We started July off with a birthday get together for my Mom at Eric's house. Then headed back up north to celebrate the 4th at home. Our neighborhood always puts on a good show and a nice buffet of food. I wish it would have been a little warmer but it stayed dry, at least for the most part.

Sidney went to Florida with her Dad for a week and a half. When she returned, she started band camp the very next day and that took up all of her July. We didn't get to see her much during the month. However, we made the most of our two weekends together. I took her and cousin Kali to see Eclipse and then spend the night at Mimi and Papa's house. They had fun riding the go karts. Sidney was also able to make it to the big 'All Fluked Up Rib Cook Off.' The 3rd annual cook off was held at my in-laws and on my mother-in-law's birthday to boot. so twice the occasion this year. There is always a large crowd out there; All my in-laws and their friends; Our friends and their families. It was so neat to see family from my side join us this year. My parents have actually made it out every year. The first year, along with my parents, Eric, Geetha, Kali, Kole, Uncle Sam and Grandma Mo made it. But this year, even family from California made it; Uncle Bo, Scott, Shelly, Ashley and Cody made it along with my parents, my brother and his family, Uncle Sam and Jerad! The more the merrier! The weather was great. It's a full day and evening of festivities. Most pitch tents in the yard and camp out. It's quite the event.

The last weekend of the month, Chase and I were able to go visit my parents down in Silver Creek. The weather was beautiful. I took Chase out on the go kart. He also got to ride on Papa's big tractor and run around out in the big back yard. Chase loved it. We played some 10,000, a family dice game that's been around all my life from my dad's side. The next day, we headed back to Olympia to see Sidney play the clarinet in her Summer Band Camp Concert. We followed that up with a late lunch-early dinner at a close by Mexican Restaurant.

So now, August here we come, time to start getting things together for our big camping trip...

June was a fun filled month. Sidney graduated from Elementary School and will now be entering the 6th grade at Aspire Middle School, which is a performing Arts middle school. She is excited to be able to incorporate her passion for dance and music into her school activities.

Chase and I had a short zoo visit with the little girl that I watch a few days per week. He was very excited to see the animals and to make their noises. Some were quite comical.

The last weekend of the month, our whole family went to Spokane, Washington for an extended weekend. Eli plays a 3 on 3 basketball tournament called Hoopfest, which is always held the last weekend in June. Just like last year, we went a day early to go to Silverwood Theme Park and Water Park. It was a hot weekend in eastern Washington, which was a nice break from the crummy summer we were having at home. Eli's sister, Marie, tagged along with us this year, which was a great addition. Eli, Marie and Sidney enjoyed the rides as Chase and I watched and waited. Of course, I wasn't able to join the festivities since pregnant people are not allowed to ride. Chase was too small for most rides and wasn't too into the rides that he was tall enough for. We were all able to get into the water and play though. Chase loved that part. It was refreshing to get into the cooler water! I love the sun and heat, but being pregnant in it is a whole other story!

Eli's team did well in the tournament, they won their bracket! We didn't get to see my cousin, Jerad, play as much as I would have liked to. We were able to see him play alot last year and it was fun to watch. But, all in all, it was a fun trip and everyone enjoyed it. All but the long ride home. It was a little gruelling. Time to get ready for the 4th of July now...

May came and went so fast. Most of my weekends were occupied with Sidney playing volleyball, but we were still able to have some other fun too. The weather was not our typical May weather this year. Not enough sunshine! We got a few nice days and tried to make the best of those.

Chase and I went to visit Grammy and Papa Fluke and made a trip to Cabella's. It was like an indoor zoo for Chase, except the animals weren't breathing. He had fun looking at all the animals and fish, running in and out of tents, seeing the big tractor out front and meeting Smokey the Bear! Got some great pics and enjoyed watching Chase react to everything around us.

I had a nice Mother's Day. Grammy Fluke came up Friday before Mother's Day and hung out with us. She was able to watch Sidney's volleyball game on Saturday with us before going home. Unfortunately, my dad wasn't feeling well, so my mom and dad did not end up coming to visit as originally planned. Sidney and Chase gave me a cute card and some beautiful flowers, my favorite...orchids! I also had the nice surprise of getting a gift card for a facial. I always wanted to get one but never have before, now I know how great it is...I want to go more often. Maybe I can get one on my birthday too.

We had our ultrasound and found out we are having a baby girl! Sidney and I were very excited and had to celebrate by buying some clothes for our new little girl. Eli wasn't expecting to hear that news, but he's gotten used to the idea and is already acting like a nervous dad thinking about when his little girl grows up...talking about locking her up until she's 35 and all that nonsense. It's somewhat comical. We are all excited.

Sidney got one weekend off from volleyball, they had a bye that weekend...so, as she was promised for her birthday in March, I planned a road trip to take her and a friend over to Forks and LaPush to do the Twilight thing. Luckily, I was able to convince my mom to come with me. We drove just a bit south of our home to catch the ferry that put us into Kingston and drove over to Port Angeles to stop at a couple of the Edward and Bella spots and ate lunch there before journeying on to Forks. We hit up all the Forks points of interest per the Twilight books and then stayed in a room called the 'Bella Suite.' It was really neat for the girls and my mom and I both enjoyed watching them bask in it all. They delivered sparkling cider and some champagne glasses to our room so we could have a toast and then watch our Twilight movies before calling it a night. The next day, we drove to La Push and checked out the Jacob and Bella spots. It was a good time. A nice girls weekend. Great pics and memories.

We spent Memorial Day weekend at home, decided to not mess with the traffic. Sidney got away with a friend to go camping out towards Chelan and luckily got some nice weather over there.

Ok, I think that sums up May...