Boating Fun with a Bonus On Board!

We took Marilyn on the boat for her first time! 

I think she liked it! 

Ben's 10th Birthday! Part 1!!

Ben turned 10 on the 26th! We were going to have his birthday party the day before, but for various reasons, we needed to move it to next weekend. Sooooo, in the meantime, he was treated to a few special things! 

On the Saturday that would have been his party, he was treated to his birthday breakfast choice #2.

(Caroline's danish was #1 which was made for his actual birthday on Sunday morning!)

So he enjoyed egg scramble and homemade waffles on Saturday morning! 

 Then, Mommy took him out for a special outing! 

He has wanted a "real" cowboy hat for a long time! 

So we went to our local western wear store and found just the right one!
(Mommy stopped for a latte and when the barista heard it was Ben's birthday,
she gave him this . . . .  :-) 

The two pictures below would have been even better had he had his new cowboy boots on! :-) 

 Then, on Saturday afternoon, he talked us in to opening 3 gifts from his younger siblings! 

 Some legos and this cool cap! 

 AND . . .not pictured is a gift opening from PapaBob and Meemom and us . .
a two-fer ;-)  . . . . an air-soft gun combo gift!  (A rifle and a pistol!)
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Then, Sunday morning on his actual birthday . . .Caroline's danish!!! 

 And opening of a couple more gifts from his friend Joseph!

And a little boating on the afternoon of his birthday!

And a double-digit-birthday-rite-of-passage . . .

jumping into the freezing cold Cowlitz River! 

 Then, swimming in the larger part of the lake! 

His party is still coming up on Saturday and guess what the theme is?
Western/cowboy, of course!
He wants a "cowboy boot" cake and we'll make the cupcakes with the cowboy hats on them.
And we still need to make his special birthday dinner this week! 

"Everyone Needs Flowers"

My very wise son-in-law #1 came home from work one day in the spring when the lockdowns were in place due to Covid-19, and announced to unsuspecting Lydia, "I think everyone needs flowers!"

Such a statement from her rugged, hard-working, manly-man kinda surprised Lydia!  

But he was certain that because of the dreariness of the pandemic situation and the stay-at-home-orders, that people really needed something to brighten their lives and cheer them up! 

I wholeheartedly agreed, and so I took his advice to heart and this was the result . . . . 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

What makes all these flowers even more special, is that all of our kids had a big part in blessing us with them!  Either by a Mother's Day gift of cash/gift certificate to be spent on flowers, or giving actual flowers, each of our kids is represented in all this beauty and thought of fondly every time I enjoy them!

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I have two of the pots of impatiens by the front door . . . 

 Three big hydrangeas by the front door going crazy again this year . . . 

My very sweet and thoughtful friend, Sarah, blessed me with the white hydrangea in the middle of this picture.  I think it is called "Fire and Ice" and will change colors from creme to pink to red.  It has already tripled in size from when she gave it to me! 

 Dahlia tuber I planted for the first time this year!

 New gladiolas I planted this year!
(Another one of my favorite things decided to descend and pose for this picture!)

 Salmon dahlias . . .

 Cheery sunflowers I planted from small starts from DeGoede's

 Front rock garden.  I moved the hydrangea from another spot where it wasn't doing so good.

 This red dahlia came back this year! 

Lydia gave me the red geranium in the background for Mother's Day! 

 This white rose bush seen in the next 3 photos was a gift to me from Kyle for Mother's Day 2019. 

It was one of the small rose bushes that come in a cute little container from inside a store. 

I wasn't even sure if they were meant to be planted outside, but figured I would try!  

And this is what grew back this year! I wish the photo showed all its glory! It is so beautiful!

 By the gazebo  . . . 

 New rose bush this year in front of our gazebo!

 The red petunias came in a fairly small hanging pot from Costco. 

They didn't seem to be thriving so well in that pot, so I took them out of that one and put them in this huge pot from Costco!  They grew like crazy and filled it out nicely! 

 Valerie gave me these beautiful roses recently! 

Lydia just gave me this bouquet from her homegrown flower garden!  

The dahlias are a most amazing, unique salmon/purple color.  The picture doesn't really do them justice!