Six Lakes

After sending Millie off to Las Vegas we loaded up and headed up to Six Lakes. This was truly one of the funnest places we've ever gone! We had a huge cabin, our own private lake filled with fish and lots of family to share it with! I even caught my first fish! We rowed and canoed on the lake, the kids had tons of fun swimming and caught lots and lots of crawdads! This is defiantly something we will be planning to do again!

Our cabin, the "Loon"

My first fish!

Me and Ian right before I had to throw him overboard. He kept standing and tipping the canoe so I  made him swim.

The boys catching crawdads

We don't usually send our four year old out in the canoe by himself! Funny story, he wanted to go out with grandma but she is a little afraid of water so aunt Missy said she'd take him. A few minutes later this is what we see, Owen in the boat by himself...

...and aunt Missy, fulling clothed, including sneakers, swimming and pushing the boat along.  Being the great auntie that she is she sacrificed her self when the boat began to tip and then pushed the boat (and Owen) to the shore.

More crawdads. They were everywhere.

That didn't deter Owen from jumping in though!

Melissa had planned to take her family horseback riding so Ian and I tagged along. They wouldn't let us ride the same horse and since Ian can really ride a horse by himself they gave him a quick ride. And I do mean quick. He rode about 20 feet before jumping off and saying "I'm done. Thanks"

Really so much fun! I think I already have our friends Suzanne an Richie talked into go with us next year! can't wait!

Tremaine

This year I decided to let Millie attend a dance competition/convention called Tremaine. The only problem? It was in Las Vegas. And, it was the same weekend as an already planned and paid for family trip to a cabin. It was really important to Millie (and to her team) to attend and luckily I had some good friends that were willing to let her tag along. She had a lot of fun, worked hard and did some awesome dancing (so I am told!). Here are some pictures courtesy of Laci an Tricia.

Her team really good placing 1st in one dance and tying for 1st in the other. There were a few melt downs and tears and I felt really bad that I wasn't there to help with that but next year I am planning on it for sure!

Big rock family campout

Posting in September about a camping trip that happened in July? Oh the shame! Still, I don't dare skip over our summer happenings so there will be lots of catching up to do here!


The middle of July we had our annual big rock family camp out. This year was a little strange as not many were able to make it. Some came but stayed at a hotel, others came only for a day (or a few hours in some cases). Even Adam was gone to Alaska during this time. It was still a lot of fun and something we look forward to every year.

 
My Dad was such a huge help to me, I never would have been able to do it without him. The kids had a lot of fun bonding with grandpa!! We had to head out early Saturday so we could pick Adam up from the airport but we found time to stop and play in the SNOW! That's right snow in July! No wonder we froze our little tushies off!

Computer woes

A few weeks ago Adam transferred all my favorite stuff onto an external hard drive and then proceeded to wipe our computer clean. Pictures, links, programs all gone. Not a problem right? I mean they're backed up on that external hard drive. Except, we can get that hard drive to work. I am completely lost without my favorite blogs (you know, the ones I didn't officially follow cause I'm just a blalker), my favorite links, my recipe sites, my PHOTOS! Sigh. Time to do some surfing and saving.

I haven't given up on this blog

I really do look forward to daily (or at least weekly) posting time. I'm still trying to get in the swing of things. My new schedule is very different but affords many opportunities for a little free time for me. I just need to figure it all out. I do have lots to catch you up on. What, all of July and August? Wow. What a slacker I've become. Just a little, out of order, taste of what's going on in our house. The most exciting thing to happen in awhile....The first day of school!!

my baby, Starting kindergarten

The incredibly cool and collective 8th grader

absolutely beautiful 4th grader

The always active 6th grader

Wow, I feel so old! All my kids in school! What a fun, exciting yet somehow sad milestone! On to the next stage of my life!

Happy back-to-school Eve!

Some people are sad to see summer end and school start again. There are even those who will miss having their kids around. NOT ME! I love my kids, I really do! It's just, well, spend a day at my house and you will see why I am just giddy about school starting again! It's almost like Christmas!! Most of the charter schools in our area started back today and I feel totally jipped! I am ready for it now! Oh well though. Less than 24 hours until my freedom, my schedule back, my life a little less chaotic. I think I can, I think I can....

Counting down

It's been a rough week for me. Monday started of great with John Jay and Shannon taking turns with Ian and Owen so I could stay home and clean. Millie was still in Las Vegas and Matthais was at scout camp and it was an AMAZING day! Really, one of the best days of summer. Lame huh? With the kids (Ian) home it's been almost impossible to get anything done and the chaos of the house was starting to get to me. I got a lot accomplished but there is still plenty to do. I planned on finishing Tuesday while Ian was at school but it never happened. It was just a really crappy day. Wednesday pretty much sucked as well. And today, well, lets just say, I'm done. There is exactly 26 days until school starts and I am on the countdown. This summer has gone by pretty fast and for the most part it's been ok, until this week. Bring on the structure. Bring on the early bedtimes. Bring on the kids being at school all day. I am READY!