Scenes From the Trip Home

(NOTE: I've been chronicling our summer vacation for several posts now. This is the end of that series.)

Going home is never easy. On the one hand we're all pretty much ready to see our home again and our pets but on the other hand we're leaving behind people we love. Sadness always abounds. But even though the miles ahead are long and tedious I can always things that make me smile.

Fluffy clouds (through dirty car windows)

A sleepy headed girl in a hotel room bed

A surprise pond behind a rest area, filled with fish who we all gathered at the surface

It was a great place to stretch our legs and take a few moments to breathe in the fresh air before getting back in the car to finish our journey.

Taking an impromptu photo shoot on a stairway that leads to a dead end (I have no idea why either), even though the lighting really is too bright

Getting a few smiles of these kiddos that I love so much

So much to be thankful for!

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

More Zoomin'

Our final day in Oregon...

One last chance to ride the three wheeler.

He decided to ride too this time.

These pictures make me smile. :)

Memories of a summer well spent.

I Owed You a Story

Okay, so back to our trip to the lake, where I believe I owed you a story.

(both pairs of glasses found at the bottom of the lake)

My daughter, oh my daughter. Yep, it's about her again. She makes me laugh and smile and want to pull my hair out all on the same day sometimes, but by golly, I love her so much.

Anyway on this particular day we decided to rent a paddle boat. But since their rules were there could be no more than three to a boat and our little family totals four, we had to rent two paddle boats.

I didn't want to risk ruining my camera by accidentally dropping it in the water or have some other mishap so I left it in the car. So you are stuck with these other pictures instead.

Back to the story... As we paddled away from the shore we worked up a good sweat because that's exercise and you all know that exercise and heat equals sweaty bodies. When we were a ways off Yohn declares he's going to jump in, to which I responded just don't tip the boat over when you climb back in.

Apparently all Bethany heard was "tip the boat over" and started freaking out (she was riding with him). She somehow thought that when he jumped in the action would cause her boat to tip over with her in it, and even though she had a life jacket on, she did not want to take the risk.

Have you ever been to a lake where you can hear the conversations around you even though people are quite a ways away? Ya know, because the water carries the sound across the lake? Yep, Bethany was causing heads to turn on the shore because her protests about her dad jumping in were not quiet.

To say the least at one point she was shrieking, "Daddy! Don't do it! I don't want to tip over! I don't want to drown! You're going to kill me!"

Drama you say? Oh, just a tad.

Unfortunately Elisha and I were laughing so that didn't help matters much. I finally convinced her to climb in our boat while he jumped in, which took about ten minutes of convincing her that yes, her dad and I had to hold the two boats together so she wouldn't fall, and that, yes, we had to do it that way or else she would fall. And no, we couldn't do it her way because she really would fall and PLEASE JUST GET IN THE BOAT!

Finally, after she sat in the back of the boat Elisha and I occupied, her dad went for his much earned swim.... only to find out that he couldn't get back in! This boat really wasn't equipped with a rail or an indent or whatever for a swimmer to climb back on board. Soooo... The only choice we had to was to tow the dumb thing to shore so he could climb back in that way. And since Elisha and I were "driving" it Bethany had to hold the rope to tow it with. 

She thought it was hilariously funny that Daddy could not get back in and told everyone on shore with her loud voice that Daddy could not get back in. She told him it wasn't a good idea, and on and on and on. Once on the shore he got back in and Bethany switched back to the other paddle boat where she made him promise to stay in the boat and never do that again!

In the end, we were all very tired from our little excursion. Can ya tell?

(Oh and since I love Elisha's Wallowa Lake shirt I just have to share. It says "Go ahead and run, Bears love fast food!")

  Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

A Fishy Story

Awww... He has my heart.

And she doesn't even work out!

Okay, so I promised you a silly story. Are you sure you can handle it? ;0)

Despite these pictures of smiling faces holding a fish, my children did not catch it. 

Nope, it was given to them.

And not by a fisherman. You see, there were these snorkelers, with real snorkels and not dollar store ones. They even had the flippers. Apparently it's really fun to swim at the surface and look at things under the water. I really don't like my face in the water much, so I wouldn't know. But my kiddos, they would ask them questions and such as they passed us by. And they passed us by at least three times. 

On one such pass by, they found this lovely dead fish and tossed it on shore for my children to look at. I'm sure they had no clue that they just gave my kiddos a wonderful new toy. 

Especially Bethany. That kid cracks me up.

I'm not kidding when I say she played with it for at least an hour. Maybe longer.

Doesn't it look like so much fun? Don't you wish your kids had a dead fish to play with too?

Then on a whim she threw it at her brother, who had been her audience for quite a bit while she entertained us with her fish antics. It stuck on his shorts when he stood up. See it there? Which brought about many giggles from all of us. Hmmm... giggles maybe be an understatement. Bethany was in hysterics!

I don't remember what she was doing in these photos but her facial expressions just crack me up!

Yes, now she's actually poking at its eyes. She wanted to poke them out but decided she liked him to still be able to "see".

I hope they remember this day and fun they had and the silly ways they played.