Loaded Weekend Part 2...

The second day of our mini-vacation was much more fun than the first. We woke up early, grabbed a bite to eat at the local Fred Meyer (everyone was pretty much sick of fast food all ready) and headed to Silverwood. The girls, of course, had no idea where we were going to spend the day because....I love surprises! Of all times to be doing road construction, Idaho picked the Saturday we were visiting. We sat in a long line of traffic for a good 40 minutes in the heat. When we finally arrived, we could hardly keep everyone buckled until we got into the parking lot. We unpacked our gear and began the long trek to the park. We had purchased our tickets at Costco the week before and saved ourselves almost $50, as opposed to buying them at the gate.

We arrived around 11:00 am and it was all ready well into the 80's so we slathered sunscreen on and decided to go to the water park first. We thought maybe we'd beat some of the crowd that waited until it was a little warmer. We did, but there were still plenty of people that obviously had the same idea as we did. The kids didn't seem to mind though and we spent a few hours playing in the water. There was even a bar with bar stools in the water serving fresh margaritas....wish I would have taken advantage of that! Oh well, my water tasted just fine...

Alyssa helping Colton...

Connor looking so cute...

Rylee went on the water slide all by herself...




Notice there are no pictures of McKenzie and Maddi....they were way too cool to hang out with the parents! Wherever we were, they were around the corner acting like they didn't know us..lol. Ahhhh...to be young and popular again.

We soon felt the beginnings of hunger pains and found a quaint little eatery called Cowboy BBQ to rest our all ready weary bones (well the parents anyway). Everyone was mostly thirsty but of course refills were NOT free. They even had a guy sitting right next to the soda fountain watching everyone and charging. Geez!! Toward the end of the day, we finally got smart and got a refillable sports bottle. Talk about getting it's use!

Since it was such a nice warm day, the water rides and roller coasters had the longest lines. When we asked Rylee which ride she HAD to go on, she said the ferris wheel. Oh my gosh....I don't think I've ever waited so long for a ride! We stood in line for almost an hour with only 10 people in front of us! I would have walked away but she was so excited that I just couldn't break her heart. When we finally got our turn, she had her hands in the air and giggled uncontrollably...priceless!






And then, at the most in-opportune time, stuck at the very top....she had to pee. And it wasn't just a little bit...she had to go right now!! She started bouncing and whimpering...what do you do?? My first thought was to let her just pee her pants because she had waited so long for this ride and now it was being ruined..and then I came to my mommy senses and looked below us. That would not work. There were many people underneath us..can you imagine getting peed on from 100 feet up in the air?? LOL!! I did consider it though.. Anyway, she somehow managed to hold it until we reached the ground thank goodness. After a very fast run to the bathroom, we were off to the other rides.

Mike looks a little apprehensive!





Yeah, that's Alyssa, McKenzie, and Maddie in the hot pink, white, and purple shirts...SICK!!!



Kenzie & Maddi are directly in the center section, front seat...We were laying underneath them in the grass and they came swooping by upside down and Mike was able to snap it right at the perfect time!

Alyssa riding the bumper cars (it's a little dark in there)

Here are a few of our relaxing times between the rides:

Rylee didn't want to let Garfield go! She said his belly was buzzing...lol

We didn't end up leaving until almost 10:00 that night and boy were we pooped! I think two out of the three kids were asleep before we even left the parking lot. So much fun, but so much packed into 11 hours! Well worth it though....

Where Am I Going and Where The Heck Have I Been??

I've been questioning my life quite a bit lately. Am I where I want to be? Am I feeling good about myself and what I've become? Have I accomplished everything I dreamed I would when I was younger? If I could change my past, present, and/or future, would I? I still haven't been able to answer all of my questions but I've really become more in tune with myself. There are things that need to be fixed that I AM able to fix, things that need to be fixed that I am NOT able to fix, and things that just are. I have come to the conclusion that I need a change of scenery. I'm finding it hard to fight an impending depression, as though I am playing keep away with myself. Since the housing industry is pretty slim, I know it will be more difficult to sell my house than it would have been a few years back or a few years into the future...but not impossible. Jobs, though necessary, can be replaced... I guess I will have to just wait and see what the future brings for my family. I did however, find a poem that seems to fit right now..

The Girl I Used To Be

By Rowena K. Lewis

She came tonight as I sat alone

The girl I used to be....

And she gazed at me with her earnest eye

And questioned reproachfully;

Have you forgotten the many plans

And hopes I had for you?

The great career, the splendid fame,

All the wonderful things to do?

Where is the mansion of stately height

With all its gardens rare?

The silken robes that I dreamed for you

And the jewels in your hair?

And as she spoke, I was very sad

For I wanted her pleased with me...

This slender girl from the shadowy past

The girl that I used to be.

So gently rising I took her hand

And guided her up the stairs

Where peacefully sleeping, my babies lay

Innocent, sweet and fair.

And I told her that these are my only gems,

And precious they are to me;

That the silken robes is my motherhood

Of costly simplicity.

And my mansion of stately height is love,

And the only career I know

Is serving each day in these sheltered walls

For the dear ones who come and go

And as I spoke to my shadowy guest,

She smiled through her tears at me.

And I saw the woman I am now

Pleased the girl I used to be.

Loaded Weekend Part 1...

So I haven't blogged in a very long time because 1) it's been so darn hot and 2) I just can't think of anything to say! I have a ton of pictures but I just have no words to go with them. This past weekend however, we made our way over to Idaho again. My friend that lives in eastern WA picked McKenzie and Alyssa up on Sunday the 19th and kept them all week. So on Friday, we made our way over to Cheney and picked them up. We then headed to Idaho for a quick, jam packed weekend. We took over 600 pictures so I think a couple different posts are in order or I may break my computer!

On the way over, we of course stopped in Vantage to view the horses on the hill and the beautiful view offered by the Columbia River. It was very windy (as my sister can attest to~her dress flew up almost over her head!) but it was so hot, the wind was a blessing. Here are a couple pics of the kids:

After we picked the girls up, at which point Rylee could barely contain herself from the excitement of seeing her sissy's again, we drove into Idaho and found our hotel. It was right on the water and had a great view from the balcony. We decided to go find some food and let the kids run off some pent up energy in Coeur D' Alene. Before we left, Rylee had to use the restroom and since we were right outside of Bobbi's room, she used theirs. Big mistake! The toilet overflowed and got all over her legs and feet....YUCK!!! Number one issue with hotel...

Anyway, we decided to go down to the boardwalk in Coeur D' Alene and the kids loved it! It was getting a little dark, as we didn't get there until pretty late, but we managed to grab a few good shots. I think I had a few almost mini heart attacks every time Rylee took off running on the dock. McKenzie and Maddi were way too cool to pay much attention to the rest of us, Alyssa was busy keeping track of the little kids (because she thinks we are not capable), and Rylee and Colton just wanted to be as close to the edge as they possibly could. It was lots of fun but a bit stressful. I almost wished I had brought their lifejackets so we didn't have to worry as much.

















When it was finally too dark to take any more pictures and the kids started to whine because they were tired, we decided to head back to the hotel. After a bath and clean jammies, the room quickly fell silent. Gotta love the calm after the storm! It was definitely an end to a good day...

Hot Days

Aside from the past few days, we have been blessed with very hot weather , so we broke out the sprinkler this past week and this is what we got! (Unfortunately they are a bit blurry)

We finally had the chance to head to the ocean 4th of July weekend, and the temperature was perfect there. Stupidly, we forgot that it was a holiday weekend and instead of leaving early in the morning on Friday, we waited until noonish. Bad bad idea!! We were stuck in traffic for soooo long that instead of going all the way to Ocean Shores, we decided to make a detour and go to Westport instead. Looking at the long line of traffic all the way through Aberdeen did not look appealing. Turns out, Westport wasn't crowded at all! We had such a great time and the kids got to play on the surfboards and boogie boards (with dad right there of course) a bit. I got some much needed book reading, laying in the sun time as well. I know it looks like the majority of the pictures are of Rylee but she is always right there posing saying "Take a picture of me mommy!"

We had a very busy weekend with Mike's dad in town, and all of the fun stuff we did. More pictures will be posted soon!