Eric turns 36

 

 

 

 

Big E turned 36 yesterday! I decided instead of the normal dinner and movie date, we would go paddle boarding!  We were practically the only ones on the lake which was so nice!  I even made Eric do yoga on the SUP (which was hysterical, by the way), and he made me race him across the pond (I lost, of course)!  Love this guy, he is an all-around great guy who makes me so happy.

Scout camp

 

I had the privilege of attending Scout camp as one of the leaders with the boys in our pack this year. Let me just say, those boys are CRAZY!!!  But fun, good boys and most importantly, they were great for the leaders.  The different stations at Scout camp included an obstacle course (my station), carving wood, archery, and tying ropes.  These boys were heaven!

Eagle Island

We can't get through a summer without at least one trip to Eagle Island with friends! I call it "Idaho's finest red neck water park" for a good reason! Interesting people watching, and the closest thing to a "beach" that we have nearby! Nevertheless, the boys always have a blast playing in the water and in making sand castles in the sand!
 

 

 

 

 

Swim team '14

 

 

 

Another year of swim team has come! This is Austin's third year!  We had hoped Carson would be ready, but he's not quite there with his skills and confidence, so hopefully next year!  Austin, however, tends to be overconfident in the water, but he sure loves it! Already, he's getting faster and starting to learn flip turns.  This kid never once complains about going to practice every morning too!

Cherry picking

We went cherry picking with some friends this week in Emmett and go our fair share of cherries! We collected enough cherries to make a pie and then a bunch to eat! The kids loved especially using the cherries as "bombs" and pretended the cherries were exploding on them. Boys will be boys!
 

 

 

 

Payette River games

Every year we kick ourselves for missing the Annual Payette North Fork River Games, but this year we weren't missing it! This is one of the most prestigious races for professional kayakers around the world.  Not only is the river one of the toughest courses in the world (let me tell you, it's pretty intense!), but there is a $10,000 cash grand prize to the winner!  What a fun day we had.  We met some of the kayakers, cheered on the racers, and had a blast!

 

 

 

Summer begins!

We are so excited that summer is officially here! Let the fun begin!  So far, just in the first week, we had snow cones, gone swimming, went to the park, played at the river, and had a lemonade stand!
 

 

 

 

 

 

End of school festivities

The kids always look forward to Field Day, a day where they get to play a bunch of fun games (not to mention, get wet!).  I was able to help at both of the boys' field day this year and it was fun to watch!

 

 

 

This one loves water so much he dunked his head in the bucket several times. ;)

 

So, this one time "someone" (aka myself) thought it would be a fun idea if the parent volunteers teamed up and played Tug-O-War against the third graders.  Let's just say it was embarrassing for the parents. Yikes!

 

Carson graduated from kindergarten!  How this year has flown by.  During his Kindergarten program he wasn't much into singing (he doesn't enjoy singing in front of an audience), but he chimed in a few times.  What a funny kid!

 

Second time having Mrs. Matthews as our Kindergarten teacher and we love her!  She is such an excellent teacher and we are sad this is her last year teaching!

 

 

So proud of this kid.  He was a champ in his first year of school.  He surprised us all with how quickly he learned to read and even more so, with how easily he got along with everyone and made a lot of new friends.  Looks like we have another smarty pants on our hands!

I can't believe that Austin will be FOURTH grade next year.  How did that even happen?!  Austin had a good third grade year, although his teacher wasn't our favorite.  His favorite thing about third grade was participating in the Challenge program once a week for the Gifted and Talented kids.  He LOVED that.  He got to do lots of fun projects and use his skills!  Next year he will be changing schools to Barbara Morgan STEM school.  We are excited for him to flourish and shine at a school that is right up his alley!

Our favorite babysitter

We are both sad and excited for our favorite babysitter to graduate and go to college!  Joey has been our boys babysitter for the last couple of years and he is simply the best!  It also helps that he absolutely loves these boys too, which make babysitting even more enjoyable.  He plays with them, watches movies with them, takes them swimming and to the park, and makes sure that they get to bed at a decent hour.  We just love Joey!