Oh man, it's almost the end of summer and I still wanted to capture some of my favorite moments since my last post about Hawaii. Summer has been so full of fun and sun and late nights with the kids. Here are a string of photos with a few captions along the way...
Mother's Day! Beautiful cards, yummy breakfast and 4 1/2 mile hike with my crew. Couldn't have spent this special day any better.
I am so proud that these monkeys have made me a Mama! Motherhood isn't always pretty, but I LOVE being a mom and am honored to watch my people grow and discover the beautiful world we are lucky enough to live in.
The start of our hike around Clear Lake...
Piper and I continued our girls trip tradition to Portland...this time we invited Becky and Nina to join the adventure! The hotel escalators were one of the top favorites parts of the trip.
Riding the MAX to the zoo, and watching the women's professional soccer game were also special times on the trip!
Highland's Kindergarten storyline of opening an ice cream shop was super fun. They got in character to show off their frieze by putting on a Grand Opening for their stores. Both boys applied for server positions and we got to watch them get their first experience as an employee. The ice cream was delicious!
Piper's 2nd/3rd grade class learned all about Archimedes during her time in Ancient Greece. The wars, the gods, the inventors...this was interesting and challenging times to live.
The Variety Show!
Super proud of all three kids who stepped on stage to preform for the schools talent show. Piper did a group song with some of the kids in her class and Calvin and Jett had 30 seconds to show off their basketball dance moves.
Piper is lucky to not have to say goodbye to her teacher Mrs. Greene! Yeah for the 2-3 split, she gets to be the big kid in class next year.
What an amazing school year! I feel so lucky that my kids LOVE school! Their teachers, the other kids, the storyline methods of teaching. All such great things.
AND we get to walk to school! So lucky!
We kicked off summer with a bang...We were packed and loaded, when the last day of school bell rang, we headed to 4 Peaks music festival! It was a fun filled few days of camping, music, crafts and letting the kids run free.
The first two weeks of summer were basically spent at the pool, with swim team in the morning and we were loaded with snacks, lunch and books to read in the shade. A big goal this summer was to spend lots of time reading!
We got our boat out a few times...above you see me and the kids anchored in the river for the Ben Harper concert. Below it was our first time at Hosmer Lake.
This is a date for me and Piper at Sparks Lake...beautiful place to explore, then we headed back to town for a sushi dinner!
Living room camp out...
4th of July watermelon.
What a fun 4th of July, we did the three legged races, the gunny sac races, lunch at The Lot, which was CRAZY...then did our own freedom ride to the old mill for ice cream and ended at a friends house they rented on the river.
It was fun to run into friends at the old fashioned games in Drake Park.
The number of people in town was insane...they ALL seemed to be floating down the river or riding bikes in packs of parties.
We steered clear of the naked/drunk freedom ride, but had fun on our own adventure!
Ended the night in the neighborhood for fireworks! Pheeeeew...what a day!
Oh Mango...we love you puppy head! This was us at Crescent Lake...we went for the day and found an awesome stretch of beach that we had all to ourselves!
Then it was time for the Annual Droullard Family trip to Lake Chelan. This was a do-over trip from last summer, where we couldn't go because the town was evacuated from fires and smoke in the area. The house was just as awesome as two years ago when we rented it while my Dad was still here.
We basically didn't leave the house for a week. Swimming, playing, eating...repeat! There was good snuggle time with Grandma and Auntie, who were nice enough to let the kids read to them. Lisa and Kevin organized all the food which was so amazing to just show up and have all the meals planned! THANK YOU!
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| CJ |
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| Jett |
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| One...Two......Three! |
Renting the boat was a highlight of the trip.
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| Sisters! |
Getting up on water skis was an emotional accomplishment for me! When we were in Chelan 3 years ago, before my Dad knew he had cancer. He had borrowed a boat and we got to try water skiing. Back in his day, my dad was an awesome water skier. He grew up water skiing and almost broke records for speed in Lake Washington...anyway 3 years ago we had his friends boat and it was my turn to try water skiing. I tried and tried and tried and almost, but not quite got up on skis. I was so disappointed, I felt bad that I was letting my Dad down. Not that he ever said that or even looked disappointed, but just knowing that I had it in my blood, I should have been able to get up. My Dad considered getting in the water to try, I could tell he really wanted to ski again. If he could just show us how it was done, that would help us get up on skis. But even though we didn't know he had cancer on this trip, he was not feeling great. He kept saying, "I just wish I felt better." His neck was really hurting and he kept falling asleep. It was just 3 months later that we found out about the lung cancer.
So this year, we rented a boat...first Dave got in and got up skiing right away. He had a good long turn, then it was Kevin's turn. They both made it look so easy! Then it was my turn. I was unsure I even wanted to try for fear of failing again. But inside I knew I had to try. I jumped in and got set. It took me a few tries, but eventually I did it. Once I was up, it felt so natural and fun. I was able to keep relaxed and just held on for a really long ride across the lake. I felt great and proud and full of emotion, just knowing that my Dad could see me now. And really wondering if HE helped lift my butt out of the water?! All I know, is I could feel his smile that day.
Full speed was a thrill for the kids, but not for my moms poor back on the bumpy waves. And tubing was an instant success!
The island and the water slide...must have lake toys!
Garret and the kids played so well together. Cousin time is such cherished time, I love watching them and listening to the imagination games they came up with.
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| Our one walk to town for ice cream! |
Grandma and the Grandkids photo shoot!
And on the way home...Calvin's tooth popped out!
Back home, we conquered one of my summer goals...to summit Tumalo Mountain with the kids! We did it! There was a point, about half way, that I thought we were going to have to turn back, but luckily a snack of Gummies, helped keep us going!
The other fun part of this hike, was that I told the kids the story of how David asked me to marry him on this very mountain 15 years ago. Only that time, it was covered in snow! I went into so many details about that day that I hadn't even thought about in a long time. The kids loved it! And that story led into other stories and slowly, one step at a time...we reached the top!
My little summit baggers!
Mama/Daughter camp out!
This was the 2nd annual for me, Becky and Marieka and we added Asha and Eva to the mix the 2nd night, the Dads and brothers got to join the 3rd night and just Team Staley stayed for a FOURTH night! That was a BIG camp out for me! We found an awesome site right on the lake and had so much fun. Frog catching, paddle boarding, marshmallow eating...
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| Slack line and hammocks were a hit. |
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| After dinner walk on the beach. |
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| Ukuleles and songs by the fire. |
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| Smores! |
This was an after dinner walk to Westside Village park. We played freeze tag, watched the dogs play and even captured a family photo! It has been a fun summer filling our days in the sun, eating late dinners, enjoying the evenings outside and finally the kids collapsing in bed at the end of the day. I have no idea how we are going to get back in a school schedule this Fall, but it will be good for us too! For now, we plan to soak up every last ounce of these summer days.
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| Front yard slack line is a hit!
We played tourist in our own town by running the hour and a half BIG EDDY raft trip with our friends, The Greens. We gave this excursion to David for Father's day and waited for a perfect 90+ degree day to do it. It was a blast! Piper and Sanjay were the wave blockers and I think pretty surprised at how much water actually hit them. With snot running down Pipers face, she was all smiles and is excited to do it again next summer. Or next week if she had her way!
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