Summer Vacation ~ Days 4 to 17

We've had a little quiet time...
(just to remind me that they do indeed get along....sometimes!)

We headed to La Grande for the annual
fishing weekend.  Ryan's first trip was in 2004!
Lots of years of good memories!

Look at those smiles!
No husbands or kids for 48 hours!

So glad that the guys let one little girl go, too!

There's not a lot to do in La Grande, but we seem to find plenty to
entertain ourselves! 
A little Wal-Mart fun.

Ryan and Jordan with our newest nephew, Joseph.

Celebrating a teenager!

All of the campers...

Madagascar 3 with friends...

...followed by a sleepover.

The kids and I spent four wonderful days at our annual church convention.

I gotta find more work for him here at home....I didn't know
he could lift that much (those are metal trays)!!

Love our Em&Em

Three generations

{Friends}

Just about conquered bike riding without training wheels.
She did not want them removed!

We have cherries!
This is the first year that the birds have left them alone long enough
to turn red.  We thought that they might be pie cherries, but they aren't tart.
They aren't as dark as Bings...have a mild taste.

Intermission ~ just a little while longer

We've returned back home after spending four days at one of my
favorite places on this earth.  We've returned with loads of laundry, bags of things to put away and tired bodies, but we've also returned inspired, corrected, encouraged, humbled and ready to
make the needed changes to our daily lives. 
~~~
I'll be back soon with photos and accounts of the past ten days...after we recoop
(and tackle the mounds of laundry).  Until then, enjoy this gorgeous sunset on
Thursday eve this past week at my parent's.  They are lucky enough to be treated to this view
just about every evening.

{Intermission}



Please forgive the lack of posts these past few days.
We've just returned from our annual fishing weekend, and the kids
and I are leaving again for Convention. 
Please enjoy this delightful photo of the kids with their
cousin ... until we return.

Summer Vacation ~ Day 3 ~ This and That

Today was one of those nice quiet days. 
Emma's friend, Anneliese, came over for a play date.

We recently bought a new smaller tent (the big one is reserved for just Convention) to replace the one that was ruined at Ryan's first Scout Campout.  We had torrential rains, and the seams just couldn't hold up.  The boys are preparing for an upcoming camping trip, so they decided to give it a try first on the front yard.

Looks pretty comfy to me!

Mom, wouldn't this tent have been nice for 1000 Springs?  See how far that rainfly comes down?
It just might have prevented the indoor river!

My silly girl....

...being especially silly.

A sweet moment after meeting
(love that it's still so light late in the evenings!)



And some late night drawing...

Summer Vacation ~ Day 2 ~ On how Ryan got grounded for life

Today started out very quietly.  Emma asked (yes ~ asked) for some schoolwork to do.  She enjoys being home, but she loves to be at school.

Writing and illustrating in her journal

Since the skies looked like this (cold, wet and rainy!)...

...we increased our kid numbers to five and headed for the local library....

...to see The Reptil Guy.
He's from our area, but he's been all over the world and on national TV.
He started working with animals as a kid and is now a whopping 22 years old.  The audience was packed as tight as could be and some had to be turned away.  He's energetic and the kids love him.

He brought in quite a few animals.

Watching in amazement as the snapping turtle raced? across the table.

Describing the difference between an alligator and a crocodile.
I've never been able to remember, but I think it was finally explained in a way that I can remember.
An alligator's nose is shaped like a "U"  (both vowels) and
a crocodile's nose is more like a "V" (both consonants). 

Then he brought out the snake.  Have I mentioned how much I detest snakes?  There was a little incident from childhood that created a very vivid fear and dislike for them.  I'm ok as long as someone trained is holding it.....and it's very far away.
~~~
So after the snake was put away, Corbin reached the part of the show that he likes to call the "Parent Appreciation" portion.  Sounds nice, right?  Let's all thank our parents for bringing us, right?  Then he asked for a volunteer .... one that was volunteered by their child(ren).  If you've been to many shows,  you know the best way to avoid getting picked is to make eye contact, smile, not draw attention to yourself.  Well, my dear son picked then to "teach me to like snakes more so I can have one in my room."  Luckily, despite Ryan's very vocal "pick her" and his pointing (and his friend's help on both accounts), Corbin picked the mom who was hiding the child sitting in her lap.  Whew!  But, wait....she declined and simply refused to get up.  I continued to smile, not hide behind the two year old in my lap, and hiss at Ryan under my breath that he'd better sit down and stop talking NOW!  Then Corbin said....to me...."Oh, how did I miss you?!"  Shoot!  My plan didn't work.  Up I got, and walked up to the stinkin' front of the room where there, luckily, no snakes.  Corbin introduced me and asked me a few questions like "Which animal did you like the best today?" to which I replied "I really didn't like any of them."  He then explained that there is an unhealthy fear among a lot of people for a certain animal and that he likes to help people with that.  He explained that this animal was, of course, snakes.  He went to the side room where the animals were kept, all the while talking on his mike about how helpful this would be for me.  He came out with a snake that looked like a slightly overweight worm.  Still a snake ....but, whew!  I'd really dodged a bullet.  I held the disgusting little thing, with his helper standing to my left just in case I decided to drop it (or throw it).  Meanwhile, he heads back to the side room to "get his camera as he likes to post pictures on his Facebook page of those he'd helped overcome their fear."  I couldn't see him as the helper was oh so conveniently blocking my view.  All of a sudden, half of the audience gasped (the adults) and the other half said, "Oh, cool!" (the kids).  I looked over and he was coming towards me with this....

....at which point I decided that it was a perfect time to go very quickly over to the wall and stand behind the 4' tall library employee (better than hiding behind a kid!).  He didn't force me to hold the very disgusting thing, but I did touch it's tail!  Points for me!   :)

It really was a fun experience, if a bit embarrassing since I knew quite a few in the audience. 
No one really likes others to see their fears!
It was a good day:
The kids had a great time
and I survived holding a 5" long snake!

Summer Vacation ~ Day 1 ~ Ready, Set, READ

Our first day of summer vacation started slowly.  I had stayed up a bit late and was finally woken by my now second grader sitting in bed next to me reading me stories.  Ryan very rarely sleeps in, but he didn't lift his head this morning until 10:30.  It won't be like this every day, but it sure was nice! 

Our library has a wonderful summer reading program.  The kids are encouraged to read or be read to for 20 minutes a day.  They get to go to the library three times and get prizes, which include things like tickets to sporting events, free meals at local restaurants, small toys, and a free book of their choice.  We read a lot any way, but it's so fun when they get rewarded for it.  The kids picked up their reading logs today and a very large stack of books.  There's also a summer reading program for the adults, so I found a couple of brand new books to spend my late evenings with.

On the way to the library, Emma mentioned that she'd like to learn Origami....
we thought that this book looks quite promising! 

The kids and I normally eat lunch out once a week during the summer.  It's a bit of a special treat, but it's not often enough to be too much.  Right next to the library is a tasty pizza place with an
awesome weekday lunch deal.  (Local moms....check it out!)

With the last week of school , Ryan's Scout camp and my trip to Walla Walla all falling on the same weekend, the house was a bit of a disaster.  We spent the rest of the day cleaning, unpacking, laundry, etc.  This was the living room before Emma cleaned up her mess (and I unpacked)....

....and it stayed clean for about 15 minutes until she started on a craft project.

Ryan spent the day excavating his room, shooting his bow and arrow outside, packing for a fishing trip and just generally enjoying not using his brain.

We had a gorgeous day today -  up into the '90s. 
However, quite the storm moved through and the temps were down to the mid-50s by early evening.  The cool air feels so nice .....  but I know we'll miss the warm weather tomorrow when the high is forecasted to be in the 50s.  Brrrrrr......

Another school year ends ~ and summer break begins!

The last week of school is always packed with fun activities.  Ryan's class all received beach balls and proceeded to have way too much with those ...... at school, on the bus, wherever they could!  Emma's class had a Reader's Theatre presentation to show us what great readers they've become during First Grade.  Emma was Sister Kate in "That Goat Has Got To Go."

I love her look of concentration as she follows along.

"Sister Kate"

Emmalee and her friend, Anneliese, with their popcycle lips after their presentations.

Their last day as a first grader and a fifth grader!
How in the world did that happen?!

After school on Friday, Ryan left for a Boy Scout campout at Lucky Peak.  Only one fish was caught by the entire group ......  but Ryan did catch a sock!

As I was taking the photos off of Ryan's camera, I came across this photo.  It's a picture of the corn field next to Mom and Dad's house from ground level (taken by Ryan).  It's a cool
persepctive!  Love the sky.

For the second year, I've missed the last two days of school.  Mom and I leave the kids in Bob's very capable hands, and we head off for some much needed time at Walla Walla Convention.
We're all back home, safe and sound, and now it's time for
Summer Vacation to begin!