Right before Christmas, we met up with our friends at the Manito Park fireplace for hot chocolate, charades, marshmallows, snacks and carolling. We had the best time hanging out until way past dinnertime!

I love that we live so close to Greenbluff - an area filled with U-Pick farms. This summer we picked peaches (too many!) and raspberries. It felt like a zoo at moments, but dang those peaches were yummy! We all had juice dripping down our chins. I made peach syrup (for kombucha) and I froze some peaches that I'll make into jam when the weather cools.

Also, really taking advantage of my kid photographers!

One lovely July day, we ventured north to Loon Lake. We hadn't been there before, but we sure enjoyed our first trip! The water was beautiful and warm. Having a dock and rocks to play on, plus sand - that was awesome! The girls got to fish... It was kind of a perfect day and we didn't want to leave. Just what this summer needed a splash of... a normal feeling, fun summer day!

On the heels of finding out we can't come to Canada until at least July 21, it sure was nice to spend a weekend on a lake with friends. The kids had so much fun together. Us adults had an awesome time too playing games and staying up way too late every night. It's so refreshing to spend condensed time with people I really like. I'm so grateful for their generosity!

On Memorial Day, we went to Post Falls with our friends and hiked in Q'emiln Park. My girls and I have been there once to swim in the river a couple years back. I had no idea there would be so many interesting trails! Starting off I was a little nervous about how my crew would do becuase the elevation change was completely different from what I had in my mind. But everyone surprised me and did great! Maeve fell asleep in the backpack for a good chunk of time. We finished our hike right before the rain really started to come down! It was really gorgeous and definitely something I would want to do again. Our total distance was around 4 miles.