I was looking for a picture of a flag to post in honor of 9/11, but the pictures of our flag pole must be on my other computer. I found this one from a few years ago when the girls were in a Veterans Day Parade with their Girl Scout Troup. I think it’s still very fitting. Please take a moment or two today to remember that day and everyone that was effected by it.
We are lucky enough to have access to a wonderful cabin in the woods. The house sits on acres and acres of pine tree lined land. There is a huge meadow in the back of the cabin that the deer cross after getting a drink from the lake. Since I come from a family of hunters, it is the perfect weekend retreat for them to hunt and me to relax. This past weekend my Dad joined us at the house.
That’s him in the boat with the girls getting fishing poles ready for a fun day on the lake. For me this means the family will be gone and I will have hours to spend reading, listening to the wind in the trees, watching the little ground squirrels collect pine nuts, and working on my sunburn tan. I think I get the better end of this deal, but the kids get hours of fun on the lake with their Dad and Papa…I’m sure I get the better end of the deal!
Hey, you little squirrel, where is your pine nut? It’s almost winter you better get to work.
A weekend at the cabin means unlimited access to the dirt bike. Last year there was a well traveled road that lead to the back of the property. This year the road was overgrown with grass and wild flowers, so we made our own trail and the girls had some off road experience. Good lessons on how to use the brakes, down shift, and keep your balance.
We were there during the Labor Day weekend and many of the small towns around the cabin had festivals. The small town of Roseberry had an old fashioned ice cream social. For a donation to the historical society you had your choice of 6 different ice cream flavors and lots of fun activities for the kids. They still use the original general store. It’s full of old bottles, cans, feed bags, and suit of armor…suit of armor I don’t think that’s an original antique.
They had a car show that had several of these cars from 1913.
This one is a Ford, but there were others in this same style by different makers. They had the neatest little lanterns on the side. Looking at these old cars always makes me wonder about the original owners. Where did they drive to? What fun stories does this car hold in it’s history?
O yeah we did some hunting too. That was the whole purpose of going to the cabin after all.
Camping
We’ve been camping more at the end of the summer than we have the entire summer combine. I guess it’s a good way to skip the heat and miss most of the bugs, but we finally have a pretty good system in place where we keep our stuff in the cargo trailer and only have to load/unload the items that need washed or restocked. Keeping with my new goal of not neglecting this blog, I decided to put up a few pictures from a recent camping trip we took where the girls spent the entire weekend in their swimsuits chasing various critters around the river, rocks, and sandy beach. I’ll give a more detailed report over the weekend.
Field Trip
We belong to a very active home school field trip group. During the year they organize at least 2 field trips per month. Even during the summer we still have access to great field trips. One of the summer field trips gave the kids access to EAA Young Eagles Program. When the coordinator of our group contacted them about bringing a group of home schooled youth for plane rides, he asked if our group would be willing to volunteer and help out with a group of disabled youth preparing for their flights. We were excited to give back to this great program.
My understanding is that the pilots donate their time, planes, and all cost involved with flying to give kids a look at what a pilot does and an opportunity to fly. Everyone we met involved in this program was wonderful. The pilots took the time to explain how the controls worked, the kids were able to ask question, and take pictures of their flights.
Allyson rode in a 4 seater plane, but all the other planes were 2 seaters. She had never been in a plane before and was very excited to fly.
She’s all buckled in with her headphones on and ready to fly.
The view from her window as they are heading to the runway.
This is the golf course not too far from our house. She was taking pictures of things she recognized.
She noticed how everything looks like little squares up in the air. Such a different sight from the ground.
I was happy when she landed safe and sound. This field trip was two fold; we were able to help a group of kids experience flying and rewarded with our own flights. I am appreciative of Jan our groups coordinator and the wonderful pilots that give the flights to the kids.
Every year over the Memorial Day weekend my Dad’s side of the family gets together for a fun filled weekend camping trip. Over the years the location has moved, but the fun stays the same. Dad’s side of the family is huge. Cousins, Aunts, Uncles, Grandparents come from all over to join in the weekend. We have organized tournaments with trophies and everything. The weekend is full of fishing, horseshoes, golf, motorcycle riding, family stories, great food and good drinks.
That my grandmother in the middle serving up her tequila shots. Grandma’s tequila shots are a yearly tradition during the horseshoe tournament. We always look forward to spending time with 125+ of our closest family members. This camping trip is the only time we see many of these family members. I love to see the kids play with cousins they have never met before and become best friends by the end of the weekend.
Ashley and Allyson spend the weekend riding dirt bikes, fishing, and playing with cousins. They go to sleep every night worn out from a full day of activity.
Allyson tore it up on the dirt bike this year. She rode for hours. Was covered in dirt and loved every minute of it.
Ashley became good friends with a cousin from Boston. They rode ATV’s, played with the dogs, and hung out for most of the weekend. I love all the activities we get to enjoy living in Idaho.
What a wonderfully fun summer we have had. I’ve taken the summer off from the blog and hope to get some updates from the summer on here pretty soon. Blogging was a bit of a pain in the butt with the way I was doing it, so I’ve done some research and hopefully have found an easier way to keep up to date. Only time and blogging will tell.
To end our summer we had a fun day at the Western Idaho Fair. The girls rode lots of rides and ate really good fair food. We learned some things in the Farm Town building.
This was a new ride called “The Windsurfer”. It was in the shade which is something I appreciated since the temperature was around 98 degrees.
Here are my little vegetables outside the Farm building.
I hope everyone had a great summer. I am excited for school to start again…I’m not sure the girls are, but we do have some fun stuff on the schedule.
