Sunday, August 14, 2011

Cali Vacation Day One: The Gentle Barn

We've been back from our vacation for a week now and I'm still trying to get caught up on blogging about all of our summer fun. The first day that we were in LA my sister wanted to take us to The Gentle Barn.  It's a non-profit farm that rescues abused animals to live out their lives in peace.  It's a very sweet place and we had a lovely time.  I have to admit though that it was a bit difficult to read the animals bios.  There were a lot of sad, sad stories. 
Camille, Paula (one of my BFF's from my San Diego days) and Jilli lovin' on this gentle cow.
Lily has always had a way with chickens!
Blake was carrying on a full-blown conversation with this turkey... it was hilarious!
What can I say?  We fell in love.
A face only a mother could love.
Me and Emmy with our ten year olds!
Jillian eats, sleeps, and dreams about horses 24/7.  She fell in love with these twin horses.
Blake, Jill, Camille, Hayley, Luke and Lily.

Thursday, August 11, 2011

First Trip to Moses Lake

We love Moses Lake for a number of reasons:  familiarity, clean campsite, the sun and heat, sand dunes, but most of all... perfect water temperature for skiing and wakeboarding!  We usually try to make it over a couple of times during the summer, so here's a few photos from our end of July trip!  My personal favorite thing about this weekend was the fact that I got up on the wakeboard for the first time eva!  I seriously never thought I'd ever be able to do it, so I was tickled beyond words... Of course, there are no photos to document this awesome event, but you can be sure there will be next weekend when we head back over!  :)
Hayley, Jilli, and Luke lounging over at the dunes.
Teddy is hilarious!  He actually let the kids bury him up to his neck!  He just sat there willingly and even when they were done burying him he was fine just sitting under this pile of sand posing for photo after photo!
Burying the dog.
Surprisingly Miss Poppy loves the boat.  She's afraid of everything, so this came as a huge surprise to us last summer!
This was the toy of choice for Hayley for the weekend.
A gorgeous picture of Jillian, my neice, posing with Teddy.
Luke wants more responsibility with the boat now... he's informed us that he's ready to drive!
Hayley and Jill enjoying one final spin before I dumped them both!  Oops...
Disgusting feet.
We (mostly me) always insist on stopping at the SnoShack on the way home.  I LOVE these snow cones.  I've seriously put a lot of thought into what it would be like to own one!  Hmmmmmm.... :)

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Luke's Tenth Birthday Party

Luke celebrated his tenth birthday by going to Sykart.  The kids had an absolute blast!  I took a ton of pictures that captured the day...
Ninjas!

Skyler, Luke, George and Cody

Hayley ready to go!
Skyler
George
Luke and George taking a tight turn at top speed!
Wes even took a few laps.
Cody
Luke and his lead foot.
Birthday Boy.
George and the kids decorated their own cupcakes.
Luke and Sky
Checking out their Lego guys from their loot bags.
Pirates of the Caribbean Lego Set!
Cody and his creation!
Sweaty, but happy kids!
Happy 10th Lukey Bear!  We love you!

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Luke's into the Double Digits!

I've got a few blog entries to get caught up with, so I'll start with a very special day, July 26th. Luke's birthday!  He's ten years old already.  And, again I say, "Time flies by too quickly..."  I'm a bit sad about it actually.  I just want to keep my kids at this age for awhile.  I want time to slow down... actually I want for me to slow down and to listen and see more right now.  I want to stop being in such a rush all the time.  Anyway, just had to post my little guy, at ten, and his cute little freckles!  Happy birthday Lukey Bear... thanks for letting me still call you Lukey Bear!  Love you buddy!