Lake Time

We had a great time in Chelan visiting my Dad, Step-mom, sister and nephew. The sun was hot and we spent most of the time in the boat and in the water.
Tuba cooling off in the lake. He jumped in with Grandpa but I missed the jump shot.

Everyone got a turn to drive the boat. Sis wasn't so sure...but once we went fast...she was hooked. She kept telling her brothers, "ready to go FAST!!".

Fun to spend time with the boys' cousin.

Busy Guy was so brave. He went tubin' with his cousin. He loved it. Mr. P wasn't so sure...finally he said, "Mom, tubing just isn't my thing". Ha!

Driving time for Mr. P. That's more his "thing".

Even Baby G got in on the driving.

Whooops!!

I was in Chelan visiting my family when I received a frantic call from Cam. He was home working and I took the kids for a little visit. Cam was all panic stricken...he was babbling something about my blog. Huh? Turns out I had put an adorable picture of Sis, BG and Tuba up on my last post....and hadn't noticed that Cam was in the background of the shot....in his underwear! Whoops! He was freaking out...."how do I get this OFFFFFFFF" he yelled. I was laughing so hard I couldn't stand up. After I recovered I did the nice thing and took it down. I did play a mean trick and tell him that 5 people had left comments saying "nice undies". Muhwahahahahahaha!!!!

It's HERE!!!!

It's here, it's here, it's FINALLY HERE!!!!!!!!!! Cam is done. Done with classes, done with clinical. DONE. Okay, he is studying for his board test but NO MORE SCHOOL!!! EVER!!
If you can't tell, I'm very excited. :)

Since this is my blog...let's talk about me. I made it! I did it! I survived 2 years (the busiest 2 years of my life) with Cam not home much. I endured and now it's done!! I can't say that I did a great job the whole time. Eeeks! There were some long tired crabby lonely days in there. But, I did my best....most of the time. And, I hope my kids are too young or too kind to hold the bad days against me. Please?!

Yesterday (his official last day of clinical) I felt blah...kind of like just get this over with!! I didn't feel excited in a good way. I just wanted it to be over. But today, I'm so excited. Actually, last night when Cam got home I shrieked loudly and we all ran to the front door, flung it open and then proceeded to shriek, and jump around the front porch, all while giving Cam a group hug. Okay, and cry a little too.

If you haven't already heard the news...Cam got a new job. It's his dream job and he REALLY wanted it. I'm so happy for him that he landed it. Of course I thought he'd get it! Plus, he bought a fabulous new suit and he looked amazing in it for his interview!! He will be the NP at the ICU he currently works in. He will be employed by the Medical School and will oversee the residents. He gets to teach, do some research as well as care for patients in the ICU. He is so thrilled. I'm thrilled for these reasons...the pay $$, and the schedule which is NO weekends and nights and barely any holidays. I guess I can live with every other Christmas and Thanksgiving...just don't mess with the weekends. ;)

So, we won't be moving to Hawaii...now. We looked and looked for NP jobs but there were none....especially on The Big Island...which is where we want to go. So, we will be saving up for a vacation there instead.

The rest of summer is going to be great!! We have our annual vacation to the beach, Cam is participating in a triathlon, and lots of fun things to do as a FAMILY! Whooo-hoooooooooo!!

Piano Fun

Our downtown area has a bunch of pianos on the sidewalks. They are decorated up really fun and you can stop and play them...or listen to someone play. I took the kids to see how many we could play.

Hooligans

Twins....okay, my wee ones aren't really twins...but, close enough. Actually, dare I say I think having kids 6 mos. apart in age is harder than twins?? I think it is. One is always a bit quicker, faster and outwitting the younger one. Well, she's not bigger anymore and mostly they are equal in all areas now. It's wee ones vs. me now! They spend most of the day playing and running around with the big boys. They spend a small part (some days it's a big part) fighting and hitting or pushing each other. Ugh! Not my favorite part of being a mom...the referee part. My wee ones are totally in cahoots. They love to do things together and especially to laugh together.

They love to hide behind the door when I take the garbage out. Then they scream in delight as one of us whips the door shut and scares them.
Sitting together at the bonfire. I think BG is saying, "she did it".

After their bath the other night I couldn't find them. Here is where they were hiding and laughing hysterically.

They drug in their outdoor chairs and put them in front of the TV. I think they thought it was the movie theater.

They were dancing in the rain on the front porch....and laughing as I told them to come back in.

Summer Love

In this part of the world where we live....Summer is the best! The weather can not be beat. It's warm but not too hot. For some I think summer conjures up relaxation and leisure. For me...not so much. Summer feels like a race. I've got to get out there and do ALL the fun summer things I want to do...before this nice weather is gone...and it's 40 degrees, dark and raining for another 8 months.

A few weeks ago I wrote here about my list of things I wanted to do this summer. Well, I've done everything on the list! And....some of them multiple times. And...summer is not over. Yeah!

I told Cam yesterday that I plan to clean the house really good....this Winter!! He looked like he was going to die! Seriously though...I'm doing the bare minimum to keep us going so we can get out and have fun!!

Yesterday I had the best day ever. It started by going to WW (I've lost almost 5 lbs....going slow but at least it's coming off...and my clothes are fitting much better). Then I packed up the kids and headed to the beach. We met a bunch of friends and had lunch and played the afternoon away. I love my friends and all their kids! Then we came home and met Cam. We re-grouped and headed down to another beach for dinner at the Farmer's Market. Yummy! Then we played at the park, visiting with some friends we saw there. Then we went to swimming lessons. Then came home and had ice cream and put the kids to bed. I felt so happy. The sunshine is so good for me...and all the fun with my kids.

So now, I'm off to do a few chores and then take the kids downtown to play some pianos they have out on the sidewalks for a summer event, then off to the Children's Museum playground on the roof.
Get out and enjoy some summer!

Last of the B-Days

Happy Birthday to Cam....and goodbye to the birthday season! We celebrated the last two summer birthdays this week. Now, no more birthdays until Dec.

Look how cute this is! It looks so much like Baby George!!!

Cam and his dad (his dad died 7 years ago).

Always the fun dad!! The kids love those shoulder rides.

Cam running up and down a hill with the kids and packing them around Army style.

Riding Cam! Heee-haw!

Sitting and snuggling at the zoo.
Holding hands with Tuba at the bonfire.

Riding

Mr. P got this bike last year for his birthday. He was bit too small for it and worked hard to learn to ride it....no training wheels. He is a cautious kid and didn't feel very secure. There was lots of frustration and lots of running along hanging onto him. Not fun for parent or child. The year passed without him learning to ride it. We don't do any bike riding through the wet cold winter. So, this Summer the bikes came back out and we tried again. Again, frustrating.

Then I read something that changed it all for Mr. P. I read on another blog that you can take off the pedals and teach your kid to balance without having to pedal. Basically they push along with their feet and coast. Once they can balance...put the pedals back on and they can ride. Cam took the pedals off and Mr. P spent about 2 or 3 segments of about 30 minutes practicing his balance. On the last segment he declared, "put the pedals back on....I can ride now". So, we did....and...he rode off! So amazing to see! He was so proud of himself. We will use this technique for the rest of the kids.

Here he is practicing without the pedals off.
And....riding away!!! So much fun. Go Mr. P!!