He's a Senior!

Mack and I spent the evening with Heather and she got some great photos.  I sure love that boy and his kind striking eyes with their glint of humor.  I think he had the most fun trying to do all his soccer tricks.  Our walls bare the ware of his years of perfecting new tricks but I'm sure going to miss the sound of the ball being knocked around the house and being nutmeged while I cook dinner.  I don't know where he'll go next but I'll sure miss this kid.

 

Crawfishing for Science

Emily's science class had an extra credit opportunity available - crawfishing for a science experiment with the Boise River Enhancement Group.  It sounded like fun and I didn't want to send her alone so Andrew and I joined.

We waded in the water, flipping over rocks hoping to find the little guys hanging out.  It started out slow and we weren't too optimistic but then I started finding them.  I was the best fisher in our group of 5, I caught 6, then Andrew or Emily would wade them back to shore.  In total our group of around 20 caught over 40 and they only needed 12 males and 12 females.  So we got to sex them and select the best specimen.  

They were testing the crawfish for mercury to evaluate the polutants in the water.  It was cool to be a part of a real science experiment.  Emily's teacher also got to take a few critters back for her school fishtank (a few crawfish and the little catfish Andrew caught). It was a bit chilly but we had a lot of fun and we even got snacks at the end so it was all worth it.

First Day of School 2021

Back to school wither we are ready or not.  Mack is a Senior 😢.  How am I going through this again and next year too😩?

Emily is moving onto 6th grade.

Can't believe Lily is a 3rd grader, all by herself at the elementary school.

Kate is a freshman!  They are all growing up too fast.

Three kids in High School again with Andrew as a Junior.  He grew his hair out over the summer and shocked us all by learning he has some curl.

We are running crazy everyday but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Our Week in McCall

Our last week of summer fun was spent enjoying McCall.  The Wilfords joined us for the first few days.  Luke was bummed that the boys couldn’t come (soccer tryouts) so we worked hard to make it awesome.  The kids rose early our first morning and Val took them ziplining.  I stayed home with the three littles (they weren’t heavy enough).  The zipliners had a blast and are hoping to do it again next year.

 

Those of us that stayed home had some fun playing reading, playing games, Wii and going for a hike while looking for huckleberries.  While out we suddenly realized there were two deer right behind us.  The stayed with us for a few minutes.  It made the hike pretty exciting.

We did a lot of swimming, Kubb, pickleball, playing in the sand, jumping in the lake, paddle boarding, trips into town for ice cream, movies, walks, and games.  

Too make sure our adventure ended on a high note Wednesday morning we drove up to Brundage and rode the Blue Bird Express to the top.  None of us had every been there in the summer.  The views were incredible, and it was so interesting to see what it all looked like sans snow.  We hiked around for a couple hours till the kids couldn’t handle it the heat or the hiking anymore then we headed down the mountain by way of the lift.  We said goodbye to the cousins in the parking lot and headed home for a well-deserved nap.

That evening Emily, Lily and I played for hours in the sand, building a massive moted city.  It was a work of art and labor.

 

The next morning, we enjoyed the pancake house followed by an adventure walk.  We picked piles of huckleberries for Lily’s tummy and when Kate and Lily tired Emily and I continued across the water fall until we were worn out and I had blistered toes.  

 

That afternoon we welcomed the arrival of Grandma and Grandpa and set right to work unloading and building all the new furniture.  The condo looked like a carpentry shop with all of us on the floor putting things together.  I was proud of my girls for jumping in and not letting up till the work was done.  When all was said and done, we had assembled 8 chairs, a dining table, coffee table, and end table.  The littles took a hard-earned swim that evening.

That evening Kelly and some friends helped dad move the old couches out and the new couches in then we set to work breaking down all the old boxes and readying the trailer for the return home.  Late that evening Grandpa got an invitation to attend the endowment of a young man in their ward the next afternoon.  They wanted to be there, so they got everything ready that night and left early the next morning.  We were sad to see them go but we knew Greg would be there that evening so that was something to look forward to.   

  

I let the girls spend the day picking our activities which meant one last trip into town for milkshakes at My Father’s Place and a visit to the candy store. 

 

Greg came Friday night, and we finished the last touches on the furniture thanks to Greg's bit extender.  Saturday we hiked, played with the kids and started cleaning.  The McCall facelift is finally complete and it looks amazing.