A week with "the cousins"!

The "Everybody's Birthday Party Party" at Savageland Pizza Parlor!

(special guest: Aunt Virginia)

Squader and Brook -- so cute!

Brook and Baby Daillon (4 months old)

Sofia excited for the party!

Jaime, Natalie, and Audriana were all born in 2002!

On the "A Christmas Carol Train Tour"

3 D fun with Lily! She's my hero!

Sofia fell asleep at Red Robin while waiting for her food -- poor thing was so worn out!

New best friends -- Jaime said that she's taking Sofia back home with her to Arkansas!

At the Old Spaghetti Factory -- Jaime, Sofia, Audriana and Natalie!

Todd and Pam -- such great parents!

At Aunt Tonn's grave site in Chelan. We put flowers on all the Keeney's headstones!

Love the new sign with Lake Chelan in the background! Awesome!

At the Lakeview Drive in -- Chelan Fries and burgers!

Sofia and Lily

Getting in is the worst part -- but there is no denying how beautiful that lake is!

Aren't my nieces the most beautiful things?!?! I love them!

Todd, Lily and Brook just chillin'

The gang!

Todd and Pam's annual visit was this week and we had a blast - as usual! The week began with an outing to the newly opened Savageland Pizza parlor. Pam had such a great idea when she planned the "Everybody's Birthday Party Party". We had a big party room, pizza, tokens, and cupcakes! Totally a fun time with Pam's family and our family. Mom and Jay were out of town all week attending a family reunion in Wyoming, and Mike was out of town in Oregon working, but me and the girls, Kristi, Aunt Virginia, Bryan and Marissa all showed up. Tuesday we went to the Disney promotional train tour of "A Christmas Carol" (coming out the first week of November). It was a fun (and free!) event where we all got on board the train and walked through the cars which were decorated with costumes, memorabilia, and the "how's and why's" of making the movie. The kids really liked it. We then got to watch a 12 minute clip of the movie -- in 3D glasses for the full effect! After seeing this, I definitely want to see the movie. We didn't see them on Wednesday, but Thursday morning at 7am, we took off on a road trip to Manson and Chelan. The girls were so excited to play in the cold waters of Lake Chelan and get some of our favorite "Chelan Fries" from the Lakeview Drive in. It's a tradition that we have passed down to our kids -- always great! The girls were very excited to get to go back to Mom's hotel on Thursday night for dinner, playing in the pool, and getting to have a slumber party with their cousins! What fun! I had packed their suitcases and they were so proud to roll them through the front door of the hotel right on down to rooms 108 and 110! Todd and Pam will graciously care for them on Friday for me while I have "a personal day" just for me. Big things happening for me on Friday -- if you know me personally, then you know what it is! Anyway, the girls will spend the rest of the weekend with Kristi while I "relax". I love my family! Thanks for a great visit Schurra family!

A Fun Day at Mobius Kids Museum!

Today is Sunday -- so we had a pretty lazy morning. I mad the girls blueberry pancakes for breakfast, and then we brainstormed ideas for us to do today. Mobius Kids Museum won! I had been given 2 free tickets at a b-day party a couple of months ago, so that made our decision even easier! It opened up at 11, so we were there soon after that. It was especially wonderful because we were pretty much the only ones there! There were a few other kids, but basically, the girls had the run of the entire museum -- which meant they didn't need to wait to use anything at all! We played for a couple of hours, then walked across the street to have a "Girls Lunch" at Red Robin. The girls had mac-n-cheese with mandarin oranges and water, and mom had a grilled chicken bruschetta sandwich with garlic fries -- Yummy! We felt so special having lunch together and talking about the fun we have had together the past week or so. Todd and his family arrive today and we will see them tomorrow -- so be on the look out for more posts on our fun with them! Here are a few pics of the kids at the museum today......

Summer Fun with Mom!

Since Martin is in Nicaragua, it is up to me to make sure the girls are having a fun summer! I am having fun with them -- this vacation has been perfect (except the fact that Martin is not with us!). Here is a run down of some of the things we have done this week......

Sunday June 28th: Went to visit friends Matt and Angie at their cabin on Lake Coeur d'Alene. Read post to get full scoop of this fun day!

Monday June 29th: Went to Urgent Care, got xrays, found out my feet are severely sprained, but not broken! We were home bound because I couldn't get around very well, so we watched lots of kiddy shows, played Webkinz, pbskids, sproutonline and Jig Zone on the computer, too! Foot raised up and ice, baby, ice!

Tuesday June 30th: Took the car down to get the back hatch fixed, then took the girls to Jump and Bounce for a little more than an hour. This was a good activity for them because it got them out of the house and they were able to burn off some energy while I sat with my foot up watching!

Wednesday July 1st: Went to see the movie "Up" -- which was absolutely fantastic. We all want to see it again. This was another good option for us while my feet are still healing. Later that afternoon we headed over to Matt and Angie's house for some homemade spaghetti and meatballs! Angie made a yummy bruschetta on french bread and then whipped up some fresh basil pesto! She is such a good cook. The kids got to play again and they really had a ball while Angie and I cooked and chatted. Again...foot up and iced!!!


Thursday July 2nd: Drove out to Coeur d'Alene to see my childhood friend, Kara, and her kids. We took them to the free movie Veggy Tales Pirate Movie, then on to McDonalds for lunch. After lunch we took the kids to a great little beach where they could play in the water. They had a lot of fun! That evening we were also able to go and see the Christensen's new house -- they are moving this week, although the house is up near Mullen Road Elementary, so they won't be too far away! We are sure going to miss our awesome neighbors!

Marissa, Sarah, Audriana and Sofia in Lake Coeur d'Alene -- (visiting the Steinbergs)

Christensen Family at their new house! We love "The Kids"!

Friday July 3rd: Drove up to Greenbluff and got some nice strawberries! The kids enjoyed an ice cream treat while we listened to some music up on the lawn at Harvest House. We also picked up a pizza for our traditional "Friday Night Movie Night"!

Fun at Lake Coeur d'Alene!

We were so lucky to be invited by our friends, Matt and Angie Meadows, to come to their lake cabin on Lake C d'Alene this past Sunday. Since Martin was still in Nicaragua, and I needed something to do with the girls, I thought it would be the perfect thing.....and it was!!! What an absolutely beautiful place. We left the house at 9am and drove out the Palouse Highway, to Highway 27 and turned off at Sun Up Bay (just a short 45 minute drive or so). We parked the car at the boat launch, got all of our stuff out -- life jackets, snacks, water, towels, beach toys etc, and waited on the dock for Matt to pick us up. The most exciting thing for the girls was that they got new life jackets for our lake trip (necessity!). They loved wearing them and Audriana even wanted to sleep in hers the night before! The second most exciting thing for the girls (actually, it probably competes for the number one spot) was that they were going to get to play with their friends Justin (5) and Jakey (3)! Matt and Angie's boys are awesome and full of energy. The 4 of them have a great time together. Anyway, Matt and the boys picked us up and boated us back out to their cabin (which is in Powder Horn Bay). It is heaven on earth. What a peaceful and beautiful experience for us. Just to be on the boat was something special for us. After we took a tour of the cabin and had a bit of breakfast we all headed down to the water. Angie's friend Robin and her daughter, Chelan (5 1/2), were out visiting as well. All the kids got along really well. They began by wading in the water, but were soon "tubing" behind the boat! I couldn't believe that even little Sofia wanted to do this. They loved it! As the day progressed, we decided to pack a little picnic lunch and all get back in the boat to head over to the beach at Harrison, ID. The kids played in the sand and the water and had a great time. Then we all walked up to the little ice creamery and got cones! What a perfect day -- hot and beautiful. We boated back to their cabin, relaxed some more on their deck overlooking the water while the kids chilled inside watching "Snow Buddies". They were all so exhausted from the day. Here are some pictures of our day....
Audriana and Sofia ready in their new life jackets!

On the boat!

Matt and Angie's beautiful boat!

The cabin and dock

Eating breakfast on the deck

Miss Sofia ready for the water!

Our little swimmers -- swimming around the dock. Justin leading the pack, then Audriana and Jakey bringing up the rear!

What will she see down at the bottom? Hmmm....

The kids in the big floaty thing....

Whoa! Look at those muscles on Justin!

Getting ready to go tubing! Chelan, Jakey and Sofia

Now Audriana is on - they are ready!

Weee...........

Hold on kids!!!!

Just awesome Audriana here.....

Justin and Chelan lookin' good!

The kids with Chelan's mom, Robyn

Heading towards the very small town of Harrison, ID for fun at the beach!

Look at Jakey's arm around Sofia -- precious!

A special treat of ice cream in Harrison, ID

Back on the Meadow's dock -- this is the life, I tell you!!!!

Nothing more beautiful than this....


***ok....so just a small side note at the bottom here, because I didn't want this to take away from our completey awesome day at the cabin and the lake. As we were heading back down the steps of the deck to get back into the boat to head home, I missed one of the steps and fell. I went down hard and ended up spraining both of my feet. I somehow got home (by the grace of god) and had my sister take me to the Urgent Care on Monday morning. The good news is that nothing was broken, but both feet were severely sprained. I came home with Ibuprophen, a foot boot (which was a godsend!), crutches to stabilize me while I limped, and a wheelchair! What a klutz I am! It hurt so bad -- but is healing up very well. I'll be good to go back to the lake again in another couple of weeks! ***