Summer Update

Despite being pregnant and only getting larger as the summer went on, the time has flown by! Below are some pictures of what we did...I'll try to give you a summary of each set of pictures.

June

When Ryan wasn't called into work on the weekends, he was busy doing yard work, shoveling pea gravel, cutting down trees and getting a garden area ready for us. Andrew took advantage of the cut down trees and became our own little grizzly bear. He certainly has the growl to go with the actions! Ryan's dad came to visit at the end of June. The boys had a great time hanging out with grandpa and we went to see Pathfinder Dam during its overflow...one of the reasons Ryan would get called into work.

July

4th of July weekend, we made a trip to Utah for my nephew's baptism and since we were so close to the family in Idaho, we decided to go see them too. We let off fire works, went to a 4th of July parade (where Andrew made a haul with the candy!) and visited friends.

A couple of weeks after getting home from our Utah/Idaho trip, we went camping in the Big Horns. This was our first family camping trip this summer. The boys LOVED sleeping in the camper, especially since they got to "sleep up high" in the bunk. Who would have thought something so simple would be so exciting?! We also went on a hike into a lake where we saw a pack goat on the trail, ate lunch at the lake and the boys threw everything they could get their hands on into the lake. Andrew ran the trail all the to the lake while Ryan tried to keep him in sight and Caleb and I brought up the rear. Part way up, Caleb had to go into the kidpack (much to his dismay), but on the way back to camp he was ready and willing to get into the pack! Andrew was a trooper and kept his little legs going. Each time we stopped for a rest he would sit down, but he was always ready to go when it was time. The hike was 3.4 miles round trip, which I say is pretty good for a 4-year-old and a pregnant lady.

August

We took a week and camped with my family in the Buffalo Bill area. What began as a camping trip with my sister and her family grew into a camping trip to include my parents, grandparents and another sister and her husband. It was so much fun to be with so much family! Andrew and Caleb spent the days playing with their cousins and loving every minute of it. It makes me wish we all lived closer together so the kids could get together more often! Ryan went on a couple of good hikes and he and grandpa and uncle Cory took all the kids fishing. Since we were camped between Yellowstone and Cody, we decided to spend a day at each place. We had a great time and look forward to doing this again!

I tried to load pictures of Ryan's hikes, but it wasn't happening. He saw some amazing country. I'll get them on another post!

A Mouse Tale

Yesterday afternoon, the boys were ready for some down time, so me being the mom I swore I'd never be went to plug them into a movie so I could have my own quiet time. Yes, at some point in the day a movie is in order to keep mom at some level of sanity. I got their snacks and drinks and Andrew and I headed down the stairs. Caleb insisted on carrying his own drink and snack, so he lagged behind. Andrew and I got down the stairs, I got the movie started and Caleb was yelling for help from the top of the stairs. Being a good mom, I went to help Caleb only to take one step up the stairs and shriek. There was a mouse in the middle of my stairs!!!! Only moments before I must have walked right over the top of him and not even known it! Anyone who knows me, knows I'm not a rodent or reptile person. Of course with the shriek Andrew comes running over to the stairs to see what's going on and Caleb starts crying because I told him to stay at the top of the stairs. So, now the picture is Caleb sitting on the top step crying and Andrew and I at the bottom of the step with me trying to keep Andrew away from the mouse that he felt he must get a closer look of. Now what to do?? I didn't want to ignore the mouse and let it have free reign of the house, but how was I going to catch a mouse...a live mouse at that? Finally, I dumped toy tools out of a bucket, had Andrew get a book to help me scoop the mouse into the bucket. So, now I have the mouse cornered in the step, the bucket trapping the mouse there and the book on the step above. I slid the bucket and mouse up the side of the step to the next landing, where I have the book ready to push the mouse into the bucket. WooHoo!!!! I caught the mouse! I truly thought this whole experience was going to put me into labor, but we made it through labor free. Andrew had to see mouse several times through the afternoon as we waited for Ryan to get home from work to dispose of the mouse, which was still alive when he got home and set free by the golf course.

I should have prefaced this with the discussion Ryan and I had when we got home from our camping trip. I was unloading the trailer, using the kitchen door to the garage so it was propped open. I was just about finished when our neighbors came by and we were visiting. Ryan asked if the door was closed at which I said it was. Well, evidently, it wasn't as closed as I thought so then Ryan said we probably had a mouse in the house. I was hoping he was wrong and hadn't seen any sign, so thought nothing else of it. Well, honey, you were right. A mouse did make it into the house, probably because I kept the door to the garage open. But on the bright side, I cleaned up my own mess on this one!