August Fun Stuff

Now that Jo is on two wheels and has had some practice up and down our street we are able to take family rides.

Our first FAMILY RIDE!

We rode to a local mini mart because Jo wanted to see what was in the store. About three miles round trip, not bad at all. Now we are taking a five mile round trip on the bike paths by the river. Lots of fun!

I was working on another project around the house when I got a "squirrel" moment. Grabbed Cole and did a quick run to the hardware store for some rope. Large tree? Must have a rope swing right?
Cole had a good time just trying to get the rope up and over the branch. Sure there could have been easier ways to accomplish this task but it was about the fun of doing not the final outcome.
But then again, the final outcome was darn fun too!

Fire Pit
We sure are enjoying the fire pit that was given to us. One or two evenings a week we light it up.
This night Rachelle and Connie stopped by.

We are also enjoying our new home this summer, the walnut tree is sure messy but makes the house cool and we think its just beautiful.

SQUIRREL!
Nuts, lots and lots of nuts! The squirrels make it fun to look out our front window as they play chase with each other and a cat or two. They even come up and put their paws on our window and peek in on us like they are saying "Hey, whatcha doin in there?".

One of the last summer over-nighters with Keenan and Karly.
After s'mores a run through the sprinkler in the dark was in order!
They had such a good time that night.

Oma...You make us smile.
Slowly getting our "stuff" put away and after Jo's bedroom was painted Oma went out and mopped the garage floor.
And why did she do this?
So she could park her car back inside.
Looks good Oma.

FAIR
Oma and Rachelle took the kids plus Karly to the fair this year. Rides and games, games and more games.
Each kid went home with a prize.
And they are all tall enough this year to start riding some of the larger ones. This made them very happy.

Backyard & Shed
Slowly our back yard is coming together. Finally have a shed!
And with the shed we were able to put up our weather vane that came off of my Grandparent's house. (Bud & Elizabeth Lovely)
Jo was also excited to have this back up and asked to place the rooster.

Jo and I
Jo and I made a quick trip to Roseburg and stopped by the fish ladder on the way home. Not much to see at this time but it was a beautiful day.

Jo's Bedroom

First room in the house to be painted. Yeah!
So for two weeks this became Jo's new bed.
She thought it was great, her own tv, large window and lots of room to spread out!

This was her bedroom set up for those two weeks.
Here she is chilling on her floor.

It's a Family Job!
First was prepping the walls as there were a few cracks.
After Jo was finished Cole puttied.

Basic white for the closet
The easiest part of Jo's room.

The Design?
Jo said, "Mom, I would like pink and purple swirls with butterflies".
With Jo's help this was what we came up with.

Then Jo said, "THIS IS GREAT! Now I want this color to be blue and this one to be light blue and I would like a yellow over here" (what happened to pink and purple?)

Jo sat on the counter at the paint store and looked through many swatches and picked out her paint. (truly no help from us)
The first step, wall colors.

Drawing the curves.
Oma brought home an over head projector that helped us get the designs on the wall.
All done with the curves.
And yes, she picked some pink after all.

Swirl Time
Cole helped with the drawing of the swirls.

Almost done!
Much easier to have Jo paint this low.

BACK TO HER ROOM!
She LOVES her new room.
We added a few shelves and a princess net over her bed.
Jo is the only one in the house that has completely unpacked from our move and has a completed room.

Two weeks, not too bad.

Summer Camps n Stuff

DUCK CAMP!
Cole participated in his second Duck's baseball camp this year. This time it was at PK Park, playing where the "DUCKS" play ball.
LOTS of kids participated this year and Cole again came away with a little bit more baseball knowledge than when he went in.


Always looking the part, Cole made sure he was dressed in full uniform from the Ducks, N. Eugene or the Mariners.



One coach even remembered him from last year as his nick name was "Switch Hitter". This made Cole smile.






HIP HOP
Jo was bustin a move during that week as she learned some Hip Hop moves!
This move is called the "SNAKE"

Jo had a great time learning to dance coming home each night showing us a different move. They even had a finial performance for family and friends.

Build and reap the rewards!
Derian and Jo helped build Derian's new trampoline.
And when you finish a good job?

JUMP JUMP JUMP

Jo came home darn tired from this over nighter but had a great time like always!

Day at Young Belmonts

The whole Belmont Clan was to spend a day of riding, eating, visiting, playing and celebrating Gpa Normans Birthday.
The kids young and old were riding all over the land, flying high and kicking up the dirt!
Going over the jump.
Grandma and Grandpa brought up their quad and after one lap Jo was the driver the rest of the afternoon.
Her thumb got a little sore from pressing the gass but boy oh boy she had a great time!
Oma got into the fun too!
Tick (the dog) was glad to have Oma chilling on the chair.
All the cousins!
Derian, Jo, Cole & Hannah
(Cole was doing a turning jump so that is why he is backwards)
After Grandpa cleaned out the carburetor on this 50cc bike it needed a test ride.
Gpa and Gma had WAY FUN!
The Race!
All fun and games until someone gets hurt.
Yup, and that someone was the Birthday Boy.
This is how Gpa rode to the hospital.
Dislocated and broken.
Guess you’re suppose to make every birthday special. I don’t think this is a way to do it but his 72nd Birthday will be very memorable to all of us.
While half the Belmont’s were at the hospital the other half enjoyed the rest of the day in the sun.

Summer Fun

(Our next few posts will be out of order as (My) Mom’s computer died and many photos were already loaded onto it. Nothing should be lost, just not accessible at this time)

ON WE GO!

Country Living
Our friends Jayne and Mary had a fire table that they could not use any longer and offered it to us. We of course jumped at the chance knowing we don’t actually live in the city limits though we are in the city limits. What does this confusion mean? We can have an open fire in our back yard.
John, Cole, Karly and Jo

The table’s first full day at it’s new home seemed quite happy as we gave it a bath and set it on fire for it’s first marshmallow roasting here.
Not many marshmallows were left alive this evening.

Tables Second Night?
Hot Dogs of course!
Cole, Keenan & Jo

And S’MORES too!
Jayne & Mary gave us great advice with this treat and table. Laying the crackers & chocolate on the edge of the table while roasting your marshmallow allows the chocolate to soften just right.

Hungry?

Brothers
What do two boys do when they get together? Play inside a recycle bin of course.

Keenan and Cole love each other so much they just laugh and laugh and laugh.
And they even let Jo play.
Here they were trying to hide from Keenan’s Mom, as it was time to go home. Nicole opened the lid and they all jumped up laughing and yelling.

Training wheels no more.
A little planning when doing something Jo will not want to do.
Step 1: Food. (Called home from work and ask Oma to please feed Jo so she has energy and along with this energy comes a happy girl.)
Step 2: Make her think it’s her idea. (Lay wrench on bike seat and ask Jo to come to the garage and guide her enough to see the wrench)
Step 3: Jo does the work. (Mom loosening nuts on bike before she comes to the garage so Jo is successful at removing training wheels the first time)
Step 4: Confidence. (Making Jo think this was all her idea all along and then giving lots of encouragement that she can do it)

She is FREE!

Jo took off with little help from me. It was definitely time for the removal of the training wheels as I jogged beside Jo twice up and down the street but never touching her or her bike.

Oma then took her for a ride around the block. AND then Cole, Jo and I went around the block and she asked to go further so we took another block. (two blocks in our area is about 1.5 miles)
The last little bit of riding I heard her sing loudly “THIS IS FUN” and she continued to sing songs the rest of the ride home.

I think Jo has found a new freedom!