this could take all day

December 12

Was a wonderful Saturday! (And not just because my big sister had a birthday either.)

Some last minute-sewing to get the girls shirts done.

Waiting for our turn to see Santa. We went to visit him at Peninsula Gardens which was a perfect choice. Only one family in line in front of us, and Daisy loved checking out all the fountains while we waited.

Meeting the big guy. (Look, they're both looking at the pro camera and Daisy even is smiling nicely! Had to spend a little money and buy the good shot.)

Dear Daisy,

We've been talking about Santa for several weeks now, ever since you decided you wanted a kitchen and were told the man with the big beard was your ticket. We practiced asking nicely and saying thank you. And one bright morning you were thrilled when we told you we were off to visit him "at his house".

We were a bit nervous after last year's freak-out, especially because you haven't shown any interest in costumed characters recently. The family in front of us in line told us to wait as they knew their son would cry, and we were hopeful that if you didn't see his meltdown it would be better for you. So you happily played with fountains until we told you it was your turn.

Low and behold, you turned the corner, walked right up to Santa, and asked so politley "please, Santa Claus, have a kitchen, please?" You willingly sat on his lap, played with a jingle bell, smiled for pictures, and let him read you a story. It was a wonderful visit and your Papa and I were smiling quietly to each other with pride.

Unfortunately, with all the prepping to see Mr. Claus, I didn't forsee the fact that once you had asked Santa nicely for the kitchen that you expected him to happily deliver right then and there. It was heartbreaking to watch you cry as we explained that Santa needed to deliver your wish to his elves who were busily working to make all the toys for the boys and girls around the world. And how he would be delivering the gifts to our house at Christmas.

It was further heartbreaking to watch you wake from your nap later that afternoon ready to run to the playroom and enjoy your new kitchen. Not yet, I had to explain again. Luckily, we were able to use the visual of your advent calendar and count how many days left until Christmas. You haven't cried about the lack of kitchen since, and in fact are talking about how "Santa's friends" are making it for you now.

Kid, you are so wonderful. We can't wait to see the joy on your face when Santa finally comes through for you.

Love,
Mama & Papa

Dear Dani Lou,

Thank you for being so easy-going and delightful. Your sister is a ball of energy, and you just are happy to hang out and watch the storm that is her. You're pretty serious in this shot because you are getting sleepy, but anytime someone talks or laughs with you, you reward them with the bestest and biggest grin.

Having a baby at Christmas brings a whole new meaning to the story of our Savior's birth. Thank you for teaching us this lesson and giving us some much needed perspective.

Happy First Christmas!

Love,
Mama & Papa

ps: Thanks for indulging Mama with the bow in your hair! It is adorable.

The day was beautiful so we decided to swing by the park on the way home. It's been a while since Darin and Daisy ran around together, and they had a lot of fun;

while I supervised our sleeping beauty.

Darin had to work a banquet that night, so I bundled up us girls and we headed the Gig Harbor Waterfront for the lighted boat parade where I really needed to have a tripod to get a decent shot of the boats;

Daisy was more interested in the dogs and the big tree;

and the dock was so crowded I almost sucked the feeling out of Daisy's hand I was clinging to it so hard.

Not our best night, but we tried. As a friend later put it, the parade would have been much more enjoyable at Anthony's sipping a glass of wine. (And kidless, too.)

Dani, the bully?

Ready to throw a punch?

 

Or just trying to have a conversation?

 

 

Either way, Mr. Caiden looks a little worried.

 

Caiden was born a couple weeks before Miss Dani and belongs to our friends and Darin's coworker. We were lucky enough to share a condo, a late night coversation, a delicious breakfast, and a stroll around Leavenworth with them last weekend.

And Dani enjoyed her time on the ottoman with her new buddy.
 

first snow shots of the year

Daisy was more than a little disappointed at the lack of snow in Leavenworth last weekend. Thankfully she has a great Papa who agreed to stop at the Snoqualmie Summit and let her play outside for a while.

 

A great Papa who isn't half bad with the camera himself.

 

A papa who will generously share his gloves with the poor girl who doesn't have any.

  

A papa who is kind enough to let his dear wife stay in the warmth of the car, and warn her that when he does get back in he plans on blasting the heat for a while.

 

 A papa who loves his three girls to the moon and back,

 

and he never hesitates to tell us that.

 

the winner

I wore the black dress. And I loved it!

  

And I never got a full-length shot of me in it, so you'll have to take my word for it that I was workin' that dress.

What fun to have an excuse to get all dressed up and have somone take a family shot for my Christmas card. (This isn't it.) Oh, how I love my sweet family.

 

More wedding photos and stories to come...

first movie

We took Daisy to her first movie today. (Well, technically we took Dani too but since she slept and nursed through most of it, I'm not gonna count it.)

I got one not-so-great shot because Darin was giving me the "I-can't-believe-my-wife-is-taking-a-picture-with-a-flash-in-a-crowded-movie-theater" look. (He's pretty much perfected that one! :)

 

But I don't really care about the picture, because the whole experience was magical.

We took her to see a free 10am showing of "The Wizard of Oz". If you've spent much time around me at all, you know that this film is near and dear to my heart and I was just tickled that not only did I get to experience it in blue-ray on the big screen, but that my dear sweet daughter would forever have this experience to count as her first.

I was a little nervous morning-of. We've just begun venturing into the world of full-length films and about the longest she's stayed engaged at home is an hour and 30 minutes. I knew there were also some scary parts to this particular movie. So we talked to her at home before we went. She was thrilled with the idea of a movie in a huge theater (oh man, I wish I had a camera on her the moment her eyes lit up the way they did) and understood there would be some scary parts. I was also fully prepared to leave the theater if we needed to (part of the reason we went to a free showing!) and we gave up our usual "Nemo stays in the car" rule and let her bring her beloved orange friend into the theater with us.

Daisy was patient in line, and her eyes got huge as we entered the semi-lit theater and found some seats (thankfully, on the aisle). She wanted her own seat, and sat, literally, on the edge for most of the entire show. She talked during a few scenes: "Oh no, Mama, her dog runned away." She danced in her chair during the songs. And her Papa & I made "isn't this amazing?" eyes at each other over her for most of the movie. The only part that scared her was near the end when the witch and her cronies are chasing Dorothy and her friends. And I happily let her curl up on my lap and encouraged her to look away. But she bravely kept watching and settled in for the happy ending.

As we were leaving the theater she looked up at us and said "that was really really fun."

Yes, it really really was.

a penguin and a princess...

go to a Halloween party.

How wonderful to get to dress up and go play with friends at Round Table! We had a great time at a little mom's group party last Saturday. Daisy has not stopped talking about it since.

 

It was quite a lot for the penguin to take in, she couldn't quite manage to stay awake the whole time.

Going...

 

going...

 
 
gone!

 

 So gone.

 

But the Princess sure had fun playing with friends, (does the pregnant nun thing ever get old? I hope not.)

 

eating pizza (reading the menu aloud to us: "pizza, pizza, pizza, and sum mo pizza")

 

and getting her face painted.

 

 

And we all enjoyed the delicious treats.

 

 
 
 What? Your princess doesn't wear lovely green bibs with her pretty princess dress? Well, ours does.

Look for more adventures of the penguin and the princess soon.

 

pumpkin patch

Last week we packed up our beautiful girls and took them to a small family farm in Silverdale. We had a lovely time wandering around the gardens, visiting the animals, and picking out some pumpkins.

Here are some of my favorite shots.

 

 

 

 
  

Darin liked this pumpkin and is gonna try to carve a two-headed monster with it.

 

 

 

Daisy had such a hard time picking one out, we finally had to do it for her!

  

Next up...carving...

vacation recap, FCAD and last day

On Saturday morning of our vacation day (after a delicious breakfast including Dad's famous Huckleberry Pancakes) we headed into the town of Quincy for their annual Farmer Consumer Awareness Day celebration.

First was the parade with lots of big tractors! (Daisy was not a fan of ANYONE in costume, especially the large french fry that came strolling down the street in front of her.)

Note to self: CHECK THE WHITE BALANCE SETTINGS!

I could probably fix the parade photo in photoshop, but I'm too busy to figure it out so right now you get to enjoy a blue picture.

 

After the parade we headed over to the field to prepare for the main event. I opted out of playing volleyball this year, and instead got to hang out in the tents with the kiddos and lots of family (including my parents who stuck around for the day).

Cousin Quentin loved poking Dani in the nose. (Ah, isn't the lack of blue nicer?)

 

A mariachi band came by to serenade us.

 

It was really hot out that afternoon!

 

  

I was too hot to venture away from the shade in order to take volleyball pics. But Darin managed to capture a few of the championship match.

This one's my favorite.

 

At one point, as play was winding down, Daisy asked us to go for a walk. So Gran with Dani, Daisy with baby China (oh, that is a post in itself), and me with no baby took a walk around the field. 

 

We tagged along with my parents to their "old" church in Ephrata and watched the "pass the baby" game that occured with Miss Dani and her adoring fans during the fellowship time.

We needed a new family photo for the Miracle Ranch page, so I asked Dad to take one outside church. I'm pretty happy how it turned out.

 

And one of the grandparents too.

 

After church we ventured to lunch with Mom, Dad, and some friends of theirs where we were all highly entertained.

Daisy & Dani fell asleep on the way back to Crescent bar, which was great because we were able to get back and get our stuff packed up while they were snoozing.

 

We had to take in one last swimming trip before heading home.

 

 

Daisy's been learning to swim by herself using a noodle. It's pretty impressive.

 
 
  

 And that's it. Time to head home and back to work.

vacation

During the first week of September we had the opportunity to take a little family vacation. We combined it with Darin's family's annual "Rally In the Valley" volleyball tournament in Quincy, and a chance to see my parents one more time before they headed east and then south for the winter. My parents added us to their 1000 trails park membership, so we were able to camp in a great little park in Crescent Bar.

I wasn't quite up for the idea of tent camping yet, so we rented a little "park-model" trailer that was a great place to eat breakfast,

 

play with toys,

 

check in with work,

 

and take pictures of cute babies.

 

 

Yeah, and it also had some lovely air conditioning!

We were told the trailer had bunk-beds, but this triple bed was even better! Especially because Daisy "fell out" at least twice while we were there. She thought the bed was pretty cool though.

 

 

One morning we enjoyed a walk down to the Crescent Bar resort beach.

  
 

(what a difference a few months makes:

 

 

Daisy had some goldfish snacks on the grass.

 

 

And Gram entertained the little one.

 

 

This is the view from my parents' campsite that we enjoyed very much.

 

 

 

Daisy received a set of "color wonder" markers for her birthday, and we set them aside for just a time as this. She enjoyed lots of coloring time on Gram & Gramp's picnic table.

 

While stopping by Darin's Aunt's house, Daisy got her first taste of trampoline fun. She was really nervous when the two boys were jumping, but when they paused and gave her a chance to go by herself, she LOVED it.

It's really hard to take decent jumping pictures, but Darin tried. At least you get a sense of her joy.

 

 

 

 

My mom was set to have a birthday in a few days, so we went out to celebrate with some yummy Mexican food. Here's dad holding Miss Dani, who always manages to decide she's hungry right as the food is arriving.

 

That's enough recap for tonight. Will try to be back tomorrow with some more!

double stroller

Thank you to everyone who helped contribute to our purchasing of this lovely double stroller. With about 8 gift cards and a 15% off coupon, we were able to purchase this lovely at Babies R Us just before vacation.

I really wanted a side-by-side, even though it's pretty wide, I could envision countless fights about who would get to ride in front of the sit & stand models. But, there will probably be lots of fights over "MO-OM, she's on my side!" with this model.

See? Daisy's already trying to hold her sister's hand for the picture!

We also had to get a jogger because of the rough roads and fields around camp, and this guy handles like a dream. Here's a shot from vacation on our way back from the beach, don't look too closely or you'll notice one cranky baby.  

We also love that the seats go up and down so easily, allowing us to use it with both the toddler and the baby, as well as be able to use it for quite a while.

Here, Miss Dani is hanging out while the rest of the family was swimming.

 

Oh, she's so cute, we must need a closeup!

 

All summer long when we'd walk to the dining hall for meals, Daisy would choose to walk over riding in her stroller. Now that we've got this guy, she always picks stroller.

Thanks again!

camp walk

After naps on Labor Day, we loaded up the children and headed out for a walk around camp. We had just purchased our fabulous new double stroller (more on that later) and thankfully hadn't yet parted with the single jogger.

So the twins got the inaugural ride in the double:

And Sam took the single:

Dani got to ride on Darin for a while, but on me for most of the walk:

And the big kids had to walk. Poor guys were trying desperately to get turns in the strollers, until they realized that walking could have its perks too: like berries!

Or pushing the strollers!

(Can you even see Daisy back there? Trying her hand at pushing too.)

Before we left, we had to load the girls up with some milk, and put their sweatshirts on. Look at this dynamic duo taking care of the second generation duo!

(Jen later borrowed our camera and captured some nice shots of my rear in response to this photo. Too bad those pictures were on my camera and this is my blog, and I don't have to share them here!)

Jen did take the following shot, a nice candid of the walk.

We stopped by the barn for a bit to terrorize the baby kittens.

And stopped by the game room to show our friends our favorite game of roll the pool balls into the holes.

Poor mister Sam wanted in on the action too.

On the way home we found a couple hula hoops left behind in the big field,

and Darin turned them into a choo-choo train to encourage the tired kiddos to walk the rest of the way home.

Man, sometimes I really love living here.

30 pounds on your chest

When Jen and Amy and the kiddos arrived on Monday they were all very ready for lunch and then an attempt at afternoon naps. Since poor Sam had broken his arm, he was having trouble getting comfy enough to sleep, and his nap was shorter than his Mama would have liked.

So the two of them curled up on the couch and Sam cozied up and fell back asleep.

Problem is, this cute kid isn't so much of a baby anymore. And 30 pounds asleep on your chest gets uncomfortable fast.

And yet, there's his lovely Mama making due, giving up her breathing room and feeling her arm ache. We all make sacrifices sometimes.

Soon enough, Miss Jen, you'll have a small one on your chest again. And what a blessing that will be.

a day at Mercy's

It really stinks when your two very best friends live on the other side of the state or in another state entirely. It also stinks that they are sisters and get the chance to see each other way more than you get to see either of them. But what makes it a little more bearable is the committment we made way back when a certain someone (ahem, cough, Jen, cough) moved to Idaho. We decided that we'd do our best to see each other at least twice a year. That meant I'd go there, and she'd come here once a year.

Most years I've been lucky enough to get to see my girls more than twice, usually 'cuz one of us is having a baby and we need to celebrate. (Although this year it was due to a scary illness we're all glad is over.)

Over the holiday weekend I was so excited to get to host these two girls and their brood of kiddos. They spent the first couple nights with their "Seattle Mom", Mercy, but since they were just up the road rather than hours away, we drove the 45 minutes to spend the day together.

And Sam, since your mom didn't get a chance to take too many pictures, I'll share mine here.

The first thing Miss Jen wanted to do was hold baby Dani. It was a great reminder to her that all the pain and suffering she is going through (poor poor girl with a body that doesn't like being pregnant) is worth it in the end.

 

Amy even got a chance at Dani, despite having three of her own kiddos to wrangle. Super-Mom indeed.

 

 

Don't you just love it when other people love your children? I sure do.

 

We got the chance to celebrate these two and the occasion of their birth. Ice cream cake was requested (and later regretted) by the pregnant one.

 

Noah and Daisy were given the chance to blow out the candles, although for Daisy that meant a lot of spitting.

 

This girl knows how to eat ice cream!

 

We brought some toys to Mercy's, but sharing is still difficult for our Daisy. She and Noah had to take turns with the popular pink bus, and even though she was reading, Daisy wasn't going to miss her turn.

 

We were thankful for Darin taking them outside for a while!

 

And he got some great pics of Mr Noah while outside too.

 

 

Classic Noah grin.

 

After his nap, Sam joined the fun outside too.

 

Lucky for me, I got to tag along with the twins to their special birthday dinner. Darin took Daisy home (who later ended up getting to spend the night with her Aunties) and Dani and I enjoyed a delicious dinner and wonderful conversation.

But before we got to go, we had to put Sam, Kate & Glory down for bed. And that, of course, required a bed time story. This picture perfectly captures the chaos of it all.

MLE party

When we lived in Bellingham Darin worked for an awesome company called Mason's Land Escapes. With his boss Steve Mason, and a coworker named Andy (and a few other coworkers that came and went depending on work load), the guys built some awesome hardscapes and water features. They also developed a great friendship.

So when Darin heard that Andy was leaving MLE to move to Seattle and go to college, he wanted to go to B'ham and Andy's going-away party. And since camp ended the same day as the party, we were able to go!

After a good nap in the car on the drive north, Daisy was ready to hit the beach the minute we got there. And her friend, Miss Rachel, was happy to be her beach buddy.

 

Here's Steve (middle), Darin, and Greg. We went to church with Greg's family and he has taken over the summertime lawn mowing part of Steve's business. Greg is a teacher, so this is a great gig for him (and his son).

 

Daisy enjoyed her first ride on a motorboat very much.

 

So did my hot hubby. (Not his first time, though.)

 

Mr. Greg let Daisy and Darin take a turn driving.

 

 

Loving it!

 

Can I tell you how much it was killing me that there was a waverunner at the party and I wasn't able to go on it? KILLING ME. This is my dream toy. Someday...

So Darin enjoyed a good ride for me, and then he even took Daisy out. They went pretty slow at first, but apparently our little girl was having such a blast that Darin picked up speed quite a bit. Let me tell you how much this nervous mother loved watching that from shore!

Daisy kept saying "again" and Darin was happy to oblige. Must be my daughter.

Someday we'll have one...someday...

 

 

The party was a lot of fun and we were glad for the chance to see these guys again.

Daisy's first s'more (and other fun adventures)

Mom and Dad are currently camping at a cool Thousand Trails park in Chehalis. They invited us to spend Darin's day off (this past Thursday) with them and my two neices who were spending a few nights. We really needed to get away from camp, so it was the perfect excuse.

Upon finally arriving Daisy's favorite activity was running up and down the road, with Macey in hot pursuit.

 

And Maya bested Darin in a game of ladder golf.

 

Even with that steely confidence he couldn't pull off a win.

 

Maya and Macey are convinced that our Spud is a MR and kept pestering me about it all day. Here, they're trying to catch a listen. (Well, this photo was staged for the camera after they were doing the same thing.)

 

We interrupt this story to bring you a sweet shot of my adorable kiddo.

 

After lunch it was time to hit the pool.

Daisy lasted a while in the big pool with Papa, but when her cousins befriended another girl she headed for the toddler pool.

Who knew two sippy cups could equal hours of fun? Especially when you can "surprise" Gran by pouring water on her!

 

While Daisy had a nap we took the girls to play mini-golf. Darin won back his dignity by beating us all at this game.

 

Daisy woke up, we played some farkle, ate some dinner, and then gathered around the fire for the part of the day we'd all been waiting for: SMORES!

 

Mmmm...gooey, sticky, blurry, S'more faces.

 

Darin has this whole theory on s'mores that involves "pre-roasting" some chocolate by setting it on the bottom graham near the fire. This gets the chocolate all melty before you put the marshmallow on it. Of course, the marshmallow must also be the perfect shade of golden brown. I always let him make s'mores for me because he does the best job, and frankly, doesn't really like them too much himself.

Here Daisy's helping him rotate his roaster.

 

Putting it all together. I love how patiently Daisy is waiting and watching.

 

And the money shot: first S'more!

 

Looks like someone got a hold of the camera that wasn't me!

 

And when Darin gets a hold of the camera, you never know what he's gonna do. Like play around shooting my dad's hanging-downy-spinner thingies. (Is that their technical name?)

 

But Darin still had one more adventure up his sleeve. Under the big water tower at camp there had fallen a bee's nest. And it had been bugging him all day. So he finally grabbed my Mom's fancy fire poker and went to collect some of it.

 

 

Let the science lesson begin.

 

 

 

Ooo...the sun on Macey's face is so pretty.

 

 

When the kiddos finally bored of the hive they took off for a walk with Gram & CC, and Darin picked up the camera again-this time to play with the macro lens.

 

 

We loaded up in the car way past Daisy's bedtime in hopes of her sleeping on the way home, but she would have none of it. Of course, our little picky girl was cranky about our music selections but we told her it was Mama & Papa's turn to choose and she should just go to sleep. Oh well, we got home around 10:00 and Daisy went right to bed and, thankfully, slept until almost 9:00 the next morning.

Thanks for inviting us down for all the fun, Mom & Dad. (And HAH-I got to blog the pics first!)

Harborside Fountain Park

Do you read those airplane magazines? Usually some time during my flight I'm bored with the things I've brought and will pull that out to glance through. Luckily the issue of "Horizon Air" I thumbed through at the Idaho Falls tarmac had a great article about Western Washington day trips. We are always looking for quick summer day trips to get Darin away from camp on his days off. So the magazine made it into my carry on and last week as we were making plans for a day off I pulled it out again.

Under the trip to Bremerton it was suggested a stop at Harborside Fountain Park. The magazine mentioned something about fountains and "wading pools" which sounded perfect for a hot day. And since Bremerton is just like 20 minutes up the road, we could make a morning trip out of it and still get the little Miss into her own bed for naptime.

We didn't have exact directions so we ended up just finding some street parking and heading over to the Bremerton boardwalk. Of course, brilliant me thought it would be a great idea to bring the stroller because although Daisy wanted to walk, we could throw all our luggage in it. Unfortunately, there were quite a few steps up and down from the boardwalk as we made our way to the fountains.

Once there it didn't take Daisy too long to get wet. We did put on her water shoes but decided to just let her wade in her dress since we had brought along a spare.

 

These fountains are really cool. I think there are like 5 of them and they are designed to look like a naval fleet heading out to sea. But they also harken to two other northwest icons, whales and volcanoes, because they squirt these great tufts of water out their tops at certain intervals. Daisy was a little nervous about that at first, but quickly got used to it.

I must say, we all enjoyed the cool water. It was a hot day!

 

Even me and the big belly sat on the edge.

 

When it was time to move the car (darn 1 hour parking) we changed Daisy and headed over to Subway for some lunch. Then back to the fountains, but this time Daisy got on her swim gear.

The park was starting to get a bit crowded and it had a bit of a waterpark feel to it in that families were spreading out blankets on the patches of grass and kids were digging into coolers and snack bags in between dips in the pools. Subway was fun, but we will definitely join these families next time and pack up our own lunch and snacks. (And trust me, there will be a next time.)

Daisy borrowed a life ring from a little girl. (Note to self: bring one of those next time too.)

 

And Darin tried to help her lay back in it.

 

 

But the second she was in, she wanted back out.

 

But trying to sit in it by herself wasn't so successful.

 

And here she is chasing down the little girl trying to give her back her toy.

 

There were lots of tears when it was time to go, but thankfully just up the road was a ColdStone and there were delicious ice cream treats to be had by all. Not a better way to end a fun-filled water adventure if you ask me.

 

I, for one, can't wait to go back. A FREE, close, water-filled fun destination. The only downsides were parking (next time we'll just pay for a lot spot close by) and the lack of shade at the park (we're probably gonna just get one of those beach umbrellas they've got at Costco). Let me know if you want to come with us next time!

Happy Independence Day!

We had a great day: camp staff, games, and treats at the beach in the morning. A long afternoon nap. And a great BBQ at my sister's house in the evening. We skipped the fireworks, but did see some being shot at the Purdy beach as we drove home.

Hope your day was just as fun!

 

(I'll share more photos later this week, but this was quick and fun.)

I was reminded this morning that we have many people to thank for the freedoms we enjoy, but as a Christian there is no greater freedom than the freedom found in Christ through his sacrifice for us. And for that, I am truly grateful.

camping at Lincoln Rock

Admittedly, I really didn't take too many pictures while camping with Daisy and Darin's family last week. I was enjoying just kicking back and relaxing, and I still haven't quite got the hang of shooting in full-on sun. But I do have a few to share.

The drive over was ok. We stopped in North Bend to get out of the car and walk at a "park". Well, to Miss Daisy a "park" equals play area, and this park only had a trail and grass. So we had to make due with a game of find the coolest stick before getting back in the car.

Next stop was Cle Ellum for lunch at Subway where Daisy was just delightful. They didn't have any high chairs so she just sat in a big-girl chair and ate all her lunch. She did offer a running commentary on the people who entered the restaurant, though. I'm finding it amusing that every woman lately is a "mama" and every guy is a "papa".

The last leg of our trip I was hoping Daisy would nap, but that was just not to be. Instead I had a cranky toddler in the backseat that made concentrating on the curves of Blewitt Pass a little more difficult. And when we arrived at the campsite Daisy was having so much fun with her cousins and Aunts and Gran that a nap just wasn't gonna happen. But it was okay, because she stayed in a pretty good mood until bedtime.

Smart Gran even figured out a way to give Daisy her nightly bath.

 

The best part of family reunions are the kids getting to play with their relatives. Here Daisy and her cousin Quentin are enjoying some splash time in the pool.

 

They made up this game that involved them splashing in the pool, then running to the other end of the campsite and back, all the while shrieking like mad men. (Actually, they kinda sounded like seagulls.)

 

 

 

Here she is with Grandpa giving her cousin Israel's bike a try, but couldn't quite reach the pedals. Hopefully next year she'll have her very own ride-on toy like all the big kids.

 

And Gran and Daisy playing at the beach.

 

But by far Daisy's favorite person at the reunion was Darin's cousin Anna. (Not sure how that makes the two of them related.) Daisy would follow her around and ask about her 100 times if she wasn't. The two of them playing together was really very sweet.

 

 

 

We really had a great time camping; there's nothing like doing it with kids! And here's to hoping we can take a trip with Darin in the fall!

I'm back!

The last two weeks have been a bit of a whirlwind.

Daisy hung out with my parents while I went to Idaho Falls.

Came home for three days then Daisy and I went to Wenatchee for Darin's family reuinion. Drove over on Thursday and "camped" with Dale and Linda in their motorhome.

Left Daisy with her Gran, Grandpa, and "Aunt Ta" on Saturday and drove to Lewiston where I got one more chance at rocking a cute baby girl to sleep and then got a great visit in with Miss Amy. (Who is having an AMAZING recovery, by the way.)

Woke up early Sunday morning for a drive to Pullman and the campus of Washington State University. Three long and inspiring days with an awesome group of teens and volunteers at the State 4-H Teen Conference. Wish I could go back next week for our summer meeting in Spokane, but just can't do another cross-state drive right now.

Left at 1:30 on Tuesday morning with the plan to drive to Lakewood and spend the night before coming home on Wednesday. But I was desperate to get home and since I was making such good time, I convinced my wonderful mother-in-law to pack up Daisy and meet me on the road. So we met in Factoria and Daisy and I arrived home at about 8:00 pm.

I crashed hard.

Over 400 hits on my Google Reader.

Over 50 emails in my inbox.

A mound of dirty laundry.

A messy messy house.

And yesterday I completely took the day off to play with my family and rest. It was perfect.

I'm thankful to be home and thankful for the month of July with no travel plans. Just a chance to clean and organize and tackle a pre-baby to-do list that includes lots of loving on my toddler before her little sibling rocks her world.

Lots of stories and pictures forthcoming...

vaulting

Have you heard of this sport? It's basically gymnastics on horseback and it's something taught as an activity class at camp. So last week during staff training, our horsemanship coordinator Josh (who also happens to be MJ's dad) had a vaulting team to camp to demonstrate techniques to our wranglers. And he invited us to come watch.

It is pretty impressive what these girls can do. The younger ones do their moves while the horse is at a walk or trot, and the most experienced of the girls work with their horse at a canter. The top girl on the team even showed us how she could do a jump split on the horse while it was moving at a canter. We were all impressed.

Here's a younger member of the team.

When Daisy heard we were going to the barn she just had to bring along an apple for the horses. Of course, once she had it in her hands she needed a bite and, well, she ate at least half the thing before any horse got some.

Here she is with her apple watching the demonstration.

 

After the demo, the team let the wranglers have a try. Here's one girl trying to stand up.

 

Josh came over at one point and asked if Daisy could give it a try. Believe it or not, this was the first time Daisy's been on a horse at camp. While the horse was pretty big, I wasn't too worried with the other girl holding on to my kiddo.

Look at that grin! Someone's enjoying herself.

 

And look! She even got talked into standing up!

 

I was very impessed by how willing and brave she was.

 

Everyone was telling me that I'm now in trouble. But hey, if they're right next to our house and someone else is paying to feed and house them, I'm not in that much trouble! Right?

Thanks Dad for taking these pics.