Fam Jam 21012

Each year we learn a little something to make the next even better. Since we decided Prineville was going to be our annual destination and it was going to be hot enough to actually spend time in the lake, we bought a "relaxation station" to anchor in the water, Grammy and Grandpa added a pully system for the boat so we could go in and out from shore easier as well as a "bimini" top. The sun is so intense, is was great to have some shade. I think the most successful addition was my parents renting a cabin overlooking the water. They had a gorgeous view of the lake where we could watch the sunset. The cabin had air conditioning, running water, and a shower in the bathroom. They'll never go back to a tent after this experience! The cabin wasn't big enough for us all, but it was nice to sit in the cool air for a bit. Plus the sink was great for washing dishes! We hauled them all the way up to the cabin every night because it was so much easier than washing them in a tub. We brought a wheelbarrow which made it easier to drag all of our "stuff" from one camp to the next (another thing learned from last year!). Hopefully next year we can get sites a little closer together, we got our excercise, although a good thing from all the food we ate! That is something we've gotten right from the start, we always have such good food. This year... tacos, "omelets in a bag", yummy flank steak marinated and wrapped around asparagus and onion then grilled (Becki and Dallas have the name of this, but I can't remember), turkey clubs, steak, "cowboy casserole" in the Dutch oven, yogurt parfaits, and of course s'mores and all the snacks and goodies in between!

The view from Grammy and Grandpa's cabin. We'll be having that every year from now on, it was gorgeous!

Uncle Dan brought a little activity for the kids. They made tambourines for music night

the crew

Silly kids!

the "relaxation station".

All tuckered out! The cushy boat plus the rocking motion of the waves and he was out!

The kids took a shot at ladder golf.

"Elmo Buddies"

Steve and Steph's addition this year. I say addition because we all used them, maybe the rest of us more than them. We gave them a hard time for bringing these "camping" chairs, but they were actually really comfortable!

Goin' for a stroll with Uncle Dan

Parade

We were in a parade with the kids for 4th of July, but they've never experienced watching a parade since they were little. They figured out real quick how much fun they are, especially with all the candy! They each filled huge bags and had a blast running into the street for the "loot".

Fishing attempt #2

Brian really wanted to go up to North Fork Lake and rent a pontoon boat for the day, but when we got there the store where we rent the boats wasn't gong to open until noon. We figured that was too late, so we decided to make another attempt at catching a fish in small fry lake. They had just stocked the lake the weekend before so we thought for sure we would have a few on the line. No such luck! We did see one jump and one nibbled Ashley's bait, but non for the kids to reel in. Oh, well at least it didn't rain! We had our picnic lunch and then headed back home. Now that we have it all figured out, we'll be a little more prepared for next time!

Blue's Festival

Grammy and Grandpa took us out on the boat the beginning of July. Since the Blue's festival was going on we decided to head downtown and check it out.

Favorite spot

There were so many geese hanging around because of all the boats. We decided to feed a few of them some chips. They were aggressive little fellas and almost jumped into the boat! Only a few minutes went by and we had way too many surrounding the boat. About then we decided it was time to leave!

Zoo

We met some friends at the zoo last Friday. We got there around 9:30, which was perfect because the animals were active, it wasn't too hot and not very crowded. I wanted to take the kids on the train that goes through the park and zoo, but we were having too much fun. Maybe next time or for sure at Christmas when we can see the zoo lights.

Sitting on Papa's favorite animal, the hippo.

This is a huge elephant tricycle.

brushing the goats

4th of July

Yay! Summer finally arrived. The weather was gorgeous which made 4th of July this year good no matter what! We participated in the Happy Valley parade for this first time this year. There were a ton of people, so it was really fun to see the community so involved. They had family floats, kids on go-karts, and bikes and wagons all decorated for the 4th. The entire festival is free. They have a ton of bounce houses and slides for the little one's, pony rides, games and tons of stuff for older kids too. The splash pad was going on, there was music and food, a beer garden and a great fireworks display at night. I was really impressed with the whole set up! We would have stayed down there longer, but the kids needed a nap. When they woke up we headed down to my parents house for a BBQ and fireworks. They're almost finished with their backyard remodel and it looks amazing! Their neighbors also came over with their little guy Jackson, so the kids had fun playing.

It took so long for my camera to take the picture in the dark, Ashley lost her smile.

Bikes

I really want to get the kids used to riding bikes since we enjoy it so much and they're getting a little heavy in the bike trailer. So, I took them to the school by our house for some practice. Isaiah was cruising on Ashley's old big wheel (the bike we got him for Christmas is still a little too big) and Ashley did really well on her bike going around the track twice! She still is very nervous about going too fast, but got the hang of pedaling backwards to stop. Although she practiced this a little more often than necessary, I was very proud of her for sticking with it when she wanted to quit so badly. The next day we took a bike ride along Marine drive with the kids and ended up at Blue Lake to run around. It will be nice when they can ride along side us, but for now Brian gets his excercise with both kids in the trailer since some of the trail in on the road. It was a good thing we had the trailer this time because it ended up pouring rain on us! We hope to be doing this ride again soon, so we can spend more time at Blue Lake packing a lunch, playing in the water and making a day of it!

Fishing

We didn't let the rain bother us last weekend. Brian was off and we were going to do a few things no matter what kind of weather we had! One of those was taking the kids to "Small Fry Lake" for their first fishing trip. Brian had taken the kids to get new fishing poles, bobbers and bait (a sparkly rainbow kind that Ashley picked out)! Little did we know we were days away from the lake being stocked with new fish so we didn't get any bites, but we still had a great time "pretending". We saw a lot of salamanders, practiced our casting and reeling, and talked about the next time we were going to try again to catch "the big one!"

Best Date

Brian and I had the best date. We try to plan things just the two of us as often as we can, and thanks to my parents eagerness to watch the kids we're able to, but this date was different. It felt like when we had first started dating 9 years ago! After dropping the kids off with my parents we made homemade pasta with pesto chicken. We drank wine, had good conversation without any interuptions and really enjoyed being together just the two of us. Because we took so long with dinner, we didn't get to our movie until 10:30. We saw "Snow White and the Huntsman" which was great. The next day we took the dog for a long walk to our favorite coffee place, then drove out to Skamania Lodge for their breakfast buffet. We stuffed ourselves for two hours, drinking mimosasa and soaking up the view. I highly recommend thier buffet, it was fabulous! After walking around the hotel we drove to Hood River to watch the windsurfers. And to end the perfect weekend, we had my parents over for dinner.

Father's Day

Papa was on call again for Father's Day so we didn't get to spend the morning with him, but we did get to see Grandpa! Grammy made a really good breakfast and Uncle Dan came over too. We went to church with them and then off to see Papa. He didn't get called in the rest of the day, so we all had some much needed quality time with him. After the kids took their nap, we went to the mall for some clothes shopping and out to dinner at Claim Jumper (one of Brian's favorite restaurants). Good thing we made reservations, the place was packed! Our server was excellent, our food was delicious and we even stuffed ourselves further by getting dessert. It was a perfect day spent with 2 of the best Dads I know! Ashley made a placemat with a picture of her on Brian's shoulder's mowing the lawn. When she told Grammy what she made she said "Grammy, you're going to love this, I drew a picture of ..." Cracked us up!