Our lodge had a loft-like area with a large bunk bed where the five of us slept.  Dwayne and I were supposed to have the bottom bunk to ourselves (give or take a child wanting a  snuggle), but on the last night, we went to bed to find all three children already sound asleep on our pillows.

 

Notice Wesley’s cherubic pose, excepting his arm that fully covers Kyla’s mouth.  How could we displace that?  Dwayne and I slept on top, and Kyla eventually moved two inches to safety.

Phew!  Last summer’s trip to Sunriver, renting a house with family for a week, went so well, we did it again.  There were 15 of us this year, but I think we really did it so Parker and Wesley could have an excuse to play uninterrupted for a week.

I forgot to bring my camera almost everywhere we went (and this time, we did the Lava Tube Tunnel, all three of mine walking the 2.5 miles round trip to the end of the 42 degree tunnel—it was awesome!)  I snapped the kids playing in the hot tub, which Keith adjusted as low as he could, to make an impromptu and convenient swimming pool for the kids.  Even (especially?) Cecily enjoyed it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We made it to the High Desert Museum, which my kids love.  There is a “Living Museum” of a 1904 settlement which is a lot of fun.  The first day we were there, the traveling doctor and school teacher were visiting.  The doctor had a cocaine tonic for us women who need a little more pick-me-up, not having the energetic constitution of a man.  Kyla and the teacher were delighted with each other, and Kyla eventually walked away with a lesson in old-fashioned cursive and ink pens.  Of course, there were still chores to do.

 

I helped the hired man myself.

 

 

 

We rode bikes…and occasionally fell asleep in them.

 

That’s Wes curled up in that ball there, sound asleep.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And Piper has the annoying knack of taking my clothes and looking way too adorable in them.  That’s my T-shirt and hat!

 

 

Another family vacation where we’re still all speaking at the end of it—Success!!

Wesley had his half-birthday on our last full day at Sun River.  This is significant for three reasons:

1. He can honestly say he is 4 1/2 instead of just 4, a very important difference when one can still count their full age on one hand.

2. He gets to have a special breakfast out with Daddy.

3. Four-and-a-half-year olds don’t suck fingers. 

Well, two out of three ain’t bad.

We kicked off our summer vacation with a family wedding in Portland this year.  My cousin, younger by (gulp) almost 15 years, married his long time girl friend in a ceremony in his parents’ backyard.  Fun and funky, it was small and delightful.

Brent had his sister stand up as his best man, which I thought was wonderful.  Hard to beat a sibling as a best friend. 

The bride and her sister wore complementary purple Converse.

 

I insisted that the girls have their hair braided, partly for looks and partly to keep their hair out of the spaghetti.  Kyla has yet to forgive me.

 

 

Excepting the bride, the star of the evening was the swinging bench.  And Wesley and cousin Parker got to kick-start their week together.  In retrospect, I feel I should have warned my aunt about these two together.  But, to our credit (or, more accurately, lack of full blame) the bench was broken before we got there!

  

 

There were two older boys there, and if you ever want to lower the general IQ in an area, put four boys together with candy, music, and a party.  It was awesome.

They slowed down for cupcakes before starting up again.  (Uncle Dean, did most of your plants recover?)

 

The bench swing was so magical that I even got a picture of Grandma Extraordinaire!

 

I like the fantasy of this picture—that the kids are actually sleepy.  My kids didn’t wind down until well after 10pm—after a dip in the pool at the hotel.

 

Congratulations,

Brent and Juli!

I don’t know where they get their ideas, but Piper and Wes donned their capes (years of entertainment, Aunt Julie!), got out the markers, and transformed themselves into SuperCats, which are caped cat with tattoos. 

 

Piper shows off her gun tattoo.  Yep, she’s crayola-tough, folks.

 

 

But not so tough to not beg for snacks…

Actually, I wouldn’t have needed ingenuity if I had a little more common sense and organization, but when I emptied our  shop-vac, the filter cover went the way of  the debris.  I didn’t discover this until after collection day, so there was no use looking too hard for it.  I mentally rejected a wooden cover, a cardboard one, and a few other worse ideas before I found an old plastic planter dish that fit well enough with a hole drilled in the middle.  Shop vac back in action!

After our fabulous 4th at the cabin, we managed to leave a few important items at the cabin.  Dwayne left his coat and keys there, and I made a big deal about me having to go back to get them, but full disclosure makes me admit that I left my credit card at the thrift store.  They put it in a safe for me, and I picked it up first thing when we got to the island (and then used it to buy lunch for me and the kids at the Braeburn—yum!).  But since we were there, we decided to hang out at the beach. 

Piper  declared that she wasn’t going to touch the sand at all and vowed to not have any fun (she didn’t get to go to the beach she wanted—these deprived children have at least 4 good beaches to chose from close to the cabin).  That lasted until she was ignored long enough and then she and Kyla built their own beach house out of drift wood, seaweed, and shells. 

 

They even made a hidden shelf for all their shell dishes!

 

Building codes forced them to build an outdoor kitchen and fire pit.  Don’t mess with Island County regs!

 

I’m not sure what Wesley is doing (though I am just as shocked at you that he’s wearing clothes), but one can appreciate the beauty of our Northwest summers in this shot.

 

The extra-large, extra-advanced enzyme cleaner, necessary after the cats somehow got entry to our upstairs while we were gone for the 4th of July weekend, has not improved Denise-Cat relations in our household. 

Meerkerk Park had their annual fairy house building day.  The volunteers provided gathered sticks, pine cones, flowers, wood, moss, ribbons, and hot glue guns.  Everyone brought their imaginations (I wish I had brought my camera—I settled for a device that technically can take pictures but is overall unsatisfactory). 

My kids didn’t make anything to brag about (their mother had to abandon her even worse attempts), but there are some really creative fairy-fans out there!  We’ll try again next year.

It’s simply the depth and breadth of the bathtub ring once the kids are clean and pajama-ed at bedtime.  Today was a particularly entertaining day, according to this reading.