You Don't See That Every Day

Summer is almost over. We've had lots of family time this summer, as I might have mentioned in previous posts. August slipped past us quickly. We started the month with another family picnic, this time on my Dad's side of the family. He is one of two of his family left. We ate, we visited, we played games. This year the games were not the traditional races or feats of strength (3-legged race is brutal). We did some "Minute to Win It" like games instead. Besides the wind blowing the red plastic cups off the tables, it was a fun time. And there were water balloons to throw at my brother in the end. Somehow he got a hold of a few and soaked our dad with them. I'll be surprised to see if he's still in the Will. Little K has her ballet camp again this year. She wasn't so sure she wanted to go back on the second day because her muscles hurt. But she made it through the week and really enjoyed it! We get to see the results when she puts on Shows at ...

Summer is here. Swimming, grilling, and family reunions. Around our area the temps have been in the 90s for awhile. We had a few cooling off days and now the sun is back on full force. In times like these it's nice to have friends with a pool. A couple of Sundays ago, I woke the Mr from his Sunday nap and said get your swim shorts on, we're going!  And we had a very enjoyable, laughter-filled afternoon of swimming and Marco Polo. This past weekend we didn't have a pool, but we had a lot of fun. My niece and nephew, whom we don't get to see often ... I think it may have been 7 years since they were here ... came and stayed with us. We really enjoyed getting to know them again as adults. And my kids loved hanging out with their cousins. We also had a family reunion combined with a 60th Anniversary party for my aunt and uncle. There were so many people there - many I didn't know, even though I recognized their last name. But first, we started the weekend ...

Dear Friend overseas, I haven't been too good at keeping in touch, and I apologize for that. But you know how summer gets around here! Let me catch you up on the month of August at least. I have to do that before I can post back-to-school pictures. The Cousins came to town. We're naming this summer the Summer of the Cousins. In July as I posted earlier, my kids got to hang out with all their paternal cousins - which hasn't happened ...ever. In August we had cousins come to stay at our place. Which involved the necessary trip to the Oregon coast, since it was in the triple digits at home! What a beautiful day it was too! No wind, warm and just about perfect. It also included the traditional damming-of-a-river. Some of them worked hard at it. We had the traditional fare at Mo's restaurant and ended the day with ice cream. We also spent one of the hot afternoons at a local aquatic center. I got up the courage to go down the big twisty slide, but no way ...

"What made your weekend amazing?" That question came on the radio today, and I didn't have to stop long to think of all the great happenings of my past week. But what made it amazing, is the people I was with during the time. Last week was Sports Camp. All five of the kids were involved; the 3 older ones volunteered, and the 2 younger ones attended (and loved it!) So every morning for 3 hours I had no children at home. This has never before occurred in my life. And I thoroughly enjoyed the mini-vacation. Each day I was so thankful for all the workers and volunteers at Sports Camp - without them, my much-needed break would never have happened.  This past weekend I was able to spend time with relatives and friends. On Saturday the Mr. and I got to watch our two girls in their swim meet while my sister took the other 3 to a parade (at which they bagged a ton of candy). Even though my husband had to work the rest of the day, the 2 girls and I made it - late - to the par...

July's adventures were more of the work-on-the-house and the farm-sort of adventures rather than the going-somewhere kind. But we did manage to fit in a trip to the beach.  It was a beautiful, windy, sunny day at the Oregon coast. We took my sister along to one of our favorite places, Pacific City.  The kids ran up and down the huge sand dune, played in the water and got sand throughout their hair, clothes, and crevices. Our youngest even made it to the very top of the giant sand "mountain". (She was so tired, even the next day.) In the past when we have come here, there were not many people. We must have come on the weekdays, because the Sunday we went, it was packed. Look at all the cars on the beach.   There were people all over, except for the little corner we found; it was pretty nice for a picnic and just sitting and relaxing. This past weekend we made it to another family picnic, for my dad's side of the family.Good food, good people, good games, ...