Happy Anniversary Sugar and Pa!
Congrats on 35 years!
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Friday, August 17, 2007
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Summer Synopsis, Part August, the finale!
August was rather non-stop for us. We enjoyed all the best of summer- long afternoons at the beach, long days at Silverwood, BBQ-ing on the deck!
Ryan did some National Guard time, and the boys and I had guests: the Euhuses (minus their man-o-the house) came to visit. (We went on a search for the 'point' of Sandpoint! We found it! see left.)
We also did some school shopping (thanks, Aunt Barbara!) and went for a very rainy day at Silverwood with the Rutherfords, Grays, and Hausers.
I feel like I'm forgetting something...it was pretty darn busy!
All in all, a truly GREAT summer. (Just head over to our dropshots page to see all the fun we had!)
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Summer Synopsis, Part Late July
During the last part of July, our friends the McClains came up for a visit. We were blessed with good weather and we managed to get in a swim down at our beach, a trip to the top of Schweitzer mountain, and two days at Silverwood! The boys had a great time with the McClain boys, Riley and Brady. We had plenty of superheroes to save the day at any given moment. It was so great to see Sarah and Jeff, and we really enjoyed our time with them- and the fact that they came all this way!
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Summer Synopsis, Part 4th of July
This year, with the Fourth falling on a Wednesday and it being our first Fourth here in Sandpoint, we decided to 'stay home and take it easy'. I was a little down not to be participating in our usual festivities with family and thought the day might be a bit of a disappointment. However, I was quite wrong and very pleasantly surprised!
In the morning, we took the kids downtown to ride in the kids parade. I decorated their bikes and helmets in red, white, and blue- which seemed like such a good idea until we got there! Sam wanted nothing to do with his helmet and seemed truly disturbed about the decorations trailing from his handlebars, and well, really the whole crowd thing seemed to disturb him too. So, we got through it like we get through many things with Sam these days- we bribed him. I continually reminded him about the whole entire bag of candy he would receive all to himself at the end of the parade route. And I say continually because I had to walk along side him the entire way as well! Although, it was really a good thing to walk along side him as he sometimes gets 'high centered' with his training wheels.
After that fabulous start, we walked back over to the bank and sat across the street under the shade of some trees to watch the parade. It was the best parade experience I have ever had! We were there early enough (remember, "ride your bike, we'll get candy!") to get good spots for our chairs (ooh, a chair- a novel parade idea for me!), we sat in the oh-so-lovely shade, and I drank my coffee and read the paper before it started! My darling children were occupied with their candy and sat on the grass and curb area in front our our feet. With all the people milling about, there was plenty for them to look at and keep them occupied as they tended their blood sugar levels. Once the parade started, Ben and Sam were happy to sit either on the curb or our laps to watch all the assorted fire trucks, military vehicles, horses, marching bands, etc. When it was over, we walked across the street, put our chairs in the truck and off we went. We didn't even get caught in the mass-exodus traffic snarl that usually accompanies downtown events. What a morning!
Our Fourth of July evening was complete with a BBQ. Our new friends, the Priors, and our neighbors, the Hancocks, came over for beer, burgers, corn, watermelon, etc. We had a great time with a semi-impromptu water balloon fight with the kids. We ate dinner, did some fireworks out on the street, and then headed down to our beach area for the neighborhood and city fireworks displays. The Hancocks drove down, and offered to pile all the kids in their van. Us remaining four adults started walking down to the beach and were passed by a white van with loud music and even louder kids! Ben had his head out the window hollering "we're teeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen-agers!". In fact, it was hard to hear that with all the other giggling and jostling that was going on in there!
The fireworks were spectacular! We enjoyed many semi-professional looking ones that folks from the neighborhood brought down to the beach to launch off the dock. Then we were able to watch the show across the lake, over at City Beach. It was a fabulous show, made all the more fantastic by not having to endure the traffic home! Actually as I sat admiring the fireworks from our beach, I noticed that no matter which way I looked all up and down the lake, there were fireworks to watch. It was so terrifically peaceful to sit cozily with my family, watch everyone's celebrations and know that when it was all done, all we had to do was walk home and get those crazy "we're teenagers" kids in bed!
And yes, in case you were wondering, we will be taking reservations for fourth of July visitors on a first come, first served basis!
In the morning, we took the kids downtown to ride in the kids parade. I decorated their bikes and helmets in red, white, and blue- which seemed like such a good idea until we got there! Sam wanted nothing to do with his helmet and seemed truly disturbed about the decorations trailing from his handlebars, and well, really the whole crowd thing seemed to disturb him too. So, we got through it like we get through many things with Sam these days- we bribed him. I continually reminded him about the whole entire bag of candy he would receive all to himself at the end of the parade route. And I say continually because I had to walk along side him the entire way as well! Although, it was really a good thing to walk along side him as he sometimes gets 'high centered' with his training wheels.
After that fabulous start, we walked back over to the bank and sat across the street under the shade of some trees to watch the parade. It was the best parade experience I have ever had! We were there early enough (remember, "ride your bike, we'll get candy!") to get good spots for our chairs (ooh, a chair- a novel parade idea for me!), we sat in the oh-so-lovely shade, and I drank my coffee and read the paper before it started! My darling children were occupied with their candy and sat on the grass and curb area in front our our feet. With all the people milling about, there was plenty for them to look at and keep them occupied as they tended their blood sugar levels. Once the parade started, Ben and Sam were happy to sit either on the curb or our laps to watch all the assorted fire trucks, military vehicles, horses, marching bands, etc. When it was over, we walked across the street, put our chairs in the truck and off we went. We didn't even get caught in the mass-exodus traffic snarl that usually accompanies downtown events. What a morning!
Our Fourth of July evening was complete with a BBQ. Our new friends, the Priors, and our neighbors, the Hancocks, came over for beer, burgers, corn, watermelon, etc. We had a great time with a semi-impromptu water balloon fight with the kids. We ate dinner, did some fireworks out on the street, and then headed down to our beach area for the neighborhood and city fireworks displays. The Hancocks drove down, and offered to pile all the kids in their van. Us remaining four adults started walking down to the beach and were passed by a white van with loud music and even louder kids! Ben had his head out the window hollering "we're teeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen-agers!". In fact, it was hard to hear that with all the other giggling and jostling that was going on in there!
The fireworks were spectacular! We enjoyed many semi-professional looking ones that folks from the neighborhood brought down to the beach to launch off the dock. Then we were able to watch the show across the lake, over at City Beach. It was a fabulous show, made all the more fantastic by not having to endure the traffic home! Actually as I sat admiring the fireworks from our beach, I noticed that no matter which way I looked all up and down the lake, there were fireworks to watch. It was so terrifically peaceful to sit cozily with my family, watch everyone's celebrations and know that when it was all done, all we had to do was walk home and get those crazy "we're teenagers" kids in bed!
And yes, in case you were wondering, we will be taking reservations for fourth of July visitors on a first come, first served basis!
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Summer synopsis, Part June
Some highlights of our month of June 2007:
- Ben finished Kindergarten, as a quite proud and fluent reader! (Mom and Dad are pretty proud too!)
- The kids had a (belated) Birthday party, with a Superhero theme.
- We went to Seattle to celebrate Ryan's grandmother's 80th birthday. While there, we enjoyed a family reunion camping extravaganza at Flowing Lake Campground.
The boys really enjoyed this trip and spending time with their cousins (second-cousins?). Sam had not met any of the kids before, and Ben was a baby the last time he saw any of them. The boys are still talking about all their cousins and their great memories of that trip. We've got more pictures up at on the "drop shots" site. (See the side bar for a link.)
Here we go....
I want to keep this blog as a record of our life- a digital scrapbook of sorts. Although I really enjoy traditional scrapbooking, I think it will be far easier to keep a record online and much more efficient for updating family and friends. The boys are very excited to contribute to this project as well.
So, there you have it! Stay tuned for more.........
So, there you have it! Stay tuned for more.........
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