A Day at Priest River

My good friend Tanya invited us up for a day of fun at her lake cabin. We had such a great day. She has a beautiful place and the scenery and weather were amazing. We were able to spend a few hours out on the boat which made me really happy since we are going to miss our annual Lake Powell trip this year. I even borrowed a water ski so I could test my knee out on the water and I had a great run. Thank you so much Tanya. We didn't want to leave.

Josie waiting her turn on the tube

Lincoln so happy to be on the boat.  He smiled from ear to ear the entire time.  I love the view behind him.  Absolutely gorgeous

Tanya our captain! 

We got all 4 kids on for a few rides and they had a blast together.  Conor, Riley, Josie and Miles.

Conor got up on his 1st try and was mad when I made him quit.

My self portrait to show how happy I am to be on a boat with the opportunity to water ski

The perfect end to a great day at the lake...burgers and soaking in the view

Jaunt to Grand Coulee

We had a weekend of camping planned with our friends when work got in the way for them so they had to bail on us.  We decided at the last minute to head down to Grand Coulee instead and camp there so we could see the laser show and do a dam tour.  Conor had learned all about the dam in 3rd grade so he was eager to check it out.  We weren't able to reserve a site because it was last minute-but we took our chances and headed down hoping to find something.  We found something that was a little less then ideal, but at least we had a place to camp.  We had a patch of grass squashed between other campers with a steep price tag, but oh well.  One of those fun impromptu trips that we will always remember.

Eating tang and muffins for breakfast

Lincoln making silly faces with Daddy

My cute campers

Down inside of the dam-looking at the turbines I think

On top of the dam-we learned a lot of interesting facts about the Columbia river and the energy produced by the Great Grand Coulee Dam

Oh look there I am-I was on this trip.  The laser show is shown right on the dam behind us.  It is pretty cool considering it is something like 20 years old. 

After visiting the dam we headed off to enjoy Lake Roosevelt-one of the happy results created by the dam.  We found this really great public park where we spent hours playing in the sand and water. 

Lincoln munching on his favorite yummy chocolate chip cookies

The kids jumping off the dock -they finally talked both Kevin and me into getting in the chilly water

Lincoln lost in a sand hole.  I am pretty sure he is playing with a truck you just can't see it. 

Summer Happenings

Hiking at painted rock-this was a hike that I got a lot closer to a rattle snake then I prefer to be

Tennis Camp for Conor

Swimming lessons for Josie-she learned so much and is a regular fish

We went to the pool several times...Daddy even came with us once and that was a special treat

A quick moment that Conor was by me so I could snap a picture.  His head is usually under water

The weekly summer movie series.  We were so busy this summer that we missed a lot, but we got to enjoy a few. 

Many afternoons were spent in the backyard with the hose and water fun. 

Conor got to squeeze in a week of swimming lessons.  He was able to learn some strokes this year which is nice

Lincoln playing with what? Cars of course.  What a trooper, he came along for all the fun summer activities.  He is the greatest cheerleader.

 

Our very own famous Boy Scout Conor-On a whim I sent Conor's picture into the boy scout office when they were looking for the new face of the Inland Northwest campaign.  I was shocked when they called and wanted him to be their man!  We went downtown for a photo shoot.  Next time you are in one of our local grocery stores you might see a life size paper cut out of Conor smiling at you. 

Conor at his photo shoot. 

Camp Stix

The day after we got back from Colorado we sent Conor off to diabetes camp. What a great experience! Conor had been looking forward to going for months, and with a load of laundry and some repacking we were headed up to the River view bible facility to drop Conor off for an entire week of fun.  Upon arrival we met with Conor's medical team and this was when Conor started getting a bit nervous.  His medical team was fabulous by the way.  Pretty amazing that they can take care of 250 kids with a serious health issue and keep them all healthy and happy and better off when they come home.  The first thing Conor said when we picked him up was how great the food was.  He got to tour the medstar helicopter and meet Charlie Kimball a famous race car driver who has diabetes.  He did a lot of swimming and had paintball wars and campfires, and crafts and a lot of other campy fun stuff.  He is very excited to go back next year.  It was a great break for everyone, Conor was glad to get some independence and it is always interesting to pull a child out of the family mix.  Another perk was that it is a nice break for Mom and Dad from 24/7 diabetes care.  Thank you Camp Stix!

Conor and his friend Landon in front of their cabin

This is Conor's team that he hung out with the whole week.  He really liked Landon and spent most of his time with him. 

Conor in front of his bed.  He is looking a bit sad here because he is.  He was crying when we left him.  He was just nervous about the unknown and the counselor wasn't a ton of help at this point, but I heard he snapped out of his sadness pretty quick and really enjoyed himself. 

This is Josie crying because she missed Conor.  She talked about him all week and was sad he wasn't around to torture her.

Beartooth Highway and Yellowstone

We took a scenic detour for our long drive home.  On Friday we drove all the way to Red Lodge Montana to stay the night and then get an early start on the Beartooth highway and the northern 1/2 of Yellowstone.  We got to see some beautiful country and some neat wildlife. The hardest thing about blogging is deciding which pictures to post.  Here are my favorites

Our first view after gaining some serious elevation

Same location just a different direction

The first viewing area we all climbed out of the car and we were suddenly surrounded by all these chipmunks, fat small and extra fat.  They would eat right out of your hand.  We had to bribe the kids back into the car.  They thought these chipmunks were a lot cooler then the amazing scenery we were about to take in.

This is at about 11,000 ft.  We were well above the tree line here and the views were spectacular

 

If we look cold, we are

I love the variety in this picture. 

One of the waterfalls - just had to give the conversation bikes some face time

We almost missed this waterfall.  We could see it from the road and passed it, then decided to head back and park so we could walk up to it.  It was beautiful and awesome close up.  The roaring water was incredibly powerful as it funneled into the narrow crevice. 

 

Lincoln and Me headed back to the car

The last stretch of the Beartooth Highway before Yellowstone

Into Yellowstone-1st of many bison

Awful picture, but that is a wolf you can see-the ranger wouldn't allow us to stop because the wolf was supposedly trying to cross the road so Kevin had to take this picture as we were slowly driving through.

Mammoth Hot Springs

Midway up the boardwalk to the top-we barely made it before a huge thunderstorm rolled through

In all the times I have been to Yellowstone I have never been up to mammoth.  It was always out of the way.  It is very pretty and I am glad I finally got to see it. 

Elk

Mountain Goats

 For only being in Yellowstone a few hours, we did pretty good on the wildlife sightings.  We didn't get to see a bear, but we can't complain.  Now back to the car for the long haul west.

Back to Washington and the Inland Northwest.  We saw a lot of beautiful country, but I must admit that we have some pretty spectacular scenery right in our own backyard.