BBQ with a Bang

Leave it to me to plan our first ever "All-Come CCF BBQ" on the first day of the summer in which it absolutely POURS down rain. But, I think it added to the fun - as there was a bit of adventure in trying to stay dry while staying outside. There was a super built-in entertainment system with the thunder and lightening that God provided - outstanding.

Kaela provided the pictures, and I just had to start with a close-up of this pic of the flowers I've worked very hard to preserve this summer. No need to water them today.

From left to right: Kate, Kara, Me, Laurel, and Charlotte

The trampoline was a big draw, at least before the rain began:





A sample of the spread that we had. We asked folks to bring a side/dessert to share, so we ended up with a ton of leftovers.

John looking very fun, preparing the teriyaki chicken-


Cassie (who's down here for the weekend from Salem), Mikayla, and photographer-extraordinaire, Kaela


Once the rain began, it was NOT to be ignored, so we moved the table out and tried to usher as many people as we could under the canopy



The kiddos, with the prompting of Emily, decided to absorb the rainfall - and then come and give us all hugs. I wisely declined.



Eventually, the rain subsided long enough for s'more-making to happen.





Much of the crowd wisely chose to kick it indoors......


Cyrus, who just tore out his knee this week =(, and John


Don't turn your head now, Brad, Kaela is not going to stop until she beats you in Wii Tennis


Later in the afternoon, Emily (far right) taught Mikayla and Mallory the moves to Miley Cyrus' "Hoe Down Throw Down"



Checking out the pics of the day.......


New friends we just made today, Kristen and Mallory - and Becca (who brought cherry pie - from cherries she'd picked from the tree, and a lattice crust she'd made herself).

"This is F-U-N-N-N-N-N!"

Forgive the redundancy of these boating pictures. But, yesterday was special - as Traig proclaimed, "This is F-U-N-N-N-N-N!"

Every kid that made an attempt (meaning everyone except for Ellie) got up on the wakeboard!!!! So cool.... Traig really got the knack of it, and is going to give Brayden a run for his money in terms of tricks and skills. Funny how Brayden had the longest run ever just as soon as it was his turn after Traig!

Ellie, not to be left out of the thrill-seeking, was the ultimate dare-devil on the intertube. She LOVES going out with boys and is perma-grin the entire time.

Despite the fact that the sun didn't come out until one o'clock (glad we had blankets), it was an exceptional time on the lake. Lots of glass, very few boats - and best of all - a ton of happy smiles.

The only regret: forgetting John's camera (again). So forgive the poor-res images, they were taken from my cell phone:

Meanwhile.....

This is what the boys are busy doing.....

Yes, they are still in their pj's, yes they both are in the double digit ages.....but, that's them, merry as can be, playing in the sand box.

Wallowing with Lucky Charms

I'm currently sitting on one of our bar stools, working on my second bowl of dry Lucky Charms. I'm wallowing. Pouting. Avoiding Reality.

It's Friday, the sun is shining, we still have over half the summer to go, but at this moment in time I'm just not feeling it. Michele and the kids leave tomorrow, we host a major bbq on Sunday, and I'm just not excited to take on the world again.

Aren't I a baby? I mean, really, if this is what I have to complain about, I AM PATHETIC. But, a certain "escapism" overcomes me when Michele and the kids are around, and anticipating the end of that has me down.

Wah, wah, wah...........

Reaching the Summit

The typical routine this week has been this:
7:15 (or so) - Wake up, wake the girls up, get breakfast, pack lunches
8:20 (or so) - Drop girls off at Harlow
8:30 - Do some sort of physical work-out (we've been to the gym, walked around the river, etc.)
10:00 - Return to the house to find boys still asleep or having just woke up..... (yes, every day this week!)

Today, we mixed it up a bit by doing our work-out at Spencer's Butte. Sydney set the pace and she was a grueling trainer, I definitely got my heart rate up. Once we reached the top, we caught our breath, drank some water, and then had our annual "Hiking Prayer Time". Very few things equal this type of worship for me - the beauty of nature, a repentant heart, and being with one of the two people who know every little intimate detail about me.

The hike wasn't nearly as remote as we would have ideally desired, and the prayer time was much shorter than we would have wanted, but it was a pretty inspiring way to start the day, nonetheless.

Old School

There's a big trend in water sports AWAY from skiing. It's old school - especially with two skis. But, it happens to be John and Michele's favorite way to travel behind the boat (slalom) and last night they got the chance.

It was Michele's friend (and ours too), Melissa's, annual trip out on the boat. Her birthday is on Saturday, so this was our gift to her.

The kids were a little disappointed that this was all they got to do - they will be out on Saturday for a family run - so we'll pull out the intertube then for them.


Melissa did an outstanding job strutting her stuff on the wakeboard!


Michele was definitely on cloud nine - the water went from pretty choppy to glass as the evening progressed - you just can't get that grin off of her face when she's out.


John loves driving the boat, so it takes some primo conditions for him to be nudged into the water. Because of that, sometimes I forget just how great he is. He skis SO FAST across the wake, and leans over so much to create such huge rooster tails - it's crazy.


Here's my handsome hubby with the sun setting in the background


You gotta love this smile on Traig-


Finally, check out that glass.....

So Long, Girls!

And, they are off! Ok, maybe just for the daytime hours, but off nonetheless. Oh how Michele and I love these weeks - weeks where some (or all) of our kids are at camp so that means she gets to spend the week with me. It is a very happy week for all.

This week, just the girls are at camp, so Traig and Brayden stay at home. The new twist to this is that they are old enough to be left alone for limited time periods - which means we have freedom (as do they). For two days in a row, the boys have stayed up until midnight and slept in past 10am. The boys are happy dudes - playing on the game systems, the trampoline (when we are around), and today they got to watch a repeat showing of "Transformers 2" with us. (Trying to give them some extra fun too). Good times....

Here are the girls with their counselors, Storm and Olive - they are so sweet.


Finally, a picture of them with "Dave the Wave" - the camp director and a very wonderful friend to us.

Mikayla brought a camera- (an old digital one, that I think still works) and is happy taking pictures - so I'll do another post, through the eyes of Mikayla, at the end of the week.

St. Paul Rodeo

Had we not...... parked a half mile away not knowing that there were parking spots closer
Had we not...... arrived with too little time to get our food, ride the rides, and find our seats
Had it not...... been in the mid-90's, causing me to sweat like crazy
Had it not...... been like the entire county fair crammed into one-fifth of the room, complete with the same size of crowds
Had I not...... been so obsessed with getting the RIGHT kind of Elephant Ear that it caused a major fight between John and I
Had we not...... know that Brayden only wanted to play the Carnie games vs. ride the rides, thus wasting us $10
Had we not...... been seated just one row from the very top row, underneath the roof making fireworks viewing impossible...........

We might consider returning to St. Paul's Rodeo next year. But, given all of those little obstacles, I think we'll still be on the hunt for the ideal Fourth of July Family Tradition in 2010.

Fortunately, the group decided to NOT spend the entire day in St. Paul and instead we got a leisurely start - sleeping in and having a complete repeat of the Third's meal at noon with the Schillings and Whites.

We took our time getting out of town, leaving Syd with Mom and Dad as fireworks are VERY unsettling to her. The Whites rode with us, we parted ways the Schillings, headed to the outlets, and had a lot of fun checking out the sidewalk sale. My favorite moment of the day was probably sharing Mikayla's first grape soda, walking along, telling her to remember this day when she ever tastes grape soda again.

Things turned a little sour when we encountered the mayhem at St. Paul. It was just too overwhelming, and without having had any previous experience, I felt majorly out of control, which is a bit of a recipe for disaster for my personality type. Throw in feeling responsible for suggesting this idea in the first place.... and yeah, I'll admit, the melt down over the Elephant Ear was a little bit ridiculous. (John would say a lot ridiculous!).



The rodeo itself was good, but the animals scored much more than the riders. There was a lot of "no scores". Personally, I think the Sisters Rodeo had more of a personal, special feel to it.




But, all in all - it was a new adventure. And, as we pulled off the side of the country road, all seated in the car to watch the fireworks set out from the rodeo, laughing about the antics of the day, I'm glad we did it. But, I'm open for ideas for 2010........

Independence Eve

Happy Independence Eve everyone! This night on the calendar has become a very fun tradition over the years. Because our close friends all had differing plans on the actual "Fourth", we concocted a "night before" celebration - complete with a lot of food, campfire, and fireworks in the street. It has become one of my all time favorite days of the year.

John's busy snapping a ton of pictures, so this post will be a work in progress. Now that I've successfully purchased more storage and have figured how to access it, I'll be "back-posting" about our adventures of the week. The week has been a bit of a kick in the pants in terms of lots of silly activities.

But, as for today - we ended up at the pool, this time with a rare opportunity for Michael to be a part of the fun (he had today off in honor of the holiday). Actually, even Travis and Stephie dug up some old guest passes and graced us with their presence. Good times, the only bummer was that John had to work today.....=(

Note in this first picture, Michele almost being pushed in by her hubby.....



Now, on to the food.....
Here's a shot of the bbq ribs, I'll tell you, I don't do anything special with these Costco purchases, but something about boiling them ahead of time and the 6-7 minutes of broiling choice bbq sauce on each side always earns me a ton of praise. I'll take it, but there's not a lot of skill involved. They are indeed part of the reason I'm stuffed!

"John-Friendly" Fruit Salad. John is allergic to all things citrus, so often any fruit salad is off limits for him...


And, finally, the dogs both got into the act - apparently the Whites didn't feel like Bogey deserved to attend the party.....(I think they are about to go get him as I'm making them feel guilty)


Some final pics of the festivities.....

Corvallis Water Park

Because the week just wasn't chock-full enough of fun activities, Michele felt it necessary to throw in something more. "Come meet me at the Osborne Aquatic Center, Puleaze?!"

I'm a sucker, especially when I'm wanting the house to stay clean for an upcoming party, and wanted to keep my kids from arguing with each other (which seems to be the mode of interaction between them when they are not otherwise engaged in activities), I said, "yes". The day was made sweeter upon finding out that "Stephietoo" would be joining us as well (and riding up and back with me).

The day was very hot, so that meant the place was very crowded - but it also meant I had no hesitation in jumping in the water along with the kids. I forgot my camera, so I had to depend on my cell for pictures. These were the only two that really turned out, highlighting Stephanie's relaxation, and Michele making Brayden laugh by detailing the story of a stranger's "wardrobe malfunction" that took place in the Lazy River. Way to corrupt him, Aunt Chele!


Check mark to another great summer day!