Snow White and her forest friends

Beat the heat!

This hot week started out with the arrival of Uncle Pat. Patrick flew in from New York after finishing school to meet his niece for the first time. She had a very quizzical look on her face, seemingly thinking - "you look like my dad, but you're not my dad."

We headed out to the Collins Lake cabin with Pat on Thursday to beat the heat. We met up with Nannie and Poppie, and Lauren treated us to many smiles and coos while chilling in her crib.

The next day we enjoyed an evening with lots of family learning more about Uncle Pat's experiences in New York. Cousin Alex was very sweet with Lauren - holding her and taking her for strolls.

On Saturday our friends Erin and Gary came up from Portland to see Lauren for the first time. We headed over to Grammy and Grandpa Lukkes's to stay cool in their pool. Lauren took a dip with Mom, but with great hesitation. 

Ahh! The Ocean Air

The five of us traveled to Ocean Shores this weekend. We stayed at the lovely Ocean Vista (Grandma and Grandpa Schaefer's time share cabin) for three nights and we had the best time despite not having the best weather. It rained all day on Thursday, so we stayed in and ate lots of salt water taffy and watched DVD's. Friday we were able to get out and go for a walk on the beach. Lauren snug in her baby carrier combined with the cool ocean air promptly fell asleep once we reached the beach. But the dogs were eager to roam the beach and roll in whatever smelly crab or dead bird they could find.

Later that afternoon the weather turned nice and it actually started to warm up, so we went to play miniature golf. While Lauren dramatically increased dad's handicap, she was good luck for mom who dropped two hole-in-one's. 

     

Later that night we drove out on to the beach and took in a sunset.

     

We then visited our favorite ice cream shop in Ocean Shores - the Peppermint Parlor. Lauren must know there's milk in ice cream because she was eager to take a lick.

  

The next day, after sleeping in late with mommy, Lauren got bundled up to go on a beach walk.

     

And promptly fell asleep once we reached the sand.

Mom decided to get her feet wet with the the boys while Dad and Lauren safely stayed dry.

We were sad to leave on Sunday, but we're so thankful for the wonderful and safe trip we had making lots of great memories.