Bacon and Eggs.

I am not quite sure how we got to this point...I think it all started when I started asking the girls "What's shakin' bakin'?"  Somehow that transpired to Bacon.  Then to Bacon and Eggs.  Now my girls refer to themselves as Bacon and Eggs.  The other day I came home and said hello to Sidney.  She responded, "No.  I'm eggs.  Kendall is Bacon." 

Kevin took Bacon and Eggs on a camping trip to Montana the last few days.  They are due to be home in the morning and I cannot wait.  The silence was great the first day, good the second day, quiet the third day and sad today.  The question I always ask myself remains, "What did I do before I had kids?"  I must have been a huge time waster and life was probably really boring. 

I am looking forward to having them home, only to see them leave again for another week.  They will be here for a few days then off to Grandma Karen and Papa Mark's house.  I love that they get to have these memories with their family.  I would not trade that for anything, I just wish it was a little louder around here when they were gone. 

Kevin has already warned me that they are not coming home the same way they left.  Isn't that what grandparents are for?  We have five days to whip them back into shape.  Then they will be off to their other grandparents to get spoiled rotten again.  Livin' the good life!
 

Kids will be kids.

What do I love about camping?  Aside from no cellphones, no "to do" lists, no agenda and plenty of quiet time, I love that kids get to be kids.  In this day and age, it seems the era of imagination and child's play can be rare.  I remember growing up and building forts on our property, spending entire days making true "mud pies" using sticks as our utensils and running wild. 

We have city kids.  There are swimming lessons, play dates, art classes and story times.  Those are all incredibly awesome things, but when I watch the girls play while we are camping it just makes me smile.  They hide behind large trees hoping that Kevin and I would not find them.  They help haul fire wood to the campfire.  They spend hours practicing their casting with their fishing poles.

They tromp around in the rivers in the absolutely freezing cold water.  I recall when we were up at Bulltrout Lake a couple of weeks ago Kendall was wading in the freezing cold water and announced to Kevin and I that she was going "swimming".  We gave each other a sideways glance and watched her proceed to plunge into the frigid water.  She came up and the water had literally taken her breath away.  These are good times.  These are the times that I remember as I child. 

I will never forget fishing with my Dad on the dock during a VERY cold spring morning.  I must have been about 8 years old.  It was so cold out that we were bundled up in pants and jackets.  There was a rope tied to the end of the dock that I kept throwing in as far as possible, teetering on the edge of the dock.  Despite my Dad's warnings, I continued to do this.  After about the fifth warning, I threw the rope with all my might and landed in the freezing cold water fully clothed.  The water was over my head and I remember the cold taking my breath away.  I came up from the water to see my Dad laughing and yelling all at the same time.  "I told you so" was all that I remembered hearing him say.

Sidney was so proud of herself.  She was walking across her log.  As we were leaving camp on Sunday morning, she kept begging to walk on her log "just one more time".

We went exploring on some of the back roads and found a really awesome spot where the creek had dammed up.  There was quite a pool of water behind it.  The day was so hot, Kevin even jumped in with all of his clothes on.

The girls were sitting in the cold water asking Kevin to time them to see how long they could sit there for.  Silly girls.

Yes, we are busy.  Life is busy.  I have found that these moments that we get to steal, away from all of the hustle and bustle, have become something that I really look forward to.

Pool Party 101

The girls went to their first pool party.  They were super excited to get their suits on and join their friends for some fun and sun.  We met up with the Parson girls and Little Emily.  Claire was home not feeling so hot.  Bummer deal. 

The girls had a great time and took a mere 30 seconds to warm up and start the fun.  I think I managed to get a shot of everyone.  Even little Natalie got in on the action.

Audrey and Kendall had an excellent time diving for rings.  Bill even took them for a ride around the big pool.  Another year and we will have to put tracking devices on these girls to keep tabs on them.  They are ready to go!  

Sidilicious had a good time, but did most of her playing from the sidelines.  Beware though, do not even think about snatching her ring from her because she is "using it." 

Emily was kind enough to stop her play long enough for a smile.

It was a good time.  The first of many we hope.  We got there early and had the place almost to ourselves.  It always amazes me to think that we three girlfriends now have 6 little girls among us.  Wasn't it just a few short years ago that we were heading to Vegas for Becky's bachelorette party?

Party Girls

This has been a very fun summer, it is hard to believe that we are a full week into July already.  The girls are half way through the summer reading program at the library.  They took their tickets in for some prizes.  Of all the things that they could choose from, the girls each picked a blow-up guitar.  Sidney seemed to know exactly what to do with hers.  Tonight I took them to Toys R Us to check out all of the fun things.  They each have a list of about 100 items that they want for their next birthday.  The instruments and music Cd's seemed to attract most of their attention.  They were literally dancing down the aisles.

Here is one of Kendall's dancing pictures from Tracey and Whitney's wedding.  Everyone is still talking about how she danced the night away.  Apparently she even got Uncle Roy out on the dance floor!

I mentioned in my earlier post that we came back from our camping trip last weekend a day early.  It turned out to be a great thing as our neighbor's always throw the most fantastic BBQ and fireworks show.  I have dubbed the 4th of July "Matt's" holiday as he seems like a kid in a candy store when it comes to fireworks.  The girls ate like they had tapeworms.   

Amanda's sister was at the party with her camera.  She snapped a family picture of everyone at the party.  Unfortunately we left our camera at home and it was a long walk to go get it (across the street) so no candids this year. 

Snow in July?

Yes, this is what we were greeted with when we went camping this weekend.  CRAZY!  Though it may look cold, it was truly gorgeous.  The temperature was 70 degrees and the lake was like glass in the mornings with a breeze coming through in the afternoons.  It just so happened that our camp site had more snow than anywhere else in the campground.  It was not a problem, because what you do not see in the picture is the huge flat piece of sunny land that was between the lake and our camper.  Kevin and I hauled some big rocks and made a makeshift fire pit and that was where we set up camp. 

Sid checking out our lake front property.  The camp site was huge.  We only had one neighbor within visual range. 

Kevin took each of the girls out in the raft to fish.  Next on our wish list is a second raft, so that I can paddle out with one of the girls at the same time!

Sidney was not too sure about the boat ride.  She remained pretty still the entire time.

Bill and Audrey were camping at the same time.  The girls got to play together a couple of play times.  The play time was not nearly long enough.  Kendall kept wanting to go in the trailer and "call" Audrey.  We kept explaining that the phone did not work at the lake.  Below is a picture of Kendall and Audreymaking their "machine".  The pink bucket had a hole in the bottom and they were draining the water into the purple bucket.  They dubbed it their "bucket machine".  They are not the offspring of engineers are they?

Sidney ate so much watermelon this weekend that I thought she would explode.  I suppose there are worse things in life to eat too much of. 

Our wonderful camping trip came to an early ending as we were having battery troubles and the alarm kept going off.  It woke us at 6 am on Sunday.  What a bummer since I rarely see the other side of 6 am with my eyes closed.  The day before I had slept in until almost 8am.  That is a miracle for me!

On the way home, we hit a couple of fishing spots along the way.  The girls are getting really into fishing.  I am amazed at their attention span.  It was a good time, but only left me craving for more...!

I now prounce you...

...husband and wife.  Last weekend we took a trip to Big Sky for our nephew's wedding.  On the way there Kendall asked me "How do people become husband and wife?"  Figuring she was way too young for the birds and the bees, we talked about falling in love and promising to spend the rest of your life with someone.  She seemed satisfied with that direction.  She must have absorbed much of it, because at the end of the wedding ceremony she turned to me and said "True loves first kiss".  When I asked her where she had heard that, she replied "Shrek".  Of course!

On the way to Montana, we stopped at a wildlife park.  It was pretty awesome.  We saw (and have pictures of) tons of animals.  I will not bore you with all of them, but here is a beautiful bear that we saw.  He was literally only a few yards from our vehicle.  They look so soft and cuddly.  It is hard to imagine this gentle thing ripping a person to shreds.  Better to stay on the inside of the vehicle!

We saw a grizzly bear, black bears, a cow elk and her new calf, antelope, moose and pot bellied pigs.  There was also a petting zoo that the girls got a kick out of. 

Kevin took about 50 pictures of this baby bear cub.  Doesn't this look say it all?  "Are you done yet?"

The girls even had their first roller coaster ride.  Do not let Sidney's arms in the air and smile fool you.  The minute the coaster started to move she was screaming and hanging on for dear life.

I think this ride is much more her speed!

When we arrived at the ranch, we had a big barbecue and the festivities began.  It was truly a fun weekend filled with family, food and plenty of beverages (lemonade that is)!  Here are Tracey and Whitney, the bride and groom to be. 

We all stayed in amazing cabins on the ranch.  We could hardly call it "roughing it".  Here is Grandma Terrell with her daughters-in-law. 

All dressed up, the girls enjoyed a few laughs with their Grandma before the wedding.

My handsome husband and I managed to sneak in a picture.  Kendall was also shocked to learn that Kevin and I once had a wedding and became husband and wife.  "Really mommy, did you get to wear a pretty white dress too?"  Sure enough, I did.

A few of the cousins stopped playing long enough for a picture.

The girls insisted on picking bouquets of wild flowers.  Now I just hope they don't try that at home.

The handsome best man (aka brother of the groom).  Kyle looked so grown up and handsome.  Time has absolutely flown by.  Kyle was literally a baby when he was at our wedding.  That being said, I think I must have been 10 years old when I got married. 

Lisa, Roy, Terrell and Kevin. 

Ashlee, Sherry, Roy and Cody.

Chip, Lisa, Kami and Kaden.

It was such a fun weekend.  The girls did great on the trip.  Sidney has a hard time meeting new people, so on the way there we talked with her about how there were going to be a lot of people that would be excited to see her.  They would know her, but she would not necessarily know them.  We told her that when she met someone she needed to look at them and say hello.  This was not an easy task for her, but she did a terrific job.  On the way home, we asked her what her favorite part of the whole trip was and she said, "Saying hello to everyone".  Way to go Sid.  I know that everyone really appreciated hearing your sweet little hello!

Kendall was the life of the party at the wedding reception.  She closed the place down, literally.  She danced the entire night.  Daddy brought her back to the cabin shortly after midnight and she was beaming from ear to ear!  From what I heard, she danced with every single person at the reception.  She told me that her favorite dances were 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun' and "her dance" as she dubbed it, 'Cha Cha Slide".

The whole weekend was amazing and fun.  We celebrated the beginning of Whitney and Tracey's life together.  We also remembered and missed David and Bridger.  It was a beautiful weekend with lots of laughs and a few tears.

Congratulations Tracey and Whitney!

The Art of Make-Believe.

A few weeks ago I took the girls to get their annual pictures together.  I typically try to pick their outfits myself for at least a few of the pictures, then I let them pick out a second outfit.  This year I wanted to capture the girls doing something they love...playing dress up.  They helped me fill their trunk up full of jewelry, wands and dress up clothes.  Then we headed to the studio.  They had a really good time taking these pictures.  Though I must say, it was quite a challenge to get them both to look at the camera and smile at the same time.  It was a good thing that I did not have that goal in mind!  The best part was that they begged me to wear their dress up clothes home.  I never realized how difficult it would be for them to walk in their plastic high heels on the pavement, but they managed and were thrilled to do so.

And now for a few pictures in the outfits that I picked out (kind of).  Kendall was adamant on wearing her "fruit" dress.  Sid was pretty picky as well.  I tried to get her to wear coordinating shorts and top, but she was insistent that she wear a dress too!  So I guess in the end, I did not have much of a say at all:)

I never want this stage to pass.  I can only hope that the next one will bring even more fun.  Gotta love it...!