Summer in a nutshell

As you can imagine, our summer plans were pretty much shot. We had a little trip planned for each month that had to be thrown out the window. By the time August rolled around, poor B needed a break so bad. He had worked all day all summer and then had to come home and take care of four people and dinner and clean the house etc. etc. etc. I just kept praying that we would be able to pull the PICC line out soon and that I would feel ok enough to still be able to do our little trip that we had planned for the end of August. I don't remember what day the PICC line got taken out, I just know that it was before we had planned to leave town. The little's had earned a free ticket to Silverwood amusement park by reading 100 hours for school. Silverwood is about 2 hours away from us and so we started our trip going there. Little B loved it! The little kid area was awesome and there were no lines so he and I hung out there almost all day. He would run from ride to ride.

While he was living it up in the little kid area, B had taken M and K to ride a big roller coaster. We didn't tell them that there was an 85 foot drop and that it went almost 60 mph. We thought it best to leave that information quiet. 

When they got off the ride and came to the little kid area I asked them if they had liked it. Both of them said that they did, but there was no way they were going to go on it again. We feel like there wasn't a whole lot to do unless you loved the big roller coasters or were small enough to still like the little kid rides. Poor M spent a lot of the day hanging out with me just watching K and little B ride on rides.

When K found out that there were bumper boats, he could hardly wait to ride them. I didn't realize that they would be able to squirt each other. B said that little B wanted to be in charge of the water gun and he would get mad at B if he tried to help him with it. I could hear K laughing from across the pond as they had an epic water gun battle.

There was a log ride that all of them were able to go on. Thankfully the line wasn't too long and no one had time to get too nervous and back out.

See that drop behind them? We thought for sure that little B would freak out as they came down that, but he didn't. I know that M looks like she hated it, but she didn't. She says she didn't know that I was taking a picture. I guess me standing there holding the camera and saying, "smile!" wasn't a good enough clue that a picture would soon be taken. Anyway, this ride turned out to be a hit and they went on it more than once.

When we lived in North Carolina, we went to the amusement park there and K saw that they had bumper cars. He was truly heart broken when he found out that he was too short to ride them. To say that he was excited about being tall enough for the ones at Silverwood would be a gross understatement. He was willing to stand in line for 45 minutes to be able to do the bumper cars.

 These cars were a surprise to us. We stumbled upon them as we were walking to another ride. Both the little boys couldn't wait to have a turn. M and I waited for them and thought that they would ride together. We should have known better. Of course K would want to drive his own car.

Little B was not about to sit in the backseat while K drove. He is too little to reach the gas pedal, so B pushed the pedal and little B was able to steer. We had a great day at Silverwood and the boys can't wait to go back.

After Silverwood we went to Montana to see my sister,  T and her family. I love to see our kids play together. They are all close in age and love to hang out together.

I love this picture! T is one of the most laid back people I know. I only remember a couple times of her getting into a huff while we were growing up. She and I can talk and laugh until we're crying. I really thought that it was totally normal for the kids in our family, while growing up, to climb up in the top of the quonset hut and throw little pebbles through the holes onto the cars that were parked and the people inside were making out, on the lake road below us. It was so funny to hear the little pebble hit the windshield or the roof or hood of the car and see the people's heads whip around to see where the noise was coming from. When I tried to talk to T about it, her eyes got big and she asked if I really did that. When I told her yes she about died laughing. She's so saintly that I guess she never did it. It must have just been me and my younger brother, B.  Anyway, I loved being at her house and being able to hang out with her. 

They live about 40 minutes outside of Glacier National Park. We took advantage of them living so close and spent a day there. It's so beautiful! Our kids loved hanging out together.

There are so many beautiful waterfalls and hikes to go on. We all loved being there.

One of the days we were at their house, they took us to a swinging bridge. It was truly terrifying. There was a sign that said five people on the bridge at a time. I was standing there waiting my turn. People got off at the other end, so the group I was going with started across. I was praying the whole time that the bridge wouldn't snap and send me plunging to my death. We had only made it out about five feet when I looked up and noticed a man large in stature starting across the bridge from the other side. As he walked, the bridge started to sway back and forth. I was staring at him like he was a lunatic, because, clearly he was! There were already five people on the bridge. Why did he start to come across?! When he passed me I had to turn sideways so that he could get by. Our five year old niece has no fear and as she walks across this thing, she basically throws her body around to make the bridge swing. What's wrong with people? Just seeing the bridge sent my into an almost hysterical state. Then there are the maniacs that can't count to five or that throw their bodies around to make this death trap swing on purpose. It's not great. That's all I'm saying.

We left their house after a few days and went camping. We had rented a little cabin instead of using our tent.

Staying in this little cabin has forever ruined tent camping. This. Cabin. Was. A-mazing! It had air conditioning and a heater. It had bunk beds, but the bottom was a queen and then it had a futon. So, the fellas shared a bed, M got the top bunk and B and I took the bottom.

There were lights and a table inside. We were able to play games inside at night instead of outside fighting off bugs. We didn't start to bake in the morning like you do in a tent. It was truly a wonderful camping experience. What made it better is that we were the only ones in the entire campground. I had no idea that having an entire campground would fill me with so much joy and happiness, but it really did.

There is a lake at this here state park. Since we were the only ones at the campground, we got to use the dock all day without being in anyone's way.

We found these awesome tubes at Goodwill and these two loved floating around in them. The water was pretty cold, so it was really nice for  them to have something to hold on to.

He wanted nothing to do with full body immersion. B did try it one time hoping that he would get used to it and like it.

This was the result. Not great. Little B was very content to sit on the dock next to me and splash the water with his feet. 

We only camped for two nights and then headed for our last destination. Our final stop was Joseph, Oregon. It's a cute little town with a beautiful lake in the middle. Our plan for Joseph was to see what was there.

We rode the tram to the top of a mountain. At the top we got out and walked around the little trails that were there.

We found a spot where the chipmunks would eat out of their hands. I know that we shouldn't feed wild animals but, it was so cute that we couldn't help ourselves. 

After our tram ride we walked across the street to a miniature golf course and went golfing. 

We loved when this young buck walked onto the golf course. K started laughing and told us that the deer must want to play golf too.

We ended the day by stopping at the lake and throwing rocks in. Our little trip went by too fast and it was hard to come home and get kids ready for school. Even though most of the summer was a total bust, we had a great week together and made so many good memories!