I forgot Maeve's bonnet in Yahk. It was time fora bigger one anyways. I love how this one turned out! The pattern is a freebie from Purl Soho. 

This weekend we went camping at Priest Lake in Idaho. We tried out a new campground (Beaver Creek) and aimed to camp for 2 nights, but ended up staying for only one. Maeve was up from 1am onwards... so we were pretty tired! Fortunately, we still made some excellent memories. There was a full moon that looked extra awesome above the beautiful lake. We saw Saturn and Mars which was very exciting. We went to the beach to play in the water at about 10 am and spent a good chunk of time there before returning to the campsite to roast hot dogs and marshmallows in a thunderstorm. And then we packed up all our gear soaking wet and went home! Camping with a one year old is no cake walk. We've camped with each of our daughters at age one and this isn't the first time we've left early or felt exhausted. I'm pretty sure it's still worth it. We have one more camping trip (a one nighter) in August, and I'm crossing my fingers that next year, camping is more sleep filled!

Yesterday, we picked cherries (10#!) and some peaches. We love picking fruit out at Greenbluff. The real trick yesterday was to pick faster than Maeve was eating! Haha! We needed a close to home, easy Saturday activity this weekend so this was perfect. Today, I baked a small pan of brownies and I added fresh cherries. Yummy! I love summer.

Holly's birthday party was really easy and fun! We invited friends over and they decorated their bikes. This was quite the creative process and I'm pretty sure the kids could've decorated all day long! Once decorated, we took the bikes on a little ride through Manito park, a bike parade. Then we came back to the back yard and I served up a 3' ice cream sundae. Ingredients were: vanilla ice cream, cookie dough ice cream, whipped cream, chocolate sauce and cherries. Everyone had their own spoon and got to dig in after we sang happy birthday. This was lots of fun and a big hit with the kids. In lieu of gifts, we asked each girl to bring a wrapped book and we did a white elephant exchange. That was great! It was such a great night. I would definitely repeat this birthday party! Too bad Maeve and Greta are both winter birthdays. 

Holly turned nine this past week! I can hardly believe it! We had a fun (and easy) day celebrating her! It's all about food at our house, and the day started off with Eggs Benedict. I made Holly a birthday dress (as per tradition) and I'm so happy with how it turned out! It's really the perfect color and cut on her. We gave Holly a couple books and a bow and arrow. We are really low-key gift givers, and fortunately Holly is super easy to please! 

I totally can't believe I have a 9 year old! Holly is such a great kid! She's kind and thoughtful. She's awesome with little kids. Holly is cheerful and generous. She is fiercely loyal to her family and friends. Holly is lots of fun and full of energy. She's a great kid!