An August weekend at the Cabin!

Grandpa's Cabin has become a sort of "refuge" for us -- giving us a place where we can go and visit them and enjoy some real peace and relaxation. The girls really love it and it has really become a summer tradition for us! Jay built this part of the cabin pictured above, which connects to the original cabin (which you can't see due to the angle of this picture). It means so much more to us that Granpa built this for all of his family to enjoy. Thank you Grandpa! We love you so much!

Grandpa is always working -- only stopping long enough for his afternoon nap! :-)

In this picture he is preparing new gutters for the roof since the snow this past winter really wrecked the old ones.

Another tradition is building a fire after dinner and roasting marshmellows for smores.

Grandma and her "Smore-lovin" girls.

Sofia in the woods, getting ready to "work" with grandma. Below is Audriana on the log that we always use to take pictures of the kids with that incredible view of Lake Pend OReille!

Could she be any cuter? I don't think so!

Grandma had a great idea to keep our girls busy -- she gave them rakes and they spent about 4 hours raking the dirt and pinecones up! Mom is so funny -- she loves the forest to be "cleaned up" , hence the raking! They made so many little piles of stuff that we picked up in the wheel barrow and took over to the burn pile. When we were done, it really did look amazing!


Audriana worked so hard -- really focusing on getting everything raked up and in piles.

The girls earned $1 for all their hard work today!

Then we were off to the beach in Sandpoint, ID!!!!

Let's Go Fly A Kite!

I took the day off today and we had a very fun family day. I got to take Audriana to her last day of Soccer Camp, which was held out in the Valley at Trent Elementary. She was so excited for me to come and watch her. The big news was that the coaches moved her up from the "7 and under" kids team to the "8 and above" team! She was really excited. She learned so many new skills and did really well at the scrimages. She's a good little player for being only 6 1/2!

After soccer, we headed home for lunch. While we were eating lunch, we all thought that it would be a good idea to go up to Eagle Ridge Park and have some fun. So we loaded up the kids' kites and the soccer balls and headed up. It was a perfect day for kite flying! The girls had so much fun and it was neat to see that the kites stayed up for them. I think Martin had just as much fun (if not more) as the girls did. I took some video of them -- it was so cute. After kite flying, Martin and Audriana practiced some soccer drills while Sofia ran around the entire loop of the park 4 times!!!! I couldn't believe how many times she did that. After 4 times, she finally said that her legs were tired so she had to take a break. So funny!

Dinner with the Nemes kids!

The Crazy Shot (needed to get it out of their system)!

Jessica (14), Courtney (16), David (12), Audriana (6), Sofia (3) and Michael (9)

My friend Jennifer (Shaw) Nemes has 4 kids -- and since I haven't seen them in a while, I just couldn't get over how big they have all grown. In fact, her "baby", Mikey (who now goes by Michael) is 9!!! Geez.... Jenny and I have know each other since we were toddlers, so it's pretty fun for us to get our kids together while we catch up on life. Jennifer lives here in Spokane now (and has for a few years now), but it seems that it takes forever to plan little get togethers just because life is busy for both of us. Her kids live with their dad in North Carolina, so it is a special treat that she has them for the summer and that we get to see them! They are awesome kids and it was fun having them over for dinner. We planned our "girls lunch" for next Sunday -- I have a tradition with Jennifer's girls that I always take them to lunch at Red Robin when they are in town. We are all excited for that - especially Audriana and Sofia because they love Red Robin!

The Nice Shot (had to bride them with ice cream!). They are all wet because they were outside playing and jumping on the trampoline when we suddenly got a huge downpour! They all ran inside, but did get pretty soaked.

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"!