My future's so bright, I've got to wear shades!

My camera died two weeks ago, so I've been remiss in capturing the wonderfulness that has been taking place the last few weeks. Suffice to say it has been incredibly beautiful here and we have had a fun packed summer.

The weather has been SO warm and the kids have taken full advantage of it. Every day after I get off work we've been heading down the hill to the lake behind our house (Round Lake) and jumping right in the water for a swim. With a sandy beach and warm water Round Lake has been a haven for the kids as they are learning to swim. Even Mazlow has been jumping right in and splashing around.

The warm weather has also found the boys jumping out on the trampoline wearing next-to-nothing. It's common to find them running from one play-thing in the yard to the next; from trampoline to basketball court, from soccer field to hammock, from tire swing to riding their bikes... What a life!

The boys have fully embraced the North Idaho way of life, and are especially enjoying our garden as well, which is bursting with fresh lettuce, peas, beans, squash, tomatoes, corn, peppers, broccoli, onions, and berries of all sorts. I'll post some pictures of the garden soon.

So come and visit before the dog-days of summer are gone.

Hike To Roman Nose

Our friend Eric planned a great hike to the Selkirk mountain range where from the top we could see all of Sandpoint (and a lot more). It was so beautiful!

The kids did a great job on the hike, and had so much fun. Here are some pictures of the kids at the top!
Brice had Mazlow in the backpack (even with the broken foot!).

Wheeeee!

Baseball comes to a close

Landin's 4th season playing baseball came to a close this month - and what a season it was.

This year Landin played for the Indians, and his favorite postion was 1st base. He was very aggresive and had a couple of double plays where he caught pop flys and then either threw or tagged a runner out. He had some great coaches this year, and learned a ton.

His end of the year party was at the beach, and the kids just pulled off their jerseys and hopped right in the water (hence the no-shirt pictures as he received his trophey. That's Landin in the black pants).

On to soccer season!!

Papa T & Oma Visit

Brice's parents spent 3 weeks with us this Summer and got to fully experience North Idaho living. We took them all around town, went to the wooden boat show, played at the beach, hiked Round Lake, attended baseball games, visited the local wine bar, and even let Papa T mow the lawn with Brice's tractor!

(Yep, that's him driving in the picture)

While they were here, Papa T had his birthday, and we celebrated with a lovely dinner and cake.


By the time they had to leave we were sure that we had tired them out (or at least the boys had), but what fun it was!!

Ryder's New Bike

Ryder is in that in-between stage where he is too big for the baby seat on my bike, but not riding his own bike well enough to keep up on a family bike ride (he still uses training wheels).

There are so many beautiful places to ride here in Sandpoint, and Brice and I love to get out and ride, so we opted to go another route for Ryder.

We bought him a trailing bike.

A trailing bike is not a bike for riding on the trails, it is a bike with only one wheel that connects to the back of a full size bike and trails behind it.

We bought one for Ryder from REI, and as soon as we got it home, Ryder suited up (with his hydration pack and helmet) and was standing on the porch ordering Brice and I to get ready too so we could all ride.

Here he is with his "riding gear" at the ready.

Once we got the bike installed (which was really quite simple) we were off, and Ryder loved it. I had Mazzy in the baby seat on my bike, and Brice was towing Ryder. Landin, of course, road on his own.

It was AWESOME! Now the whole family can go on extended bike rides together. And when Ryder is ready to ride his own bike, Mazlow should be ready for the trailing bike, making for years of family biking fun.

There really are some lovely places to ride here. There is a trail from our house that goes over long bridge and into town, which makes for a gorgeous ride.

We also have an extra mountain bike, so the next time you come to visit, let's all go for a bike ride!

Pirate Mazlow

If you haven't been to McDonald's since Pirates Of The Caribbean 2 came out, you must drop what you are doing and take your kids now. Why? The toys! The toys the kids get in the happy meals are by far the coolest kids meal toys ever! They are all Pirate-themed, and they rock! In fact some people are selling the complete set on eBay for around $20 (Crazy)!

Our kids got the Pirate Bandana (see Mazzy here wearing it in true Pirate Fashion), the Skull-shaped magic 8-Ball (in Mazzy's mouth, of course), the Pirate sword, the Pirate telescope, and the treasure chest.

They still have yet to get the Pirate Journal, or the pirate dolls.

Nice work McDonald's!

SWINGS!

The park where Landin plays baseball has a swing set, and during the last game Ryder took to pushing a little friend of his (of the female persuasion) on the swings.



















Daddy also took Mazzy for a swing. It's clear to see where Mazzy gets his good looks from!





















Just look at those pretty blues...

The Sandpoint Wooden Boat Show

This past weekend the family spent Saturday at The Sandpoint Wooden Boat Show.

The theme of this year's show was PIRATES; fitting as Pirates of the Caribbean 2 came out on Friday.

*Note* - We went to see Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest on opening day and LOVED IT! (Maybe I'll get Landin to post about it later).

The boat show was fun, and we saw some gorgeous boats. Here are just a few:

There was also a booth where the kids could build their own wooden boats along with a small pool where they could test the boat's ability to float.

Here are Landin and Ryder's boats:

Neither of the boy's boats actually floated (given that they each loaded their boats down with at least a pound of wood above the base)... but they didn't seem to mind. Nor did they care that the markers that they colored their boats with bled onto their hands... ah to be a kid again.

For The Birds

Ryder really enjoys watching the birds that frequent our backyard, so when we were at the store a few weeks ago and he saw a package of hummingbird food mixture, he begged for it. We bought the mix, and this past weekend Ryder cleaned out our feeders, mixed up the food, and refilled the hummingbird's drink. Now we have beautiful hummingbirds to watch thanks to Ryder!

4th Of July - Jumping For Joy

In the afternoon on the 4th we packed-up a picnic lunch and took the boat out on the lake. We also brought along our giant water trampoline.

When we got to the lake we hooked the trampoline to the back of the boat and towed it across the water while the kids and I rode on it holding on tight.

We all bounced and bounced on the trampoline, played water dodgeball, and enjoyed the warm weather complimented by the cool lake water.

Even Mazzy jumped in the water for a swim. On our way towards to dock heading home Landin whispered to me, "Wanna jump off and swim the rest of the way in?"

"YOU BET!"

So Landin and I jumped off of the moving trampoline and swam to shore. There was a line of a couple of boats waiting to leave the lake so Landin and I actually beat the rest of the group to shore.


THIS is exactly why we moved here!

The 4th of July Parade

Early in the morning on the 4th of July we had to wake the kids from their slumber (much to their chagrin) to get them to the Independence Day Parade in town on time.

The kids were to ride on the Boy Scouts float which was themed "Lewis & Clark". That means we had to dig-up some Lewis & Clark costumes. We dug through their play clothes box, added a few random pieces of clothing from Brice and my wardrobe, and headed off to the parade all decked out.


We dropped off our little explorers at the float and went to stake out a spot on the parade route.

It was the coolest small town parade - - and the only parade I've ever seen with more tractors then trucks.

The boys both had a blast riding on the float and when they passed by us in the parade they both waved and smiled like professionals.

Mazzy was especially excited to see his brothers riding by and waving.
Ryder was probably the most excited of all since it was his first ride in a parade. We were so proud of him!

SMORES!!

Over the long weekend we enjoyed SMORES on more than one occasion.

Here are a few pictures of our SMORES fun...

Ryder and his OMA partaking in some tasty smores

Mommy and Mazzy cooking up some marshmallow love

All the kids crowded around PAPA T (Brice's Dad) for his World-Class Smores

BBQ #2

Our friends Eric and Nicole hosted a BBQ on Monday leading up to the 4th of July.

They have done an amazing job of creating a beautiful park-like setting in their front yard (from an area that only a couple of months ago was dense forest).

They have a really neat fire pit complete with a handmade bench that Mazlow and his little friend Kimberly were enjoying together.






They also have an awesome rope swing (which both Mazlow and Ryder and I took for a spin).









...All this fun, and we haven't even got to the 4th of July yet!

BBQ & Smores (A Pre-July 4th Party)

Our friends Jason and Jennifer had a Pre-4th of July BBQ at their house; complete with a giant blow up slide, swimming in the mudhole, tasty food, a riveting game of horseshoes, and smores.

The kids had a blast, and it was a great way to get into the 4th of July spirit - - especially since this was just the first in string of parties over the long weekend.

REJOICE!

Landin and Ryder completed their Vacation Bible Study last week with a concert at the church.

Ryder's group sang Jesus Loves Me. Even though Ryder knew the song, he only sang every 3rd or 4th word. He was distracted by some stickers he was holding in his hand. He wasn't the star of the show - but he was darn cute up there! He looked like such a big boy (tear)...

Landin on the other hand is a total HAM when it comes to singing and dancing on stage. His group started off with a short skit in which Landin played the apostle Paul. He was a great Paul, but the kid has one expression - and one only - Gleeful. In the play, Paul was supposed to be in great dispare, anguishing in jail. But not our Paul. Landin's interpretation of Paul's anguish was performed with a huge smile. Brilliant actually. He rejected the downtrodden version of Paul for a happy, more audience friendly version. What an actor.

Landin's group's performance wrapped-up with a riveting song complete with choreographed motions. I have to say, Landin is step-clapping his way to becoming quite the cheerleader. He LOVES to sing, as evidenced here in this video of the song they sang - REJOICE!

Sandpoint Beach

I still have a hard time calling our new "beach" a beach... since its no where near the ocean... but it does have sand, water, and a shoreline; so I guess it qualifies.

After work on Friday the kids and I headed to the "Beach" with some friends to enjoy the warm weather and cool off with a swim. City Beach has a nice area roped-off for swimming, with a neat floating dock for the kids to climb on and jump from.

Brice was gone at a wedding in Boise, so a family friend took Mazzy for his first swim at the "beach".

Maz liked the water, but loved the sand even more (especially eating it). He also really enjoyed the lifeguard tower; which he climbed up and down repeatably.

Ryder, Landin, and their buddies swam like little fishes, built sand castles, and played basketball.

It was a great way to head into the long weekend.







The kids favorite beach toys by far are the giant foam "noodles". They use them for their intended purpose of floating in the water, but have also figured out how to suck water in through one hole and then shoot it out of the other end. Essentially they turned the noodles into giant water guns. Fun for the whole family!!

Cowboys Play Basketball Naked (Don't They??)

No this isn't Brokeback Mountain - it's just at our house, Cowboys play Basketball Naked - at least Cowboy Ryder does, and since he's the only cowboy here, I guess we'll let it slide.














Here he is on the approach:

Here goes the lay-up:

NOTHING BUT NET (and a cowboy hat):
Brice's Father's Day Basketball court was finished late last week and everyone is enjoying it (especially our little exhibitionist Ryder).