Goodbye Summer

Random going ons in August:

Enjoying a beautiful day in Couer d'Alene with friends:

Hailee at kindergarten open house:

She can entertain herself so well sometimes-  I was resigned to sit in the car with Eli during a family cub scout activity because he had been less than honest as to the cleanliness of his bedroom.  As a result, he didn't get to participate in the water activities with his brothers.  Hailee didn't want to be in the car, but really didn't want to participate without me.  So she danced and sang and performed all around-

She really took herself very seriously.  I love that she's not self conscious at this age, I'm sure it'll come soon enough though. *sigh*

A fun day at the park despite the smoky air:

Bryson had his first overnight scout hike:

It should go without saying that he was crazy excited about it.  Just like his mama, he wanted to pack every single thing for every possible contingency.  Nathan and I both had to constantly remind him that he had to wear his back pack for five miles... it may not seem heavy now but it will later... it didn't matter what we said though, he just kept sneaking more and more in.  Some lessons you just have to learn firsthand!

The dry weather and fire threats have actually banned chainsaw use due to the possibility of sparking a fire, which obviously puts a damper on us getting firewood stored for the winter.  Nathan really doesn't want to be cutting and splitting and chopping in the freezing cold... so we *may* have 'lightly' used the chainsaw on very rare occasions *wink* we tried to be responsible and always kept a hose very close.  I love that my kids always want to join in and help... well, at least initially.  Funny how those who are capable of helping the least always want to help the most.  Hailee knows how to dress for work:

Never mind foot protection, as long as she's got "gwubs" on, she's ready for anything!  As soon as she saw that Nathan and I had work gloves on, she immediately commandeered a pair for herself.

Water Park

Oh, summer, why must you pass so quickly?!?  We bought a pass to our favorite little water park and have hardly gone!  But when we do go, we play hard and come home exhausted and sun kissed.

Love this pic of Dal:

She found some sort of string that entertained her for a really long time...

seriously... it's string...

He's a fair water baby like his mama, not too crazy about submerging himself in cold water, but he came around eventually.

All the boys took turns taking Jace down the little water slide, it's so fun and gratifying as a mom to see how they embrace playing and interacting with each other despite differences in age and maturity.

Yes, Eli and Bryson were there too, they just didn't sit still long enough to take any pictures worthy of keeping!  Unfortunately we had to leave a little earlier than anticipated because Jace decided it was a good time to poop in his swim diaper *groan*.

Wildfires

The weather this spring and summer have been sooo nice.  It was warm so early in the year with day after day of sunshine.  Unfortunately, that wonderful weather makes for really dry conditions and increased risk for wildfires.  The whole time we were on our road trip, I checked the fire reports daily... I was so worried that a fire would burn our house down and I wouldn't get to save anything!  We were comforted by the fact that there is very little vegetation immediately surrounding our house... and while our siding and roof are non-combustible, our deck and eaves certainly aren't- all it takes is a few embers to land in the wrong spot and smolder.  I tried not to be a worrier, but it was always kinda in the back of my mind.  I was happy to get home and find all was well- while I certainly wouldn't want to rebuild so quickly, it's the irreplaceable things like home videos and photo albums that I was mostly concerned about.

We we got back home, the amount of smoke in the air was shocking!  Some days were clear, but even though the fires were hundreds of miles away, when the wind shifted, visibility would often be  100 yards or less- which is a drastic change from being able to see all the way to Cheney (which is 20 miles away!) on a clear day.

Sometimes the smoke is thick and brown and the smell of campfire permeates the air, as if the fires are just miles away...

and other times it's just a general haze more like a winter fog that makes it feel like it should be 35 degrees outside instead of 95!

   Regardless, on days that the smoke is blowing our way, it's just not pleasant to be outside- it's put a major damper on camping and other outdoor summer activities for sure.

The Many Sides of Buddy

Several times this summer we've had the privilege of dog sitting for my parents.  Buddy is the most pathetic little imp that ever was.  He's afraid of himself, no kidding.  We really can't decide if he likes coming to our house or not- he certainly gets a lot of attention and love, but I just don't know if he thinks that a good thing.  My kids decided to play dress up with him one day- here's the resulting photo shoot:

Featherweight Wrestling Champion:

Harry Dogger:

Super Dog:

A little light reading:

Super star:

I really think he does like the attention, but he hates himself for it *grin*

Silverwood

My boys all earned their reading tickets to Silverwood again this year, which meant we had to take the obligatory trip =/  Really, I love Silverwood, but it's exhausting.  We figure that next year, we'll probably just start taking all the kids since Hailee will start earning a pass too- we can't leave Jace out alone... For sure 5 kids will be a lot crazier.

As it worked out, we went the same day as Kim and Aaron and their girls- it made it easier to split up the kids and they had a lot of fun having their cousins to hang out with- even if it was girl cousins *wink*  As a last minute thought, I ended up getting some tickets *on the cheap* off craigslist for us adults, score!

Kim and I drove up together since Nathan and Aaron both had conflicts that morning.  We hit the water park first, by kid request.  After getting out lots of energy, we decided to go on some roller coasters- Eli was all on board and talking big, but as soon as we started to climb up that first hill, he started having second thoughts- too late buddy!  He did his one ride so he could have his bragging rights, but I'm pretty sure he didn't enjoy a single second of it... he may be a daredevil, but not when it comes to roller coasters.

The look of uncertainty and regret:

After Nathan and Aaron {finally} arrived, we split up so the kids who wanted to do roller coasters could, (and Bryson and Karlie could go on aftershock, which Dallin and Natalie are not tall enough for) without Eli being further traumatized...  He's fine with other high intensity rides:

 (that ride literally gave me a headache and made me consider throwing up more than once *bleh*)

 Eventually the others joined us:

Silly kids:

While on the playground, Karlie happened to find some cotton candy up in one of the tree houses- and she had no shame in EATING IT!!  I could hardly believe it, but here's the photographic evidence:

Lines were not very bad... a few times we had to wait, but for the most part, it was a short delay.

Nathan and I happily passed on the bumper boats... so we could feed quarters into the long range squirt guns and soak the kids, HA!

Sometimes paybacks are the best *grin* 

Dallin's favorite roller coaster corkscrew:

There was no line on it at one point, so he and the other kids just kept riding it over and over and over.

Random July

She's a pirate...

peg leg- check.  eye patch- check.

Cereal was on sale at Albies for $1 (O.N.E  D.O.L.L.A.R!) a box(!!!)

Seriously, what else could I do?

Love the play amongst siblings...

David returned from his mission while we were in Kentucky! Before he left for college, he did a little presentation for the cousins about his experiences in Brazil.  Josh left for Colombia just a few days after:

So it's not the best picture of my kids, whatevs.

Apparently her Captain America costume has been replaced by this bathrobe (or 'baf-road' as she calls it) because she wears it constantly now.

She reminds me of a 1920's flapper in this picture.

I went out in the garage one evening to find Duke sleeping like this- 

yes, I need to get out the bigger kennel.