Lately

Wow, I just can't keep up! This summer has been so crazy busy, and there is still more craziness coming up! 

The boys did a technology camp a couple of weeks ago, which they loved! B & A got to build/program lego robots, and P got to build/program a computer. They all 3 loved it, and are already asking to do it again next summer. It was a bit of a drive, but considering how much they loved it...it was probably worth it! It was only a half day camp though, so I had to figure out how to waste a couple of hours each morning in the tiny town that it was in since I didn't really have time to drive home. Hopefully next year they will have some full day options!

In other news, our chickens started laying eggs a few weeks ago! It was a super exciting discovery for the boys, especially since we thought it would be another month or so. AND the first egg was a huge, double-yolk! 

We also did a garage sale - finally. We had been promising the boys we would do one this summer and we just hadnt gotten around to it. Well, the boys were sick of being put off, and decided we needed to do it right away, along with a lemonade stand. I have to say, it feels pretty good to get rid of our junk! Plus the boys made quite a bit with their lemonade stand, and they had tons of fun!

Archer in the tree above the lemonade stand :)

We also fit in another Silverwood trip, and B finally decided to go on the panic plunge - it took him a bit to get up the guts to do it, but he said he liked it!

And, a bike ride on the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes in a section we hadn't ridden before along the CDA River:

Plus, even time for some birthday parties, marble-chute-building, the beach, and lots of swimming. No wonder I'm exhausted and my house is a disaster!

(The boys like to build and then take pics on my phone...I end up with a lot of pictures like this!)

The Cousins Visit

Last week both of my brothers and their families visited. It was basically a week of pure chaos, but it's like that most of the time at our house anyway! They only overlapped by 1 night so we didn't get to spend a ton of time together, but we got to enjoy that one night - the kids played outside, swam, and we celebrated Archer's birthday. 

It's so nice for the kids to have cousins within a (somewhat) reasonable driving distance. It's not a FUN drive, but it can be done in one day at least! 

We went to Silverwood, toured a gold mine, panned for gold, kayaked, and went on a bike ride. We packed a lot of fun into the week! And the kids managed to spend plenty of time in the pool of course. It's so fun to see them reconnect with each other. They usually only get to see each other a few times a year, and rarely are they ALL together at the same time, so this was a big deal!

Now, if they would just all move to North Idaho...!

I got to double up in a kayak with my big kid since we didn't have enough for everyone

Archer's birthday celebration

Panning for gold

Inside the gold mine

Another kayak trip

Archer fishing from the paddleboard

Proof that I'm not ALWAYS too lazy for the paddleboard

Silverwood!

6 of us on the corkscrew

And all 8 of us on Tremors!

They didn't let Archer go on the bumper cars. I was so irritated. The sign outside the ride said 48" okay to ride...which he is...but her measuring stick inside was 52". Seriously?! Way to disappoint a kid!

My brother & niece got to try out the Yuba! She LOVED it!

Archer & Anni relaxing in the hammock after a long day

Backyard camping

Last summer we decided we didn't want to go anywhere for the 4th of July weekend, so we had some friends over for a BBQ and backyard camp. It was a total hit, and we had requests for a repeat this year. I wasn't sure if we would be able to fit one in, given the craziness of the summer, but we made it happen! Year #2 was a hit as well, so there will most likely be a year #3 too! 

The weather was iffy. Thunderstorms off and on all day. It wasn't very warm. I was sad. And a bit panicked. We had quite a few people coming, and while our house COULD accommodate them, it would be pretty tight quarters. Thankfully it cleared up just as the party was getting started! We BBQed, the kids played, and the adults socialized. When it got dark, we put on a movie outside (we borrowed a friend's projector, and now it's on the "want" list!). It was FUN. (Sadly I didn't have time to take any pictures! The only 2 I have are from John's phone!)

The fun finally died down around 1:00 am (I'm getting way too old for that!), but it started again at about 7:00 am with pancakes and bacon (and bacon pancakes), plus lots of coffee for the adults. 

John's pride and joy: bacon pancakes!

John, the boys, and I managed to get the house cleaned up pretty quickly, so we headed out for a bike ride to downtown Coeur d'Alene. We are at one of our favorite downtown spots and played at the park.

Needless to say, the boys were EXHAUSTED this evening and as of 7:00, all 3 were in bed, and I'm hanging out with John and Ender in the backyard. It's a beautiful evening!

So much to do...

...so little time to blog about it!

We have been camping, going to the beach, bike riding, golfing, gardening, playing in the sprinklers, enjoying the outdoors, going to the park, going to Silverwood...and so much more. Summer has been crazy busy! I've been snapping pictures when I get a chance (how did I ever take pictures before iPhones??), but not as often as I wish I would!

Yummy garden bounty! Our peas are finally ending, the strawberries are just about done, and the blueberries and raspberries are just getting started. We've picked a handful of cherry tomatoes, but not many yet. We enjoyed our first beautiful head of broccoli, and we're anxiously awaiting green beans! I'm going to try a Fall garden this year, so we're getting ready to plant that.

We are fortunate to have a neighbor who gets us free tickets to lots of events at the fairgrounds. We get to go to way more events than we would otherwise...like Monster Trucks!

Selfie by the 4-yr-old

Poor B! He was walking Ender and had a little issue!

We went camping over the 4th. Not my pick of times to camp, but it wasn't too crowded and most of us had a good time. (I was kinda cranky and not feeling like camping.)

After we got back from camping, we did a little fireworks celebration in our backyard.

Ender LOVES the sprinkler. In fact, we've been turning it on just for her, even if the boys don't want to play. She will run through it as long as it's on!

This kid is working his way through a big summer reading list

Silverwood!

Oh, yuba. We LOVE the yuba. It has enabled bike rides that might not be possible otherwise.

And take a look at our weather forecast! I'm envisioning lots of ripe tomatoes in our near future!

High 90's! Thunderstorms! Sunshine! Lows in the 60's! This is why I insist on only taking vacations in the winter/Spring. Who wants to leave this???