August 13—A Little Boy, a Basketball, & a Scort

With Ian in school Miles has become my partner in crime.  When Wes goes down for his nap we usually try to find something fun to entertain us both.  Today Miles wanted to play basketball.

  We opted for the little hoop on the deck (it is in the shade).  Now Miles still walks like a toddler—bouncy, unstable, kind of like Goofy—so I was more worried about him falling down the deck steps then having much success at the hoop.  He did manage to make a few baskets and each time he would shout, “I made a scort mommy!”

August 12—White Bread, 1st Tomato of the Season, & a Little Mayo =

Heaven on a plate!

I love garden tomatoes and when I saw this one the gluten free diet I’ve been on went out the window.  I toasted up some bread slapped on that tomato and ate the best sandwich ever.

August 11—See My Garden Grow

Today Miles and I ventured out to the tangled mess that is our garden.  After detangling and snooping around we found a few peppers. Then over to the basil to snip off a few sprigs.  Miles was so happy and proud that “we had growed a garden.”  Off to make “sgebetti” for dinner.

July 26th—One late Mom, One Happy Boy, & Lots of M&M’s

1st day of 1st grade and yes who thought school started 10 minutes after if really does—the frazzled mom of a 1st grader who is the oldest child that’s who.  I did manage to snap a few photo’s though because of course I thought we were right on time.  As we arrived at the cross walk and there was no crossing guard I knew something was up and told Ian to run.  He sprinted to his classroom and ran in just super happy to be back in class—no goodbye kiss, only excitement and grins from this intense little dude.

It was so strange to have him gone all day.  Nice because now I only had two kids to watch out for, but strange because I couldn’t watch out for the other one.  I felt like I should call the school to see how he was doing (don’t worry Mindy I didn’t).

        There was no one to run around and get things for me (Miles did his best), there was no big brother to entertain Miles, and there was no one to constantly tickle and chase little Wes.  So, we decided to welcome Ian home with his favorite cookies and went to the store for M&M’s.  (Who bakes when it is 90+ outside?)  The kitchen was scorching, but Ian came home to cookies.

I can remember getting off the bus and running into a house smelling of fresh baked cookies.  I didn’t think much of it then, but now I know my mom was thinking of us while she was baking (even when she made the cookies with the raisin filling). 

July 24—The Cabin, ‘Smores, and some Cowboy Golf

Off to Nora’s Cabin for the 24th.  So glad to get out of the city heat and rrrrrelax.  We spent an easy going afternoon watching the kids play, visiting with Nora’s parents, and stuffing jalapeno’s with cream cheese and bacon—mmmmm…..

After dinner we made ‘Smores and here is Ian showing off his perfect marshmellows and how big his mouth can get.

  

Nora’s mom has done so much to make the cabin kid friendly and she has a pile of lawn games for the kids to play.  Cowboy golf was one of the favorites.  You take the golf ball slings shown above and toss them at a rack made out of pvc. Whoever can loop the rope around the most pipes without letting the sling fall on the ground wins!

July 17—Paddle boats, Family, & a Funny Hat

Off the the 3rd annual Lee Family Reunion.  This tradition was started by my Grandma Lee a few years ago and even though she wasn’t here for any of our get together’s I can imagine her and Grandpa smiling at the Great Grandkids and shaking their heads at the rest of us.

The Lee’s down south hosted this year and we ended up at Matt’s family’s property known as the “   It is a private pond complete with paddle boats, floating trampoline, kayaks, sandy beach, picnic area, everything to make a 6 year old boy (Ian) want to move there.

Dave had to work and so my dad took it upon himself to paddle my boys all over the pond.  Yes that is my dad in the old lady’s gardening hat that I gave my mom for her birthday.  I think he was channeling Grandma, he even yelled “Carl” in a high pitched voice every once in awhile just so we knew Grandma was there in spirit.

   Dad paddling Miles around—check out the cool bikers tan he has, and of course the awesome hat.    Ian showed he has some of his daddy in him by jumping in a kayak and taking off like he had been paddling a boat his whole life.

Such a fun day.  It was great to see everyone and missed those who weren’t there.

July 4th—A Tent, fireworks, and a few rocks

Yes, I am trying to play catch up. We did so many fun things this summer that haven’t made it to cyberspace so here we go…

For the 4th of July we ventured north to the “motherland.” It’s been over a year since we last saw these gorgeous mountains, and I had a long, long list of things I wanted to accomplish while on this vacation. The list…sit by the lake and watch the kids throw rocks in the lake. That was it. Just looking at those mountains heals my soul and even though I would like to be hauling a backpack up Death Canyon the view from Mindy’s “pebble beach” did the trick.

We did do a few other things…

Walk to Swan Lake, BBQ & Fireworks with the Thorkildsons, ride boat and hike to Hidden Falls, eat at the Pioneer Grill, walk the lake trail, visit all our old stomping grounds (marina, lodge, employee village, etc.), picnic at String Lake, card games with Michelson, ‘smores with Shawna, and yes we threw many rocks into Jackson Lake.

Dave & Wes at the marina. Dave has convinced the boys that working at the Colter Bay Marina is the best job on the planet (he is probably right) and they both want to grow up to rent out canoes and kayaks during the summer.

After a few nights in the tent Wes decided he had found a better place to sleep.

Soaking in the sun on “Pebble Beach.”

Ian chucking a few of the 1,000 rocks he threw into the lake.

My four boys off for adventure—thanks for letting me tag along guys.