Catching Up

Summer is over. School has started. We had a great July and August - lots of fun times with families, lots of short weekend trips, lots of Oliver performances, lots of rainy days, lots of late nights, and lots of memories. And we got a new wireless router which hopefully doesn't kick me out every time I try to upload a picture. Wish me luck with this download - it's been a long time coming. Enjoy the pictures - hopefully the updates will be a little more frequent now.

Our first hike after Tony P.'s surgery.

The end of the hike was a great waterfall the girls and their dad could climb up and behind. I chose to stay behind with Tony P.

A lake we found on our drive home. Apparently there was a lot of mud in the lake.

The girls begged me all summer to make a lemonade stand. One day they just found a piece of poster board in the house and started making the sign, so that was the day of the lemonade stand. We live right on the corner, so we have a surprisingly large amount of customers. I think they made $8 total, but it was worth it. They had a great time.

The girls sang "Side By Side" in the local talent competition. They were (in their mother's opinion) by far the most adorable act in the contest, but apparently when the only people who come to watch you and vote for you are your parents, that only equals 2 votes, and that doesn't win you a competition.

Tony P. posing for a photo shoot at Cameron Lake, right after the girls left with PWL for their annual Summit hike. I, once again, was happy to stay behind with him.

Done their 19 km hike in 6 hours exactly. I couldn't believe they all made it out in one piece. A seriously proud moment for their dad.

We have better pictures of this bear on our way home that day, but this one shows how close he was. This was taken from our van, while we watched the bear cross the road RIGHT IN FRONT OF US. Glad we were inside the van...

PWL and the kids swimming/floating in Chinook Lake. I feel bad for those poor guys fishing on the shore - we are a noisy bunch when swimming in cold mountain water. This picture was taken shortly before I started swimming with them, and then tipped the dingy right over on Tony P. You know when you watch those shows about people panicking when they're drowning and trying to pull the person beside them under the water? Well, that was Tony P. and me. And I'm pretty sure my 3-year-old almost pulled me under the water. It's a small lake, thank goodness.

Soaking up sun on the shore.

What's the best thing about grandma and grandpa having a hill in their backyard in the summer? The slip and slide, of course.

I love this picture.

The girls at Lundbreck Falls.

Calaway with Grandma and lots of cousins. This was an awesome day.

Last week of Oliver with all the workhouse boys. They were SO covered in dirt every night when they got home, I just stopped washing it off.

Missy Mae's first day of school.

Someday I will get a picture of this kid when she's not totally hamming it up, but until then, I'll just enjoy the hilarity. First day of school for Ray too.

Last picture of this post - this is what they look like every day now. Off to school, and back to real life!