Ahhh....summer...

Max and Dylan leading the way

What a fun summer day we had! We started the morning with a bike ride in the mountains. We, along with The Cheeseman family, rode a 5.5 mile loop in the snow park on the Loup. Loup Loup Ski Bowl is our local ski hill. The snow park is across Highway 20 from the Ski Bowl and has groomed cross country skill trails in the winter. In the summer, the trails are perfect for hiking and biking. Dylan was thrilled with the whole experience and wants to do it again. Lyndsi had fun, too, but got bored a little sooner than the rest of us. She had the prime seat in the bike trailer!

Princess Lyndsi!

We had lunch at the ice cream shop in Okanogan and then the kids and the big boys (aka - the dads) floated the Okanogan river and played in the water for a couple of hours. Amy and I chose to forego the floating of the river for water aerobics in the local pool. I've been several times but this was Amy's first visit. It feels so good to stay cool while working out!

I finished painting the living room and hallway last night so today was my day away. Now I have to put everything away - tomorrow!

Campout

The kids camped out last night - just in our backyard but it was as exciting as going camping! Dylan and neighbor, Karina started making plans for their big night out at about 11:00 yesterday morning. They wrote lists for what they would need and an itinerary for the occasion, complete with a craft project! Karina and Ana came over at about 8:00 pm and then the fun began. If I remember right, the night started with a trip to the park, home for cookies and milk, decopauge rocks and then books in the tent. Lyndsi came in to sleep in her own bed at about 10:00 and when I checked on the rest of the kids at 11:30 they were sound asleep! Apparently, Ana had read a chapter of her book that put Karina and Dylan to sleep! Keep in mind, though, that Ana is almost a teenager and the other 2 are still young 'uns! I think I heard movement from outside at about 5:30 this morning. After a quick breakfast, the 3 final campers took a hike in the "desert" and then came in for morning cartoons. All without adult help - except to let us know what they were doing. We'll do it again some time.

And back to .... "ROAD TRIP 2008!" We are on to our last planned big event of the trip. Leaving Spearfish, SD we drove towards Cody, WY where we would spend the night before emabarking on our Yellowstone adventure. I'm in love with Wyoming! Our drive took us up and up and up into the Bighorn Mountains. We drove through beautiful prairies filled with wildflowers and rocky ledges of granite. We stopped at a little campground to stretch our legs and discovered nature at its best. Apparently it had been raining for most of the morning so everything was green and lush. Sibley Lake was a rich copper color and the sky was just turning blue. Pictures don't do it justice! This was one of those drives where you are happy to be alive and everything puts you in a state of awe.

Sibley Lake in the Bighorn Mountains

Cody, Wyoming

Cody reminded me of a classy Omak. The Cody Stampede was in full swing so we felt like we were home! The town is very cute and everyone was in a good mood. Our neighbors at our hotel were biking (motorcycles) from Olympia, WY to their home in Sheridan, WY and had spent one of the previous nights in Okanogan. Small world!

The next day was the scheduled day for Cody's 4th of July parade and we barely made it out of town before the city blocked all the streets! Good thing because we needed all the time we could get in Yellowstone National Park. Our first stop was Old Faithful. We got to the geyser about 15 minutes before he blew and stayed long enough to see him blow again! Old Faithful blows his stop about every 92 minutes or something like that. We walked the boardwalk trails and grabbed a quick snack at Old Faithful Lodge. Though enjoyed Old Faithful, my favorite part of this particular stop was Castle Geyser. As we approached the geyser, we could see spurts of steam and droplets of water puffing from its opening. There was also a large crown sitting on the benches just waiting for more. We continued around the geyser and Lyndsi and I stopped to read a little about it. A posted sign said that it was "possible" that the geyser would erupt between 1:30 and 4:30 that day. Only "possible" because this geyser was not a regular erupter. We continued on the boardwalk and what do you know - that geyser gave us a show! Everyone was oohing and awing and waving and cheering. Like I said, this wasn't a predictable geyser. The other amazing fact about the Castle Geyser is that it can blow water (or whatever the mixture is!) for up to 20 minutes! We watched for several minutes, took some pictures and walked a little further and it was still going! I was excited!

Dylan and Old Faithful

This little guy wanted a snack from Dylan's brown bag! He followed us for several feet and came close enough to get his nose in the bag. He gave up when he realized we weren't going to feed him!

Yellostone River - check out the puffs of steam all the way down the river!

Castle Geyser - what luck!

We drove north from Old Faithful to Mammoth Hot Springs. Along the way we had numerous encounters with the larger wildlife of Yellowstone. Lots of elk and bison and even a wolf! All I saw were some ears poking up from the grass but Steve saw the whole head through the binoculars. Huge head! This made Steve's whole trip!

A fly fisherman was trying his luck about 20 feet away from this elk. They were both watching each other very carefully!

And check out this big guy! He didn't seem to mind the traffic jam he was causing!

Mammoth Hot Springs was a bit disappointing. I seem to remember lots of liquid flowing down several terraces but that's not the case anymore. There are still terraces but no water. At least not enough to flow down the side of the hill. It was still worth the drive but not as exciting as I'd hoped.

We stayed that night on the west side of the park in West Yellowstone. Another cute but overly touristy town. But, we did have the most comfortable sheets in our little family owned hotel! AND they had big, fluffy white towels - better than any I've ever used! The next morning was the 4th of July and we were pretty pleased with ourselves for getting out of town by 8. Pleased until we arrived at a road block outside of Ennis, MT. Look it up on a map and you'll see that there is only one road through town. Guess what! Parade! And they weren't letting anyone through until the parade was over! No exceptions!

What can you do? Enjoy the parade! I felt like this was the perfect way to spend the 4th. We were in the heart of America, in a small town watching a parade. All the kids were dressed for the holiday in red, white and blue and everyone was in the spirit of the event. The parade lasted about 2 hours so we got to know the people sitting around us pretty well! The funny thing was that they were all stranded motorists, too! The locals we did talk to were friendly and appreciative of our willingness to enjoy ourselves.

Despite our delay we still made good time and got to Spokane by about 6:00, tired but happy. The kids were excited to be somewhere familiar and Steve was just happy to have a bed! No fireworks this year but we felt, somehow, that we really didn't need them.

Finally!

Whew - eee! It's bedtime! But I had to share my new slideshow with you! All the old pictures have been deleted and I've added all new photos. Some were posted on the blog at one point and some were not! Enjoy!

On To More Excitement

We now leave South Bend (In case you didn't pick up on this, I'm talking about Road Trip '08!) and head towards Yellowstone. We stayed in Wisconsin the night we left IN and then drove to the Badlands of South Dakota the next day. What great views and beautiful geology! We drove through the park and took several short hikes, including a fossil hike where several fossils were displayed alongside the boardwalk. I remember being HOT on this day!

On the road again and a much needed break at Wall Drug - of course! What a crazy place. Every souvenir you could ever want! Couldn't resist the picture of the kids and Steve with one of the locals!

Our final destination for the day was a stop at Mount Rushmore. Very cool! I know, that statement is not very forceful but "Awesome" sounds so 80's ish! Anyway, I enjoyed Mount Rushmore. I was a bit disappointed that we couldn't get closer to the face of the mountain but the trails were very accessible and informational.

I think the most fun part of this trip was watching the kids and sharing their excitement in all the new and historical sites. I hope they continue with this curiosity. Everything we do is an adventure because of their excitement!

My Own Little Reality Show

So, I stopped for lunch today at a little luncheon cafe in town and spoke with the cashier. She is a graduate of Okanogan so I know her and her family. What a surprise when she said, "It sounds like you had a great time on your trip!" Now, I figured she had talked to Steve and he told her all about it. I couldn't figure out when Steve had seen her but I didn't dwell on that. Then, lo and behold, she told me she read my blog! Wow! I knew there were readers out there but so many of you are so quiet about it! I know my writing isn't author quality but I sure enjoy sharing my life with everyone. Somehow it makes my life seem better when I hit on all the highlights every few days. Don't get me wrong. I DO have a good life and I AM happy. But we all know life gets us down occasionally and it's so easy to look at other people and wish for their lives. Anyway, I guess what I'm saying is that this blog has turned into my way of helping me to remember my life's blessings. All this philosophical thinking just because I talked to a former student! Thanks, Ashley and thanks to those of you who have left comments or emailed or spoken to me in person about my blog!

I started today with a 6 mile bike ride in the hills nearby. A few friends from work were going out and they invited me along. Since I haven't ridden a bike in many, many years, I was a bit apprehensive but I had a blast! I worked hard and I felt like my heart and lungs were about to burst out of my chest but I didn't have any pain on my knees! That rarely happens when I exert myself physically! THEN - I joined one of those same ladies for water aerobics at the city pool this evening. More fun! I've been looking for a water aerobics class since I moved here! I discovered that it is possible to sweat in the water!

So back to Road Trip '08 - Chicago was exciting but it was time to move on to a different leg of our jouney. On June 27th we left the big city for a somewhat smaller city in Indiana. Amber was getting married in South Bend, home of Notre Dame. I'm embarassed to say that we spent the whole weekend in South Bend and didn't get to the Notre Dame campus!

Anyway, our family was invited to the rehearsal dinner so we checked into the hotel and, after the kids and Steve swam and I went to the rehearsal, we headed out to Tippecanoe Place. This was a beautiful old house that has been made into an elegant restaurant. The home is on the National Registry of Historic Places and it was originally owned by a member of the Studebaker family. This leg of the family was into acquiring electric companies and were cousins of the car Studebakers.

Dinner was yummy and it was fun to get our first glimpses of Amber's new life and new family and to also reunite with Amber, her folks and Ivy, Amber's friend from Spokane. It was also fun catching fireflies again!

Then, on Saturday, it was my turn to swim with the kids while Steve searched out a laundromat. What a good man! It was also wedding day! The kids and I handed out programs and bubbles and then I helped with the timing of the bridal party walk down the aisle. The most stressful part of the ceremony was when I got up to do a reading - there was no podium to hide behind! But the wedding wasn't about me, it was all about Amber and Jason and their happiness so I was pleased to oblige.

The ceremony was lovely and the reception was fun and I liked participating in the beginning of Amber's life with Jason. The kids were so proud of their jobs and were so intrigued by the rituals of a wedding. They couldn't wait to start dancing and would have stayed on the dance floor all night had Steve not taken them off to bed!

Tippecanoe Place - South Bend, IN

Jason and Amber Elledge amidst the bubbles!

Lyndsi and Dylan watching the first dance. They were sitting on the edge of the dance floor.

I think I've finally settled into a summer routine -

Sleeping in, knowing I should get something accomplished but preferring to sit outside and read a magazine, staying up late and eating too much. Yep, I've got it down...


Actually, I did go through a few days of laziness but I've finally unpacked and put away everything from our trip, weeded the garden (The weeds were more abundant than the food producing plants!), taken the kids to the lake and went to see Wall E. Cute movie by the way - good lesson about taking care of ourselves and the earth! I do tend to sleep later than I'd like but we sure have a comfy bed!


Steve was in Pullman all weekend with the soccer team so I took the kids to Shawn and Kendal's cabin on Lake Chelan yesterday. They have a cute place right on the lake. It's about 15 miles from the town of Chelan so away from the bulk of the crowds. I enjoyed sitting on the dock while the kids swam and fished. Shawn took us for a ride in the boat and then fixed us some yummy chicken on the barby! Needless to say, we were all exhausted last night!


So, back to Chicago - if I remember right, I left you all with me yearning over Johnny Depp. Well, we spent the next morning at the Museum of Science and Industry. My dad told us that he has fond memories of visitng this museum as a kid so we had to go see what he was talking about. The coal mine exhibit was the reason he became a mining engineer. This was a great museum! Huge! We saw everything from career inspiring coal mines to real submarines to corn fields and cars. There was even a miniature doll house exhibit. I recommend this museum to everyone!


So, after the museum we decided to leave our car in its free parking spot and take the bus to Navy Pier (remember this snippet...). On the bus we met a nice couple who were originally from Chicago and were back there on vacation. They told us to get off the bus at Marshall Fields department store. They said to walk in and just look up. Here is what we saw....



Holy canoli! The building was 12 or 13 stories high and this flag went the total height. Very impressive! Our detour had us walking further than we had planned and Lyndsi really struggled but we made it to Navy Pier! Thank heavens for public fountains that you can run through! Dylan and Lyndsi loved this one! They didn't even mind being wet through dinner.

There were several statues at the entrance to the Pier. This one caught our eyes. What a sweet sentiment - kids playing that game where they run around in a chain and try to whip the kids off the end. My own children didn't quite see the sweetness of the sentiment but they sure enjoyed climbing over the poor kids!

And then we ran into this ugly little sweet thing right on the pier. His friendly owners let us take his picture! Nope he will never get any hair! I think he was a Hairless Chihuahua.

Lyndsi rode this carrousel while Dylan played a squirting boat game. Then both kids and I rode the ferris wheel. Steve wasn't too keen on this so he stayed on the ground!

Check out the view from the ferris wheel! The wheel went around slowly so I could take in the sights.

And then there's even a picture of Steve and I together! Wow! Navy Pier was a fun break from the walking around town and we had fun just goofing off.

So, remember when I told you to remember the snippet about leaving our car in its free spot? Well, as it turns out, we were too late to catch our bus back to the museum. Apparently, that bus only runs during daylight hours and we were trying to catch it at about 9:00. So our free spot turned into a $25.00 cab ride!

Our Chicago adventure didn't end there! Once we got to our dark and abandoned car, we then had to figure out how to get out of town so we could get to our hotel. There was a bit of a miscommunication between Steve and I and we went straight on a road that we should have gotten off of! We ended up in South Chicago, which is not where you want to be at nearly 11:00. Especially if you are a white family riding in a minivan with WA plates. You get the picture. If I hadn't been so uptight, I think I would have liked to have gawked a little more than I did! I was amazed at the number of small children who were out and about. Actually, there were more people out and about than there had been earlier in the day, the first time we got lost! We even tried following a policeman until he got a call and took off on us! All I could think of was taking a wrong turn and ending up as a tragedy on the national news! At one point, I heard what sounded like gunshots. When I said as much to Steve, he, rather tersley, pointed out the shooter! Yikes!

Fortunately, our adventure has a happy ending and we made it back to our hotel safe and sound. And while I do not like to be put into those unsafe situations without warning, I was intriqued by the tenemants and the lifestyle surrounding them. Somewhere along the trip we passed an elementary school and I couldn't help but wonder about the lives of the students who attended.

Awww - Sunny Okanogan!

Yep, we're home! We've been home for a couple of days now and the coming home chores have been overwhelming! I neglect them every chance I get! I did start the laundry today and got a few more things put away but..... that's it!

The kids are taking swimming lessons and Dylan had his second riding lesson. They both have had playdates and Max spent the night on Tuesday. They've caught up on their chores!

These are the pictures from Dylan's first lesson on June 18th. The kids all start with a sidewalker and a leader (who holds the lead rope) and progress to riding on their own. Dylan did this week's lesson with just a sidewalker.

Look at this happy face!

Steve is spending the weekend with the soccer team. They will be competing in a tournament/camp in Pullman. The kids and I will be hanging out at home - I might even get my suitcase unpacked! I was supposed to spend Saturday scrapbooking with some friends but instead I will be taking the kids to Chelan to Kendal and Shawn's lake cabin. Which reminds me - I'd better call them to confirm!

So - back to our road trip. From Menomonie we headed towards Chicago with a quick stop in Green Bay and Lambeau Field. Yes, home of the Packers and congretating place of the Cheeseheads! We have several diehard fans in the family and among our friends so we couldn't resist a stop at the Atrium.

Dylan is a fan! I told him I'd buy him some great flannel sleep shorts covered in Packers helmets but he wanted this instead. Hmm....

Our destination from Green Bay was Chicago but we spent one more night on the road before getting there. We arrived in Chicago on Wednesday afternoon and went straight to Lincoln Park. We read that the zoo in Lincoln Park was free so we wanted to take advantage of that! Wow! I was so impressed! When I heard that there was a free zoo, I figured we'd spend an hour or so checking out the 10 or 15 animals in their dinky cages and then move on. I was so wrong about the Lincoln Park Zoo! We spent about 3 hours wandering through the zoo admiring the animals and the beautiful setting. And yes, the zoo is indeed free!

We happened upon this pretty little pond in the park. I think it was called the Lilypad Pond. It was so peaceful. You couldn't even hear the traffic from the city.

When we first arrived at the park, I noticed a group of trailers and trucks in the parking lot across from us. Using my fabulous powers of deduction I've aquired through being just plain nosy, I assumed that a movie was being filmed in the park. My assumption was confirmed when I saw the Universal Studios logo on the trucks. (Holy canoly I used some smart sounding words!) Anyway, on our way back to the car, I noticed a group of girls hanging out on the sidewalk and, being nosy but darned shy about it, I sent Steve over to find out what they were waiting for. Johnny Depp! They were waiting for Edward Scissorhands, for the 21 Jump Street toughy! I was across the street from one of my favorite actors and didn't even know it! I couldn't convince Steve to hang out with the girls so I settled for just knowing that I saw someone who saw Johnny that day. Sigh - it's just not same.....

It's Late!

Ooops! i just noticed the time! Actually, we head home today! After I go to bed that is!

More Vacation Photos

We head for home tomorrow and I think we are all anxious. We reunited with Ruthie today. The kids were so excited. Both of them wanted to be the first to actually see her. Lyndsi has been asking how many days until we see Ruthie again since about day 2! She would often ask me, "Do you think Ruth is scared without us there?" "Can you wait to see Ruthie, Mom?" and so on....

The reunion occured in my parents' front yard. Linda and Rod brought Ruth with them when they came for the bar-b-que my mom and dad were hosting. Amber's parents and our family friends, Bill and Nancy and Lee and Kathy came as well. Erin was even able to get off of work a bit early and join us for most of the evening also so we all enjoyed ourselves tremendously.

This morning we hopped in the car once more to take a quick drive to Loon Lake where 2 of Steve's cousins and their families were visiting. Steve's aunt and uncle live on the lake so we spent several hours enjoying the families and playing in the water. Both kids experienced the joy of riding a wave runner (jet ski?) with dad and Steve claims to fear both of their daredevil giggles as he tore around the lake with them. I even took a very short ride! Dylan played with Ryan and Lyndsi jumped off the dock with Katie. Chase wasn't too keen on the water but he wanted to be where the action was so he put his little toes in, too!

The Streeter/Poole/Evans cousins

So back to our trip....As I'm sure I mentioned many times, our first big stop was Menomonie, WI to visit my grandma and my aunt, uncle and cousins. I know I wrote about this already so I won't rewrite all my words but I do want to post a few pictures.

Dylan showing Grandma his bison bracelet.

The Streeter/Cunningham/Spradley cousins minus Samantha who was in bed!

Before arriving in WI we stayed in Jamestown, ND. Jamestown is famous for its white buffalo which my grandpa told us about many years ago. Apparently there is a small herd of bison and one of the herd is an albino. Her name is White Cloud (I think!). She gave birth to a bison who is not white and he, in turn, sired a bison who IS white. I don't remember her name but she is the little gal we saw with all the brown bison in the field that day. This was a pretty big event for Dylan who bought himself a bison bracelet to commemorate the visit.

The bison herd in Jamestown, ND

More soon.....

We're Back in the State...

but not quite home. 4000 miles, 200 pictures, 14 days and it really doesn't matter how many dollars because it was really quite priceless! We are in Spokane tonight and tomorrow night so we can Costco shop and regroup. My parents are having a bar-b-que tomorrow so we'll get to see a couple of old friends as well as Steve's mom and Rod. We are anxious to finally be home but also enjoying being with my parents for a couple of days.

I have included some pictures this time. Finally! Bear with me, though, because I'm too tired to do this all at once so I'll chronologically add a few pics at a time and hopefully giving you the nutshell version of Streeter Road Trip 2008.

These pictures were taken on the second day of our trip. We stopped for a picnic lunch in Glendive, MT at Makoshika State Park. Our little lunch stop turned into a short hike - we had no idea that Glendive was famous for anything other than sturgeon! It turns out that the park is a state park because of the dinosaur fossils that have been discovered in the area. The trail we took led us to a Hadrosaur vertebrae impression. It must have been a giant dino because its vertebrae was huge!

I think Dylan was probably more excited about the little lizards that were running around! He almost caught several but they were so fast and so small that they kept slipping away. If I'd let him stick his hands into the dry brush to grab the little guys he might have actually had one but I was too concerned about rattlesnakes to let him do that! Anyway, the hike through the desert sparked our interest and we were anxious to get this trip on the road.

The vertebrae! This impression was about 6 feet long and 3 feet tall.

Dylan and Steve hiked up the hill a little further while Lyndsi and I started back down. This is a shot of Dylan on his way up.

I don't know what it is about bugs but I sure like to get them with my camera! This little guy was all of about 2 mm long and he was carrying this dead blossom that was twice his size. Quite a trophy for such a bug!

I couldn't resist this pretty cactus flower. We see a lot of cactus up our way but I don't get to see the flowers very often. Yes, I think the picture is upside down but you get the idea!