The Best Part of Being a Mom

Kaleb said to me yesterday: "Mom, I like being with you. I like hanging out and cuddling with you too." So nice! Being a Mom isn't always easy, but I love when precious moments like this happen. I like cuddling with my kids too. Saturday mornings are the best!

First Day of School

Yes the kids have been in school for over a week, but I still wanted to share these pictures of the first day.

I love this one. Kaleb started kindergarten this year, and here he is going out to face the world. He loves it so far, especially his teacher and snack recess!

I hope they work hard, and it turns out to be a great year.

Redwoods

This was the last leg of our awesome trip this summer. We camped in the Redwoods for 2 nights. Our campsite was great; lots of shade, and great nature trails around camp.

This picture cracks me up with Kaleb's smiling head. We had so much fun hiking together. We started on a little hike, which turned into 5 miles. The kids did really well, and got just a little tired toward the end.

This banana slug was along the hike when we went under the road. The background makes it stand out so much. We also enjoyed wild blackberries along the trail that were delicious, except for the few we picked that weren't ripe.

There is no way to describe the size of the trees. We took this picture to try and get a visual, but it still doesn't do it justice. It is amazing!

The kids loved climbing in and through the trees. It was paradise.

Here's a shot looking straight up.

These are called cathedral trees. They are a group of trees that grow in a circle.

This is a trail we went on up fern canyon. There is a canyon wall completely covered in ferns. The trail was great, since we got to cross the river a lot, and it was shaded.

Emily decided to go with Blake on the "upper trail," and eventhough they had further to go and higher to climb, they still ended up waiting for Bex, Kaleb and me.

We loved the benches along to trails. They were the perfect spot to rest and snack!

The kids participated in the Jr. Ranger program and got badges. It's a fun program. We also went to a presentation at the camp fire about bears that was really interesting. We found out that you shouldn't run if a bear is chasing you, and you should make lots of noise and try and act tough. Luckily we didn't have to test our knowledge.

We crossed the Golden Gate Bridge!! It was amazing! I guess we were all so excited about being on the bridge, that we missed the signs saying there was a toll on the other side. We drove up and realized neither Blake nor I had any cash. That's all they take, so the guy said they'd take a picture of our license, and instead of having to pay the $6 toll fee, we'd end up paying $31: $25 for the fine plus the $6 fee. Dang that was an expensive trip across the bridge. We thought we'd luck out and avoid the fee since we don't have a license plate at the front of our car, and that's where we could see the camera, but they caught our back license, and I just got the violation notice in the mail. Live and learn. We were so flustered about the toll that we missed the road we were supposed to take, and we ended up going right through downtown San Francisco. It was really cool to see. We saw Fisherman's Wharf, which brought back great marching band memories, and we wouldn't have seen downtown otherwise so I guess it was worth it. Now we know, KEEP CASH in the car when driving near San Fran.

Summer trip Oregon/Washington

This is pretty much a picture post. We caravanned with Tom and Dianna and their kids. It was awesome! We stayed in this really cheap Motel 6. Let's just say you get what you pay for.

There was an outdoor pool that the kids had fun in for about 5 minutes, since it was cold and raining.

This is us trying to find some shade for lunch at a gas station along our way.

After spending 2 days in the car we arrived in Washington. We picked Blake up from the airport at 6:00, and got to the cabins at 9:00. Lots of others were just arriving so we were just in time for dinner. The cabins were amazing! Thank you so much to Cindy and Dan!

Tom bought some fishing gear since he forgot his at home. This is the net that came with his gear. Hilarious!

Despite the chilly weather, Becky wanted to go swimming. She convinced Dan, Cindy and Emily to go with her, then she was the last one to get in the water. They were all encouraging her and telling her it was her idea to swim, then she smiled and said, "ha, my plan worked." She has such a fun personality. She did jump in and had a fun swim.

This is how Laura looked most of the time: completely surrounded by nieces and nephews. She's so much fun!

We all hiked up to these beautiful falls. I was able to hike okay with my walking boot, but just not too fast. Luckily there were lots of adults to help watch the kids. We met Sam on the way down, and he hiked back up to the falls with us to show us where they were. What a gentleman.

Cami hiked most of the way on her own.

Here is Jessie the new adopted Uncle. He is married to Dan's sister. They don't have any kids of their own so we were happy to share ours. He was pretty much the walking jugle gym, and the kids adore him!

This is a tree the kids had fun climbing in until they disturbed the hornet's nest and both Bex and Lily got stung/bitten. No fun! They were very brave. We didn't even know Lily had gotten stung twice until we were putting the medicine on.

This is the best picture I could find with all the grandkids. Too bad Emily was hiding her face.

This is the scene we woke up to each morning. It was so incredibly beautiful!

We found multiple ways to entertain ourselves when it got a little too rainy. We played games;

had fun half-doors

that were perfect for an impromptu puppet show.

We also played a lot of different games in the lodge. The favorites were checkers, chess and something about a moose in your house. There was also a reading room that overlooked the lake that Bexy especially spent a lot of time in.

There were two deer that would come by almost every day behind our cabins. The kids loved to see how close they could get without scaring them away.

I love this picture of Bexy.

Lily is almost 3, and she was not too sure about Uncle Blake. She warmed up to him pretty quick though, as this series of photos shows.

Bexy loved collecting gun-shaped rocks and logs. She carried them around for most of the trip.

We also did have a few sunny days, which we took full advantage of. We rented row boats, and rowed across the lake, to try out the swimming on that side, and to check out a tunnel.

Laura and I rowed together. We managed not to turn the boat in circles, but we meandered quite a bit, since one side was way easier to move because of the wind.

This is a picture of the lodge from the lake. Our cabins were to the left behind the trees.

When we got back from rowing Sam and Kaleb wanted to swim, so Laura was nice enough to take them. I don't think she had any fun though ;).

It was fun to spend some time with Dallas too. He was great at keeping track of the kids for us.

This picture captures the girls right in their element. I think they're pretty talented to be able to read and walk. That path was not flat either.

Blake had fun with the camera. He took this picture from a long ways off. I'm not good with distances, but I'd say maybe 200 feet away.

We had such a great time. I really hope we continue to have a Torgertrip every year!