New friends!

A few weeks ago a friend at church introduced us to a new couple that had just moved to town. That couple was Abbey and Justin. Turns out they moved into our neighborhood! We have hung out with them a ton since we met them and this weekend they decided to be brave and head to Sandpoint on Saturday morning with their girls (Olivia is 3 and Maddie is 18 months) to hang on our boat and stay the night at the mountain. 

On our drive over the bridge to Sandpoint on Friday night the sunset was PERFECT. 

GLORIOUS!!!! 

I don't have any pictures from Saturday because it turned out that Olivia was terrified of the boat. We headed out slowly and she was on and off ok. Then we hit a bit of waves and she LOST IT! from then on it was downhill and we eventually had to call it and head back up the mountain. 

After a nice night - Sunday morning Abbey and I were able to take off for a hike ALONE!! Thanks to the dads for hanging with the kids for 2 hours while we hiked to the top of Schweitzer and down again. 

we made it! This is Abbey - she is great! 

the views were gorgeous - so wish my little iphone camera would show it! 

Abbey and Justin just moved from Denver where he completed his CT surgery fellowship. 

gorgeous wild flowers on our hike. 

After we packed up around lunchtime we headed down to the lake. It was pretty windy and we tried to find some good spots, but then we stopped by our neighbors (like live NEXT DOOR in spokane) and headed to their lake place to play on the beach and with Annika (our favorite babysitter). It was perfection - we chatted and snacked and Annika played with the kids. 

check out that huge water trampoline! 

It was a great weekend and I am so thankful for our place to recharge and share special time with friends. 

July wrap up

We've been thoroughly enjoying our July. I just can't get enough of Summer - easy mornings, no responsibilities, great weather, sun, swimming, movie watching, reading, i could go on. Charlie had a great soccer camp last week from 8:30-12 and it was our only real commitment of the summer and boy am I glad. I was so over it by friday. Love the "whatever" happens kinda life currently. A few years ago this would have killed me because every day was like that. But after a busy, exhausting school year this is such a nice change of pace. 

We spent a long weekend on the boat - I'm just chillin. 

These kids love each other. They also can get really hyper together. 

Lake Pend Oreille is just incredible. The views are over the top and we are so very thankful we get to boat on this majestic lake each weekend. 

you can barely see that Charlie and Claire are wearing their goggles in the tube. so funny!

we have started playing a bit of junior monopoly with the kids. pretty fun, but we have to set a timer because the junior version is like the game that never ends.  

In the middle of July the kids did a 9 day 30 min lesson with Kevin Eddy - a swim instructor who has a house near ours with a pool and he teaches there. He gives awesome lessons and turned charlie into a decent swimmer into a legit swim team kid (although Charlie isn't interested he -- he was killing the front crawl). The girls were making progress, but were much more interested in playing than listening (school is going to be a major learning curve). They definitely still did great and working towards being totally safe in the water. 

Claire on a hike at Schweitzer and wanted me to take a picture with the pretty flower she found. Better than her picking it! We are working on looking at pretty things and leaving them. 

Nana came up to visit for the weekend Bill was on call. I am so thankful for her driving and coming out. We headed up to the Bach on Friday night and had a fun day at WineFest up in the village on Saturday. We had a bit of a shock realizing we had BATS (i know-gasp!!!! it was a major shock and I am again thankful for my mom because she is braver than me and was willing to do the poop test -- with syran over her hands - to test it for me). Moms are really amazing. 

last weekend our friends the Malones came to hang with us on Saturday. So much fun sharing these incredible blessings with friends. Charlie and Luke had a blast. 

Lily and I had a few good mountain runs each morning. So fun to learn my way around the mountain. She is getting slow at the end though and I have to really wait up for her! 9 years old will do that to a dog. That view never gets old! 

we took a hike with the kids on Monday (Bill took it off) and found Huckleberry Hill where we found lots of Huckleberries. Next time I will bring a plastic bag to collect them! 

Claire

On Monday, Charlie was brave enough to attempt to put on some huge kids skis and attempt to ski. I was so proud of him for just trying - this is not something he is willing to do unless he knows he will success (usually). We really wanted him to try, but warned him the skis were probably too small. He didn't totally make it up (mostly because he couldn't even keep the skis under or in front of him), but were so proud he tried. 

This is a pano of a place we named "Rock Skippin' Bay". It was just perfect here and we had it to ourselves! 

The beauty is incredible! 

Fourth of July weekend

We had a relaxing Saturday morning up at Schweitzer walking around and hiking Screech Owl trail. Then we met up with our friends the Prossers for a fun afternoon on the boat. I didn't take any pics on the boat because there was a lot of action with 6 kids and 4 adults on the boat. Here is a picture of the kids at dinner at The Hound - I crack up at all these faces! Mitch is hilarious, Charlie is obediently smiling, Phyllis is giving her sweet grin, Ellie is doing her chipmunk face and Claire was literally sitting there in that serious pose for all the pictures - she wouldn't change.  

the girls love Phyllis. Bella is older than Phyllis and I didn't get a picture of her.

Enjoying the Panhandle ice cream - this stuff is AMAZING! Summer is so much fun!

 Sunday morning we met our friends the Vollmer's down in Sandpoint to spend the next 2 days with us. It was a blast! Zoe is in Charlie's class at the Oaks and we also go to church with them. 

Charlie, Ellie, Claire, Zoe.

lots of fun rides on the tube. 

Me and Claire hanging out. The tube served multiple functions!

There was quite a bit of wind on Sunday- so we had to put up with some serious pounding and wave crashing to get to some awesome quiet spots. Bill was a champ driver. 

4th of July  - Monday morning it was overcast and a bit chilly up at the mountain, but we still had fun cruising around and Bill was able to show off his hoola hooping skills. 

 

 checking out bugs together. 

After a fun afternoon where the kids played perfectly together upstairs and the adults chatted and enjoyed adult conversation we decided to wrap up our 4th with a boat ride to dinner. 

Claire decided to pick the warmest spot for the drive. 

Claire showed off her goofy face at dinner and got everyone rolling. She is so hilarious!

We said goodbye to Ting, Patrick and Zoe as they headed back towards home and we stopped half way up on the drive up the mountain to see if we could catch a few fireworks. We only saw the ones across the bays not the Sandpoint ones. Next year we will be on the boat to watch them. 

enjoying the scene from the car. 

Another fun 4th in the books. So thankful for a wonderful place to relax and spend special time with friends! 

First Family Summit - Schweitzer

At the end of June when we were up at Schweitzer we took the Nature Trail up to the summit. It is only 2.5 miles, but does go UP. 

getting close!!! 

at the VERY end! The kids did awesome. We planned it so that we arrived to the top after the lifts started so we could download with the lift! 

Pretty great view! 

Ended that day with a boat ride!! Love Schweitzer and Sandpoint! 

June wrap - up

More June happenings...

Girls on their last day of school. Love that they gave me the EXACT same face! Claire - Ellie.

The last week of Charlie's school - the girls did a 3 class Ballet Camp. They had been asking to do one and I thought this was a perfect trial. 

Claire -Ellie.

the last class of the camp the parents are able to watch. Can you pick out the girls?? They are the only ones NOT wearing pink leotards. ha! I didn't want to buy the entire ballet outfit for 1 trial. 

Ellie says she didn't like the camp, but then did a great job while I was observing. Claire said she loved it, but couldn't tell me why. Not sure we will be keeping it up consistently. 

Ellie in black. Claire in the bring pink and black.

The first weekend of summer Bill was gone to a wedding in Lake Tahoe so I tried to make it fun. We even played Mario Kart and it was hilarious! I of course WON!!! HA! Most of the kids were stuck against walls. But they still had fun!

Finally - Monday the pool opened!!! We were so happy to be back at the Racquet club pool with so many friends. We celebrated with $1 ice creams before we left our first afternoon. 

Claire is always covered in chocolate. 

Bill's partner - Neil - has a cherry tree at his house. I went and picked a ton! YUM! Washington fruit is amazing. 

The kids and I went strawberry picking with Julia and her kids and then I made 4 batches of jam. Happy to have it done because we love to eat it! 

Back up at Schweitzer. We took the free chairlift ride up for the first day of opening summer season. It was cloudy so a perfect day to bum around. 

 The afternoon on the lake was still beautiful! 

more afternoons at the pool! Me and the kids spend most afternoons there - it is heavenly. Charlie loves hanging out with Marcus! 

always lots of friends to play with! 

one of the girls trying to get something out of the toy bin. This is actually taken when she was coming out of it herself - she had her feet higher in the air than this. I love that they can still get themselves out alone. 

fun times - the kid found a snake outside the garage door - thankfully it was a small one. 

more pool time! 

I had Claire try on her kindergarten uniform and my friend was dying at how big it is on her. Funny that I thought it looked right - ha! 

we LOVE annika for babysitting! I love shopping alone! 

Ellie walking into the pool in her wedges with just her swim suit on.

happy to have Bill join us one evening at the pool! 

the girls love to make the "banana boat" - 3 noodles wrapped together with some googles. pretty impressive really. 

more fun to come!