Adventures at the lake:

View from the kitchen table :o)

Our typical day at the lake started with Reggie and Ainsley visiting grandpa and grandma in their room at 7 o'clock. They'd hang out there for awhile and then make their way to the kitchen for some breakfast. I usually put their cereal out, like at home, but they never seemed to eat much....Reggie always had poppy seeds stuck in his teeth....hmmm??? They aren't going to know what to do without their Costco muffins. It will give them something to look forward to next time they see grandma and grandpa :o). Many mornings after breakfast, we'd head out to pick raspberries and huckleberries for our morning fruit. They are delicious and the kids enjoy picking!

The weather was beautiful almost everyday, so sometimes we would head down to the lake to make some sand sculptures or waterways or play and swim. Reggie really enjoyed playing with the neighbor's this year, especially their oldest son, Caden. I think he is around 13 and he is just great with both the kids. They laugh and laugh whenever they are with him and it was pretty fun to hear their conversations...they have quite the imaginations! It was also neat to see Reggie getting a little more confident. At the beginning of the summer, he would ask me to see if they wanted to play and then one day, I saw him go over and ask Caden to play. He would watch for him to come down to the beach and then he would go right over :o). They spent hours building waterway and sand structures and playing hide and go seek in the water. Our other beach friends have been the twins, Stella and Ruby (who run around naked!), Maggie, Emma and Sarah and the Boyd boys. Reggie has had so much fun playing and swimming with the older kids. They've challenged him a bit and he'll swim out to the trampoline with his life jacket on and paddle around in his little boat. Emma and Sarah were there shortly before we left and Ainsley even went out with them. They tied all the floaties together to create a "party float" and headed out to the trampoline where they jump and have a great time. A few weeks ago when Megan and the boys came, Reggie was out in the canoe with them and swimming all over the place. They had a great time playing and I had a nice visit with Megan. Poor Ainsley...no girls to play with. Thankfully, Maggie has been up here every weekend, so Ainsley has someone to hang out with. She is pretty good about entertaining herself and sometimes she'll play with the older kids, but she isn't into swimming yet. The water is a little to cold for her princess blood! Ainsley did try tubing this year with the Rachel, Lynette's daughter (they were up here for a week renting the neighbor's house). Lynette assured me they would go slow and straight. Ainsley wanted me to go with her, so all three of us went. Funny how people have different definitions of slow! It was very good I went because we were going at least 15 miles per hour and her eyes got pretty big. I asked her if she liked it and she said no, but after a few minutes, I asked her again and she said she liked it. Since then, she has asked to go again, so now we just have to get a tube that doesn't have a hole in it.

Other mornings, we'd head to the woods for a short hike. There are some trails across Bamboo Lane that we explored a bit. Dad also took them to the property and had some fun on the backhoe. We noticed some interesting prints/droppings and think there might have been a cougar or mountain lion very close by, so I was always on alert. Back in the trails, the neighbors built a tree house and we had to check that out. I'm glad Reggie is afraid of heights!!! We also went on a longer hike in a new place with grandma and grandpa and the kids really enjoyed walking up the dried up creek, balancing on logs and eating salmon berries and blue huckleberries (which I had never seen or tried before). The kids were excited to see a snake, some frogs and fish. Grandpa was busy trying to save the fish that were stuck in small water ponds.

We'd usually head in for lunch around 12:30 and then have some quiet time until 2:30 and then we head back out for some more play time in the water. Ainsley just could't get enough of jumping on the water trampoline and Reggie couldn't get enough of swimming. She liked to canoe or paddleboard out to the trampoline where she'd just sing, jump and then lounge around when she got tired. We had a little excitement with her falling in with Sarah and Emma, but they quickly took care of her. We didn't get quite so lucky with the neighbors. They had a bunch of floaties tied together, along with a Kayak and for some reason, they were moving from one to another. You can guess what happened...Ainsley fell in. She had her life jacket on, but was still panicking and everyone out there just watched. We were watching from shore, hoping they'd figure it out and sure enough, they pulled her up on the Kayak and everyone was fine. Ryan took the canoe out and picked her up, but I was a little nervous that she wouldn't ever go in the water again. It was 2 days before we left, so I guess we'll find out next year. It is a good sign that she came running up to the house, with a big smile on her face, excited to tell me that she swam :o).

We tried to have some school time this summer. Reggie worked on his reading, Ainsley worked on her letters. I've realized I'm not cut out to be a teacher, so I let that go a few weeks ago and we're just going to enjoy the summer. Shouldn't reading be fun??? He'll get there some day. Ainsley did great and Reggie enjoyed working on letters with her, so all was not lost.

Tuckered out from all the activities: Our sand angel :o) We have a new interest in frogs (he asks me almost daily if we can get a pet frog!) Hats Mommy being goofy: How can we save those fish???? Running with Sarah and Emma Quiet time activity: Putting the "party float" together: Learning to paddleboard: Reggie building with Caden (the rest of the gang behind): Ryan and Reggie swimming:Reading to Spencer (doesn't he look excited!):

Ainsley’s 4!!!!

Thanks for the beautiful birthday cake Aunt Sue!!!!

Seems crazy that our youngest is already 4! She makes us laugh a lot and says and does some of the funniest things. We were at the mall the other day for the first time ever and she saw the manikins and stopped to look at all of them in the window, letting me know she wanted those outfits for her birthday. I got a Barbie head for her cake and she saw it and said, “where are her feet? I want one with shoes.” It seems to be all about shoes and clothes! Oh, and nail polish and chapstick. A total girly, girl. How did that happen???? I guess I will be a good balance for her!
She also tends to be a little too honest and says things out loud that should really be kept quiet like, “Daddy that guy pooped” when she was in the bathroom with Ryan and some guy was having a blow-out. She also used the F-A-T word when we passed a large lady (which I try not to say) at the mall and I about died! I will say that big birthday parties are not her cup of tee.. By the end of the party she was spent and fed up with anyone that wanted to tell her what to do. We felt bad but also frustrated as when she flips that switch its very hard to get her to listen. It was a long afternoon.
Things we love about Ainsley:
She freely laughs and has a contagious giggle
She’s a cuddler
She loves to help out, cleaning, cooking, shopping
She loves to brush my hair (or lack there of)
She is such a mommy, loving on her babies and her cousin Spencer
She loves to dance and look at herself in the mirror
She plays on her own and with Reggie
Her cute pronunciation, stow instead of store, hambooga instead of hamburger
Talking with her hands and mimicking our conversations
Her strong willed nature (not sure we love this!)

She is rough and tough and hangs with the boys

She is very protective of mommy when we play take-out

We did realize that she is not much of a party girl. Doesn't really like opening presents and all the attention. She had 3 major melt downs that night...poor thing!

Opening presents the morning of her birthday:Thanking Reggie for her camera:Admiring her "big sister" barbie

First couple weeks in Washington

We arrived at Lake Cavanaugh after a 17 hour drive (not the smoothest drive). I think we stopped 5 times before lunch, but things seemed to settle down after that and we made some good time. During the unhappiness of the morning drive, my mind was trying to figure out how we were going to pass the time and I realized I forgot all the DVD's at home! Luckily, I was talking to my sister and she suggested Redbox, so when we stopped for lunch, we picked up a couple.
The kids were very excited the next morning to see Aunt Liha, Uncle Wade, Grandma, Grandpa, Maggie and Spencer! Reggie was up in the loft right away exploring the new play place. The weather was pretty decent, so the kids actually played in the water and Reggie tested out his swimming abilities. It was pretty short-lived because it was so cold. Ainsley was on the couch holding Spencer and couldn't get enough of him :o).

Having some fun with Spencer:Ryan having some fun with Spencer (no one appreciates that hat!!!):

The 4th was another Northwest 4th....drizzle that turned to rain and back to drizzle. We had a few periods of dryness and Reggie had a great time with Charlie, doing smoke bombs, firecracker cars and sparklers. He stayed up to watch the show this year and was very excited about that. There was a smaller group this year (because of the poor weather), but I think it might have been one of most fun because it was easier to visit with everyone :o). Ainsley had no problem sleeping through the noise. We did the cannons again and the neighbors were having a wedding reception and were very interested and wanted us to do it again and again. I have to admit that the big one is really cool...you can feel the noise in your chest!

Decorating for the 4th the day before...notice the sun!Getting ready for the parade:Wade loading the cannon with gun powder:Sparklers with Charlie:Watching the fireworks:The guys lighting the finale:The next day, the weather turned nice and hot and Ryan and I headed down to Kirkland to get the house ready to rent. It was in great condition, but we had to do some maintenance, stain the fence, replace the toilet, caulk windows, etc., etc. It took us 3 days to get everything done, so a big thank you to mom and dad and cathy and liha for taking the kids, so we could work without interruption. We were able to find a renter that Sat. and I handed off the keys the following Friday :o). We were pretty drained from all the back and forth, and Ryan ended up getting only 2 days to relax on his vacation :o(. My back was in a very unhappy place for the first week and a half, probably from the drive and working on the house, but it has been pretty good since, thank the Lord!
I ran into a few neighbors while at the house, which was fun to chat and catch up. Turns out that Jason Mesnic, the bachelor from a couple years ago, lived on our street. There were limo's and paparazzi....too bad we missed the excitement. They decided to move right after they got married, so I couldn't even stop by and congratulate them.
Ryan left our camera in the sun and it got fried (warning to all you camera owners....it didn't take long and it wasn't even that hot!), so I don't have too many pictures from the early part of our trip. This was supposed to post a few weeks ago at my parents, but apparantly, it never did :o(. Internet is still very slow, but it is pretty exciting that my parents have a small section in the window sill at their house that gets cell service, so I've been able to make calls and do some texting.....Lake Cavanaugh is moving up in the world!!