Finger Lick'in Good

"Ha Ha Ha! I got my coveted stash! Mmmmm. Good! Finger-licking good!" Another "Berry Monster" among us!

Girl Scout Charlie Safari Activity

The Crew--Rachel, Donasia, Rachel, Kristin, Tenli and Zoe--is back for another fun year of Girl Scouts! We had a really fun afternoon seeing and playing with old friends as the summer comes to an end and another school year begins.

Tak Lakh Lake Camping Trip and Mt. St. Helens

We just finished up a fabulous trip to a remote campground out near Mt. Adams. 6 beautiful days away from it all. Adam would take the dogs for a run to explore trails every morning. The glassy lake in the early mornings had such a beautiful view of Mt. Adams--so peaceful and calming. What a wonderful way to greet the day!

Every morning we would wake up to a toasty fire, hot chocolate and a scrumptuous breakfast made by Adam.

The days were warm and sunny. We kayaked, canoed, fished, swam, played at the water's edge, picked blue and huckleberries, and hiked throughout our carefree days with picnic lunches in between.

The boys each caught rainbow trout and Rachel and Joshua caught lots of great bugs in their nets. At the campsite Rachel and Joshua would play doggies or whatever else they could think of being and Rebekah just loved to be held.

Levi and Hunter were often reading their books or sleeping to get over their colds

Evening was a time for a warm meal, sitting by the campfire and snuggling in warm fleece blankets. It was a time for hugs and kisses, talking about the day, little ones getting tucked in and older children falling asleep in camp chairs after a very long and busy day.

Late, after the kids were all tucked into their sleeping bags, Adam and I loved walking down to the lake to see the stars reflecting in the water. The stars were so bright in the sky and just surrounded us, cradling us as they stretched from the horizon out into eternity. We've never seen so many and it was quite amazing. We could only imagine a time when there was neither electricity nor TV and all you had to do at night is watch the stars.

The campground was so quiet in the evenings--just the sounds of crickets and an occasional howl of a coyote in the far distance.

On Wednesday Jennifer, Priscilla and Judy came with their gear and kids to join in on the fun. It was such a blast to have friends to hang out with and share this beautiful place with. We had fun playing all day at the water's edge, hiking, and exploring beautiful places together. We also had fun evening campfires of roasting marshmallows, eating yummy cobbler, playing games and telling stories. Shh! was a very familiar and worn out word among the parents. We were always way too loud but with 14 kiddos, it was just part of the package I suppose. I think the very highlight of our evening get-to-gethers were the lightshow pictures designed by Jennifer. The girls had such a blast tracing each other with glowsticks in the dark and seeing their creations afterwards. These pictures were out of this world!

On one of our hikes from the campground our family saw and climbed over the huge boulders that were the result of the Mt. Adams lava flow and enjoyed beautiful views of the Goat Rocks, Mt. Rainier and Mt. Adams. Our last two days we hiked through the lava tubes at Ape Caves, caught lizards and climbed through tree molds, enjoyed a beautiful waterfall at Lower Falls, saw the huge volcanic crater of Mt. St. Helens at Windy Ridge, and drove through the destruction to lake and mountain forests because of the blast. Adam and his two friends, Miles and Troy, hiked Mt. St. Helens that last day and took some incredible pictures. What an amazing place this all was!

We arrived home Saturday evening around 8:30 pm. After a really long drive home my patient children scarfed down their promised Panda Express dinner, took baths that transformed these extremely dirty but very happy campers into sweet, squeaky clean angels, and each fell asleep on their bean bags in the playroom. I unpacked the car, got things ready for my dad's visit and picked him up at the shuttle a little after 11 pm. Adam got home from his hike about 11:45 pm and we finally went to bed after unloading his truck, taking off the kayak and canoe, talking about the spectacular hike, etc. around 1 am.

Whoosh! What a week!

American Lake Playmorning

We had our Thursday morning playgroup at American Lake this week. Josh loved looking for fish in the shallow waters, Hunter and Micah swam out to the dock and slid down the waterslide before eating a picnic lunch, and Rebekah played at the water's edge with shovels. Annette, Stacey Baker, Kellie Atkinson, and myself had fun chatting while keeping cool in ankle feet deep water.

Fourth of July--Porcupine Races

Porcupine Races: This was one of the most unique and craziest thing I think I've ever seen. It even beats bed races of Preston where grown men dress in nightgowns and let a team of other grown men push them down the mainstreet of town, just for bragging rights. All of this is just a little foreign to me, even after living in Germany for two years. I guess I just don't get it. But it was quite entertaining and it made for a very memorable 4th of July parade and town celebration. Probably an experience that won't be forgotten...for me...or the porcupines.

So I've decided that this came about when many years ago, a bunch of drunk men with too much time on their hands, went out a gathered up a bunch of porcupines and said, "Hey, I bet my little critter will womp on your little critter." They put money where their mouths were and the tradition was born! Now the town population searches the area for porcupines on July 3rd, parades 12 or so of them in the 4th of July parade, bets a lot of money on who they think will win (none of them went for less than $80) and then the race is on. Men and women with brooms and trash cans get their little critter to run for their sorry little lives across the finish line. Four heats later, the fastest porcupines race in the final heat, and a winner is born. The lucky schmuck who chose the winner gets a fun jackpot of money and the kids collect porcupine needles that are scattered all over the field. Happy 4th of July!!! Such is the American experience I guess! My kids had fun and have some cool porcupine quills for their collection. I wonder what the Indians we displaced or even the Founding Fathers would think about this. Hmmmmm. But, hey, I've heard I'm getting to be no fun and I am a liberal...so, me nor the animal activitists get much sympathy here in Council, ID.

Ranch and River Family Get-together in Council, ID

After Glacier we headed to Idaho for a family get-together over the 4th of July. It was very hot so the kids often headed to the river to cool off and have fun. The kids loved tubing and playing in the river! The older kids spent some evenings fishing too. They also enjoyed these carefree days to play games, watch movies, and ride horses with their cousins. And for them, what I think they liked best of all was....that there was absolutely no hiking!!!