Goodbye Summer; Last Hurrah

Andrew and Mack started soccer practice the first week in August.  One evening they were scrimaging Varsity so Greg and I came to watch.  Andrew got caught up with Caleb and fell.  He caught himself with his arm and he was not doing well when he got up.  He was tearing up and ended up going to see the trainer.  She wrapped it up and told him it could be broken soo either go right to the doctor or come see her again in the morning.  It was past 8 o'clock by the time the game was over so ER was the only doctor option.  I told him we'd see how it looked in the morning; it looked the same.  No swelling or bruising but he said it hurt really bad.  We took him back to the trainer and she told us to take him in.  An hour later we knew what a buckle fracture was and he had this fancy brace.  No soccer for two weeks, no games for 3 weeks, wear the brace for 4 weeks.  Fun times.  Luckily, due to poor air quality a few games were rescheduled so he only missed one game.  

Due to Covid - school started 3 weeks later than scheduled so the girls and I enjoyed a few days up in McCall with Grandma and Grandpa.

Emmy and I did a lot of paddle boarding - I love being out there on the water- so peaceful.  I found a group of huge fish on my own then grabbed Emily to show her.  It's fun to share it together.

We went on lots of walks with Grandma and we found this little bridge in the middle of the forest.

At Emily's request we drove out to North Beach to look for moose.  No luck - but we did walk around and explore the empty beach.  It is nice to be up there when the crowds are back in the valley.

When we got home from McCall we repacked our bags and turned around and drove to Utah to spend Labor Day with Natali and the cousins.

Unfortunately, right before we got there one of Natali's roommateso went into quarantine so we chose to be pretty careful.  We went and saw her room but didn't stay long and wore masks the whole time.  She walked us around campus and we visited the bookstore and creamery.  Then we said goodbye and headed to Aunt Sue's house.

All the cousins gathered at Sue's to slip and slide and pick raspberries. 

Mack and I played a lot of soccer and I may have given him a bloody nose with the ball - my juggling skills could use some work.

On Sunday we hiked into the mountains and had church among the trees, in our hammocks, on blankets, rocks, and tree stumps.  It was fabulous.  

Andrew even found himself a snake on the trail - he had to be the reptile tamer since Brad wasn't there.

We also spent a lot of time at Laurie and Brett's new house.  The boys spent hours and hours playing cup pong and sting pong or some combo with Bode.  Emily, Hazel and Piper walked around outside on the trails.  Lily loved hanging with Dane and Zella, and Kate, Harper, and London kept themselves busy doing who knows what.  Man the kids love their cousin.

The fire pole was a huge hit and we did manage to see a moose and a deer in their backyard.  

Sharing a late night apple peel snack.  

Monday morning Greg, Laurie, Beth and I went for a gorgous 5 or 6 mile hike.  We even had to take a few bushwacking detours in order to avoid the three moose we saw.  Such a wonderful weekend; the only reason anyone wanted to go home was becuase we were actually starting school Tuesday morning and we were ready.  It had been over 5 months since they had been in class.  It was time.

Belated Super Mega Wowie Birthday Party

 The Spring birthdays were supposed to be celebrated right when school got out but with Covid then cousins in town and summer craziness it never happened.  With Val's kids finally starting school and Natali headed to Provo we just had to make it happen.  We could only get together Sunday so the party wasn't quite as Mega as last year but the kids still had a blast.

Fabulous pasta bar and a piñata complete with covid mask for a blind fold.

Dozens of cakes, three kinds of frosting, and endless toppings.

Not to mention presents (which I forgot to take a picture of) for everyone, silly games, and just being together one more time before school dragged us apart. 

And again

When Iverson's came to town we hung out a grandma's for a few days then they headed up to McCall.  We joined them for two days and one night.  We enjoyed time hiking, tubing, driving 4-Wheelers, eatting toaster strudel and ice cream, swimming and just having fun together.

 Hattie and Anna helped Lily be brave on the tube.

The girls were giving me their best glam pose - what do you think?

Cousins are so awesome!  I can't get these two to tube at all but when the cousin were here they actually joined the fun.  Yeah!

Peaceful McCall Again

Before the summer ended we had to enjoy our full week in McCall.  The little girls and I headed up early in the week.  We enjoyed beach time, My Father's Place, building forts, swimming, huckleberry picking and lots of hiking.

And it wouldn't be McCall without a trip to The Pancake House.

Pulling in after our breakfast we saw a little friend eating the plants between the buildings.  See his head?  We named him Bucky and Emily and Lily followed him around for a long time.

He wasn't shy.  Bucky made an appearance more than once that week.

The big kids came up with Greg later in the week and we enjoyed some silly times together.  The magnets may have distracted us during scriptures that night.

The Walker family came up late Thursday night.  They stayed in the Dame boy's unit and we all had a blast playing together.  We showed them where to pick huckleberries, had delicious french toast breakfast, swam, played in the sand, went tubing, played spike ball, ate lunch on the beach, played table tennis, and just had a blast together.  Then the Easton's quickly got ready and had our pictures taken.  It was a great day.  Lots of fun and I loved having our pictures taken in my favorite place.  We threw together some Mountains and pancakes for dinner and then the Walkers hit the road.  The rest of the weekend flew by - love that place.