Summer in Seattle

Oh wait, that's right, we don't live in Seattle.  It's just that with the cloudiness and rain, day after ever-lovin' day, it's hard to remember that we're not in the Pacific Northwest.  Or the tropics during rainy season.  Or wherever else on earth it rains EVERY.  SINGLE.  DAY.  When the sun does make its rare and short appearances, we dash outside and soak it in.  In between, I think we've visited every indoor attraction this city has to offer.

Or we practice bedtime yoga (tree pose).

 Or we babysit.  Ben has a very soft spot for this cutie pie.

 Or we play Mancala.

 Or we sucker Mom into paying for this "Hurricane Simulator" at the jumpy place.

 

Or we trade baseball cards.

Or we read books about snakes to our sister.  "And the python squeeeeezed its prey to death."

Or we paint on the back porch.  You're getting the picture, right?
Lots.  Of.  Rain.

But occasionally, the sun has poked through and we've taken full advantage of it.

 Go Braves! 

 And other times, Mommy's just so sick of being inside, she makes everyone play outside even though it's sprinkling.  Then, we just get resourceful and make a fort.

Shockingly, it rained on the 4th of July and all of the festivities were cancelled.  So instead, we headed down to celebrate Grandpa's 70th birthday.

 

 And on the way home, there was this moment:

 Heart-meltingly sweet (despite Noah's fake sleeping).

 But no fake sleeping here.  We put the kids in PJs before we got in the car in the hopes they'd sleep on the way home, but Ben complained that it was too light out to sleep.  A little while later, it was quiet and I turned around to find this.  Again, resourceful little boy.

 The next day I celebrated my birthday with my sweet family ... in the rain.

And lastly, you know who this is, right?  If not, you can check her out here and you should definitely get your hands on a copy of her book.  I was thrilled to go meet her when she came through town on her book tour.  Fun moment.