Day Camp Week

It's been camp week around here - Lyndsi went to a Girl Scout Twilight camp last week and Dylan spent the weekend at Cub Scout camp.

Both kids had a blast! I remember attending camps and really not enjoying them.....guess I'm the strange one in my family!

More Pictures!

June 18

If you look to the top right of this picture you'll see a cow moose and 2 calves. We happened upon this trio on our way to the campground. It was fun to watch the m for a while!

June 19

Jeff explaining the scavenger hunt to the kids at the Father's Day camping trip. Dylan and Lyndsi look ready to take on the rest of the kids!

June 20

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

June 21
This is what our laundry hamper SHOULD look like! We're getting there!

June 22

These cacti are all over the desert behind our house. I keep trying to tell everyone that we really do live in a desert!

Just a few pics....

while I'm waiting for the kids to get to bed......

June 13

This is what the laundry basket in our room looks like on the last day of school!

June 14

More quail chicks! These little guys were with their family when we got between them all. It was pretty interesting to watch them - they froze when we started getting close. I got within a foot of them and they didn't even blink! No, I didn't put them in my bathtub this time. We moved out of the way so they could be reunited with their brothers and sisters.

June 15
Lyndsi brought one of her babies to Wal-Mart with us today. I forgot about the doll sitting in the front seat so when I returned to the car and say a baby sitting in the front seat, I had a brief moment of panic!

June 16

Lyndsi was in her tap recital tonight. She is such a cute little dancer!

June 17

Grandma, Nana and Papa came to watch Lyndsi in her dance recital. Couldn't resist this precious shot of Lyndsi and Papa!

Summer Has Begun!

First some pictures of Lyndsi at her dance recital.......

Who says summer is time off from all the craziness??? Every year I wonder when the relaxation is supposed to begin. OK - I do get to go to bed when I want to and I get to get out of bed when I want to but my goodness! There's so much to do! I should have had all my homework done and my classroom cleaned up by now - no such luck! Maybe next week :)

Lyndsi danced in her big, end of the year recital last Wednesday. Nana, Papa and Grandma joined Steve, Dylan and me in the audience. Lyndsi is so grown up! She hardly needed me to get to where she needed to be! Sigh...... her dance was very cute and she was right on in her steps. Next year she wants to take hip hop and tap classes. We'll see!

Happy post Father's Day to all you dads! I have been blessed to have the 2 best fathers in the world in my life - my own father and the father of my children. Love you both!

For the the 4th year in a row we've spent Father's Day weekend in a campground. Last year we were with my parents and my sisters, this year we were with friends. We joined several families we've camped with before for a weekend of boating, marshmallow roasting and music around the campfire. There were 7 families in all - 14 adults and 14 kids. Fun!

Steve and his loves

All the dads and the all the kids


The dads leading a scavenger hunt

And all the moms-

Amanda, Robin, Julia, Jill, Christy, April and Amy

This week Lyndsi will be in a morning art camp and an evening Girl Scout camp. Both kids will go to piano lessons on Tuesday and Dylan will attend his Cub Scout camp this weekend. Told you we haven't relaxed yet!

School Is Officially Out!

All I can say is...."ahhhhhhhhh". Last night we had a lot of people who work for the district at our house eating, drinking and laughing. All were exhausted, relaxed and happy. And our weather is finally starting to act like Okanogan weather. We've been living in Seattle weather for over a month. Our lawns are lush and green and the sage brush is still pretty - all because of the crazy amount of rain we've had! Yesterday, however, the sky was blue and the sun shown all day. Today, too! Ahhh........

June 3

Lyndsi lost another tooth today. She was hit in the mouth by a friend's elbow and her tooth was officially loosened! Her little mouth is full of so many big teeth! Makes me wonder how they'll all fit!

June 4

Today was Grandparent's Day at school and this year Nana and Papa were able to come to the assembly. Both kids' classes performed for all the family members in the crowd. It's not often that the grandparents get to participate in any school activities so this felt extra special.

June 5

This young lady is such a cutie! She works the front desk at the hotel I stay at when I'm in WEnatchee for my Masters classes. She greets me like a friend every time I check in. Don't know her but I love her! Tonight she was leaving early to go bowling and was feeling "girly".

June 6

You've already seen the good pictures from the recital. Here is one where I started to lose my camera batteries. The photo isn't so good but Lyndsi's expression is great!

June 7

Surprise! Grandpa Richard and Teresa came for a quick visit on their way home in Alaska! We had a nice dinner and visit. Don't get to see them much so our brief encounters are nice.

June 8

Once again, I left my photo taking to the end of the day. As I was thinking about what I might take a picture of, I glanced at my dresser where these little handbags are sitting. The painted cigar box was a gift from Erin. I've used it as a purse a couple of times but I prefer to leave it on my dresser as a decoration. The other 4 bags were my grandma's. I love their quaintness and intricate beadwork.

June 9

My friend, Amy, took a darling picture of gnomelike mushrooms in her yard. I thought I might try the same effect - didn't work out quite the same!

June 10

Guess what desks lined up in the hall mean? That's right! School's almost out! Woo hoo!

June 11

And guess what happy kids waving out bus windows means? Yep - school's out for summer!

June 12

Okanogan Farmer's Market - fry bread, coffee, fruit cups and friends. A true staple of summertime in Okanogan.

A Piano Recital - How Could I Forget!

The kids had their first recital last Sunday evening. It's actually Dylan's second recital but there were far more people in the audience this time! My camera's batteries died so I'm thankful to friends who sent me a couple of pictures. I love this black and white!

One More Day!

Everybody sing along! School's out for summer..... Don't get me wrong - I really like being a teacher. But part of what I like about teaching is the nice long break. I get enough sleep, my tensions disappear and I go back to work refreshed. Everyone should be able to do this!

Actually, tomorrow is our last day of school. We are hosting the end of the year bar-b-que for the district again this year. I actually feel somewhat prepared this year! I'm looking forward to relaxing with some of the people I work with and their families.

Last weekend I had a class but Steve and the kids went to Spokane to surprise Linda with a retirement party put on by Barb and the girls. I guess it was truly a surprise to Linda and a lot of fun for her and all her guests. Some day I'll be attending all these events I keep missing because of my Masters classes!

I did learn something exciting when I returned from class on Sunday - we don't have class Stampede weekend! Woo hoo! Everyone who wants to come to Omak/Okanogan come on over! We have a nice backyard perfect for tents - right Erin!

Congratulations to both of my dedicated sisters. Erin found out a couple of weeks ago that she has earned entrance to nursing school. This is huge! There's quite a lot of competition so I'm proud of her!

Robyn and Kim completed their bike ride for the Team In Training fund raiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society at Lake Tahoe. If I remember right, they rode 80 miles in one day. Wow! Some day I'd like to be able to say I accomplished something of that magnitude. Robyn personally raised almost $5000 all on her own! Way to go, sisters!

My parents continue to trek to Seattle every three weeks or so. They know the route by heart! They did take a week long Alaskan cruise in May and had a beautiful experience. It's been fun listening to their stories.

I'm still not caught up on my daily picture posts but here are a few more.

May 29

I've never seen a mushroom grow indoors until now! We've had a lot of wet weather lately and one of my houseplants decided it didn't like that! The plant died and this funky mushroom started growing from the soil. You can't tell from the photo but it was big! Yuck!

May 30

The kids were beat! We had a great Memorial Day bar-b-que at the O'Connors house on Sunday. The kids were so tired, this is how we found them when we came inside. We left soon after!

May 31

On a jaunt to Wal Mart, the sun tried to peek through the rain clouds. It created this pretty ray over the hills.

June 1
Hmmm....I'm thinking the Blizzard may become overtaken as my favorite ice cream treat! This little nummer is 8 oz of joy! The M&M McFlurry is darn good and much less expensive than it's fancier competitor!

June 2

I love my sconce planter! Amy gave this to us when we moved to our current house. I love the look of it when I stuff it with sphagnum moss and bold annuals. It greets anyone who comes to the front door.

A Few to Tide Us Over

It's been a busy few weeks and I'm tired! But what fun we've had. I don't have time tonight to post all my daily pictures but here are a few to tide everyone over until Ican get the rest posted.

May 24

Who knew that a quick trip to WalMart could provoke such smiles! I ran to WalMart to pick up some groceries and the kids spotted these outfits. When I agreed to purchase them, you would have thought I'd given them a new puppy!

May 25

Such tiny fingers! This is baby Jake. What a precious bundle of love!

May 26

I've always gotten a chuckle out of this sign! Had to take the picture!


May 27
More babies! I have a handful of baby quail..... The kids found these tiny creatures while playing in the back. By the time I could tell them to leave them alone, the parents had abandoned them. We started with 6 but they were so small that they just got weaker and weaker.

May 28

Lucy was helping me water my flowers!

I'm sure I have lots of stories to tell but I'm so brain tired that I can't even think of one right now! Maybe tomorrow.....