August Family Visits

 My sister and brother came to visit in August. I was pretty excited, my sister hasn't been up here in three years. They drove over from Wisconsin and made record time. We hadn't seen them since last July when we made the drive over that way.  It was so much fun getting to see her kids and letting them spend time with their cousins. Even if they all did get sick for a day or two while they were visiting, we magically never got it!  We spent a day at the aquatic center Moses Lake and went to Scootney lake one evening and went swimming.  Valerie and I ran almost everyday she was here and it was so nice having someone to run with.  We tye dyed shirts and head scarves with the kids and also had a Zucchini iron chef bake off.

 The kids loved playing on our bouncy pool slide and on our trampoline.

 Valerie got to meet Quinn for the first time and so did Aaron.

 Maddie and Martin were nice enough to play with Isak and Lucy who are 3-5 years their junior.

 Tye dyeing was a lot of fun, even with stained hands. Isak and Lucy loved their finished shirts.

 Uncle Aaron as always was the favorite as he was always willing to build legos and let the kids jump all over him.

 Sprinkler under the trampoline equals hours of entertainment. We also lit a fire in our fire pit and did hot dogs and smores.

 Below is Valerie and Aaron preparing for the bake-off. Valerie made a very good frittata dish and Aaron creatively did a "smoothini" he called it but it was essentially a zuchinii smoothie which was actually pretty good.  My dad made zuchinni bread and I made some failed zucchini cookies.

 We had votes on who won but since I didnt win I didnt' pay attention...like the fancy parsley in aaron's drinks? Maybe he won.

We attempted some pictures of 8 of the grandkids but Edyn wasn't in a real picture loving mood. Fancy that.

Also, this picture of Quinn is funny. This is half the reason I have kids. To dress them up and make them to ridiculous things because its adorable.

Back to School

 Oh the first day of school. Lucy is starting Kindergarten! (bless her teacher) Isak is starting second grade.  They are pretty excited. Isak knows quite a few of the kids in his class from last year and Lucy knows a few of the kids in her class as well.  Isak started last Thursday and Lucy starts today.

 Edyn is staying home with me and Quinn and it is sure to be entertaining around here. It is always bittersweet to see the end of summer and have school start again.  Excited for them but a little sad they won't be around during the day.  Don't worry, the sadness only lasts till they get home and start fighting then I am good for another day!

Gilbert Reunion

 The third weekend of July Kevin's family had a reuinon down in Kamiah Idaho for his Gilbert side.  It had been about 6 years since we had one of those and it was fun to see everyone.  We had a cute one bedroom cabin that was perfect for our family and had a little kitchenette and pull out couch.  The place we stayed also had a swimming pool that was on depth of 3-4 feet all the way across.  It was perfect for our kids and they could touch the whole time.

 We floated the river on a Saturday morning and it was so much fun.  Kevin and I took Isak and Lucy with us and floated the Snake river with his family.  The river was calm and super low, Isak got out quite a few times and ran around.  It took us about 2 1/2 hours to float it and it was fun to float from person to person and catch up.

 There were some chickens kept at this place we stayed at as well and Edyn's favorite thing to do was to visit them and feed them.  Whenever we were eating or doing anything she would always try to run off to "feed the chickens!".

                                       Isak and Lucy posing for me in front of our cabin.

 Isak and Lucy spent a lot of time in the pool swimming.

 Our family in front of our cabin.  We also attempted a dam tour while here of the Orofino dam which funny enough, my grandpa actually worked on.  Edyn vomited on the windy road up to the dam and did the dam tour shirtless. Quinn started screaming his head off once we were in side that the gate and walking up to the dam so I turned around with him and Lucy followed me (endurance isn' t her strong point).  Since I was exiting from inside the gate a dam employee had to escort me and my screaming baby back. Lucy wanted to turn back around halfway back but I told her know at which point she also had a meltdown.  The poor dam employee, I bet he was so glad when he got rid of us.

Lucy can never, ever pose normally. This is her and her glow stick necklaces.

                                        Edyn at her happy place, feeding her beloved chickens.

In the evenings we played games and this was a pretty fun one called reverse charades.  My kids really liked playing it too and it was nice that it was easy for all ages to play.  We had a great time and it was nice to see family for an occasion that was happy and not a funeral!