Saturday, July 17th-Floating in the Crooked River

So, we took the kids to the upper Crooked River to go swimming for the day. I thought for sure Jake would be the chicken little of the bunch. Liv is usually the one that digs in and goes for it. Well, surprise, surprise! Jake got right in. He did SOOO well with his swimming! Liv stayed on the edge the whole time. She didn't want anything to do with going in the water. There were snakes in the water. I was totally cool and the gang with it, until they started dive bombing my feet later. I got the hell out of dodge then lol. I draw the line at dive bombing water snakes.

Here's one of the tiny snakes. Yes, they were tiny but let me tell you: When they are dive bombing your feet, they seem 7 feet long! lol

Jake, testing the waters.

Josey got right in BUT make me hold her the whole time. She was afraid she'd float down the river and wouldn't be able to get back LOL

And here I am, like I said, holding Josey's tube. Jake, on the other hand, was like Free Willy, floating without a care in the world (which, if you know Jake, is NOT like him lol) I guess I'd feel confident, too, if I had a life jacket AND a tube around my chest lol.

Liv, holding up the shore LOL

Me and Bretters =)

Me and Josey

Brett, in the tube. I had to get a picture because he doesn't normally A) put on shorts or B) go in the water, so this is a major feat.

So, Liv was hiding stuff in her swimsuit. I asked her what she was doing. She said she was gathering her super spy kit.

That would be a shovel, rake, and a stick lol

Jake, the master floater

Josey, spitting water out of her mouth. I just thought the picture was funny lol

Tuesday, July 13th-Mr Creative (Jake)

SO, I sent Jake outside to play. We have a dirt pile on the side of the house (dirt left over from the garden) and Jake was playing in it. I left him alone for maybe 30 minutes. This is what I came out to. He had the pipe up (from the stove in the garage that we got rid of) shoved a bunch of dirt down the hole, and was attempting to fill the rest of the pipe up with water before I stopped him. At least he's creative...

Monday, July 12th-Brotherly/Sisterly Love

Jake and Liv, watching TV together. Aren't they sweet? They can be at times lol

Weekend of July 16th-A Trip to the Beach

Brett and I took a trip to Lincoln City. We took the trailer down there and parked it on his parent's lot there. Catherine ended up coming down on Saturday and joining us. We had a great time!!

Brett, holding my shoes. Now that's love!

Catherine walking and enjoying the ocean. It was quite windy, hence the hood.

Feet in the Pacific =)

Beautiful sun @ Pacific City

Yep, we ate at the Oar House lol.

On our way back from Pacific City. Glad I got this shot. By the time we made it back to Lincoln City, it was all fogged in. It's amazing the difference 10 miles makes!

A self portrait shot. You can tell by my hair it's seen better days, thanks to the wind :p

Some deer along the way =)

July 7th & 8th...This is why I will never sleep with any of these kids...

Because it's absolutely impossible for any of them to stay still. The kids (Jake included) went thru a "I want to sleep on the floor" phase. Josey went thru a "I want Liv to sleep with me every night" phase as well. Josey definitely sleeps a little better than Liv, but not by much. This is what I would come out to every morning.

Liv eventually kicked the fan hard enough that it fell on her.

I just don't know how they do it...

Monday July 5th-Miss Liv on her way to her first dance lesson

Liv did a 4 week trial dance class, to see if she would really like it. Of course, as I thought, she LOVED it. This was her first day. I couldn't observe until the very last day because the kids tend to not pay attention when Mommys and Daddys are there (and boy I understand NOW!)

This was afterwards. She had to pee, and was extremely perplexed when she couldn't get her tights off lol

Day 40-Final Day at Crater Lake-July 5th

Our last day...we had a great time. We had to do the dance of 1000 mosquitos because they were after us. Brett ended up finishing the truck loading so we could get on the road.

Josey and Brett, with our final shots of Wizard Island in the background

Awww...

Note to self: When taking pics, make sure *I* am on the down slope next time, instead of the upper slope, effectively making me 10 inches taller than I really am...

Crater Lake-Day 3-Sunday July 4th

Day 3 brought is alittle warmer weather, and a trip to Diamond Lake, and the head of the Rogue River. Jake went in the water just a tad, but Liv would have nothing to do with it. The water was FREEZING. Once you numbed your body, it felt good, but until then, brrrr! Josey went in, no problems, as always. She made me go out with her, much to my dismay. After we left Diamond Lake, we took a drive to the head of the Rogue River. We stopped at this little shop to get some ice cream. Brett had a Northern Industrial catalog in the back of the truck. Jake loved this thing! He circled all kinds of things, from nuts, to wrenches, etc. It was the funniest thing. When we got out to get the ice cream, Jake brought the book out with his pen. Brett and I went in to get the ice cream. I turned to check on the kids. Jake was sitting at the table, with all these 4 wheeler people surrounding him, while he pointed out all the stuff in the catalog, things he wanted to order, ETC. It was so cute! While we were eating our ice cream, Josey and Jake started messing around. Jake started chasing Josey, and Josey slipped and fell on the gravel. Initially it was funny (well, who am I kidding?? Karma...that's all I have to say) but she did scrape her leg pretty good. She recovered quickly, as all youngin's do.
Josey, the crazy nutball, in the water. That's the top of my head. I was sitting on the fallen tree, debating...

and here I sit on my perch...

Brett, sititng there, drinking a buckskin. It was too cold for him to even get in his shorts (which he doesn't do very often anyway lol)

Josey and Jake, giving thumbs up.

Josey and me, in the water-BRRRRRR

Miss Messy Face. Her nose was running and she kept wiping her face, getting dirt all over it. GAH!! It was gross.

Note to self: Never swim when there's still snow on the upper mountains. It's never a good sign.

Yep, that's my girl...picking her nose *sigh*

Part of the Rogue River

Awww...look at them!

I found this so amusing...

If you look closely, there is a mosquito on my thigh. They were the bane of our existence while we were @ Crater Lake. I swear they stalked us. At night, we'd go in to play games with the kids because the mosquitos were so bad. You'd look out the window and there they were, staring us down, daring us to step out of the trailer so they could bite us.