4th of July in Forks, WA on the family farm

There is something so quieting about our family farm. Possibly the lush vegetation, the time with family or the sound of the river...maybe it's all of the above! The younger generation of my son and nieces are able to see the livestock, play in the river and find lots of frogs.

The barn was a magical place to explore to me as a child and to my wiener dogs as well!!

My cousin and husband who live on the farm brought a few "friends" to visit and train with her. The dogs decided to introduce themselves from a healthy distance.

This truck (with logo) is part of the transportation fleet for my cousin's horses and her client's horses to various shows across North America.

One of my nieces found a photo in a magazine and decided to decorate our lasagna to commemorate the holiday! We actually enjoyed the sour cream topping and freshly sliced tomatoes. The black beans didn't add or detract from the flavor but got style points as the "stars" on the flag.

After dinner, we went down to the fire pit the kids made out of river rock and Papa started the fire for his grand kids...time for s'mores!

Grandma prepared a tray of all the s'more ingredients...check out the size of these marshmallows!

Niece Kasey likes to char her marshmallow, eat the crust off and repeat.

I remembered to shoot a picture of mine after a few deliciously gooey bites. These camp fires and s'mores are always a quintessential sign of Summer for my family.

Niece Tessa displaying her colossal roasted marshmallow, she likes a heavy toasting but not burnt.




A contented niece!

The dogs have wondered off to try to chase river birds...don't worry, they're not fleet of foot in the water (or on the rocks either).

My son is searching the collection of river rocks to find stones to skip after his s'mores.

My Dad, son Alan and nieces Tessa and Kasey join in, trying their hand at skipping rocks.

My Mom made buttermilk pancakes for breakfast the next day. I enjoyed mine with CB's Organic Peanut butter and Raspberry jam for breakfast! I brought a quart for the long weekend as my Dad is a HUGE fan of CB's Nuts Organic Peanut Butter.

My son and one of his cousins were in the Kid's Parade on the 4th and they got 3rd prize!

The 4th of July Parade is always a family affair for us with lots of sunscreen, water and candy thrown to the kids from the passing floats.

What a fantastically relaxing weekend with my family, I'm looking forward to next year already!

Here's to creating some lasting memories this summer...bye for now friends!