Summer Perfection: Part 1

From the get-go, we've always said that Sandpoint was a temporary move. A rest stop on the way to . . . wherever . . . we're going . . . eventually. :)

"Somewhere we'll stay for, I don't know, probably three to five years."

But you know what? I don't know how we'll EVER leave.

Not with weeks like this.

Today as I sat on the beach talking to friends and watching my kids play in the water, sand, and sunshine

I made a decision.

Honey, if things don't work out at Coldwater, we're livin' in a tent! (it can be done! we know a man who does.)

Seriously. How is it that you are not ALL living here with us?!

Clara, at almost 2, is still the sweetest little feisty angel. She holds her own with four older sisters and rolls with the crazy when we stay at the beach for five hours and miss naptime.

Monday she just snuggled right up on my lap mid-afternoon and fell right into dreamland. Holding my sleeping baby is like dreamland for me . . .

Tuesday we skipped the beach and I cleaned my bedroom. A miracle that resulted in the discovery of my keys (missing 10 days) and my glasses (missing 3 months).

Wednesday Nels skipped work and we took the girls to Silverwood. A blast that resulted in the realization that Hazel and Violet don't really love rollercoasters and adrenaline makes me talk a lot.

Dinner at Olive Garden with my beautiful girls, a (yet again) angelically nap-less bebe, 

and their handsome dad.

Today was just summer at it's finest.

Poor Lilie inherited her daddy's pink skin.

diving Elsie

While my angel baby AGAIN slept at the beach, for the first time since we moved here, I went swimming. It was SO FUN!!! Lilie, Hazel, and I swam out to the logs separating the beach and the boats with our friends the McClellands and played King of the Log. It was awesome. I love good friends!

After four hours in the sun, we returned home to pick thimbleberries across the road and golden raspberries in the backyard.

thimbleberries: fuzzy, delicious cousins of domestic raspberries

my "I'm ecstatic that I've not had to water this green grass once this summer" face

my "I'm in heaven" face

Again, I need to ask: how is it that you are all not living here WITH US?!

Friday's Fabulous Five . . . or more

Yay for Friday!!!

1.  I'm not dead and, in fact, we're living well. :) We've been having a boat load of fun --- literally. On the Santa Chickita. We're going camping this weekend with our chickies and our raft. I've got three hours to be all packed up and I haven't really started. :) I'm so excited to go camping! (It's not dry, hot, or on fire here in the Inland Northwest. You should all come visit!)

2. There's nothing but blue skies in the forecast! Even a couple of 90* days. First this year. From what I hear, from here on out ---- probably through the end of September ---- everything about living in Sandpoint is perfect. Everyone says that they live for this time of year and I'm starting to understand why.

3. We've enjoyed sisters and cousins coming to visit and next Tuesday, my parents are coming! I'm beyond excited. We have hiking, rafting, kayaking, eating, beaching, eating, playing, and talking planned. I can't wait to see my mom and dad!

4. I'm starting to get a glimpse of my waistline again!!! Nels and I have been exercising together. It's been excellent. So far I've lost 7 pounds. Hooray!

5. Elsie finally let me cut her hair! It's still long, but we cut about 6 inches off. It was almost down to her bummy.

6. The 4th of July was wonderful! We enjoyed the small town parade (with NO candy! what?!) and later enjoyed our evening at the beach watching the fireworks over the lake. It was fun. We almost lost Violet (scary mom moment) and Clara hated the booming (with whimpering and hiding), but I actually followed through on a promise I'd made to the girls to make them some fun patriotic skirts out of my scrap fabric (more on that later), and the weather and evening were beautiful.

7. The most beautiful things grow here. I've mentioned the lupine that was in bloom everywhere you look, but now the wild roses, wild daisies, foxglove, phlox, tiger lilies, buttercups, syringa are in bloom. I love it!

Clara is growing up too fast. She reminds me so much of baby Elsie and a little of baby Lilie.
And she still has no teeth. :)

Sand Monster

Foxglove. Another of my favorite flowers that just grows spontaneously here. :)

At Farragut State Park with Kendall and her girls. Hazel takes her salutations :) very seriously. :)

She gets freckles across her nose in the sun, just like I did as a kid. 

Evergreens and Sunshine

I've been wanting to plan a real family vacation all year long. We haven't been on one since Nels graduated and it was high time. However Melaleuca is not in the habit of giving Nels clear plans. I asked Nels weeks ago, "Is this going to end up being a "we-don't-know-that-we-get-to go-until-the-day-before" kind of vacation? No, Rachel. Of course not. We should be able to know well before we're leaving. -- Of course. What was I thinking?? :) 

Well before = 3 days. :)

So off we headed to Washington to visit my sweet cousin and her sweet family in Monroe. Truth to tell, I was NERVOUS. Elsie has not been our best traveller and I was concerned about how she would hold up over the 12 hours. We left at 1:30 am Saturday morning. The girls all woke up at 3:00 am. One two hour stint of puking and potty breaks every 20 minutes for Hazel and Lilie - mid-morning. Didn't need to even turn on the dvd player until we'd been driving for 10 hours. And had three little angels the entire trip. Elsie - on the way up and back - never threw any kind of fit whatsoever. Sigh. It's amazing. It was a good drive. 

It was a GORGEOUS week to visit Washington. While it rained at home, we had sunny 85 degree weather our entire trip.

We got to be there to celebrate Kaitlyn's 2nd birthday. (A circus. Seriously. With 7 children, how could it be anything else?)

Enjoyed the park.

Loved this pic of Hannah and Hazel. Synchronized Swinging.

Went to Whidbey Island in the Puget Sound.

Jacob, Lilie, Nels, Hannah, Me, Hazel, Elsie, 

Amber, Adelie, and Katie Sue! 

What a crowd! :)

We clarified to one couple that we are NOT polygamists. :)

She said, "I figured you were either Catholics or Mormons."

We love ferries!!

And played at the beach.

Hazel's silly face she likes to make. :)

Nels asked Lilie to pose. Ha! 

Elsie's brief debut on "Survivor". 

While at the beach, Hazel, Lilie, and Jacob worked steadily on this fun little project. They collected all their treasures (i.e. - dead crabs, shells, sticks, sea weed, etc.) and arranged them across the beach. Awesome.

And I just want to let you know, that I have no normal-type children. All (well, most) kids love sand. Love water. But you have never seen anything like my two oldest girls when it comes to mess. I think they were born to be salamanders or something. When there is dirt and water around, they roll and slither and burrow and bask in it. Sand. Everywhere. It's incredible. We had an exciting time washing them off before they were aloud back in the van. 

Nels and I took our girls and Hannah hiking along one of the many trails not far from Monroe.

Although out of focus, the surroundings are breathtaking. :)

Them's some cute girls!

We had a great time hiking! All the girls were real troopers, but Hannah is seriously a stellar hiker! They loved hiking - they loved playing in the river on the way back even more. :)

We went to the aquarium, as well as to the Experience Music and Science Fiction museums in Seattle. 

And last but DEFINITELY not least, just had a wonderful time sleeping in, playing, talking, and relaxing at Amber and Wes's beautiful home.

It was truly such a fabulous vacation. We were able to stay long enough to REALLY unwind and enjoy ourselves without over-scheduling and rushing all around. The children got along SO well -- well mostly. Elsie and Katie Sue seem to . . . occupy much of the same space in the universe and often times had a difficult time making room. :) Poor Katie got bit, hit, and growled at several times by our "baby dinosaur". :) 

As crazy as 7 kids and 4 adults in one house can be :), it was hard to come home. We loved visiting Washington (enough that I'm not going to discourage Nels from browsing for jobs in the area :). The trip was WONDERFUL just getting to spend (mostly) uninterrupted time together talking as a couple and a family. Just playing it by ear with no specific places to go or times to be there. But more than anything else, it was SO GOOD to be with Amber, Wes, and their kids. I love my cousin. She's been there for me since the day I was born and I love her like I love my sisters. She's been a constant in my life. As Amber said before we were leaving, "Having you come visit doesn't make it easier to not live close. It's not like I get my fix and then I'm good for a while. It makes me miss you all the more."

I love you, Amber. Thank you so much for letting us come! IT WAS WONDERFUL!!!

Oregon Part 3 - The Beach

Each year the next sibling in line takes their turn planning our annual Chick family reunion. It was Levi and Kadie's turn this year and they planned our wonderful trip on the coast. They found an AWESOME beach house - big enough for all 32 of us! - just across the highway from this beautiful, rocky beach! It was a cold and cloudy weekend (pretty typical for Oregon, right?) but it was still so wonderful! Thank you Levi and (especially) Kadie (we all know who REALLY plans things, don't we? ;) for putting so much time into making this so wonderful for us! I know it was a lot of work, but so fun!

Run, run, run Hazel!!! Those cold ocean waves are going to get you!!! :)

I told you they'd get you!!! :)
No matter how cold the weather and the
water, you cannot leave the beach without
being wet and covered in sand! :)

A beautiful starfish we found on the
beach at low-tide.

Lilie needs to save it!

Satisfied with her life-saving!

I told you, WET, covered with
sand and goosebumps!

What was that I said about a kid in
a candy store??? :) I LOVED the tide pools!

All the tide pools were filled with these beautiful green anemones and lots of orange and purple starfish. Some had an occasional little fish swimming around or some purple sea urchins and this one had the cutest little camoflagued crab - sitting right in the middle of this anemone.