Sutter's Fort

We have been doing Fun Friend Wednesday this summer and this week's outing was at Sutter's Fort. A really cool place to be for the kids- especially if you are a fourth grader!! None of mine are. Anyway... they shot off a musket and a cannon. The kids got to pump the bellows for the blacksmith and watch him make a mini horseshoe. They learned all about the wagon trains and how people made their way across the US. And Ethan will always remember THE DONNER PARTY. Hmm, wonder why?

My Garden- ah sigh....

The one thing that I can honestly say has made my happy about our move, is my garden. I have this beautiful 15x30 foot garden in suburbia. It is surrounded by a lovely fence with an arbor and full of garden boxes and wonderful GREEN things. There are five different tomato plants, zuchini and squash, pumpkin, watermelon, three cucumber plants, corn, beans, peppers in all colors and shapes, a few radishes, blueberries, strawberries and a pretty herb area. And those sweet little orange flowers are going to go up my arbor and all around. Mmmm... I cannot wait. I have to thank the husband for this. He put a lot of work into setting up my garden and it really is one of my favorite places to be.

The Swimming Hole

You can never be too sure how the river will change over the course of the winter. What rocks will move, where trees will fall, if last years swimming hole will still be there or not. This swimming hole has maintained its greatness for some time now. It is deep enough to jump off the rock, shallow enough to wade around in, swift enough to keep out all those yucky, floating things, and even comes with its own sandy beach- something that is really hard to find on this small, little river.



Ethan found that picking his way across the rocks was far less scary than letting the currant carry you down.

Evan mostly enjoys the mud.

And my brave girl and her big friend Katherine made it all the way across to the jumping rock. She waited for me to jump in with her. She is the gutsy one.

The Orchard

Back when I was little we spent every weekend of our summer out at Bear River. It was not actually our cabin but I always thought that it was. Through the years we have continued to make visits out to the cabin and enjoy the summer sun, the clear nights and the old cabin as well as the "real" owners of the cabin whom we consider family.

The orchard has all kinds of neat fruit trees and lots of stories to go with it. The time Uncle Bret stepped on the bee hole (that he was told not to step on) and they all swarmed out and stung him. Or the time the bears crushed down the fence to get to the apple laden tree. Or when so and so forgot to close the garden gate and the deer ate up all those freshly sprouting vegetables. I remember every spring when the river was low enough to cross we would go out and clean up the cabin from the winter, start on the cutting down of the weeds and grass growing around the garden- which inevitably led to a mouse issue- and then tilling the garden area. As kids we always had something to do and somewhere to go when those chores came up. But I look back on them with the fondest of memories. I am so glad and fortunate that I get to share tid bits of this with my kids.

Take a REALLY Close Look...

Closer, closer... now do you see it? You see, being a mom of four and pretty much always being a little too close insanity, I suggested that Evan get dressed by himself. And so he willingly did. The end result? A really cute new fashion statement or a great way to start backwards day. The sad part was that it took me hours to notice and it was when he had to go to the bathroom and I was helping him unzip (?) his pants. And then he did not want to change them, so he kept them that way until he put his swim suit on. To each their own.

S'mores

Well Auntie Kass brought the biggest marshmallows you have ever seen on our camping trip last weekend. The kids thought they were the neatest thing ever and made themselves roasted marshmallows and these way too big before bedtime s'mores. Mads probably is wearing more of hers than she ate.  In fact, they all enjoyed the roasting part a little too much...maybe it is good that we don't have a "real" fireplace.

Camping Day Two

My little boy wants to be the big boy. He follows around his uncle and wants to do everything that he does. It is bittersweet to watch. He is getting bigger and bigger everyday.

Some of the treasures that my dear girl found... the flag for instance. She can't pass by a good piece of trash.

And the not so shy pretending to be shy. Or maybe he is just mad.

Camping at the Lake

It was baby Miles' first camping trip. He took to it like a pro. Slept great, ate great...wanted to be held ALL the time.

Madeline was convince that you could wear dresses camping and so I let her for the first night- we were only there for a few hours before she had to go to bed. She fought me on the shorts but finally put them on when she had her swim suit on.

Ethan was up really early (5ish) with Uncle Bret to go fishing. And it payed off!! We had trout for appetizers that night for dinner. Ethan LOVES spending time with Uncle Bret. It makes him feel like a big boy.

Fourth of July Cousins

Up at the lake after a day in the water and sun.

And another, with my baby and a blue smile from Evan and his Gatorade.

The Fourth

This was our first summer at our new house and with that a whole set of new "traditions". While all our old friends had the annual parade, we took the kids- and cousins- up to a lake in the Sierras. It was beautiful, not at all hot and a great way to get away from the crowds and heat of a Fourth of July weekend. We set up our picnic near this little inlet and the kids had a great time pushing around floating logs... It creeps me out to think what was in there but... I stayed clear.

The water was icy cold and would take your breath away. The moms and dads got in a little later and a little farther out but we used tubes to keep us a float and out of that freezing cold water.

Gabe and Ethan.

Mads and her chicken. Mads loves her food.

Ribbon Baby

I just stepped out of the room for a minute to intercept the delightful words of fighting siblings and when I returned little Miles had found his way into the ribbon. Left on his own this boy will find anything. So we had to spend a minute or two unwinding the baby from the ribbon mess.

Custom Art

Instead of using paper, Evan seems to think his body is a great place to color. (That took a few days to wash off!)

Twilight Camp

My boy will always be a boy's boy. He loves anything that has to do with weaponry, danger or the hunt. At camp this year they had archery and bb guns. Ethan loved them both. They also had knot tying (which was quite useful on our camping trip this last weekend). This is the kind of life my boy was meant to live. The outdoors type.