Jump Creek

So after taking the long, round about way to get there we went hiking at Jump Creek.  It was only about a quarter mile to hike into the little waterfall, but everyone enjoyed it!

 Crossing the creek was one of the best parts and only two of the six of us got our feet wet.

In the upper left corner of this picture under the tree branch was a rattle snake.  Luckily that was the only one we saw on the hike.

 Tanner and Kendra were the only ones brave enough to get into that ice cold water all the way.  Tanner swam out to touch the waterfall and then back as quickly as he could.  Kara got in only to her thigh and that was numbing enough for her.

Kara's in the Double Digits Now!

Kara turned 10!  It was a great Memorial Day/Birthday.  We spent the day at the water park, which wasn't Kara's first choice, but it's what we did because we bought season passes.  She ended up having a good time hanging out with mostly Tanner and Dad.  

Kara's idea of a good time was going to Wahooz (an arcade, with some rides and lazer tag), which is fun, and because it was her birthday we went. She told us that she just wanted to spend time in the arcade.  We granted her wish and gave her a $5 card.  She immediately went to the "gambling" machine to spend all of her money and she wasn't alone, Barry and Tanner were right beside her.
  This all stems back to Kendra's Birthday in March when we went to Wahooz.  We bought passes that included all the attractions and we also each got a $5 card to use in the arcade. Good. Clean. Fun.  Well Barry, Tanner and Kara found this machine that has all kinds of electronic gadgets that you can win, its kind of a lock and key system.  You place the key and if you place it just right so it can go through the hole you win the prize, but if you are off even just by a hair the key doesn't go through. Well after using $10 from their cards Barry miraculously wins an ipod shuffle, it was great, until they thought they should go after the mini ipad....it only cost them $10 to get the ipod surely they could win the ipad too.  Forty dollars later they decided to stop trying, even though they were so close.  Thank goodness they stopped while they were a few dollars ahead.    Kara was banking on spending the entire day trying to win another prize, this is why we went to the water park.  They spent $30 this time with nothing to show for it.

 We ended our adventures with donuts from Krispy Kremes and singing "Happy Birthday" at Erin's house.   Later we went swimming at their neighborhood pool.

 Sure Love that Spunky Girl!

Neighborhood Kids Triathlon

Summer is here!  To kick it off I organized a neighborhood kids triathlon.  We had about 40 kids ages 2-15 participate.  It turned out pretty well for my first go at it and all the kids worked really hard and did a great job!  

Jaxson ran across the little pool and rode his bike down the sidewalk then ran to the finish line.  

His age group was so cute, it didn't matter if they were the first or last to cross the finish line, each one had a huge smile and they were thrilled to receive their medals!

 Kendra swam to one side of the pool and then got out when she was supposed to swim back the the other side so she had to get back in and swim to the others side but she had olivia pulling on her so she couldn't get ahead. Kendra started crying. I had to calm her down so she cold bike. Kendra passed olivia on her bike lap around the neighborhood on the bike. There were no problems there and then with the running Kendy didn't see the path clearly and went the wrong way a couple of times, this made her a little frustrated. She got passed by a a couple of girls and she started walking and sobbing. She was worried that she wouldn't get a medal. She had Charlotte coming from behind so I told her she better run to the finish line. She ran and finished third. She was still crying uncontrollably that the race was too long and hard. I had to remind her that it was hard but she finished and did a great job! Her time was 5:47.

 Kara had a flawless race and had to swim two lengths of the pool. She smoked her compition. Bike four times around the neighborhood (1 mile) and ran a lap around the field. She did great and came in first! Her time was 9:21

 Tanner had to swim four lengths of the pool. He was strong and then biked 8 laps around the neighborhood (2mi) then run 1 mile. He did great! He got 1st with a time of 16:47

Camping in Cascade at Horse Thief Campground

We are not campers!  We don't like packing our whole lives just to spend the day in the dirt, but we only includes Barry and I.  The kids think it is delightful, nothing is better than swimming in a lake and changing your clothes in a tent, freezing all night long, and gutting the fish that you caught.  Luckily we went camping with campers (we didn't even bring a flashlight), they had everything including a trailer that we could warm up in.  They made the trip our best camping experience ever!  Lynn set up our tent up for us and got everything set so we could enjoy ourselves.  It was good company and beautiful scenery.  

 All the kids had fun running and jumping into the lake from the dock.

 Lynn and Barry took some of the kids out on the pontoon boats.  Barry and Kara's motor ran out of juice right as they got out to the middle of the lake.  The wind was blowing for a bit and they thought it would bring them to shore, but then the wind stopped so they paddled with the fishing net and were about to jump in and swim in when a boat came near them that they flagged down and towed them into shore.

 These blue eyed boys loved playing in the dirt at the campsite!

 Tanner and Kara thought that gutting the fish was so cool!  Lynn's mom Brenda cooked their fish for breakfast!

 Kendra kissing a fish (I'm amazed that she would do this).

 No open fires were allowed at the camp site because of fire danger.  We put the kids to bed and had a secret s'mores party.  We used the lantern for roasting, it kind of worked.

Firsts In Fruitland

Fruitland is called that for a reason!  All summer long, there are fruit stands filled with lots of yummy produce, in fact I rarely had to visit the Walmart all summer, which makes me happy!  People we know grow corn and sold it for $2 a dozen when we picked our own.  I thought that it would be fun to go out and pick it, but it turns out that picking corn is not fun.  We all came out itchy and I was afraid that I would lose a child out in the field.  Luckily no one got lost and we picked 10 dozen ears, WOW!  All the ladies around here know so much about how to preserve all the bounty that surrounds this area and they were eager to teach me a new skill.  I knew that I could not use 10 dozen ears of corn, nor did I want to figure out what to do with all that corn by myself, so I called up my sister Lisa and she came and helped me get the corn ready so we could freeze it.  It was more time consuming than I ever thought.  We did enjoy lots of corn for dinner all week long, and have a freezer full for later!  

 Kara found this corn that had a weird growth.

 I also was taught how to can peaches and pears.  They looked so good in the jars.  The other day I got a jar of peaches down from the cupboard to open and noticed they are starting to brown, so I don't know what I did wrong.  They sealed correctly and still taste good even discolored and we haven't gotten sick yet.  I'm not sure if home canning is for me, it really takes a long time to can and makes a disastrous kitchen mess!

Christensen's Pond

This little hidden Gem of Fruitland is one fun place!  Some people that we go to church with own this pond that they have developed into a water park, with a zip line, water slide, high dive, canoes, paddle boats, etc.  We only discovered it at the end of the summer and just had a great couple of afternoons there.  We even invited cousins to enjoy the pond with us one day.  We hope to enjoy it for many summers to come!       

 Kara loved the zip line!

 I had to force Jaxson to get on the boat with me, he was not a fan at first, but began to enjoy it just as it was time to leave.

 These kids liked being dropped off on one of the docks or "islands"

This paddle boat had no steering, but it didn't matter everyone was just along for a fun ride, even if it was just in circles!