Our 2011 Summer Vacation ~ Part 4

Today we had lunch with an unexpected visitor. Ken happened to be passing through town on his way back home to Washington. We haven't seen him since he moved away two years ago, so it was a nice surprise.

After lunch we went to the park.

Elisha made friends with a boy about his age, and Bethany who usually makes friends so easily actually stuck pretty close by.

She did actually play with another little girl for a time, but then the other girl had to go home. So for a while it was her and her daddy, and that was okay with her.

Crazy kids actually had her hair flying straight out but I wasn't quick enough with the camera. She loved but couldn't last too long.

We splashed in the river some, but couldn't let them swim because the current was too fast. With all the rain it was up a bit higher than usual when we normally come for a visit.

We took some opportunities for family photos...

Look I'm in a picture too! :0)

And leaped off of the fence several times.

Okay so Elisha and Yohn jumped off the fence while Bethany watched and I took pictures. Apparently fence jumping is not Bethany's thing.

The kids actually requested these photos and posed themselves for them.

I love the fence and the blue sky in the background!

My Week in Review ~ Project 365

Sunday ~ July 24th

We're getting things ready for Kid's Camp this week. This is Bethany's first year, so she needed a new sleeping bag and flashlight. And our little dog chewed a huge hole in our air mattress so Yohn and I needed a new one of those too.

Monday, July 25th

Koda at "naptime".

Tuesday, July 26th

I forgot to take a picture today, so you get a picture of the kids' VBS projects from last week that hang on our fridge.

Wednesday, July 27th

We went shopping for the food for Kid's Camp and the back of our SUV was packed full. But once again I forgot to take a picture, so instead I snapped a pic of Elisha sleeping on the top bunk. Without a sheet apparently although I know I put one on there!

Thursday, July 28th

Mmmmmm.... Me likey.

Friday, July 29th

*Sigh* A new obsession.

Saturday, July 30th

Dinner tonight. Oh my word. Lots of yumminess!

Our 2011 Summer Vacation ~ Part 3

Every year one of the highlights of visiting my parents in the country is getting to drive the tractor (or at least pretend to like last year). But this year they were able to do it....

...by themselves!

Okay, so my dad gave instructions and put it in low gear which gave it no chance of going over 5 mph unless they knew how to change the gear, which they didn't.

It was ever so convenient that all the rain they had made the fields next to my parent's house remain unplanted this time of year.

And so drive around and around they did.

And Bethany even got the priviledge of driving grandpa around on the way to parking it for the evening.

Click It Up a Notch ~ July Contest

This is my favorite photo for July. And to think I took it from the car window on the way home from our recent family vacation. The sun was just radiating off of the clouds and I knew I wanted the picture, but never expected it to turn out this good. :)

I Heart Faces ~ Water

I took this picture during our visit to the Columbia River a few weeks back. The kids had a blast playing in the water in the 90 something degree heat.

Our 2011 Summer Vacation ~ Part Two

As is our family's tradition, we just hang around my mom's house the day after we arrive. It rained and thunderstormed on and off all day long. The kids played in and out of the house depending on the weather. Yohn and I visited with mom and dad, read books and played cards.

A day or two before we arrived my parents got this tiny, tiny egg from one of their chickens. Bethany's hands are not that big so you can see from the pic that the egg was mini sized. Bethany was fascinated with it and before we left for home the next week, my mom had blown the yolk out so she could keep it and bring it home for show and tell once school starts again.

Bethany and Abby...


Chunky. Poor dog is getting on in years and now eats his food while laying on the floor. He still loves every bit of attention the kids give him and does his best to keep up with them.

With all the thunderstorms there was an awesome double rainbow.

We could actually see the whole thing, end to end. I would have tried to get a panoramic picture of it, but I wasn't going to stand in the middle of the wet field with camera in hand with all the lightening flashing around us. Not a good idea.

The next day we went to Baker City to wish Yohn's dad a happy birthday. We picked up his brother Ray and headed out. It rained today too, can you tell?

We treated everyone to happy birthday ice cream.

Unfortunately I forgot to get a picture of Yohn's dad, but at least I got these three.

After that we went to the Rec center at Grandpa Gerald's apartments. Bethany helped Uncle Ray, who is autistic, play some pool. Actually I really don't know who helped who there as she really doesn't know what she is doing. :)

After well wishes and a day well spent we took Ray home and headed back.

Another rainbow!

Bethany had us stop and take this picture of the horses in the field. There was lots of cotton floating through the air too. Glad I wasn't outside, I'm afraid I woulda started sneezing.

And yes, another rainbow.

That was it for the rainy weather though, after that it was all sunny skies.