Ending Swim lessons

Jolene did great this Summer in swim lessons. She was in level 3, they spent all of the lessons in deep end! The learned so much this year. I was really proud of her. I think her favorite parts were being in the deep end and being able to go off the diving board without a life jacket on! She loves the water, once she enters the water she becomes a little mermaid! It may be the end of lessons, but we will be back many time throughout the rest of the Summer to play in the pool!

treading water

Crafts

This was a typical any given day in our home this Summer.

Crafts!

The girls love crafts.

We had so much fun when went shopping at Hobby Lobby! It was craft over load! What to do? Where to start? The girls couldn't wait to get home and get started! I love how much thought goes into their projects. The picked out the perfect movie, got out all the supplies, think about the design, color scheme, what kind of brushes, snacks, and got to work!

Tent Camping Day 2

The morning of our second day camping was as great as the first! We had a wonderful breakfast, we love this breakfast when we are camping, I think one of the best part of camping is the food!!! After breakfast we all got loaded up, went back to the lake, ran Drake and played in the water then headed home. It is always sad to leave, we get so excited to escape our busy lives to come up here, and then the drive home is a let down knowing that reality is waiting for us! It is always nice to know there are more camping trips in the future!
The girls love to go exploring around camp, they always return with beautiful wild flowers to set out on the table.


The girls love to get in the water, but it was pretty cool this morning, they were being so careful, unlike yesterday when they "accidentally" fell in! Ward was watching them being so careful, but then with the grin that let me know he was up to something he threw the bumping in and splashed them both!

Cabin In The Woods

While we were at Vega Lake we took a drive up in the mountain and came upon this cabin. I loved it! As we drove past I wonder what the story is?

What happened to the cabin?

Who lived there?

How many kids did they have?

What did the father do?

How old is the cabin?

What did it use to look like?

On our way back down the mountain we had to stop and get a closer look. I loved the old wood the floor boards, there were closets, and stairs, but he upper level was gone, several doors and screens in an out of the windows. I love the look of the old roof with the wood shingles. After we took several pictures and headed back down the mountain we all added to each others story of what happened to the cabin.

Tent Camping Day 1

Off to Vega Lake! I love this place!

It is always nice to get away and this is our place to get away to. We usually go later in the season but we all wanted to go camping so off we went. The weather was so warm, mosquitoes were out in force but we still had a great time. We played in the water with Drake, we went for a drive higher in the mountains to keep cool, we ate lots, read books, rode bikes, went fishing in the rain and enjoyed each others company. I can't imagine spending better time with our kids them camping. We are away from the busy schedule of work, school, appointments, phones, and TVs. I hope the girls always remember these camping trips and the fun we have while we are away.

Drake jumping off the dock after a bumper.

Raychel hanging out at camp. She is giving the thumbs up the cover her and Ward put up. Not long after they got it up a camp ranger came by and said we had to take it down because it was attached around a tree! They were both pretty disappointed.

Jolene loves the freedom of riding her bike from camp site to camp site. She was pretty excited riding with one hand, and doing circles round the sites.

The girls love watching Drake swim after his bumper and bringing it back, I also think he likes coming out of the water and shaking on the girls to hear them scream!

The scenery here is beautiful! There were so many wild flowers in bright yellow and purples. It was hard not to take a million pictures of the beauty all around us.

As we were heading up the mountain I noticed Jolene showing Max out window, good old Max, he is always with Jolene. If he could talk, I wonder what stories he would tell!

I love this picture of the girls in the field of wild flowers.

The state flower, a Columbine, were everywhere. We have some in our yard that we have planted, but it was fun to see so many in the wild. The are so beautiful!

This trip we saw so much wild life.

Jolene enjoyed taking Drake on short walks around camp.

He is getting really good at listening to her.

I was pretty cold and not exactly in the mood to go fishing so,

the three of them headed out to fish, as they got all settled in it started

to rain. They loved it and even had success!

The sunset was breath taking!

We had so much fun sitting around the camp fire in the evening. We cooked dinner, talked, laughed, and found the perfect smor'e sticks.