Our dear friends joined us for our last day at the lake. We played so hard all day and watched the sun set over the lake. Forever grateful for the best of friends.

One of my favorite things to do for the 4th of July is go to the Tricities and hang with our friends. Parade, BBQ, fireworks, movies, games, pool... everything wonderful! The kids all get along so incredibly well and despite the combined 9 children, Conor and I felt so relaxed all weekend. I'm so grateful for good friends!

We are so lucky! We attended a beautiful, simple wedding for our friends José and Iraima. They've been apart for a year and then finally our sponsorship of Iraima and her daughter Osmeira was approved! They flew in, I took video of an airport proposal (!) and a few days later we were attending the wedding. Here's to enduring true love!

Whew! This river is so cold, or "refreshing." Haha. This was our one last summer hurrah (locally) before the start of school. José and Rey joined us and then we met our good friends YuYi and HT there. They live in Seattle, but they were on their way home from CDA. Maeve went on the paddle board with YuYi and then Ira brought his lifejacket to me and he wanted to go too. That was surprising!

Maeve loved throwing rocks into the river with an audience and lots of praise. And then Conor showed us what fitness in the wild looks like when he threw large rocks into the water chasing the biggest splash. A fun day!

Day two was a clearer day than the first - the smoke and clouds were gone and the lake was glittering. My girls did great hauling all their gear out despite still feeling tired and a bit sore from the first day. The trip was just the right amount of challenge were the girls were ready to be done by the end, but could still finish it. We made sure to stop for one last dip in the lake before our final push to the car. Swimming in the water was dreamy! Molly (the dog) swam from person to person entertaining us all. I took some time on the shore to reflect on this trip. I was so grateful to be able to do this with my daughters and my best friends. My body felt strong, no knee pain (!), and seriously to be a bunch of women camping and exposing our children to this was very empowering. My mind felt calmer, I left feeling restored. Stepping away from the busy day to day and the household and family and baby demands was something that really helped to revive me. I'm looking forward to more adventuring with this crew!