Hokey Pokey

Saturday I was telling Nathanael (for the 100th time) to please stay on task and get the dishwasher emptied. The poor kid HATES this chore and it can take him forever. He asked if he could have some tunes to listen to while he did this job. He loves music and wanted his "rhyming CD". Then he said, "But mom, when the Hokey Pokey comes on I always want to dance to that, so can I stop for that?" Of course the dishes can wait for the Hokey Pokey! He was so happy to get permission to break from the horror of dishwasher emptying so he could rock out.

Women's Celebration

This weekend we went to Boise for the Women's Celebration. The 5K is the "nations largest 5K for women." Side note: I did spy a man or two this year.

For me this weekend is about celebrating friendship. The first year I did it was 2006 and we had just moved to Kennewick. I was so lonely for my friends. We had such a fun weekend and I ran my fastest 5K ever. So of course after that I wanted to come back every year!

Friday night I hooked up with the girls at the Cheesecake Factory- YUM. Tierra and I shared the Luau salad and let me say it was DIVINE. I hung out with my pals until midnight. Jason texted me a few times after eleven and I thought I could be 16 agian and he could be my mom. . ."where the heck are you???" and "You know you have a race to run tomorrow. . ." Oh yea, the race. That's why we're here. Thanks Heather for driving me home.

I was awake half of the second half of the night (did you get that- the second half when I needed to sleep I was mostly awake- it was a bummer). At 6:30 am I needed to get up but I was dead tired and couldn't figure out why the sky was still SO dark. Maybe I really had more time to sleep. . . no, just a lovely thunderstorm and 50 degree weather to awaken to. We got drenched waiting for the bus. We got drenched walking to the start line. We got drenched waiting at the start line for the race to start. About 5 minutes before the race started I was wringing lots of water out of my pullover. My toes were swimming in my shoes at the starting line. We also had spells of thunder and lightning to keep things interesting. The rain let up nicely for the run and then started up again at the finish line. It was great, great fun (and memorable with the rain). I can't wait to do it again next year. Thanks ladies for a great weekend!

Here we come. . .Notice the street lights (to the right) are on. It's after 9:00 am!

Roxanne, Trish, Heather, Debbie, Lani, Roxanne's aunt (help me Roxanne!), Tierra, Heather, me, and Kate. Kate didn't run but she wants to. Maybe next year.

Jason and the kids were troopers. Eli apparently loved the rain and enjoyed having it running down his face. I forgot Nathanael's jacket (yes, that puts me out of the running for mother of the year, and I was so close!) so he ran around with this sunflower blanket that lives in the back of the van for occassions just like this.

First Day of School

In honor of the first day of school I put a new ABC song in my tunes. I only just discovered it this week and I am LOVING it.


The first day of school was an exciting day indeed. The kids were excited and little bit nervous of course. I think they were most excited to wear their new shoes since I would have almost made them go barefoot rather than start wearing out the school shoes before school even started. I got tired of being asked if they could please just wear the new shoes. No (said with a smile of course). I know I can be a little weird about it. Kate got her hair cut on Monday night and insisted on bangs. These are her first ever bangs. We had a hard time keeping them out of her face for the picture. She says, "They are always in my face!" but secretly I know she likes them because she likes to hide behind them and pretend to be Violet (from The Incredibles). She's a funny girl!

I feel relieved to be locked into a schedule after an often crazy, sometimes lazy summer. A little bit of structure is very soothing to me. But I am a little sad that now we won't just up and leave on another adventure for a long while.

Nathanael didn't really start school this past Tuesday. Here in the great state of WA we are all about smooth transitions and helping everyone adjust and deal properly with the emotions they have. So to help our sweet children enter kindergarten without life-long damage to their still developing psyches we have what I fondly call a transition week. On Tuesday and Wednesday the kindergarten teachers held small conferences with four or five children and their parents lasting 30-45 minutes. The teacher gave us needed info and the kids did a few activities. Nathanael's conference was Tuesday. Then on Thursday and Friday only half of the class attends to allow the kids to settle into their new environment with a smaller group. Nathanael's day was Thursday. The parents are invited for a sweet story at the beginning and then it's time to say goodbye. After the story Nathanael was very matter of fact, "Well Mom, bye, see ya." No tears, not even a backward glance. However there were several kids having complete break downs and sobbing up a storm, poor things. Maybe those parents are nicer to their kids than I am to mine. All of our kids have been super excited for kindergarten. So Nathanael was bored silly Wednesday and Friday and was irritated that he wasn't riding the bus and going to school like Ethan and Kate. But Tuesday is just around the corner and he can't wait. Shhh, me either. I am looking forward to some quiet stillness in the mornings when I can have some one on one time with Eli.

Coeur D'Alene, Idaho

Jason travels a lot. Some of the time it's horrible. A lot of the time I just deal with it without thinking about it because it's my life and I am not going to sit around having a pity party (but if I need one, I won't hesitate to invite some friends). But some of the time we get to enjoy the perks and I really love those times! Jason had a meeting in Coeur d'Alene the week before summer officially ended for us and we were able to tag along. It was great fun, although there were a few glitches. . .#1 A four hour detour home to get the Silverwood tickets that we left home (yes paying the gass to drive home was cheaper than just buying new tickets), and #2 We tried to eat at Red Robin and it was a nightmare but we got a $50 gift card out of it.

We stayed at the Coeur d'Alene Resort. It is really, really nice. When the kids and I walked in (Jason was already working away) I felt like we had signs that said "hick" or "beware, backward country folk coming through!" taped to our foreheads. But when I checked there was nothing so I guess we were safe. I was constantly telling the kids to please stop fighting over who gets to push the elevator button and compose themselves. They couldn't figure out what my problem was. Looking back there was no problem- just me being paranoid that we would bother other guests.

Here is the hotel's description of our room (we took a few pictures but they were too dark; besides, the marketers make it sound so glam).

"Premier Mountain View: This signature room offers your choice of one or two beds, a large sunken living area with floor to ceiling picture windows that open onto a private balcony with mountain views. Our signature bed features a pillow-top mattress, luxurious fine linens and duvets with down pillows. Enjoy an oversized separate bath from dressing area complete with beautiful granite dual vanity sinks, European shower and soaking tub. Room Amenities include cotton robes, luxury toiletries, hair dryers, iron and board, in-room safe, 32" flat screen TVs, in-room movies, Clock/Radio, newspaper, wireless internet access and complimentary coffee & tea."

The kids thought it was so DUMB that there were Pringles and gummy bears in our room and we couldn't eat them (the Pringles cost $3.95 and the bears cost $6.95 from the self serve mini bar). Too bad they were born into a family who won't spend that kind of money on snacks, especially when I could buy them a block down the road for 75% less!

Our room had 50/50 down/feather pillows on the beds. In the hotel info binder there was a pillow page with the extension for the 'pillow conceirge' and a list of 10 different types of pillows you could request if the standard gives you a headache. Wow. . . a pillow conceirge. Going there I sort of felt like I was raised in a closet. No offense Mom and Dad, of course I wasn't, but I just never considered the possibility that 'pillow concerige' would be a job description. Go figure. Stupid hick.

For those of you who are green through and through--environment lovers like ourselves--you will surely appreciate how eco friendly this place is. The shampoo and conditioner smell delicious, of course they were all natural, processed safely without harming any animals or polluting the air or water. Plus the soap had a giant hole in the middle. The explanation on the box is: "This vegetable-based, eco-friendly soap has been specially designed to reduce waste left behind from the unused center of traditional bars. The carton is made from natural recycled paper and printed with soy based products. Cruelty free--contains no animal fat or byproducts." Whew, well that's a relief isn't it? Sadly, I was enjoying the smell of the shampoo and conditioner so much (very soothing) and trying to do my part as to not waste any of the hollowed out soap that I took a really, really long shower and in the end I am afraid I wasted an awful lot of water. I just can't win. . .

On to the fun. We got to take a boat ride on the lake with Jason's colleagues. The kids were wonderful and it was so fun. Our captain was kind enough to let the kids drive a little bit which they loved and he told us about all the famous people who own really cool houses on the lake (John Elway for one).

We swam in the most awesome indoor pool I have ever seen in a hotel. No pictures of course because I am lame, but there was a kids' wading pool, a pool with a lane for lap swim but big enough playing and two hot tubs. We walked and/or rode bikes along the lake and played at the park.

If only the weather had cooperated better. . . it was cold, cloudy and rainy most of the time. We only had brief periods of sunshine, but we made the most of our time anyway.

After the meetings we went to Silverwood which is a theme park kind of like Lagoon but much smaller and lacking in many areas from my fond memories of Lagoon. It was cold and rainy so we couldn't play at the water park. The rain came and went and then came again followed by marble sized hail (the picture doesn't do it justice), then thunder and lightning which essentially closed the park down for a good 45 minutes. Most people left after that. Our kids sort of freaked out. Kate and Nathanael wanted to go home. Ethan WOULD NOT ride any coasters after that. My best chance to get on the coasters went out the window with that hail storm.

But we found some rides that could put smiles on everyone's faces and enjoyed ourselves in spite of the weather.

On the way out we consoled our weary, wet selves with some hot funnel cake that was delicious! The kids are already talking about earning free tickets again (reading program through our school) so we can go next summer. We won't forget the tickets this time. . .

Ensign Ranch

Ensign Ranch is one of the "Northwest Area Recreational Properties" owned by the church. We've heard quite a bit about it and decided that since it's fairly close to us (it's on the eastern side of the Cascades, just west of Cle Elum) we needed to check it out. We invited Joe (Jason's brother) and Samantha's family to join us. We all stayed in a family cabin (a few beds, no bedding, a refrigerator, microwave, table and hard wood floors ;) ) which made set up and clean up pretty sweet in comparison to tent camping. Ethan spent some quality time debating the pros and cons of cabin and tent camping. In the end I think he decided it was a toss up.

We had a great time being with family and just relaxing. The kids LOVE playing with their cousins. They have had so much cousin fun this summer they are going to be dying to do it all again next summer.

Canoeing on Crabtree Lake

This is a man-made lake that's kind of murky and mossy but great for a little canoe trip. Everybody but the babies spent some time in the canoes.

Rope Swing

Jason (first) and then Joe exhibiting differing levels of manhood and abdominal muscular prowess on the rope swing

Slippin' and Slidin'

This was everyone's favorite activity.

Rock Collecting

Kate and Scottie were rock collecting maniacs. I think I remember this phase in my childhood. I remember asking my mom, "Don't you think they are beautiful?" and receiving an unenthusiastic, "Mm-Hm." Though there were some beauties in the group, my eyes were not nearly as dazzled as these two girls'.

Bike Riding

Way to go Nathanael! A few weeks of practice without pedals made all the difference. Thanks for the tip Becky!

Hanging with the cuz's

A few pictures of the babies. . .

Twin Falls

After our camping extravaganza we dropped down to southern Idaho to see old friends and a new temple. The temple is gorgeous! The fact that it is beautiful is no surprise, but all the details are amazing. The mural that includes Shoshone Falls was a favorite of mine. We missed having our good friends, The Wasdens, as our tour guides by one tour! But we did see them the next day so that was great.

After the temple we went to Burley to enjoy some good ol' farm hospitality. Bonnie and fam were wonderful and it was so great to see them. Monica and Dimond were also in town. One of my favorite things about going to the farm is staying up way too late chatting. It's so fun to catch up. Saturday we stopped in to see Grandma Z and we visited Grandpa Z's grave. Ethan often talks about Grandpa Z and we are so glad he had to opportunity to know him.

Saturday afternoon Ethan FINALLY got to spend some quality time with his BF from TF. Tanner and Ethan were great, great pals and Ethan has yet to find a friend he clicks with like Tanner. He was a little bummed that he didn't get to be "alone" with him (meaning he would have preferred that Kate and Nathanael were far, far away. . . like another state maybe), but it was time nonetheless and the rest of us enjoyed spending time with Tanner's family.

I spent the afternoon having lunch with my BF's (Heather, Lani, Roxanne, Rebecca, minus Tierra- we missed you!) from TF at the Garden. I think they got a new cook so lunch wasn't as fab as usual, but it was still wonderful (especially that chocolate mousse pie!) and the company was even better. I didn't have my camera (what was I thinking??) so I am patiently waiting for my dear friend to email the picture to me. . . you know who you are! ;) After lunch Heather and I went to our local scrapbook store for me to spend my free $20. What more could a girl want? Yummy food, good friends and money to spend on scrapbooking! Heather even left her camping trip a little early to be back to see me. Thanks! We loved going to our old ward and feeling at home there again. There are so many people we love there and we feel loved and missed whenever we go. It was a great trip and we were so lucky to see so many friends in such a short time.

Red Fish Lake

Little Red Fish Lake

Our annual trip to Red Fish Lake was so much fun! This year as we watched gas prices go up and up and up we talked about not going. We thought we might have to drive two cars since it appeared that Eli's car seat wouldn't fit (because it's rear facing) in Jason's truck (the six of us did fit in Jason's truck, but it was a tight fit). We talked about gas for next year and the possibility of not going next year depending on gas. We got kind of sad thinking about it. Well, we had a BLAST and now the attitude has changed- we'll be doing whatever it takes (within reason) to get there again!

We were so happy that our schedule could coincide with that of our friends who also go there every year. The Brown family (I affectionately call them the Twin Falls Mafia- there's a ton of them and at one point we had I think six of the families living in our ward, holding various leadership callings, including the bishop!) was there when we arrived and we were very lucky to get a campsite right next to Ryan and Roxanne. It took us a few hours to get camp set up and during that time I was having trailer envy as I stared at their trailer knowing all they had to do before heading up to the big lake is put the truck in park and unhitch the trailer! Nathanael and Kate had so much fun playing with Phoenix and Gabriel. I had a hard time keeping them at our campsite. After the Browns left some more friends (Jeff and Shara Miller's family) showed up (totally by chance) and camped right by us. The kids spent a lot of time playing with friends, riding bikes and catching butterflies and guppies. We were blessed with great weather, great friends, a great campsite. . . a great time.

Here are some things what we love about Red Fish and camping in general. . .

Sleeping (or not sleeping as in Eli's case) in a tent

Hiking

Fishing-or in our case just casting (no license and no bait) and watching the minnows chase the hook

Going to the fish hatchery to watch Fish & Game empty the fish trap

Dutch oven cooking (pizza-this is so YUMMY!, cobblers, mtn man breakfast. . . Thanks Jason for being an awesome camp cook!)

Enjoying a warm fire each night and morning (Thanks Jason and Ethan!)

Watching Ethan play with his RC boat (we remembered the battery this year-whew!)

Drinking a TON of hot chocolate

Swimming and playing in the big lake

Relaxing on the beach for hours

Playing in the sand

And just being together!

Who wants to join us next July??