Please be advised that this post is going to be long. Like, really long. Like, stop now, and get yourself a cold drink and some munchies long. Because you'll probably need a carb boost to get all the way through it. Ok, you've been told. Don't say I didn't warn you!
Can I just say that Summer is speeding by? Like, speeding at Light Speed.
Warp 9, Scottie!
But, Cap'n, .... she's breaking up! The dilithium crystals won't take much more......
.... oh, sorry. I got carried back to the Seventies for a moment there. Seriously, though, I cannot believe how fast this summer seems to have raced by. I blink and the weeks have slipped away on me.
To help you get a glimpse of what our life has been, these are some photos from the rest of July. It's varied and full, and continually busy. Hold onto your hats, because here we go!
(And this is skipping the Fourth -- since that was in the last post--, and moving right into the following weekend!)
So the girls' summer softball team did not compete in as many tournaments as we thought or expected to do. They actually wrapped up the whole season with a trip to the State championships in Vancouver, Washington. And while the girls played hard, they were unable to repeat their "state champions" status, and had to settle for 3rd place at State.
When it came time to award the trophy, they asked for the catcher to step forward for it. (Apparently, they usually ask for the pitcher, but felt that day that catchers needed a little glory, too.) And that's how it happened that our Darcie was the one holding the trophy in these pictures:
This was the point that Todd had just bought me a new camera. Remember the old one died on July 4th? Well, Todd had been resurrecting it several times, and we finally came to the conclusion that it just didn't WANT to live anymore. So these pictures came when the new camera was less than a day old, and I was still trying to learn about it. That is my excuse for why the pictures are in black and white. Since I do NOT recall actually setting the camera to a black and white setting......
So there's the whole team, in their final 2012 team photo. Alys is 3rd person from the left in the back row, and Darcie is center of the front row -- still with that trophy! Our softball experience this summer was not what we expected, and was also not the girls' favorite year. I'm grateful that they got to play, and that they made a few friends, and did learn a few things, but I must confess disappointment, and the nicest way I can conclude is to say that this team and the coaches were just not a good fit for our girls or our family. And that's all I've got to say about that.
Moving on.
Back at home, and in the middle of the hot summer, Alyssa and Darcie initiated Emma into one of the joys of summer at the Haven: jumping on the trampoline with the sprinklers on underneath it. And they've got some skills to show off, too. First -- Darcie flies:
And then falls....
I love how my older girls really take time to play with Emma, and not just watch her or babysit her. They are actively doing things with her -- it makes me smile.
That day, they also taught Emma the joy of making homemade ice cream on the trampoline, too!
Our old Ice Cream Roller is obsolete now, and I'm kind of bummed that we've worn it out. I know there's a newer ball-style version online that I could order, but it's just not the same as our old one. That day was the last day we used it. And believe me -- even the heavy ice cream roller can get some air time:
We had to retire it to the garbage after that. Because it was literally falling apart. Darcie pretended that part of the insulation was a hat. Hat's off!
Also, when we returned from our softball travels, we came back to our raspberry row being in full production!
This was one morning's pickings -- which is enough for two batches of raspberry jam. I love this bowl -- it's one of my mom's old stoneware bowls, and just seeing it reminds me of her. I'd tell you all about my jam-making, except you can just read about it here. Suffice it to say that we had another bumper crop of berries, and got 70 half-pints of jam, and a few quarts of raspberry juice. (The juice makes GREAT Raspberry Lemonade -- yum!!)
Also, after we returned from State, Darcie's new catcher's gear finally arrived. (Her old stuff was falling apart, literally.) Hmmmmmmm. Just in time to no longer need it this year. Yeah.
Still, she looks "hot" in her flame-patterned helmet:
And then, one afternoon, we went down to "the beach".
Ok, so having grown up as a California Girl, I just can't quite get used to calling the shore along the river a "beach". But, landlocked as we are, the river is the closest thing we get to a seashore. And if it's got sand or gravel on it --- well, I guess that makes it a beach, right? Yeahhhh, whatever.
Emma wasn't so sure, but she had Alyssa to hang on to:
I love this shot of Alys.... I couldn't have gotten the wind-tossed-locks look any better if I'd had a fan blowing right on her.....
Summer at the Haven also means sleeping out on the trampoline under the stars.
(This usually does NOT happen on the same days as the sprinklers activity does, unless it's screaming hot, and the whole tramp dries out before bedtime!) The crowning event of sleeping out usually doesn't come until the second week of August, when we try to catch the Perseids meteor shower. Now THAT makes for an interesting night under the stars. And laying down keeps you from getting a crick in the neck trying to see shooting stars!
Emma has discovered that she LOVES to sleep outdoors, and would go out every night, if she could. In this morning-after picture, she's center, under the pink patchwork quilt:
But she woke up before Darcie. And if you give a toddler/preschooler a phone (or an iPod), she WILL proceed to jump all around the trampoline, to the beat of the music playing on it. By the way, Darcie, I hope you weren't thinking you'd get to sleep through this..... :-D
.... then Emma -- in her too-small jammies -- caught sight of me with the camera. "Hi Mom!!"
And despite her distaste for loud sounds, Emma actually enjoyed getting to ride with Alyssa on the riding lawn mower:
Basic truth at our house: if you get your chores done, you get to do something fun afterwards. (Or the flip side: you can't do the fun stuff if your chores aren't done first.)
Which brings us to our day out on the river!
There's an old saying that goes something like, "The two happiest days in a man's life are the day he buys a boat, and the day he sells his boat." Poor Todd has had neither of those two days occur in his life, because we've never owned a boat.
Although that's not to say that we haven't considered it.
And then, we thought twice! No, seriously, we once thought about our ATV's versus a boat/personal watercraft. We have to travel to get to the mountains (admittedly, it's not that far here in North Idaho) to get to really have fun with the 4-wheelers. Sometimes the kids ride them around our huge yard, but it's not the same. On the flip side, we have two rivers with miles of slackwater to play in -- right here in our back pocket. But really, the weather only allows that for about 3 to 4 months out of the year, whereas the ATV's can be used almost all year long.....
Somehow, we haven't brought ourselves to make that boat commitment. Maybe one day.
And so, the girls were wanting to get with Uncle Wade, (who DOES have a boat) and go boating again, before the summer passed us by. Remember this? And also this?
But then, Wade counter-offered with -- why don't you guys just TAKE the boat yourselves? So we did! (This is use-of-the-boat for an afternoon, not purchase the boat. We're not ready for that!)
Wade's boat is not a big family-size boat. It technically seats four. Five, in a pinch. And we were pinched. But when your fifth one is only 3 years old, it totally works. And big huge thanks again to Wade for letting us use his boat last week -- because everyone had a blast.
Here's a sampling:
Have I mentioned that Brandon is back from college for a few weeks? School is out, and his wedding to Miss Cecilia is coming up in the middle of August. So we've
And apologies in advance to those of you who are my Facebook Friends -- if you've been paying attention, you've seen most of these photos already. But there's a couple of new ones.
Anyway. We used Wade's tube to start. Alyssa looks like she's challenging her dad to try to flip her off the tube:
... and she caught some air time, too:
Emma also went out on the tube -- but only with Darcie -- and it was only going pretty darn slow:
The kids all went out with the skis, too. Darcie pops right up out of the water like it's nothing:
Alyssa did well, also ... even jumped the wake. (If you're an experienced waterskier, please note that I'm impressed because this is only their 3rd or 4th time on skis, and only the second time this year.)
Brandon also went out on the tube (we missed having Cecilia come with us that day) ...
Wow --- those are some WHITE legs!
Emma fell asleep during this part. Probably a good thing, too!
It had been even longer since Brandon was last out on skis. Plus, he hadn't been on skis since his mission weight loss, so it was a bit different. I'm not sure why he started cracking up out there....
... but he made all of us laugh, too!
And then after a few tries, he got up on the skis as well:
We're pretty sure that if he had some more practice, he'd be skiing like a pro pretty darn fast.
It got late, the sun was going down, and it was cooling off, so we headed back to the dock after that, but it was a really fun day out on the river! The only thing missing is our Cameron -- but being on his mission is a pretty good excuse, I think.
And if you made it through to the end of this VERY long post, congratulations, you win the prize! I'm not sure what kind of prize you've won, but it sounded good, didn't it?
Onward to August!
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