Nicolas has a friend...

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When we were visiting family in Michigan, Nicolas was given a music CD by his Grandpa Doug and Grandma Susan. It's a compilation of less well-known children's songs, with a designated child's name cleverly mixed into the lyrics of each song, in this case, Nicolas. This song, "I'm a monkey who counts to 20", instantly became the family's favorite. Chris and I found this song especially amusing, for some reason (listen for yourself)! We put the CD in on our trip, during our 4 hour drive up north, by the time we arrived at our destination, we all had the lyrics memorized. Nicolas, though, just sits quietly while the music's playing, as he hears his name being repeated over and over by some mysterious voice, as if coming from out of nowhere, he seems confused and a little annoyed, adding to it's ultimate entertainment value for the rest of us! I've had this tune stuck in my head for days.

For the Beauty of the Earth...

Of all the gorgeous places we've gone camping, this one has to be one of the most breathtaking. We had planned to camp this week on Chris' days off at one of our favorite places, Palisades Reservoir. After spending two nights in an established campground, we decided to venture off into a more rustic, undeveloped camping area. Basically the only amenity was the fire ring, which looked like someone had just dug it the previous weekend. As remote as this place was, I was a little surprised that the only wildlife we saw was a deer that made it's way through our campsite a couple of times.See the deer in the background!
That's the kids playing in the creek in the distance.
See how remote the area is - almost a little spooky!

No picnic tables here!
Ahh, this is the life.
This was a late night for Nicolas; we let him stay up by the campfire way past his normal bedtime.
This is a picture of some waterfalls on the Snakeriver.
This moose was one of four we saw on this trip, she was hiding out on a little "island" in the river near the campground.
Noah and Sam playing in Bear Creek.

Nick was pretty muddy after digging and building in the dirt.
The kids playing at Palisades Reservoir.

Isn't it lovely?

Some of you may know that we've had issues with our fence, well, basically from the day we bought this house. We're pretty sure it was installed by amateurs, as evidenced by the fact that the front section was put up with the ugly (back) side facing out toward the road, and the posts were in 5 gallon buckets with cement placed on a seriously eroding wall of dirt. Well, after a series of strong wind storms completely blew over one section and part of another, exposing the horror that lies on the other side, we knew it was time to break down and get a new fence professionally installed.
Here are some pictures of our fence, before and after, and the new fire pit that Chris laboriously put in earlier this week. The staining of the fence in still in-process, but a run to Home Depot tonight for one last gallon of stain should do the trick. I will be glad to have that done, as Chris and I have also been doing the work on that ourselves and I've gone to bed the past couple of nights with a fume-induced headache and very sore shoulders! Anyway, the kids love it, and it looks so much better, we're hoping it will inspire our family to spend more time out in the yard this summer!

A little zoo fun.

The other day we decided to take the kids to our local zoo for a little outing. The animals were surprisingly active, considering the warmer temperature. This small zoo is more like a north american wildlife viewing area with a treehouse playground in the middle, but the kids love it, and it's a good diversion on a hot summer day. Nicolas was especially intrigued by the grizzly bear, since it was sticking it's nose and paws through the cage for a good, close look.

Attention Family and Friends:

If you're here looking for more pictures from our trip to Michigan, just scroll down a few posts. I've finally been able to download a couple of slideshows!

Dedicated to the one and only...

Happy Father's Day, Chris! You are one of a kind and you make our family complete. Thanks for being such a wonderful father. You've spent the past 9 years of your life taking care of us, making sacrifices to love and nurture our children,and it hasn't gone unnoticed, or under appreciated. You are well loved!

Here she is!

Awww!

A little over a month ago I took Sophie to the pediatrician for her pre-Kindergarten check-up and shots. After the routine eye exam, the doctor informed us that she had failed, with what appeared to be a problem seeing out of her right eye. Today she finally had her appointment with the pediatric opthamologist, where they put drops in her eyes to dilate the pupils. I offered her my sunglasses as we were leaving the office, thinking that bright light might bother her, and she wore them right up until bed. I took this picture of her this afternoon - it was a very traumatic day for her and a good nap was in order!

The final diagnosis: she does need glasses to correct her vision. After a trip to the Wal-Mart optical center, and some coaxing and direction about which frames to choose, (as there was no way in #$!&* I was about to shell out the $70 for the Hannah Montana ones she picked out, not including lenses, when the off-brand styles were just as cute), she will have her new purple specs in about a week. I personally think she looks darling with them on, which is good since she'll have to wear them all the time. I'll post a picture of her when she gets them.

Family and Friends - Thanks for the memories!

For those of you that may be interested, here are some slideshows from our trip to Michigan. I've divided them up into segments, so just press play and enjoy!

What's that smell?

I'm still working on a photo montage from our trip to Michigan, so for those of you that may be interested, keep checking back and I'll try to post something soon. In the meantime, I thought I'd put up a couple pics I took out our back door. I think this little guy was having trouble finding his mother in the middle of the day, as we watched him bump and bumble his way around on our deck! Chris wanted to give him some food! Uh, honey, do you remember what happened when you fed a seagull at Lake Huron?

A week just isn't enough time...

Hey, everyone! We're back from our Michigan expedition, and in a worn out, tattered state I'm attempting to put together something of a journal entry about our trip. I thought the best way to convey as much as possible in a short form would be to do a slideshow. It's a long one, so sit back, relax and enjoy some pictures from our long planned, much anticipated adventure! I wish we'd had more time to spend, with those we did see, and those we weren't able to squeeze into our jam-packed schedule. This was a trip we won't soon forget! Thanks to everyone who helped us out along the way, with food, accomodations and a good dose of patience with our four lovely rugrats!

(Okay, I'm having some technical difficulties with the slideshow, so I'll fix it and re-post. Check back soon!)