One Direction

Jia's excited to go to her first concert - One Direction - with her friends! (She picked 1D for her tenth birthday instead of a party. And much thanks to Joe for taking the girls!)

Seattle

Seattle for work = Old friends, Christopher Cross private concert, biking around Lake Union to see house boats, float planes, aquarium, Chihuly, and my first cross-stitch for my bee-keeping friend!

Summer fun

Strawberry Shortcake and peach pie!

 

Mississippi River Biking

An awesome bike ride along the sandstone bluffs by the Mississippi river is made even better by spotting two bald eagles and then happening upon Festa Italiana (gelato and pizza)!

Giddyup!

Off to Horse Camp at Camp Kici Yapi!

They had a fantastic week!

China Reunion

We got together with our China travel group for family day - and all the kids got along famously as usual!

The three Jias.

Jia Day

Today marks nine years of Jia in our family. We are so grateful to have her in our lives. We are looking forward to getting together tomorrow with her travel group. For the reunion, we always buy a bunch of Chinese candy at United Noodles. The girls end up buying lots of other stuff too, like this, which combines two of their favorite things: Hello Kitty and seaweed! 

Home

 Love our neighborhood.

Real Girls

Jia told me she wanted an anti-Barbie shirt...and we found one with the exact sentiment she wanted to express:

Independence Day

We started with biking and more beachtime (and making sandcastles after eating at Sandcastle restaurant)!

 

 

 We ended with our usual party and fireworks! 

Berries and Beaches

Berries and beaches! We only picked ten pounds this time at Afton Apple Orchard...and we're moving beyond dessert with the recipes: strawberry mint pasta for dinner tonight (surprisingly yummy) and berry empanadas for breakfast tomorrow!