60 Years!

In a world that struggles to see the value of family and marriage, I'm happy to have good examples of happy marriages and a couple happy to share their lives with each other for sixty years.  Happy 60th anniversary! May there be many more celebrations together.

Demolition

Our house is quickly becoming uninhabitable.

Reality Hits

There is nothing quite like having reality slap you in the face when you return from a vacation.  Before we left I was obsessed with getting the house spottless before we left.  As a busy, working and stay at home Mom I feel like the feat of getting the house all clean at once is impossible.  Sometimes I feel like the universe is playing against my house staying clean.  I wanted it to be clean for a week even if it was only because we weren't here to mess it up.  Two Fish even asked me on our way home if I was relieved we were going home to a completely clean house.  The Universe had other plans.

When we walked in the door last night I could hear running water and knew something was very wrong. Apparently, the toilet tank upstairs had been leaking for a week and flooded the upstairs bathroom and hall, came through the ceiling and walls into our kitchen (with wood floors) and our dining room. It went through the floor and flooded the basement with several inches of water.  The good news is that the water missed my piano by a few inches.  It also missed my violin.  It could be worse.

Well played Universe.  Well played.

One Last Beach Day Before It's Back To Reality

 Boys were off diving again so we went to the beach for one last sand castle and swim in the lake.

Sidemount

While the girls went to the petting zoo and the swimming pool, the boys went cave diving.  Two Fish tried side mount for the first time and the boys laid gold line for exploration later this summer/fall for an episode of their latest project-

First Fish

 Games are very big in our little family, especially when we are up here at the Lake House.  We spent quite awhile playing games today.  We also went to the petting zoo, read for hours, did watercolor paintings, finger painted, went to the pool, ate barbecue and went for an evening drive on the boat.

 The girls are getting pretty good at using their little fishing pole.  They've been practicing on an off all week.

 Red Fish caught her first fish today.  She was terrified when she pulled it out of the water and thought the tiny thing might eat her.  She wouldn't get anywhere near it for a picture.  Uncle Doo did it for her.

The four of us going for a night swim in the lake.

Petting Zoo

Art On Vacation

 When we were packing for our vacation and I asked the girls what they wanted to do this week.  Red Fish insisted that we needed to paint, so we brought some with us.  We did some watercolors with eye droppers on the back porch.

 Then we introduced my little nephew to the wonderful world of fingerpaints.  I think he is a fan.

Day 4 of Vacation

 Checking for fish off the dock.

 We played in the sand.

 We attempted to use the canoe for the first time.  We tipped it over in 30 seconds flat.

Everybody tried out the tube.

Swimming at dusk.

Little cousins

Red Fish is getting ready to start her first soccer season next month so we got her a ball and some cleats.  She kicked the ball around with her Dad tonight for the first time.  I have a feeling she is going to love soccer!

Hiking And Fishing

 Today was overcast so we went out on a hike in the morning rather than taking the boat out on the lake. (My Dad is taking the picture but everyone else is in the picture.)  We took a side path down to the lake to try our luck at fishing.  One of the things on Red Fish's summer list was to go fishing.

 We should have just worn swimming suits because it didn't take long for the girls to end up skinny dipping in the lake.  We ended the day with a barbecue at the Yacht Club and a drive on the lake to watch the sunset over the mountains.

Our little ballerina- as soon as soccer season is over I've promised to find a dance class for this little one.

Celebrating

 On the Saturday before the 24th of July, my city has a huge celebration.  We used to go as children every year.  There is a parade, a fair, fireworks and fun.  This year, my family's dive shop had a portable pool set up in the park for people to try scuba diving for free.  I did an underwater interview on the news to help promote it using a full face mask.  It was the first time I've been interviewed underwater so that was kind of fun. I can't find the clip online unfortunately. 

 We got up early and attended the parade together.  The girls got bags full of candy and danced to the music from the bands, waved at every princess and hollered at the floats.  (Why are there hardly any floats anymore?  Lame.)  Next, we hit the fair.  Red Fish rode a zip line across the park.  She is a daredevil.  She also tried out a fire hose and some bouncy houses.  New Fish was too tired for pictures but she enjoyed the bouncy houses.  I love that this small town tradition has stuck around even though the city has grown so much.  It makes me feel like a little kid again.

2000 Stripling Warriors

 We went out to visit my grandparents and watch their local parade with them.  I pulled the girls in their wagon and we got pretty good seats considering the size of the parade,

 Red Fish's favorite part was seeing the American flag pass by multiple times.  She tried to shout to the crowd to "stand up!  It's our flag!"  Everyone stood up for the first flag but their patriotism wained a bit as the parade went on.  Red Fish is very proud to be an American, even though she doesn't quite understand what that means yet.  Her love of the flag makes me smile.

The parade featured 2000 teenagers and men dressed as Heleman's 2000 warrior's from the Book of Mormon.  It was amazing to see them pass by.  It took more than ten minutes for two blocks worth of them to march past.  I'm glad my girls got to experience it.  It was a one of a kind experience.  It is going to be quite a weekend.