Camels, Elephants and Volcano…Oh My!

We have been busy the past few weeks and, though a little tired, we are having a great time. First, a trip south to visit the some Belmont family and a trip to the wild. Jill and the kids rode a camel and an elephant for the first time at Wildlife Safari. The smiles on their faces were great, including the big kid Jill! Next, a mid-week trip to met up with Connie and some of her family to water-ski at a lake that was all to ourselves, with warm water to boot. What a good day that was! Third, we headed north for a weekend of Jill’s 20-year high school. Whewh…and if that was not enough we drove out to Mt. Saint Helens for a day trip on our way home from the reunion.

Did I wrap all that up in one paragraph for you?
We have been so busy and I’m a little tired so short and sweet is good for me.

We are home for now but I have a looooong list of my to-dos and for the past two days have been crossing them off one or two at a time. Adding some things to my list that were not on it just so I could cross the job off that I didn’t plan on doing but did any way. You all know what I mean. Included on my list was to update our blog and now that our computer is feeling much better I get to cross this off my list too.

School is heading in fast along with FOOTBALL season so projects need to wrap up and life will soon be back to our same old grind. All good…all so good.

Swim Lessons

Cole & Jo are taking swim lessons for a couple weeks and are doing well. They both swim under water while holding their breath but they don’t swim with their head above water; or rather they can’t tread water very well. They are learning here how to float on their backs and then to float on their tummies.

Both kids kill time while waiting their turn with the teacher by swimming under water around the step area where they wait. Good/Bad? Well both have been talked to a couple times by their teacher to keep their heads above water until it’s their turn. We laugh at them and smile to see they love the water so much but also talked to them about following directions and good listening skills.

After swim lessons we wait for open swim to start and let them swim for another hour or two. Jo’s first day of open swim showed us how tough and gutsy she can be. After a half hour or so of jumping off the diving board she tried to dive in like the big kids were doing. We both had our mouths drop to the floor as we saw her heading in off the diving board face up and headfirst…shock would be a good description I guess. When she came up she was not happy and her face was quite red. The next day she said she didn’t want to dive in the pool again because the water slapped her face the day before, and she was right, it slapped her face red. :O)

Jo has gotten back on the diving board along with going down the big slide alone. Cole is doing both as well alone and I’m thinking he will ask soon to try the tall diving board…don’t know about that yet.
Swimming…what a grand thing for summer! They are just loving it!!

Lotsa Work and Little Play

Well, as you can see, our house is now blue, Honest Blue to be exact. Jill has been working tirelessly for a couple weeks getting the house ready for paint. Oh, I have helped here and there but nothing like what she has been doing and has done. Larry, our neighbor’s (Dale/Francis) son, offered to spray it for us. The house was ready when Larry and Elaine showed up this week, and off Jill and he went taping and spraying and rolling the paint on. Two days later and before the real “heat” hit us they finished up spraying and back rolling. Whew.
It sure looks different than the tan/beige/off yellow, much brighter and cleaner looking we think. We still have quite a bit to do, touching up hard to reach places and then all the trim again. This will be done in the next few weeks in the cool mornings or late cool evening we hope. What a difference a color can make.
After painting, Mom and Uncle Todd took the kids to Green Peak Falls, just past Alsea Falls, for a needed break of fun. Oma stayed home to sleep and just take care of herself. We all had a good time that day, the kids all ran/walked the trail to the waterfall and after a very short time of walking around the rocks and wading in the water they were wet from head to toe. Cole even tried swimming a little bit in the chest high water they were wading in.

We ended the play at the fall itself climbing on some more rocks, stood in/close to the water falling getting even more wet and then we headed back to the car only adding a little mud to their legs. LOVED IT! Uncle Todd said at one point “When as a kid do you remember going on a hike and being told to jump in, get wet”? That is a whole other childhood story… but I thought it was dang cool to take the kids to a place like this and tell them at one point, “go for it, get wet” and they just had a ball.

I sure love living in and round places like this. We need to hike and play more in our area. Free and Fun!

4th & Stone Soup of Sorts

We had a great couple of days around town and at home.

And you can see more photos of Wonderful Us by clicking on the green "4th & Stone Soup" link here or to your right if your on our actual blog.

On the 3rd we went to watch some fireworks that are shot off after a local baseball game. So we sat with many others on the local softball field (next to the stadium) and played tag, football and baseball with the kids, eating some snacks, getting filthy while we waited for dark and the end of the game. What a fun family time we had. The kids got to watch others shoot off their fireworks around us and then about ten minutes after the 'big' bangs started the kids dozed off in our laps for the night. Go figure.

Then on the 4th we set up a couple canopies in our front yard and had many a neighbor stop by for lunch and then dinner. We, and Linda (neighbor) wanted to have a low key day with lots of food, drinks and just hang out until dark, then watch all the big fireworks around our street. What an exhausting day that was, but really satisfying as well. Early on it was just Linda, Old Jim, Dale, Francis and our family hanging out chatting, snacking and drinking, after which we all went to our own homes for some RnR, I even got in a nap in with Jo.

Around five that evening we pulled out all the food, about ten kids were slip-n-sliding or swimming in the pool… oh, and eating all the strawberries and raspberries they could find. We all ate well and played/visited some more and then the fireworks came out and the “kid” fun really began.

Linda had a ball with the twins letting them pick out which firework to shoot off and then she would light it for them. Cole did this with her for an hour or more, just standing there watching the sparks of light shoot over and over again.
One thing we really enjoyed is getting to know some of our neighbors just a little bit better, especially the kids. For the past couple of days now when the twins see the other neighbor kids outside playing they shoot out the door and start playing with them now. They didn’t know any of them before the 4th so this is a very nice bonus for all of us.

If you are wondering about the “Stone Soup of Sorts” for our title? Well, as we set up for the meal, every now and then we would find that we would run out of or have forgotten something for the hot dogs or burgers but then one of the other neighbors would say “I have that, let me run and get it”. Our Stone Soup Meal…of Sorts!

We sure love our neighbors.

School’s Out!!

Cole had surgery a little over a week ago now, ear tubes in and his adenoids removed. We were a little nervous because it is surgery but really wanted him to stop getting ear infections and have to be on medication every other month. We were also hoping that maybe his hearing would become a little better and his speech would follow. We are very happy to report that he is doing great! It sounds to us that some of his speech is much clearer already. His speech teacher even commented that some of his sounds came out clear this week.

While Oma, Cole and I were at the hospital Grandma Marie took Jo out on a shopping spree for a dress. What Jo picked out is very pretty, as you can see, it’s just not what Gma was thinking when they set out for the day. She loves wearing her new dress and always gets compliments on how pretty she looks, even wearing it to Preschool Graduation. The Twins didn’t graduate this year but all the kids had practiced songs and marching so Gma and Mom took Jo (it was the same day as Cole’s surgery). Unfortunately, she got stage fright and didn’t sing and barley walked out to her chair…(laugh)…it was wonderful to spend time with her this way!

Our neighbors had their 60th wedding anniversary this month. Dale and Francis are like Grandparents to the twins, family to all of us. Their family came from all over and some friends too for a small outside gathering. We were also invited to the family dinner that same evening, which was just an honor. We sure love them and enjoy having them in all our lives.

For instance, the kids know how to use them like any other family member…. Many times during each week one of the kids will ask for candy and if it’s too close to a meal time they are denied. Soon that said child would return from visiting Dale/Francis and in hand?…yes…candy! Sheesh!! Do they know where to get their sugar fix?

And here is just a fun shot of the kids at the park. We have not had to many dry days as of late so this day was a good one to get out and stretch our legs.