Beach Combing

We set out early this morning for Long Beach.

After a unhealthy, but oh-so-yummy breakfast at the Cottage Bakery, we hit the beach to see what kind of treasures we could find.

The waves,

the sand,

the creatures . . .

we treasure our times at the beach.

We saw Bigfoot!

We drove up to Mt. St. Helens last weekend with Jim, Tawna, Candice, Qwyn, and Ashtin. That's one big mountain - and one big statue of a hairy man! I wouldn't want to be anywhere near that mountain if it was going to explode. (Fun fact: the last time St. Helens blew was on Lila's birthday. I remember watching it on the news when I was in the hospital. Obviously, it wasn't anything close to what it did in 1980.) The trip was extra fun for the kids because they had cousins there with them. Who doesn't love cousins? I think teenage cousins are especially AWESOME.Its like having a nanny there with my kids. They carry them around, play games with them, cheer them up when they get grouchy . . . its super. YAY for cousins!

Crashed

I know. Its pathetic. Its been so long since I've had a blog entry and I am so far behind now. What can I say? Summer is here and we have been having fun, relaxing, doing some work even. Not that you mind. I am sure there are only a handful of people that even look at this, but I like to pretend that I have a following.

I will leave you with some pics of Rylan.

I found him crashed like this on his bedroom floor one evening. So tired. Summer is fun. When it finally gets dark, we are ready for sleep. I will try to post some more soon!

Swinging the Hammer

Did I tell you all that the kids are remodeling our master bath for us?

Well, they are helping out anyway. Rylan and Alaina really love to swing the hammer.

Cowgirls

Alaina, Emily and Lila were all invited to their friend Jansi's birthday party a couple of weeks ago. Jansi's daddy works with horses so each of the party goers had a chance to ride Montana (the horse pictured). This isn't the first time the girls have rode horses and they were so excited to get to ride again.

Yee haw!

Emily's Spring Soccer Season

Emily just finished up her spring soccer season. The picture below shows her scoring a goal in her last game. She was quite excited about that. She learned a lot this year and had a great time doing it.

This is the 2010 Springers team. Yes, Springers as in Spring salmon, which are pink in color. That's what you get when you live on the Columbia River. It's fishing country!

GO! GO! GO! SPRINGERS!!!

Knitting Lessons

We are learning to knit! Most of Emily's friends have learned because one of the elementary teachers has taught some of her students how. Emily never had the chance to learn and was excited when I told her I was going to get her yarn and knitting needles for her birthday.

I talked to Mom and asked if she would be willing to come and work on knitting with us after school a couple of days during the week. She agreed so part of Emily's birthday present was knitting lessons. So far we have had a couple of sessions and we seem to be getting the basics down. Except for me. I always seem to end up with some funny loop hanging off my rows of stitches. When I have mastered it I am going to try and make something. Emily wants to make a scarf for her Daddy. I think that has something to do with the Little House on the Prairie episode we saw where Laura knitted a scarf for Pa. The only problem is the yarn Emily is using right now is mint green. I told her Daddy probably wouldn't wear a scarf that color.