so against everything in my being, we decorated the house in yellow & green.

 The kids swam and hung out, and enjoyed the weakest pinata known to man.

 Abby didn't get a great nap, so she crashed in the middle of the party.

Saturday

Saturday morning we picked marionberries & some boysenberries.  Abby has been really good about never eating the berries until we pay for them, but apparently her love is boysenberries.  She was eating them by the fistful.  I couldn't get her to be still enough to get a good picture, but you might get the idea.  In the afternoon we cleaned out the pool and swam some more.

Friday

Friday morning Emily came home, we ran a few errands, and then Emily had a dentist appointment.  After rest, we headed to another friend's house for a backyard play date.  They had fun eating otter pops and playing on the playstructure, slip n slide, and little pool.  It was awesome.  On the way home we got a pizza, and enjoyed a "pizza & movie" night before they all crashed.

Thursday

On Thursday, Emily's birthday wish came true, and she (finally) got to have her slumber party with her friend, Jack (and Ella).  Jack's family picked Emily & Ellen up around noon on Thursday, and the girls got to have an amazing play date.  I picked Ellen up around 7pm because I wasn't sure how she'd do overnight, and Emily kind of had her heart set on a "her and Jack" night.  During my 7 hours of being a parent to only one child, Abby and I took naps, made a few freezer meals, and got frozen yogurt.  To help Ellen with the transition back home, the two littles & I made cookie dough.  After Abby went to bed, Ellen and I watched one of her shows & snuggled in my bed before she had to go to her own bed. It was nice to have some one-on-one time with the younger two.

Wednesday

 Wednesday was another at-home day.  The girls played in the pool, as did the dogs.  We went on a nice walk with some friends from church in the evening.

Tuesday

On Tuesday we hung out at the house during the day (I still hadn't completely cleaned the house up after Emily's birthday party).  Then we packed a picnic dinner and went to the Wilsonville water park.  The girls had a great time, but I didn't get many pictures because I was chasing Abby who was chasing animals (dogs), and I was afraid I'd drop my phone in the water.

Monday's fun

Monday we went to Eugene to play with the Ubels.  I didn't remember to get a belly picture of our same-due-date kids, but you can imagine it.  Our five girls LOVE playing together. Oh, and they have a patient cat who let Abby absolutely torture him.

While Daddy's gone

Jon left on Sunday for a missions trip to Arizona.  Initially, I thought sticking close to home would be the best plan, but I soon realized that keeping busy works even better.  Sunday after naps we headed to a friend's birthday party.  I didn't get any pictures, but the girls wanted to send Daddy a picture to cheer him up.

 I really did try to get all three looking and smiling at the same time.  We did small-scale fireworks this year: flowers, sparklers, and pop-its.  That being said, it was hard to take pictures while making sure our, um, strong-willed third child didn't burn herself.

 This face: trying to smile for the camera while focusing on enjoying your sparkler.

The Fourth - Bonfire

 We had a rather low-key Fourth this year--just us.  We had a bonfire in the backyard and ate hot dogs, fruit salad, corn on the cob, and s'mores.

 Abby watched me make a s'more, and immediately put her marshmallow between her grahams (smarty pants).  She has already consumed her allotment of chocolate (again, smarty pants).