Summer Activities

This past couple of weeks have been pretty busy. We had a lot of last minute school work to finish up. Last week I had a Haukaas family reunion in WA to attend. Seth couldn't come with us because he had church camp. (Well, he could've come, but then he would have hated me until church camp next year.) I was disappointed because I wanted to show everyone how big, handsome, & polite he's become. But I still had a good time showing off my other cuties. It was fun seeing so many relatives. Some of them I hadn't seen since I was about ten. Justin was a little uncomfortable being around so many people he didn't know, but he was a good sport. He kept threatening to go out to the car to read his book, but he never did. My parents paid for a pretty nice hotel for us. It was a family suite & had two queen beds & a king. The boys loved the hotel & got to go swimming a couple of times. I don't have a lot of pictures of the trip since I forgot to bring extra batteries for my camera. The trip was a whirl wind & we didn't get to go see any Sturgeon family, unfortunately. We left Friday from Nampa & got home Sunday. We picked up Seth from our friends' house. He was still wishing he was at camp. 

Then there was Thursday this week. Our biggest Summer adventure yet. Aunt Rara came over, brought Abi & we took all of the kids to McDonalds & the park. We wore the kids out (& ourselves) & came home, ready to sit for a while & drink a nice glass of water. I didn't have a house key because I forgot to get it from Emily before she left for Seattle. I usually come in through the garage......no problem. Except that earlier that day I must have been having one of my OCD-need-to-make-sure-doors-are-locked-even-though-it's-the-middle-of-the-day-moments & locked the house/garage door. So, we were good & locked out. We tried to take the air conditioner box out of the back window, but it wouldn't budge. We tried to squeeze Micah in through the gap between the AC box & the tiny amount of space that the window would open above it. Apparently, he has a big head & that didn't work. So, we got in the car & drove back to Boise to get a house key from Justin at work. We got as far as Sarah's (Aunt Rara) house, when my car died. We hung out at Sarah's house. She was trying to be a gracious hostess to all six kids in her non-child proofed home.  Deb came over, she & Sarah drove over to Moms & got her car, came back took us all to Justin's work to get the house key, drove us home. Of course we got stuck in traffic on the way there. But we made it through alive, though not completely sane. Don't know what I would've done w/out Sarah & Deborah. Justin fixed my car the next day. It was the alternator (not the U-joint, Mom).

The girls are staying the weekend w/ me while Deb goes on a church retreat. We're having fun. So far the kids have all been covered in several different substances. Mud, chalk dust from some neato toys Sarah brought over (they looked like little pink & blue people.......the toys were pretty cool: giant feet you strap on, stomp around & make animal prints), food, water, food, more mud. At the end of the day, I just hosed them down out back.

By the way, happy late birthday, Emily!!! We miss you!!!

4th of July Weekend

Well, we didn't do fireworks this year, but we did ........go on another camping trip! (Big surprise there, I know!) We went with some friends, who shall remain nameless for reasons of privacy (but they have a little girl named Tommy, which may or may not be their internet nickname for her). Despite kids getting sick & mosquitoes eating us alive........we had a great time. No really. It was pretty nice. I especially liked the giant biting flies. Justin spent a lot of time fishing with his buddy. I spent a lot of time gabbing it up with my buddy. The kids had an awesome time floating down the river (the 2 foot deep parts, that is). Seth snorkeled & played fetch with the dogs. The dogs also also played fetch with him...for real: sticks-in-Seth's-mouth-doggie-paddling-real. Jarod & Micah swam & played in the sand with their friends. Titus & Gideon pretty much played next to me & didn't get too brave with the river, which was just fine with me. It's a lot less work when you don't have to continually save your kids from drowning. Oh, and they played with their friend Tommy. We had fun, but this time I was kind of glad to get home. No offense to my friends. Love you guys. 


P.S. HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUNT RA-RA!!!! WE LOVE YOU!!!