Annie June meets her Aunt Bernice June

As I have said before, I felt so lucky when we found out we were having a girl and I knew in my heart what name I wanted her to carry from both sides. First of all Annie's Aunt Katie's middle name is June and her Great Aunt Pam (my aunt) is also June. But Joel's Aunt Bernice's middle name is June too. Joel and her share the same Birthday which is also in June... so it was a no brainer and a good sign that we had picked such a great name that would take after so many amazing gals in our lives.

We haven't been able to see Aunt Bernice as much as we would like this last year because she lives in Virginia but this last weekend Annie finally got to meet one of her namesakes!

I love that Annie has so many ladies she can look up to so much. Aunt Berns is amazingly strong, overcoming many obstacles with great resilience. She is a hoot, always makes ya laugh and I am sure she will never stop surprising us.

We love you Aunt Berns and I love that our daughter carries your name.

Lake Chelan 2012

Lake Chelan is such a special place for me... It is full of memories of our first camping trips in tents when we were in elementary school, making ice cream with a crank ice cream machine with Aunt Karla, playing all day down in the swimming area and riding our bikes around camp. Then as a tween Jania started coming with me and it was ten days of hunting for boys and giggling well past dark in the field in sleeping bags under the stars. During college there was a short trail of boyfriends that I wanted to share this great place with until 2005 when I knew the current boyfriend would be coming to Chelan for many many years. These weeks during the summer is  a time we look forward to all year and it seems to come and go way too fast.

As an adult we knew our kids would love this place but this year is the first year that I could see the true joy through Bennett's eyes and know in my heart he is making those same unforgettable memories that I have locked in from my childhood.

I spent most of this entire trip trying to pack as much as we could into every day and do something new and fun for Bennett and even little Annie to experience. We did it all.... He beamed ear to ear as Uncle Marty took him for a ride on the "water quads" he was delighted to get up early two days and take his fishing pole down to the boat docks and see if they can have any luck, he begged me everyday to go on the boat and we even snuck in some Slide Waters, alpenhorn put put golf, many many bike rides and lots of fun with the family and friends. Even us parents got some fun moments of adult time on the boat and a trip to the wineries! (Thanks teen girls!)

We had a great group this year... The Colters, The Elders, The Prills, The Miltenbergers, The Crawfords and of course my Parents and my sisters and families. Maddie and her friends were super fun and helpful with the kids... we loved having Dakota, Jordan, Kendra, Peyton and Paige! We hope everyone can come again next year!

It was hard for me to leave this year... after over three weeks in the RV it had started to feel like home for all of us. To realize how much has changed since last year and how much will again change before our trip next year... I wont lie... I cried a little leaving the park, not because I was bummed to head back to the real world, but because I know how lucky we are to have these moments in our kids lives... Here is a little peak at our two weeks in paradise...

A bike ride with the three oldest

 Love at first sight

 Two very tired babes... giving the mamas some time to relax too :)

 The mamas getting some relaxing time...

 The girls did some face painting... The boys loved it!

 Trying out some fishing!

 The water slides...

Our pretty girl... love her sitting up!

 Showing me his Ranger badge

The beginning of our last day...

 Yep... she can fit her foot in her mouth...

 Our last night... hitting the Alpenhorn for some ice cream

 Our last bike ride... it was a perfect end to a perfect 3 weeks!

Look Ma... No Training Wheels!

This is one of the most prideful mama posts is a very long time and that says a lot because lets be honest I just mostly talk about how awesome my kids are...

Anyway, So this morning my husband and I were recovering from a little bit too late night around the camp fire over groggy coffee and the chaos of getting the kids dressed and out to play. I heard Bennett ask his dad if he could take it training wheels off and didn't think much of it. About 15 minutes later someone came into the trailer and said "Get your camera! Bennett is riding his bike"
I peaked out of the trailer after grabbing my camera as quickly as I could and looked down the road to see a pack of adults around one sweet little boy riding as fast as he could. Joel said he took the training wheels off and before he even had his tools put away Bennett had pushed the bike to the side road and was off pedaling... None of that crouching parent behind the bike or anything... he just did it on his own!!!

OK so here is a bit more back story... We got Bennett a Strider bike when he was about 2 years old. He had little interest in it until last year at Lake Chelan when he saw all the big kids riding their bikes around. So last year there was our little 2.5 year old running around on this pedal free bike... but this last Christmas Santa brought him a big boy bike with pedals and training wheels. He was ok excited but still loved his green strider bike because he could go a lot faster and had crashed a couple times with this new training wheeled bike.

So this year he again saw all the big kids on the bike and he started asking before Joel got to camp if he could ride his pedal bike without training wheels and I knew that maybe he wasn't ready so I just said "lets wait until daddy gets here" and boy I was sooo happy we waited.

I am so proud of him, it was such a magical moment that happened on a beautiful morning in one of my favorite places on the planet. This is hopefully a memory Bennett will keep for a long time... I know it is permanently stamped on my heart for sure!