Five Mile Lake

After a VERY early flight (we had to wake up at 3:45 AM) yesterday we arrived in Seattle! It has been an extreme heat wave- triple digit temps, which are simply unheard of here until this summer. 

We decided to go to Five Mile Lake today to do some kayaking with the Hale's and take advantage of the heat, but unfortunately it was cloudy and cool. Of course.

The girls still had a great time playing with their cousins, and anytime I get to hang out with Melissa is a good time, so we are grateful. We just came back and went in the hot tub to try and get warm.

Claire's Party

Once again, the weather Gods struck and threatened severe thunderstorms for Claire's outdoor beach party. So, we switched days from Friday to Thursday. It ended up being cloudy and chilly for the entire time, and then as we started packing up to come home the sun came out. 

Do you believe me now that we are cursed?

At any rate, it was a lot of fun and there were lots of smiles. We met at the park, where we did her cookie cake and ate lunch, then went to the beach, then went back to the park for presents.

I will say it was a great success, and it was, but I think we are forever done with doing outdoor parties. The weather is just too evil to us for us to rely on it.

Home Sweet Home

 It only lasted two years. Sigh.

Claire and Camille for a brief time shared a bedroom, but that time is over. After Audra moved downstairs, Claire and Camille joined together and I got a sewing/craft room! It was wonderful.

But, for the past year Camille has begged to have her own room back. She wrote me letters and made lists about how we could move things around to make it work.

The situation isn't perfect. Camille basically doesn't have a closet because we have to store all of our fabric and sewing supplies, the vacuum, and ironing board in her closet. It isn't great- but she doesn't care. She just wants her own room.

I spent the first two weeks of June getting the sewing machine and as much as I could out of the room. I bought a sewing cabinet that we put up on the landing. It won't be nearly as easy/convenient to sew, but we can make it work. Since Audra is going to college in four years, we only need to do this set up until then.

We are now utilizing every square inch of our house. We can't make another room. In the past year, we have gotten Ben's office totally situated which meant moving all of the gaming consoles into the playroom, and now we have moved the sewing room into the landing. We have nowhere else to grow, which isn't bad but it's pretty crazy to know we have utilized everything.

Anyway, tonight is Camille's first night in her back to new room, and she is pretty excited.

Puppy Love

 Our dear friends got a puppy dog so we had to go and meet her- she is beautiful!

Treehouse Adventure Park

 For Christmas, my parents gave us some money to buy gifts for the kids. Ben and I decided we wanted to splurge on something fun- so we did. The Treehouse Adventure Park! This is similar to what we did at Lake Tahoe. We loved it then, and we loved it today!

It was over a hundred degrees in Denver, but it was in the 70's and cloudy in Bailey, and it felt like Heaven!

Camille was much braver this time around, and Claire knocked it out of the park. In our whole group, she was the only one who did the Black Diamond route- and she flew through it. 

We definitely can't wait to go back!

Watering Hole

 We found a true summer haven! The weather has been scorching hot- in the 100's- but I heard about a fun watering hole and we had a blast! It's along the Platte River, and there's a natural slide with small rapids. It's very safe (though I wouldn't take young kids!) and it really was an absolute blast. I even went down a few times!

I can't tell you who is who in these pictures, but you can see the slide and how you come out and land in a placid area and then come out. I can't believe we have lived here so long and I had no idea!

Rocky Mountain National Park

 Some friends of ours invited us to go camping and we decided to go for it! Well, sans Ben because he hates camping.

We met our friends, the Leubners (we call our group "The Larriott's" because we are always together- we see them probably 4-5 times a week), just outside RMNP. They pulled up and Audra said, in all seriously, "Wait! They convinced their dad to come too?" I didn't have the heart to tell her that in most families, it's the DAD who wants to go camping and we are the weird family.

At any rate, we had a great time. We went on a couple of hikes- Bierstadt Lake, which was long and hard, and Alberta Falls, which was short and absolutely stunning.

The kids loved playing at the campground with each other- especially the hammocks the L's brought. We ate lots of good food and truly had the best time. In fact, on the way home the girls said, "That was the best camping trip we have ever been on!" The weather was warm (hot), the company was great, and it really was just a great time. There is something about being out in nature that simply can't be explained. I don't love camping, but I love the pause from the world that camping allows.

Of course, if the girls weren't great at helping, there is no way I would take them. They are very helpful and that lightens my load without Ben being there. Camping is so much work! If they were hard to camp with, no way would we ever do it.

Anyway, here's the pics. It was such a great time!

The girls loved this watermelon leaf:

We "ran" into this moose. We had to wait about 20 minutes for it to finish eating and trot off. It was pretty cool!

And, then tonight I came home and I had a meeting. It was close to our house. On the drive home, something was wrong and I had to pull over.

Oh, joy. The curse of the tires continues.

Ben came and rescued me and I guess tomorrow I will be getting a new tire. Thank goodness it didn't happen while I was in the Rocky Mountains!

We should all sleep very well tonight!