August 22, 2020

It was a normal Saturday...and then it wasn't.  

My Dad was gone in a matter of hours.

  

He had a heart attack...his first one...then his life was over.

I didn't get to say good-bye.  I didn't get to see him one last time.  I didn't get time to prepare.  

He was just gone. 

And my world will never be the same again. 

Oh, how I love you Dad.

This is the last picture I took of my Dad.  It was February 2020, the last time I saw him.  He came to the van to say goodbye, as he always did when we left their house.

High Adventure--Tyson AND Mike addition

 High Adventure 2020 was a sensitive topic for me from the start.  There was talk about whether this was going to even happen because of Covid, but they charged on through with the planning and preparations, and luckily the park opened up for camping right before their scheduled dates.  The older boys wanted to do a super-risky, ultra-intense, crazy long...and in my opinion, insanely dangerous, hike through the Olympic mountains.  I won't get into all the details, but the leaders decided to split the boys into two groups, letting them pick between summiting Mount Olympus or the 7 Lakes Basin hike.  Mike and Tyson decided to go on the less intense version (7 Lakes Basin) with most of the boys who were Tyson's age and younger.  (You don't even want to know all the crazy stories from the other hike...including multiple occasions that participants thought their lives were at risk--yikes.)

They hiked 30ish miles over 3 days, carrying all their food and supplies on their backs!  They all survived and nobody got Covid, so I would call it a success.  It was quite an accomplishment and I am proud of my boys!  

Kya's Growing UP:)

This second child growing up thing just kind of sneaks up on you.  I cannot believe Kya is SEVENTEEN!!!!  And that she is going into her last year at home!!!  

We planned a day of canoeing, followed by an outdoor movie with a few friends.  Well, in true PNW fashion, the weather didn't cooperate.  So I took Kya and Delilah to get their nails done, played a few games, and headed to Olive Garden for dinner.  The weather cleared up so we played volleyball in the backyard, she had a few friends over to play games and we made brownie sundaes.  

I think she had a fun day.

A few weeks after Kya's birthday, we headed out to get her Senior Photos done.  It was such a fun time and the pictures turned out beautifully....and the weather even cooperated for us!

Not sure how we'll handle only one more year with this girl!!  We love her so much.

Project Fire Pit--Complete

It only took us 3 years and 5 million conversations, but we finally built our fire pit!!! 

 It was SUPER easy.  Why did we wait so long again????  

Oh well, it felt good to get it done, and it was just in time for the 4th of July.  

We lit a fire, sat back, and watched the fireworks (which were even bigger and crazier this year because the city couldn't put on any of their big displays due to covid-19 ). 

Good Times:)

End of the School Year 2020

No last day of school pictures, no big parties with friends, no handshakes from their teachers...but at least there's still that feeling of relief that it's finally summer break!

Kya finished up 11th grade

Tyson finished his freshman year of high school

(this is a bird feeder he made for his art class)

And Summer finished kindergarten!!

(We had to be creative with our end of the year teacher gift)

Summer's teacher arranged a little outdoor, drive by graduation.  I decorated the car and lost about 6 balloons on the drive to the park (learned my lesson there)...Summer thought it was pretty cool that she got to stick her head out of the sunroof (and not be buckled) while we drove around the parking lot (very slowly) waving and saying "hi" to all her friends.

Oh...and Jordan finished her first year of college (like 2 months ago)...we're glad she's home.

We celebrated with Cold Stones.  This year Dad got to join us (there are some perks from working from home...besides being interrupted every five minutes)

I wonder what next school year will look like...

Another Wildlife Discovery

We walked into the front yard to find birds chirping and flying around Callie like crazy.!  Was this normal?  Were they taunting her?  Were they playing with her? It didn't seem normal, so we looked a little closer...and saw a nest of tiny baby birds...that Callie immediately started swatting at!  We spent the next week, watching those babies grow and trying to keep Callie away from them (only 3 of the 5 survived but I think Callie only got one of them).  Then one day, Tyson and Summer went to check on the birds and saw them wandering around with their mother...all grown up and leaving the nest.

Their nest was in this wild grass area...I was worried our neighbor was going to run over it with a lawnmower because it's actually his property.  So weird (and unsafe) that they build their nests on the ground!

Five tiny birds squished in the nest.  So tiny and sweet.  As soon as you got near the nest they would open their little mouths so wide!

Only 3...but getting fluffy and big.

Our last look at them before they went out on their own.

What a fun little experience for us!

Summer Turns SIX!!

I LOVE to plan parties...and when Summer said she wanted to have a Kitty-Cat party, I was thrilled!  The only problem, because of this stupid Covid-19, she couldn't invite any friends😢  But i went ahead and planned a cute little kitty-cat party for the family anyways...and forced everyone to participate in all the party games.

We all wore kitty ears, walked our kitty balloons, played endless Ice Cream Truck (the toy she got for her birthday and had been asking for at least the past 2 years), played pin the nose on the kitty, searched for poop in the litter box (pretend poop of course!), and rolled balls of yarn with our noses.

 Summer's teacher even stopped by to give her a little gift:)

We ended the day singing happy birthday with aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandma and grandpa over zoom, eating our kitty cake, and reading Berenstain Bear books before bed.

Summer said "this is the best day ever" multiple times, so I guess it was a success!

A little about Summer at 6:

Loves animals (any and all)

Loves to talk!!

Favorite shows-- My Little Pony, 44 Cats, Boss Baby, Littlest Pet Shop, Frozen 2, YouTube(especially watching animal rescues) 

Loves Berenstain Bear Books, Angelina Ballerina, Amelia Bedelia

She is never cold, always hot (never wants to wear clothes)

Doesn't like to be "lonesome"

Loves to eat fudgesicles, Nutella, ravioli, popcorn, spaghetti and McDonald's

Loves swinging on swings

Loves to boss everyone around

Learning how to read and ride a bike 

Likes the shade much more than the sun

Loves swimming

Never wants her hair brushed

We sure do love our little Summer!!

    

Backyard Wildlife

In the 3 years we've lived in this house, we've had more than our share of wildlife:

There's been lots of squirrels and tons of bunnies, I saw a raccoon climbing our back fence, and every now and then we hear an owl in the tree out front.  The first couple of weeks we lived here there was a rooster just hanging out.  When Ollie was around, he would catch little shrews or moles, and eventually, he got taken by coyotes (we think) and Jordan even heard coyotes howling while she and her friends had a fire in the yard.  We always see robins, crows and even hawks and a couple bald eagles!

Here's a bunny Ollie caught and brought in 😬

So far this spring, we have seen our wildlife up a little closer:  

First, it was the snake--yikes.  I HATE snakes...like really hate them.  I was working in the garden and was walking to the front to throw some trash away when I saw a garter snake on the grass.  I'm sure I screamed, then I headed inside because I'm sure at least some of the family would be excited to see it.  Tyson, Mike, and Summer were out there instantly!  Summer even wanted to keep it--no way!  I was thrilled when only a few hours after making a home for it, she decided to let it free...oh but not before feeding it a worm I found in the garden.  I sure hope I don't see any more snakes in the yard.

 Next was the baby bunny.  The very next day after catching and releasing the snake, the cutest, tiniest little bunny hopped into our yard.  Summer, Mike, and Callie spent at least an hour trying to catch it!  Finally, they managed to grab it.  It was a little hurt (probably from escaping from Callie and running under the patio) so we put it in a box.  Summer REALLY wanted to keep it.  She named it Cocoa and decorated it's box.  She kept it overnight and then we told her she had to let it go free.  She was really upset about it, but finally, let her go.

Lastly, a couple days later a bird flew into our backdoor.  When we went out to see if it was ok, it was laying on our patio chair.  It looked fine but wasn't moving.  Summer ran and got her nest and we put the bird in it.  The poor bird just sat there, not really moving.  I was worried it was just going to die and Summer would again be traumatized, but after about 20min it flew away as good as new!

I think that's enough wildlife for this entire year, but I am sure Summer wouldn't agree!  She certainly loves her animals:)

We have too much time on our hands...

...so we spent an afternoon recreating old photos:)  What else would we do?!

I can't decide which one is my favorite...they are all so good!