Priest Lake: The Forest

We had to get out of the cabin so we headed down the main road and found a short loop trail to check out. There are signs posted all over that this is bear country and how you should manage yourself accordingly (don't try to feed the bears, clean up your garbage, etc.)

Sam was scared to death that we would meet a bear on our short hike. This first photo is sad Sam (sad because he wasn't able to talk us out of going on the walk.) Dan's solution was to laugh him out of it, which is why everyone is laughing.


It worked for a bit, but then Sam went right back to being worried.

But he made it through as long as he was holding mine or Dan's hand.

This moss was hanging off all the trees. And Dan's upper lip.

Had to get at least 1 flower in there.

There must be some magical trick someone can teach me about getting a nice photo of a group of boys. What's the secret? (Can you tell Dan's making these guys laugh behind me?)

On Dan's suggestion these guys rested their chins on their hands. Luke didn't quite get it but kept trying it for the rest of the photos on the trip.

It was a nice trip. Nice enough that I kind of want to get an escape cabin at Priest Lake. Maybe if I buy some property now, I can build a retirement cabin on it later.

Priest Lake: The Water

I did mention that we went up to Spokane and spent a few short days at the lake - didn't I? Well, we did. It rained the first day, so we stayed in a friend's cabin (with sweet 1960s decor) and played games and watched stupid movies on tape. Finally on the day we were leaving we got a nice sunny day.

This lake is cold anyway, but when it's cloudy and rainy, it's even colder, so I didn't even get in the water. Dan braved it for about an hour on the sunniest day. The cold didn't deter the boys. They just stayed in the water shivering and vowing never to get out.

Is it gorgeous or what? I love the Northwest.

Charlie is notorious for not wanting to cooperate for pictures, but when Dan said he wanted to take a picture of he and I, Charlie was right in there. Nice.

We found a little birds' nest. We couldn't see how many babies were in there until I got this photo. But I think the boys saw them chirping for their food.

Luckily we only brought one 12 pack of root beer, otherwise Luke would have done nothing else but drink it.

a good day

The other day Jack asked if he could look in my jewelry box. It's a pretty cool box Dan got me for Christmas a few years ago and it's got lots of compartments and cool drawers. Everyone was soon interested and trying things on.

After that (which lasted around an hour) they all wanted to make their own jewelry. So we got out the craft box and went to work. Charlie has worn his bracelet and necklace since he made it, even to bed.

This is the kind of summer day I've been dreaming of. Getting creative with everyone, everyone getting along nicely. Hopefully we get at least one more day like that this summer. (I have not been feeling so wonderful and have been mostly reading and laying around). Anyone have any suggestions for easy crafts with kids? What fun things have you been doing this summer?

where have I been?

Thanks for asking. I've mostly been here, watching The Tour. Anyone else out there watching Le Tour de France? Go Andy! Andy Schleck is in the photo below (left) with his brother Frank (who crashed at the beginning of this tour and broke his collar bone pretty badly). Right now Alberto Contador is in the yellow jersey and I'm hoping Andy can get it back in the next few days. Only 4 more stages to go!

Also - my mom and dad took my 3 oldest kids for 10 days, so I was working on house projects. No time for blogging.

And then - we went to pick the kids up and spent a week in Spokane. We went to the lake and I met up with a few friends for lunch.

Hopefully I'll get around to blogging at least some of it!