Happy Labor Day!

Happy Labor Day!

We never had the chance to go camping this summer, so we decided to utilize this long weekend and go camping. Dan found this beautiful place about 3 hours northwest from us, called Banks Lake.

Reminds me of Utah!

This is an aerial shot of our campground. Now to get technical: If you are standing in the lake, facing inland, our campsite was to the left of the boat dock, in that little niche. Perfect, right?

(campsite to the left...not pictured)

Well, apparently, they draw down the lake to work on the dam. We did know this in advance but had no idea how much the lake would be affected. 

Here's what we found:

Yeah, NOT this:

but, THIS:

Takes the wow factor out, don't you think?

WE could have had such a beautiful view!

What should have been covered in beautiful water, was swampy dirt. In fact, Michael got stuck in the mud shortly after we arrived. Lost his shoe, but dan was able to dig it out with the shovel we brought. 

The kids didn't mind one bit, though. 

Here is the "niche"as described above in the arieal photo.

GAH! And evidence that we DID have both her shoes. We came home with only one.  Well, I guess another camper will wonder who the lone shoe belongs too.... Ugh. I bought these shoes for her to play in the columbia river so the rocks won't hurt her feet, but the few times we have gone, we couldn't find the shoes. So frustrating. 

Moving on...

The permanent "low" tide, made sea-shell finding a breeze! Michael had a cup full in about 10 minutes.

We did have a great site, despite the noisy, foul-mouthed, constantly drunk neighbors. 

We had plans to rent a boat on Saturday afternoon, but due to the draw down, they had us go to Lake Roosevelt, a reservoir created by the Coulee Dam.

Ahh...water! :)

We were supposed to raise the flag whenever we had someone in the water. 

I take my boating navigating very seriously. But....I could never find the brakes!

Chelsea and Michael had a blast on the tube. Dan and I both went too.

Briny tried too, but was more content to just sit and ride.

I got up on water skiis! I've only been up once (when I was 15 years old)  which was also the last time I tried, so I wasn't sure I'd be able to do it. I was so excited, I yelled from the skiis for someone to take my picture, but they just thought I said "Go faster!" which promptly ended in a wipe out for me. 

Dan did take the kids out on the sunbanks lake in our little raft. 

And they actually caught a fish!

Sunday we went to church in Coulee Dam. Afterwards, we visited the dam  and the visitors center.

This hammer actually vibrated. It was hilarious to watch Brinly!

We all had a great time, and definitely wore ourselves out!

Notice the leftover s'more on Michael's face? 

Hope you had a wonderful Labor Day!

Summer update

Warning: Boring post. 

What we've done this summer:

Brinly enjoyed pretending to be a dog

Michael loved jumping off the HIGH diving board.

Pretending to be a dog again....

Playing with the camera while mom and Chelsea shop online for school clothes. 

helping Grandpa walk the dogs.

Free bowling

Michael loved catching the balls when they came up and organizing them.

Washing the car. First time we have done this by hand. I like drive-through car washes.

Floating on the columbia river....until our oar broke.

Playing with her birthday play-doh in Chelsea's night gown, giving her typical "cheeser".

Mariners' game with Dad and Grandpa

Overheard at our house

So, we are TRYING to get back into family scripture study.

Tonight we read 2 Nephi 9:4 "For I know that ye have searched much, many of you to know of things to come. wherefore I know that ye know that our flesh must waste away and die; nevertheless, in our bodies we shall see God."

Michael pulls up his pajama shirt, looks at his tummy and says "I don't see God!"

Love this kid!

Yard Work

This will probably be a boring post to most, but we are excited about our improvements!

We'll start with this landscaped island. 

Do you see something wrong with it?

No?

Look Closer

See those? They are hideous! Big puffs of weeds? Who calls that landscaping?

So, maybe we don't appreciate wire-y sticks, and no offense to those that do, but they just weren't for us.

So, we dug them up and replaced them with something we think will be much more attractive. They are a little tiny now, but when they are mature...ooh lah lah!

Next up, after 2 years of living in our home, we finally got a fence!!

 It took much deliberation and compromise. Our city has a 20ft set-back from the sidewalk to where you can put a 6ft fence. A 3ft fence you can place ONE foot away with no laws on vegitation.

 We have a funny corner lot, so if we went with the 6ft fence, we would lose half our yard and the fence would come 3ft from the corner of our house. My good friend moved in behind us and put up a 3ft fence to maxmize their yard space. Dan and I finally agreed to go that route.  

But first, we had to decide on the placement of the fence. 

I went to Home Depot and got some wire flags, in yellow and white. I placed my yellow flags where I thought the fence should go, and Dan placed his white ones down. After getting advice from lots of friends, giving each other our pros and cons, we finally came to an agreement.

Then we called, got bids, measured, waited for ordered supplies, etc. and the fence was finally completed today! YAY! 

See this cutie-patootie? She's what motivated the project to get done. She was constantly running down the street to her friend "Myno's" house. Hopefully the fence will slow her down...a little.

Now...to plant some trees to give us some privacy and make our yard pretty!