Growing up in the Midwest has allowed us to understand a very distinct system of four seasons. We are no strangers to overcast weather for extended periods of time and loads of rain during the spring. We are used to painfully hot and humid summers with plenty of sun. We know that autumn is the best time to live in the Midwest and expect cool evenings and outrageously beautiful colors. And of course we know winter is time of hiding inside from the freezing air and snow. Moving to Mississippi taught us that they only know of two seasons: about 9 months of summer and 3 months of "winter". Living in Oklahoma taught us...well, I am not sure what it taught us because I don't think seasons mean anything there. We lived there in the autumn/winter and experienced a range of temperatures from 3 to 80+ degrees, sometimes in the same week!
We were told that Washington seasons consisted of it being cool and rainy for every season except summer, then summer will be the most beautiful thing you have ever seen. Well, I can vouch for that part about summer and I am so far pleasantly surprised with autumn! But this post is about summer. Warm, beautiful, not humid PNW summer!
My absolutely favorite part about PNW summer is that it's not humid. This lack of humidity is probably to blame for the absence of air conditioners in this region, but it still got HOT! I was very nervous to go into summer without an air conditioner, so we installed three ceiling fans to help out with air flow. Those ceiling fans turned out to be an amazing investment as this summer was one of the hottest it has been in maybe forever here!
The other benefit to this lack of humidity is that the dogs could go to the beach with us and hang out all day. Neither of us had ever been to the Pacific Ocean, so we made it a priority to go as soon as Mitch was home and we could squeeze it in. Mitch ended up getting to be home for Fourth of July weekend, so we made some last-minute reservations (let me tell you, that is difficult the Wednesday before a holiday weekend...we called a lot of places) at a campground near Long Beach and headed out!
 |
| Sunset our first night :) |
 |
| Unfortunately a search and rescue was going on for a young girl :( |
 |
| The dogs loved watching the horses on the beach! |
 |
| My handsome Eli :) |
 |
| My boys <3 |
 |
| Natural beach bums :) |
 |
| Sunset on our last night! |
 |
| Fireworks over the water :) |
My friend, Stephanie, came to visit for a week in July and we had a ton of fun while I successfully convinced her to consider moving out here. ;) We spent some time in Seattle and went to a Mariners game!
 |
| The original! |
Finally, the end of July brought our third anniversary! :) I can't even believe it has been three years already...I'm not sure where the time has gone! It has definitely been a crazy whirlwind of a life these past few years with moving across the country a few times, losing my mom, and Mitch going through pilot training. Fortunately Mitch was able to be home for our anniversary and we celebrated by going to a wine tasting and going to the Melting Pot!
 |
| Wine tasting at Ginko Forest Winery |
 |
| <3 |
 |
| Handsome husband! :) |
The end of July took us back to Ohio to celebrate Matt and Becky's wedding! It was really great to go home for a short time and catch up with as many people as we could. :) The wedding was beautiful and so much fun to be a part of!
 |
| Bachelorette Party at Put-in-Bay! |
 |
| Getting ready with the beautiful bride :) |
 |
| <3 |
 |
| Nephews are getting too big!! |
 |
| Uncle Mitch :) |
 |
| Finally got to see her headstone <3 |
The rest of August consisted of us going to Mitch's first Mariners game at Safeco and Mitch leaving for a trip. While he was gone I went to visit our friends, Jeff and Alisha, who finally got moved into their new house in Spokane! Our pups have been friends since we got them all within a week of each other from the same shelter in Mississippi, so I was excited to have them reunite after not seeing each other for forever! :)
 |
| Their road trip faces ;) |
 |
| Helping us paint :) |
 |
| Just making themselves at home ;) |
 |
| Playing pups :) |
 |
| Our three cuties :) |
Fortunately it worked out that Mitch would get back just in time to keep our plans to go to The Gorge for Dave Matthews Band over Labor Day weekend! We went with our friend, Eric, for the whole weekend and went to the concert all three nights! It was so much fun! The setup consisted of everyone camping in their huge campground and then walking down to the venue every night. There were no hookups or water and they just had port-a-potties for us to use and showers you could pay a few bucks for. Needless to say, we weren't the most hygienic people that weekend! It was really fun to just be in the middle of nowhere and have no worries for a few days. We would definitely like to go back, so we will see how Mitch's schedule works out in the next couple years.
 |
| Pulling up to The Gorge! |
 |
| All set up and ready to go :) |
 |
| The amazing view! |
 |
| We woke up to a random guy sleeping on our tent porch... |
 |
| Our set up :) |
 |
| Jenny and Kevin joined us Saturday night :) |
 |
| The view of the campground! |
 |
| Our last night! So beautiful! |
And that is how we ended our wonderful PNW summer! I will end with a few pictures of how beautiful it is here in the summertime. :)
 |
| Mt Rainier on the flight line :) |
 |
| Fireworks that our city put on at the end of our street :) |
