Oregon!

John had a couple of days scheduled off from work to make a trip to South Dakota - we were going to go to Mt. Rushmore and whatever else we could find to do. But when it came down to it, we didn't really want to drive 13+ hours one way, and we were tentatively planning a trip to Oregon in a few weeks anyway, which would mean another 8 hours one way in the car...so we decided to scrap the SD trip and make a longer Oregon trip.

I happened to find a last minute reservation for a yurt at a state park along the coast (which seriously never happens! You have to plan a yurt trip months in advance!) and after visiting family for a few days, we went to the coast. The yurt was super fun - kids loved it, and I loved that we didn't have to set up/tear down a tent, plus the mattresses were actually pretty comfy...and bonus: there was electricity. It was a super short trail to the beach, and if it hadn't been so windy, we would've spent our entire time ON the beach. As it was, we still spent quite a few hours there, so no complaints except that I was cold the entire time. It's kind of a shock to go from 90-100 degrees to high temps in the 60's or low 70's! 

Now we are home. I don't even want to look at the house or the mountains of laundry! The kids are already fighting and beating each other. But it feels good to be home!

Smoky sunset as we were driving to OR. I don't know if you can tell from the pic, but the sun was actually setting behind a gigantic wall of smoke!

Whale watching center at Depoe Bay...we didn't see any (real) whales though.

On the beach with friends

Inside the yurt at bedtime

Trying to keep warm in the morning...brrrrrrrr!

Everyone uses a machete for that, right?! 

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

Six.

My baby turned 6 today. 

We have been crazy busy with family visiting, but I can't resist a quick post about this! 

Archer, at 6:

Still loves police stuff - pretends to be a police officer often and loves driving his police car.

Is basically fearless when it comes to physical stuff. Bike jumps, riding dirt bikes, flipping on the trampoline, jumping off the diving board, etc. we went to Silverwood today and he went on every ride he was tall enough for. And loved them all!

LOVES his puppy, of course. 

LOVES his mommy, of course. :) He is still a major mommy's boy and will cuddle any chance he gets. He is very generous with hugs and kisses (to me anyway!).

Loves to swim.

Is such a kind-hearted boy - he is very sensitive to how other people feel and is very empathetic. 

Still our little spitfire for sure! This kid keeps us hoppin'! There is never a dull moment with Archer around!

Happy birthday Archer! (More pics to come of his bday celebration.)

Father's Day

Last weekend we celebrated Father's Day with John's choice of activities. We ended up doing an outdoor movie night (we got him a projector for his gift) and then taking a hike to a little mountain lake that we hadn't been to before. 

It was the perfect day for a hike. Not too hot, not too cold. The length of the hime was perfect too...about 4 miles round-trip. We have a tendency to pick hikes that are too difficult for the kids and it ends up being torturous, but this time it was just right! 

The lake was COLD, and it definitely wasn't HOT outside, but Archer insisted on going in the lake anyway, and John was able to be talked into it by Archer...so these 2 went up to their knees (and then Archer fell and got himself and John wet!).

On our hike back we took a little side trail to a waterfall which the boys thought was pretty cool, even if we had to do a little bit of "off-reading" to get there!

All in all, I think it was a pretty good weekend! The boys love any and all holidays, so any excuse to celebrate is good enough for them...but even better when they get to celebrate their DAD who is pretty amazing! 

Now we get to spend this coming weekend in 100+ degree temperatures, which I'm excited about but I don't think anyone else is!

Beach & Pool Day

It has been HOT! We've been in the high 80's-90's since school got out! The boys have been spending their days in the water...hopefully our little easy set pool will last through another summer, but I'm doubtful with as rough as they are. 

We spent the morning at the beach today, and then (since we realized that all of our buckets and shovels had disappeared) we hit the dollar store for some summer toys. We are now stocked on pool noodles, squirt guns, water balloons, sand buckets, etc. Hopefully these boys will keep busy because they are already driving me just a little bit crazy! 

We came home and they hit the pool. They go in the pool, then jump out and dry off...and repeat...and repeat...and repeat...

We also have been picking strawberries like crazy! I love summer! I can go weeks without grocery shopping...and let me say, anything that keeps me from grocery shopping with all 3 boys is AMAZING!

The second pic gives better perspective to just how many berries we got that day! I love our little berry patch. 

Mountain Biking Adventure

Preston and John got new mountain bikes, so of course they were itching to try them out on some real trails! We took the boys up to Farragut State Park because John claimed there were "easy trails" there. Yeah, not so easy. We ended up walking our bikes quite a bit, but we ended the adventure with some time in the lake so I guess that made up for it with the kids! Not me though. I'm holding a bit of a grudge!