Sand, Swimming, and Hiking

Why all those words? Well, we took a family vacation to McCall, ID, of course. Which is up in the mountains, and average temp was around 65 while we were there. Hmmmm. Well, it actually went better than I expected, we had a fun four days. It was our first official family vacation where we just went and spent time together, instead of visiting someone. Not that that is bad of course, but....this was something we'd wanted to do for a while!

And this handsome fellow made it all possible :D That's Travis, my wonderful hubsand. I like him.

This is Greg, digging a trench in the sand. Why not? He is such a guy, which is good!

The girls are making sand slushies, yummo. As you can see it was a nicer day, probably the nicest while we were there. The sun felt good, now if we could done something about that cool breeze from the lake....I'm a lizard, I feel sure. I'm not happy unless it's above 85. But I live in Idaho. That was my husband's fault :D Actually, I'm very happy here, it's a beautiful state! And the mountains are so close, and the summers are hot, but we still get a little snow...and the shopping is decent. It's really a great place, thanks Travis for re-introducing me!!

It just makes me tear up, sniff. Oh wait, that was sand in my eye!!

The girls found....ROCKS!! What a thing!

Me and the two oldest of my offspring :D and my coffee.

Kay Leigh, lagging behind as usual, maybe it was the handful of rocks slowing her down.

That handsome guy again, a rock in midst of chaos!

Oh, and he also has coffee. It's necessary if you are going hiking with 4 kiddos under the age of 8. Trust me. And get the biggest size they have :D

Beka ready to swim at the hotel. Doesn't she look grown up?

Carolyn WAITING! Can't you tell she's the biggest-stinker-whole-tribe??

Kay, trying out the goggles. They didn't last long, but she LOVES swimming! They all loved it, and may I say that I wish all pools used salt water instead of chlorine? It is so much nicer than chlorine, and doesn't make you feel like you are dying of bleach inhalation after an hour. We spent a lot of time in the pool :D

A really cool dead tree. They climbed all over it of course.

My two nuts. They resemble each other, yes?

A picture together.

Another one. Kay had lost interest by this time. Rocks were more captivating than saying cheese.

Hey, there's me! And the kids. And Beka has her eyes closed :D And Kay still isn't interested.

Ever wondered what it's like to get four kids all together for a decent picture? It's impossible. Well, not totally, but watch, and imagine a good five minutes elapsing.....

rocks...they are so cool...

Is your butt getting poked too? Get closer together...

Hey, what happened? Sit back down, I don't care if it hurts, sit and smile like it doesn't! Oh, don't fall off the edge behind you either. Kay, quit crying!

Ah, yes, there's a good picture!

And one more :D That's all folks! Our trip in a brief nutshell!

Restaurants, Creamers, and Hugs

So, every once in a while, before we made our new budget :D, we'd take the kids to our favorite family restaurant, Shari's. It's our favorite because they have kid's menus, crayons, and good coffee. All you need for a happy breakfast, right? And their food is good too, which is always such a plus! They have these stuffed hashbrowns....mmmmm. Anyway, the kids of course always find great ways to entertain themselves. Carolyn the last time discovered cutting up crayons with a butter knife...notice the intense concentration. I was going to give her a steak knife to help out with the job, but Travis wouldn't let me....I'm kidding of course, I wouldn't really do that :D

Greg and Beka were looking at all the food, Beka reading the names to Greg and he's commenting on all the yummy looking stuff in there that mommy never makes :P Because it's laden with fatty calories....and unhealthy hydrogenated oils....etc. But I don't bother explaining that to them, they just wouldn't get it.

And this little imp, loves the creamers. I used to, as well. Travis thinks it's disgusting, but it's super cute, and keeps her entertained for quite a while :D She's even learned how to open them herself, without splashing everyone in a ten foot radius. That's a milestone to remember!

This departs from the restaurant, but....how can you resist these teeny baby toes :D I painted Beka's toes and mine, and Kay Leigh had to get in on it. Then when I took pictures of our toes, hers needed to be in there too. Her nails are so teeny, it's hard to get the polish on them, go ahead, you know you want to kiss them. Ok, maybe not, but I did :D

A side note, Carolyn does NOT have the patience to sit after I do her toes, so most often, her's go undone. She prefers having her fingernails done, in DARK colors, except I don't allow that :D

Her shirt says I love Hugs, wanna give her one?? With that face??? All covered in who knows what, you should see her when she's had chocolate :D