Porch time

This past weekend we were lucky to go and spend it with my brother and sister-in-law at their cabin at Lac le Jeune.
The last time we had all been there together was back in 2009 so it was definitely calling us back.
Here's our weekend story the best way I like to tell it...in photos.

The kayaks were a big memory from our last visit and they were something the kids wanted to do first. Lots of time spent on those, especially by Taggart who has happy he could go by himself this time.
 
 
 
 
They tried their luck at fishing but came back empty handed both times. Taggart called this the "speed boat" which we all thought was pretty funny. You definitely weren't breaking any speed records with this boat.


Cooper and Tag dropped these two off at the dock and "sped" away.

 
But then it started to rain so Cooper "sped" back to rescue them.
 
 A mad dash for the cabin as the raindrops came heavier and steadier. We were treated to a whole variety of weather, including and thunder storm.
 
Spying on the bald eagle's nest.
 
Some time relaxing on the dock.




Some knife throwing.




Oh ya, Uncle John and Opa showed up for a visit on Saturday and hung out with us for a while.
(not sure what that face is all about)


Lily and Leo had a lot of fun together.



The water was freezing but a few braved it anyway.


Tony needed his Starbucks fix so him and the boys buzzed into Kamloops Sunday afternoon and brought them back to enjoy on the porch.

And a few more to round out the weekend.
Thanks Rudy and Tina for a lovely time.

Our backyard in the summer

There are a lot of reasons why summer is my favorite. Our backyard is definitely one of those reasons. There's so much great stuff happening back there.

It's a really great place to have an 11th birthday party surrounded by all your best friends. Reagan wanted to watch a movie at the end of her party but the backyard provided way too much fun...they never made it inside or even out of their bathing suits.


Backyard picnics are some of my favorite summer memories. This night it was just my three boys and I (Tony worked late and Reagan was at camp). Pizza, sushi, and my fave Oma picnic blanket.


The pool has become a summer staple. Even thought I haven't personally stepped foot into it this year, it's still a backyard favorite of mine. Sounds of splashing and screaming kids is a sound of summer.


The garden. Tony works to make it lovely and it really is. I bug him about his obsession for watering but I know that's what makes it so beautiful.
This limelight hydrangea is new this year and I love looking over the deck railing and seeing it there against the purple hibiscus.


This little yellow birdhouse is also a new addition this year. Tony isn't loving it as it's not a flower but I like how it looks hanging over the pink roses.


The dahlias against the back fence and the way the setting sun shines through them each night.



The sunsets. They are always different and I never get tired of them.
 
 
 

Hudson Day

For Hudson's birthday this year, back in March, we were at a bit of a loss as to what to get him. He hadn't really asked for much so we were forced to think outside the box a little. We came up with the idea of "Hudson Day". A whole day where he was in charge of what we did, ate, watched, etc.
It was put on the calendar and yesterday was the day. He was very excited and I think it lived up to his expectations.


Homemade waffles for lunch. Can't think of any food that makes this boy happier.

Steak and twice baked potatoes for dinner.

A game of football down on the field.


He also squeezed in a trip to Starbucks and the driving range with Tony, a board game with the whole family, some video game time, and a movie with lemon meringue pie later that night.
Hudson Day was definitely a success for Hudson. I probably didn't really give enough thought to how much work it would be for me. Next year I think we'll just give him $50 and be done with it. :) Actually it was a lot of work, but the smile on his face all day long was more than enough to make it totally worth it.
And a couple of these raspberry mojitos didn't hurt either. Just a little part of Hudson Day devoted to Mama.

{heart}

I have been trying (unsuccessfully) to get back to my blog for way too long. I'm not really sure why I ever really let it go.
I used to say (back when I was a good blogger) that things never really happened if they don't show up on the blog. Like having them there up on the screen made them somehow more real. I know that really isn't true but i also know all those moments (big and small) in our lives seemed to stick tighter into my memory when I blogged them. And that is one reason why I am attempting (again) to document our lives in this way. Another reason why I am here again is because the other night I spent a few hours going through photos, organizing and editing the ones that have been taken in the last year or so. The number of photos I had to go through was significantly less than in other years. That made me sad but still as I looked through the ones I had...memories come flooding back. And i remembered why I love photos so much and why documenting them along with the story they hold is so important to me.
So before I get too caught up in this feeling of what I have possibly forgotten or missed in our lives over the past while, I will instead look to the present and take pleasure in the little things that make me smile right now.
We are half way through our summer and we have had the best weather I can remember having for a long time. We've been to the lake a couple of times, done the waterslides and had spent lots of time in the backyard.
These photos are from yesterday at Cultus Lake when I found this perfect potato chip in my bag. (who goes to the lake without potato chips??)
I {heart} summer!

Pinterest strikes again

I often share things I find on Pinterest with the kids. Most of the time they just smile and nod and pretend to be interested in what I've found. But when I showed Cooper these he decided that we should totally make them. So today we did. I love that he still wants to make things with me. And seriously, who could resist little teddies driving cars. Especially when they are made out of chocolate. We devoured them all after dinner tonight.

Pinterest success

If you are a Pinterest user you probably understand what I am about to say.  There are a lot of great things on Pinterest.  A lot. Which means you can spend a lot of time going through them. I have spent my fair share, actually much more than my fair share of mornings with my cup of tea looking through more great ideas or recipes that I can pin. And pin I do. I have boards for recipes, clever home organizing, kid party ideas, crafty things, the list goes on. But where I tend to fail is in the execution of all these ideas. I guess you actually have to stop pinning for a while and start doing.
Well, I'll have you know I did just that this week.
Meyer lemon cranberry mini cake donuts. Inspired by Pinterest.

I made 48 of these little sweets and they were all devoured before the day was over.

Thank goodness for happy endings

There are many things I could write about since the last time I've posted. We surprised the kids with a new puppy, Christmas came and went, we rang in a new year, celebrated a few birthdays and sadly we said goodbye to my Mom after her battle with dementia and all that accompanies it finally ended on September 19th. Some of those things definitely deserve their own blog post and I hope to get to some of that. But for today I am going to share a story from this week.

Like I mentioned, we got a new puppy, which is definitely worth its own blog post. I really will try to do that, but no promises. On Thursday, she escaped! I'm not sure the details of who let her escape (me) are important so I won't bore you with those. She ran out the garage door, across the street and into the trails. The trails that go on forever and come out at various places around our neighborhood. I immediately ran after her, but she was gone into the forest. The size of her (about 6 lbs) and her color (exactly the same as all the leaves on the forest floor) made the task of finding her very overwhelming. After looking for a while, I called Tony in a panic. I thought he might be mad but his voice of calm really helped me. He told me to get people to help as soon as I could so we could cover more ground. I ran over to my neighbor's house and asked her to help. I called Cooper and Hudson out of school and they ran home to help. I called another friend and she drove right down. Once school was out, we had even more help. The kids' friends, more friends and neighbors of mine all came and we searched those woods. I was getting more and more worried that we wouldn't find her before we lost the daylight. I was really worried about how upset the kids would all be if we didn't get her back. I was pretty much a mess. And after being out in the trails for over 3 hours now, I was really feeling the cold and knew she must be feeling it too.
Then as I started walking up the trail for the hundredth time, I watched the reaction of my friend Jackie further down the path. Smiling, trying to call me, almost doing a little happy dance. She sees Lily!! I run down and there she is...in the arms of another friend of mine. Can't even explain how relieved I was. The adventure was over and the ending was a happy one. We all shared some tears, lots of hugs and for me, an overwhelming gratefulness for the kindness of friends. We had people just drop whatever they were doing to come help. Friends that stayed positive for my sake never giving up the hope that all would be well.
I went to bed that night exhausted from our adventure but feeling so blessed for the good people that I have in my life. And Lily was right where she belonged.