It's Only Been a Month

I haven't been very good about blogging lately. It's been almost a month since my last post - does that sound like an addict in recovery or what? We've just had a really busy summer and I don't have as much time as I used to for blogging. But here is where you can catch up :)

Last time I posted anything was after Josh's first summer camp. Since then we had a family reunion to go to - which the kids loved even though they got very, very dirty. And I have no pictures to show from that - sad, yes, I know. Josh had his 2nd summer camp - which was a summer campout theme and we went up to Boulder Cave (yes, again). Brad's grandpa (his mom's dad) passed away on the 14th (he was 91 years old), so there was a graveside service for him that we (well Brad did and then the kids and I went afterwards) attended. We had to reschedule our anniversary trip due to that, and I only mention that because now we're going next weekend - I'm so excited. Oh, what else - Brad and I had our 6 year anniversary on the 2nd of August. Josh stayed a couple of nights and Grandma and Grandpa's house. We've been heading up to different campsites up in the woods just for the day for picnics and cooling off in the river. And then we just got done with Josh's 3rd summer camp - which was swimming themed. And now we're up to speed.

Here are some things that are happening in the coming weeks: Brad and I are taking our anniversary trip to Coeur d'Alene next weekend, I'm going to Seattle to visit my friend Ashlee for my birthday the following weekend, and Josh starts school on the 14th of September. Yikes, that sounds like a lot!


Here are some pictures taken over the last month. Hopefully I won't get this far behind again!! To all of you reading this and that blog - please leave comments and keep blogging yourselves because it helps me to do the same! Thanks.

Josh's class

Josh sitting on a rock with all the ladies

Pleasant Valley campground

I love this pic!

Getting in the river - it was cccold!

Josh wanted to go swimming - my feet were red after this one.

HUGE anthill!

Halfway Flats campground

Eating a rock, yes a rock!

Playing in the water, yet again

Boulder Cave

Another adventure of ours has been going to Boulder Cave. Brad and I have been there before (even though I had forgotten all about it), and we thought it would be fun to take the kids. It is a huge cave that is about 25,000 years old. Lots of bats are down there and it is nice and cool when you get into the cave. It is so beautiful and these pictures just don't do it justice! Josh was scared the first time we went through - his little palms started to sweat, poor guy. But we had a flashlight for him and a lantern, so all was well. It is quite a hike up and then down, so Brad thought to bring the wagon - good man! And he pulled the kids up the mountain, and then we walked around in the cave. Maddie wasn't scared in the least - she wanted to go in the water!

It is always such a cool thing to see the looks on kids' faces when they are experiencing something for the very first time. When we got into the cave, the kids felt the rocks and let me tell you - they were ccccold!! But it was fun and we went through it a second time - mainly because it was so hot outside, and the cave was refreshing since it was cool. It was a nice little adventure for us, and it's only about an hour away - so we'll probably go do it again.

Not sure if this is readable.

We ate lunch up in the woods before we went into the cave.

Brad pulling the kids in the wagon up the mountain. Hard work!

Beautiful!

I've got a daddy's girl on my hands now.

Using the flashlight to it's full advantage.

I love this pic. Huge tree, then Brad and then Josh. Really shows the size of the tree.

More cave walking.

Josh's Camp

Through Josh’s preschool, they have these summer camps that the kids can attend. And we signed Josh up for a couple of those camps, and he had one the week of the 6 th (see, I’m only 2 weeks behind). It was for a full week from 9am-1pm. Nice! There are 4 camps total, and each one has a theme to it, and this week’s theme was Western Round-Up. So they played western games, read books about cowboys and the big thing was taking a field trip to a horse ranch and ride a horse. Josh loved it! He had an absolute blast and wanted to ride the horse 3 or 4 more times. And I’m not talking about a little pony – it was a huge horse for a 4 year old. I was glad that siblings were able to tag along, because I wouldn’t have been able to go otherwise. But it all worked out, and Maddie loved it too – except when she didn’t get to ride the horse. But we walked around the ranch, saw all of the cows and horses, saw some baby kittens, and even a miniature pony. I’m glad that we got to go and that Josh had the opportunity to ride a horse. It was awesome!

Our Yard

Well, as usual - we've been busy. So the first thing to get cut - blogging. Oh well. I'm here now. So I thought I'd write about our yard. I posted some pictures on fac.ebook, but I will here as well. We got a bid for the sprinklers and to have them put hydroseed down. Now, this is the first time we've ever put seed down and not sod - granted, this is only our second yard. But still. And there is definitely a difference (at least this season, anyway). Sod is instant lawn. Instant, beautiful, almost ready to walk on the minute you lay it down. But sod is A LOT more expensive. Seed is work! When you put seed down, there are going to be weeds. Lots and lots of weeds the first season. It's just hard to look outside right now and not see a perfect lawn - especially with the way Brad takes care of it - case in point, our yard in Utah.

Seed is work and more work, and then when you think you’re done, more work after that. But, seed is a lot cheaper. And with how much grass we decided to put down (0.57 acres to be exact – 25000 square feet), we needed the least expensive option. And maybe it would be better if we didn’t live where we do. Number one, there is a ton of tumbleweeds up here, and mix that with the wind, and on top of that – no fence and that equals one big weed mess. But I’ll just say, it’s a work in progress and where the grass is growing – it looks awesome and thick. We just need to take care of the weeds. So here are some pictures of the befores and afters.

And I keep forgetting these post backwards now, so here are the afters first (if that makes any sense at all).