Summer refresh

Aahh, where was I?  The frequency of updates to this blog during summers is inversely correlated with the frequency of the Sammamish Werners' family activities.  So, we had a busy summer!

We started things off with a bang, celebrating Dave & Marsha's 40th wedding anniversary with a big shindig at our house.  They had a big group of family and friends, old and new, from far away and near.  It was a ton of fun hearing the stories from childhood friends and long time neighbors.  We went deep into the night... a very fun and festive celebration.  One interesting thing was that Dave seemed to get some... dust in his eyes... right when he was thanking everyone for coming out.  Weird!



Lots of love in the house!



We were blessed to be able to host the 5 C's (Cheryl, Craig, Chris, Corey, Cameron) for a couple of weeks in June as well as their Colombian exchange student Nathalia.  We timed it with the first 2 sunny and warm weeks of the entire year, and enjoyed lots of boat time, hiking, soccer and games.  We learned that Corey and Cameron are fine card players and horrible magicians.  Chris likes to do flips and is a sweet wakeboarder.  Corey is a mean guitar player.  Cameron likes to wave and yell "hello Sir!" to other boaters.  Cheryl is a thrill seeker.  And Craig is a master navigator.

Our kids loved being around their cousins or a few weeks and Jackson was excited to be able to have slumber parties with them every night in the play room.

The visit turned out to actually be a recruiting visit and we netted a new roomie, as Corey will be living with us for the next year as he starts to pursue his college plan in Washington.  We are hopeful to get the rest of the gang to move out our way in the not too distant future!

Like, yo, check me out.

Swimming with Uncle Craig!

Faster!!

Of course, no summer would be complete without a parade of Werner birthdays!

Jackson got another picture perfect day for his birthday on the 4th of July.  We enjoyed a family barbeque in the backyard, followed by the local fireworks show.  A few days later, he had 3 buddies join him at the Mariners game, followed by a slumber party and hours of trading Pokemon cards.

Mackenzie had the "reptile man" over to help celebrate her birthday with a couple dozen of her closest pals.  There is nothing like the sound of screaming, giggling, squealing girls as they handle snakes, lizards, crocodiles and turtles!  Being the critter lover that she is, Mackenzie loved every minute of it!!

Little patriots





Jackson gets what he wanted most, a teal Justin Smoak jersey





Kenzie's reptile cake



Waiting for the reptile man to get out his scaly friends



Squealing laugher



Nice necklace!

Huge python!

Riding the big tortoise

Little Gracie gets a turn

Later in the summer we were invited to join our friends Dave, Steph, Abby and Elliott at their cabin on Whidbey island.  We enjoyed crabbing, looking for critters on the beach, and roasting marshmellows.  Kenzie loved finding tiny crabs under rocks at the beach.  Jackson liked pulling the crab pots and inspecting the haul.  The kids did not get marshmellow goo in their hair this time, pleasing Steph.



I'm on a boat!



Baby crab



Steph and I finally took the plunge and tried our hand at "boat gating" for the Huskies game vs Hawaii.  What a fun way to get to the game!  It was much simpler and easier than anticipated.  Steph initially was nervous and told me she just wanted to stay home and clean the house instead.  Once we were anchored and she was laying in the sun, she said never mind.  Now she says she wants to boat-gate for every sunny home game

One of 2 stadiums in the country where you can commute by boat!

GO DAWGS!!!