Rain, Sun and Back Again

June and July have brought us weather all over the map during our recent travels - literally and figuratively. We've experienced nonstop rain while camping at Mt. Rainier, WA, hot and humid sun in NJ, and incredible lightning/thunder storms in Upstate NY. Now we are back in Oregon and it feels like we have regressed back to spring again with the cloudy and rainy days we have been having.

I feel so fortunate that our recent trips have been filled with so many wonderful moments spent with friends and family. Mt. Rainier was a weekend camping trip where we met up with a group of other Ukrainian families from Seattle. The kids had a blast at their mini-camp which was structured with activities, meals and an evening bonfire (held under tarps due to the rain!) There was even a Father's Day breakfast competition where all the dads judged the breakfasts that were served to them by the older kids - very cute. Liana was a trooper throughout the cold, wet and mud, and slept remarkably well in our family tent. Here are a few shots from the weekend:

Our two-week trip to the East Coast was very different weather-wise, but also filled to the brim with activities and get-togethers. Once again, Liana did pretty well traveling (the flight back being the exception), and much to our delightful surprise, she was a champion sleeper (this being the complete opposite of our last trip in December!) I won't bore this blog with details of everything we did (you can see ALL the photos at our Picasa site), but I'll list a few highlights:

Really fun times eating, drinking and dancing at my sister's 40th birthday bash. She really went all out for that party and it showed. Liana stayed up past midnight and was dancing up a storm!

 

Hanging on the beach at The Jersey Shore (yes, it's a real place :-)

Visiting local pools, zoos, fairs and farms...

 And most importantly, just spending time with family and friends.

And of course...more dancing!