Bye-Bye Summer Vacation...................

Good bye summer break. We'll miss you. You were a good summer break. Sniff, sniff...........
So many memories, it seems like only yesterday we were saying good bye to school for the year. *Sigh*
To cap off our summer we rented a cabin up at Hume Lake for a week. We just got back and started school on Monday. A week at Hume means so much to do.......

There were tire swings to swing from.......

Yahhoooooo!!!!!

Higher Daddy!

My mom went with us and so of course we tortured her every chance we got. :)
"Look Grandma, one hand!"

I made Dan take a turn. There is just something about flying through the air on a swing that reminds you how good it is to be a kid.

There were baby ducks to follow around and feed..............(6 to be exact)

We climbed to the top of Buck Rock fire look out. It is 172 steps straight up the face of those rocks.........the look out sways on the rock if the wind is blowing.......

We had a picnic at the bottom first................

The view is SOOOO worth the climb (and fear of falling) :)

Yup' it was high, the signs don't lie.

Did I mention my mom went with us and we tortured her? She is not a fan of heights so maybe this was a little scary of a climb for her. She did it though and was still smiling after.

These dandelions were GINORMOUS!!

That has to count for a LOT of wishes right?

There was camp to go to every morning and night............

Major photo ops............

Great reminders...................

Self portraits to take...........

Sister dips in the lake.........

Stand up paddle board to master........

If you have never done this activity might I suggest a "non-blustery" day?

Father daughter canoe dates out to the dam.

Ummmm....more self portraits?

Rocks to jump from.........

Mama deers who brought their baby around for dinner on our back deck each night......

Time with Grandma at King's river..............

Time to ponder life.............

Caves to explore............

Give me your, "I'm so excited vacation is almost over and we get to start school face!"

This is the cabin we rented. See the stairs to the right? I tripped and fell down those face first. Carrying a chair. Yup' I'm good.

Dives to master.............

Running front flips to master..........(just not this picture, OUCH!)

Cowgirl theme nights at camp to dress up for............

Time to hang out at the Hume Burger joint............

Ahhhhh....more photo ops..............

Silly pictures to take...........

Good bye Hume Lake........

Good bye summer vacation...............

Until we meet again.........*sniff*

Latest Project.....

I have seen this idea in multiple places and have always wanted to try it. The reason I am just now getting to it is because 1. I was nervous about how it would turn out and 2. I wasn't sure where it would get the most use.
Every school year I change up the classroom in some little way to make it fun and new for the girls. Last year I painted it a sky blue, this year a magnetic chalkboard.

First I had Dan draw a perfect rectangle on the wall for me since I am soooo not capable of getting a straight line on a wall. Then I added 3 layers of magnetic paint that I purchased at Lowe's. After 24 hours of drying time I added 2 layers of chalkboard paint also purchased from Lowe's. When it was all dry Dan cut the wood and framed it in for me. The girls LOVE it!!!
I figured they could take their spelling tests on it sometimes when we needed a change of pace.
Total cost of project: $50.00. Well minus the $20 spent on the original magnetic and chalkboard paint in spray paint form. Ya' that was a disaster. If I can give you any advice with this project; don't try to save money and buy the spray on kind. Roll it on. Trust me!! :)

Next year's project? Don't tell Dan but I want to pull the carpet up and put wood floor down with a bright cheerful rug and huge pillows for the girls to lay and read on. Shhhh.......he's still recovering from the announcement that I want to paint the side of the refrigerator with the chalkboard paint so the girls have a huge art display. Whaaaattttt???? ;)

Really God?

My week, OK two weeks.....well if I'm being totally honest the last THREE weeks have found me asking, "Really God?" about every three minutes. You know how sometimes in life it just seems like a bunch of little things add up.
Those things seem to be what has been causing the extra acid "stress" in the pit of my stomach lately.
Just the little things that seem like they should work out or be obvious that are making me say,"Really?"
Situations with the upcoming married life retreat, friendships hitting a fork in the road, new friendships growing and being stretched, trying to get ready for school to start and having our ES at the charter leave.
All these little things are all fine and good on their own but all at once?
Grrrrrr......
I've been reading through Job and I can totally picture him standing there with his head cocked, hand on his hips looking up to the sky saying,"Really God?" LOL! OK maybe that's me acting like a 2 year old when God is growing me.

I decided to take control of the only thing I could this week; well my attitude and response to people is the other I suppose. But the second thing is my hair. I asked my mom why I always want to make major changes to my hair when life is stressful........yup' you can guess the answer to that; C-O-N-T-R-O-L! So here is the new and improved "control freak."

Took about 7 inches off and can I just tell you how liberating loosing that hot pony tail was! So much cooler on my neck too! Oh I'm still standing here with my head cocked, hands on my hips saying,"Really God?" But at least my hair looks cute now! Ha! :)

Photo Update. Beware. Major Catch Up

Took the girls and Macy 4 x 4 up to Devils Hole. Oh man Macy LOVED running through the forest and water with the girls.

We stopped at a look out spot to enjoy the view.....

Morgan took this picture, Macy jumped in. :)

Dan talked Morgan into jumping off the rocks with him.....

Dan's a big kid!

This is a goofy shot of her but at least you can see how big she is getting

Macy insisted on riding right up front on the way up and I can only imagine what people thought when they looked through our windshield. "Hey Thelma look! Those people have a horse in their truck!"

Took some pictures of Ryanne for her bday thank you cards that I have yet to send out

We had a little party for her and her close friends and family

Ryanne's friends

We rented a 17' foot water slide for her party and the kids LOVED it!!

This thing was huge. You could see forever when you stood at the top. We had the thing till' 9pm so when all the kids went home Dan & the girls and I went crazy playing on the slide. I woke up with bruises and road rash all over my elbows and legs. Dan was flipping off of it and getting the girls to do all kinds of things they probably shouldn't have. My mom finally went inside because she said she couldn't watch us anymore. LOL! So much for acting our age!!

Dan celebrated his 41st bday last week.

We surprised him and got a room down at the beach for 3 days. Right near the water so we took our bikes and rode everywhere. Even found this little park. I love how both my girls have their tongues hanging out.

We rode our bikes past this ship in the harbor that Dan said he stayed on for camp as a kid. So funny.

Rode up to this look out spot at the ocean center

It was amazing. We spent over an hour just chillin' here

Dan didn't want his picture taken so I told him, look cool and I post it or look like a dork and I post it either way. :) He chose cool!

Went to dinner right on the water on his bday night.

See this guy on the paddle board? His poor little dog was totally just hanging out. I was watching thinking,"shark bait!"

So you come to this beach often? It had to be love because he tried to share his cookies with her.

The girls played and played and played some more and we sat and visited and enjoyed Dan's special day!