Johnsons' Journey

Well… I guess that since we’ve been home for 3 days now, it’s time to update the old blog. I’ve finally got all the posts I wrote while we were camping, up. I was waiting on Flickr, as I wanted to add pictures to the posts. All day yesterday I was trying to get the pictures uploaded, but Flickr was being a pain in the other side of my lap. Finally, this morning I skipped one picture, and the rest went and uploaded… Wish I would have tried that yesterday! … I have no idea why the one picture wouldn’t upload to Flickr, but I am glad that the rest are finally being posted.

Anyway, back to Prineville, as I never wrote about the last day.

I got up at around 7:00 and went and took a shower in the camp showers… Turns out that 7:00 is a bad time, as everyone and their mother is taking a shower. *lol* … But I managed to get a mostly hot shower, which is better than no shower at all.

When I got back to the campsite, Joe and the kids were all up. So we had a simple breakfast of toast and/or cereal, and then I sent Joe and the kids to take a shower while I did the dishes. Once they were back, I did the girls’ hair and off we went. I wanted to do our “homeschool portraits”, so they had all dressed in nicer clothes… We went to 3 different areas and I snapped a bunch of photos of them. When we got home, the hard part came when I had to choose the pictures to be the “official” school pictures. *lol*

After I was done taking pictures, we headed back to the trailer and got ready to go. I think it was around 12:30 when we were pulling out of the campsite.

Joe had called 511 again, and it sounded like parts of hwy 126 (the Santiam Pass) was possibly closed due to the forest fire, so we decided not to chance trying to go home that way… Wouldn’t want to try to make a u-turn while pulling a 26 foot trailer with our little Durango. So instead we drove north west and went on the pass by Mt. Hood… I have no idea what that pass is called. *lol*

The kids were quite impressed by how close to Mt. Hood we got, but I didn’t bother to take any pictures. The top half of the mountain was hidden in clouds.

There were some delays on hwy 26 though, as they were doing the “Hood to Coast Relay” … While Joe drove, the kids and I watched all the runners… I would have watched more closely, had I known our friend, Erika, was running in it! … Joe and I used to work with Erika at PayLess, and I found out today, on facebook, that she ran in it for the first time… Pretty cool!

We made it into Sandy, Oregon by 3:30, by which time we were all pretty hungry. So we stopped at McDonald’s for a late lunch, and then headed home… I think we were home sometime between 5:00 and 5:30… We spent the next hour and a half, to two hours, unloading the trailer, unpacking, cleaning up after the cats (you WOULD NOT believe the mess two little kittens can make in the bathroom!!!), etc.

The first thing the boys did when they got home was to run into their rooms, grab out their bowling balls, and kiss them. *lol* … Going 7 days without bowling about killed them.

The boys wanted to go bowling as soon as everything was put away, and Joe thought it would be easier to just take all the laundry to one of the laundry mats in town and get it washed all at once, instead of having me spend all weekend doing it.

Joe thought we should go to the newer laundry mat, as it was nicer, but I am now wondering if it would have been better going to the old one… The washing machines cost $2.00 a piece to run them! The ones in Redmond were $1.50 to use… When you have 11 loads of laundry, that can really add up! … Plus, while the dryers cost the same as in Redmond, they didn’t dry as well so you had to run them longer, which meant that they really didn’t cost the same. … So 2 hours and $29 later, all the laundry was washed and folded.

While I was at the laundry mat with Amanda, Joe and the other kids went to the bowling alley and bowled 3 games… The boys were sure happy about that!

On Saturday, Josh and the girls had a Bible Day Camp to go to, with their Sunday School class. Like they did in June, we dropped them off at the church at 11:00 and they were bussed to Feyrer Park. Then we had to meet them back at the church at 3:00… They had a lot of fun, got to have a BBQ, play games, and came home with lots of little goodies.

While they were doing that, Joe, Jared, and I went to the bowling alley again, as a treat for Jared, now that he is in the youth group and didn’t go to the Bible camp… Jared talked me into bowling too, and he was thrilled to have us both to himself. We had lunch there too, since the others were having the BBQ.

As for the rest of the evening, we didn’t do much of ANYTHING. Just sat around on our rears, watching movies and bumming… And I’m sure that Joe got some naps in.

Oh wait! … I forgot… Joe, Alicia, and I did go to Walmart on Saturday, to get some groceries for the week. We left the other kids at home, but Alicia needed new shoes, so she came with us… We had to buy her size FIVE! She can fit perfectly into size 4s, but we wanted to give her some growing room.

She sure is growing up in a hurry! *sigh*

Since Sunday was the last day of his vacation, Joe wanted to be bad and skip church. He wanted to sleep in and get a lazy day in, since he won’t get another vacation until March… So that’s what we did… We did do a little bit of housework, but mainly we just bummed.

As for today, Joe is back to work, and the kids and I got some housework done… I’m also doing some laundry, as Mondays are my usual laundry days (along with Thursdays)… Well, the dryer just stopped, so I better run! … Catch ya on the flip side!

I meant to come back last night and finish my post for yesterday, but I guess I was too lazy. *lol* … Since everyone is still in bed, I thought I would come finish up… We’ll be leaving the campsite today, so as soon as everyone is up, It’ll be time to get busy.

After kicking back in the trailer for a while, we decided to go on a walk. So we grabbed our cameras and the wagon for Amanda (her legs get tired easy), and off we went. We wanted to go past the camp entrance, to get some pictures of the reservoir from there.

After we had walked for a while, we stopped so I could get a picture of the kids by a big rock. As we were walking back to the wagon, I happened to look down the hill and there was a buck laying down in the shade of some trees. He was only about 75-100 feet away from us, and just laid there and watched us… Which I admit, made me a little nervous. *lol* (I kept imagining that we would tick him off and he would come after us with those antlers of his. ) … Anyway, it was pretty cool and the kids were thrilled.

I wanted to walk farther, but cars would drive quickly around the corner, coming rather close to the corner. I decided it was too dangerous to continue, so we turned back and went back to camp.

We decided that it was too windy to chance building a fire, so we made either ham sandwiches or leftovers for dinner, and just kicked back in the trailer… It’s amazing how messy the trailer can get when we’re stuck inside! *sigh* … I have a lot to do in here this morning, when we’re getting ready to clean! It’s a disaster in here!

Well, sounds like everyone is waking up. Time to pull out some cereal and make some toast for breakfast, and then send everyone down to take their showers while I do the dishes… I want everyone looking their best today, because I am going to take the kids’ “back to school” portraits today, with the reservoir as the background.

Catch ya’ll when we get home!

This day has been one disappointment after another… Now, don’t get me wrong, it hasn’t been ALL bad, but there were moments…

First of all, the boys seemed to do well in the tent. I was the only one who was traumatized by it at all. I made Joe keep the trailer door open all night (with the screen door closed), so we could hear if there was any trouble. Also, Jared had not only his cell phone with him, but one of the walkie talkies as well, and we kept the other one, in case they needed something.

Secondly, it’s Joe’s 43rd birthday today! … Happy Birthday, honey! Hope you had a somewhat OK day.

I got out of bed at around 6:15, and went to take a shower. It was a beautiful morning. The sky was blue, and the sun was just coming up over the reservoir. So, after my shower, I went and grabbed my camera and took some pictures.

We got the kids up at 7:30-ish, and by 8:00-ish they were dressed and ready to go. The plan was to go to the Black Bear Diner in Redmond (now that we knew that Redmond had one!) for Joe’s birthday breakfast, and then go to the McKenzie Pass to see the Dee Wright Observatory. Then we would come back to the park and let the kids swim for the rest of the day.

That was the plan, anyway…

We got to the Black Bear Diner at around 9:00 and had a wonderful breakfast. That has got to be one of our favorite restaurants. It’s too bad that we don’t have any in our area. I know there is one in Beaverton, but that’s quite a distance from Molalla. … When we were there, I saw a shirt that had a huge bear sitting on one of those “Big Dog” dogs. The shirt said, “Big dogs make great chairs”, or something like that. Joe and I loved that shirt, especially since Joe’s Dad is addicted to Big Dog shirts, which made the shirt even more funny. So I told Joe that he should get one for his birthday present, but when we went to pick one out, we couldn’t find any in Joe’s size. L They were all too small for him. *sigh* … We were both disappointed.

We then went to Walmart, as we needed some more water and juice for the kids, then we were off, heading toward Sisters, Oregon … The Dee Wright Observatory is about 15 miles west of Sisters… We had just gotten under way when I decided to check my face book page from my cell phone. Earlier I had mentioned our plans, and a friend of mine commented that she had heard that Hwy 242 (McKenzie Pass) was closed, due to a forest fire. So we called 511, and sure enough it was closed… So we couldn’t go see the observatory. … The forces seem to be against me this week, as I just can’t seem to get there!!!! … But THANKFULLY, we found out before we drove all the way there… But I was still disappointed. *sigh*

To cheer ourselves back up (or at least me ), Joe took us to Dairy Queen for some ice cream. This time the lady actually didn’t put too much oreos in mine, and I was able to finish my Blizzard. *lol*

By the time we got back to the campground (at around 1:00-ish), it had gotten REALLY windy. The kids still wanted to go down to the water, because it was their last day to swim. So we grabbed our chairs and the kids’ tubes, and down to the water we went.

It was MUCH windier down at the reservoir!

As soon as we got down there, Jared let go of his tube for half a second, and the wind snatched it up and took it away. Joe and the boys took off after it (with Alicia following behind), while Amanda and I waited by the water… and waited, and waited… Turns out the tube flew up over the rock embankment, across the parking lot, down the bank on the other side, and was halfway across the lake before they could get to the edge of the water. A boat was going by, and they hoped that the people would grab it and bring it in for them, but they just waved at Joe and the boys and went on their merry way. In the mean time, the tube was across the lake and going up the bank on the other side. It was literally “gone with the wind”!

Jared no longer has a tube.

Jared was pretty upset with himself, for losing it. We told him that it wasn’t his fault, and that it was only $5 and could be replaced, but Jared tends to be pretty hard on himself. It took a while before he was smiling again.

Anyway, I thought that with the wind, it was too cold to go into the water, but that didn’t stop Alicia. She dove right in, and had some fun. The wind was strong enough to make some nice waves, which is pretty fun to ride while in the tube. So she was in their giggling… Josh saw the fun she was having, and said that he would go in too, but only because it was the last day… As for Amanda, she got her feet wet, but Jared (who was still upset), didn’t go in at all.

They didn’t stay in too long, and when they came out, Alicia’s teeth were chattering with cold… Time to go back to the trailer…

When we got back, we noticed that the wind seemed to be getting worse and worse. Joe and I were worried about the awning, so we put it away, and put some other things away that we worried may get blown away… I guess that will make our morning easier tomorrow, when we’re packing up to go home.

I am just hoping that it dies down enough to start a fire tonight, as I really wanted to roast hotdogs on our last night here.

As for now, we’re just kicking back in the trailer. The wind is picking up too much dust to enjoy being outside… So Joe and Jared are playing checkers, Josh is playing the bowling game on my phone, and the girls are watching “Garfield” on the portable DVD player.

Oh, we also decided to put the tent away, as the wind kept blowing it into the picnic table… It was rather funny to watch Joe and the boys try and put it away in the wind. *lol* … But at least now I can get some sleep, knowing the boys are safe in the trailer.

We also closed the awning, the wind was that bad! We were afraid that it would be ripped right off the trailer! I noticed that we weren’t the only ones to put our awning up.

Well… I’m off for now…

I’ve been too tired to write in this every night, so I’ve gotten a couple days behind… Let’s hope this doesn’t get too long!

On Monday we had toast, sausage, and scrambled eggs for breakfast at around 9 am, and then after I showered and did the dishes, we ended up leaving the campground at close to 11 o’clock. … While I was doing the dishes/shower thing, Joe and the kids went on a little hike on one of the trails near the campsite. It’s a really pretty area, and it’s where I plan on taking the kids’ portraits on Friday.

Like I said, we left the campground at 11:00 and had quite the long drive into Bend. We made it to the High Desert Museum at 12:30 … I honestly didn’t think it would take that long to get there! … But, according to the kids, it was worth it. They loved it there… Mainly because they have a few animals in exhibits, and we even got to see a “Bird of Prey” show. Not that it was all about birds. *lol* They showed us an owl and a hawk, as well as a badger and a skunk. Let me tell you, that was a smart skunk. They had it walk along this railing thing, while they gave it all sorts of little treats to eat. While they did that, they talked about skunks. They get back to the starting point when the skunk turned around and went through it again, knowing full well that he would get more snacks. *lol*

The hawk was very beautiful, and seemed to love people. In fact, they had it fly back and forth over peoples’ heads. One time it flew directly over Jared’s head, and it flew so close to Joe and he could feel the brush of it’s wings against his cheek… I tried to get a video clip, but he flew so fast, I couldn’t really keep up with him. *lol*

The last time I was at the High Desert Museum was in March of 1994, with Joe… So what, 16 years ago. Man! That place has sure changed in 16 years! There was so much to see and do. If you’re ever in Central Oregon, I highly suggest you visit there. (It isn’t cheap though. It cost $66 to get all 6 of us in. *yikes* … It’s a good thing we only do one sight seeing vacation a year!)

It was 3:30 when we left the museum… So we were there for 3 hours. We even went through some of the parts at the end kind of quickly, because Joe wasn’t feeling well. I think he has borderline diabetes, because he gets sick if he is late for meals (his dad has diabetes) … Anyway, since Joe and the kids were all very hungry, we had to skip going to the Dee Wright Observatory, because it would have been too long of a drive. We had promised the kids we would take them to the Black Bear Diner for lunch, and at the time, the only one we knew about (besides Beaverton) was in Madras, and that was a 45 mile drive from the museum.

We made it to the Black Bear Diner at 4:30, and it was well worth the wait! The food is so good there, and the place is decorated so cool! Bears everywhere… If we had the extra money, I could have had some fun in the gift shop, buying cute bear shirts, mugs, and knick-knacks.

After we finished eating we drove back into Redmond and found a laundry mat… Since there are 6 of us, we can’t go a full week without doing laundry. But it sure is nice doing it there, since I can do four loads of laundry at the same time. *lol* … We were still there for a while though, since I had to fold all the laundry too. I think we were there for around 2 ½ hours. We left there at around 9:15-ish and then made a quick stop at Dairy Queen for a Blizzard before heading to Walmart for a few things… It was probably 10:30 before we made it back to the campground.

We pretty much went straight to bed, as soon as the laundry was put away and everyone had changed into their pajamas.

We slept in a bit on Tuesday, as we weren’t in any hurry… We are on vacation after all! J … Joe and the kids got dressed, I took a shower, and we had hash browns, sausage, and eggs for breakfast. Then we grabbed the sun-block and floaties, and down to the reservoir we went.

We spent around 5 hours down on the water. The kids had so much fun, and even Joe went in a few times too cool off… I don’t go into the water, because NO ONE deserves to have to see me get wet. *shudder* (If I get down to 140 lbs by next summer, like I am hoping … 110 is my ultimate goal… Then I will probably join them when they swim.)

To keep myself cool, I sat my chair right into the edge of the water, and soaked my feet in the lake (reservoir) while I watched the kids play. I especially liked it when a boat would speed by and send us some waves, because then the water would splash up my legs and cool them down.

At 5 o’clock we packed up their swim toys and headed back to the trailer. Joe BBQ’d hamburgers for dinner, which we ate outside. Our site was now in the shade, and there was a wonderfully cool breeze blowing. OMWord, it was soooo relaxing! Once it started getting dark, Joe built a fire, and we sat around that, chatting for a while.

For some reason, I was extra tired, so I ended up going to bed at around 9:30… Which is just about unheard of from me… I think Joe is still in shock. *lol* … But I tossed and turned all night. I had gotten a bit of a sun burn, and was feeling extra hot. I think I would have slept better, if only I could have had a fan blowing on me or something.

This morning we dinked around as well. I made French toast for breakfast, showered, and did the dishes. We made it down to the lake at 12:30, a half an hour later than we did yesterday.

It was about 10 degrees hotter out today (it got to 96.8 today), so I got even more burned. *lol* … And even though we put sun-block on the kids, Jared and Josh seemed to get a sunburn too, as well as Joe. The girls seemed to make it through OK, but they were already tanned from spending the summer out with their friends.

Once again we came back to the trailer at 5:00, and once again Joe BBQ’d hamburgers for dinner… We brought other things, but the hamburgers are just hitting the spot. *lol*

I had one troubling moment (that is still going on)… Jared and Josh sweet talked Joe and I into setting up the tent for them to sleep in. *sob* … I AM NOT ready for my boys to be old enough to sleep in a tent by themselves!!! I mean, I know that the tent is only a few feet from the trailer, and that I slept in tents with my friends when I was younger than Jared …. BUT STILL!!!! ACK! … I don’t know if I am going to get ANY sleep tonight! … But, we have two very happy boys on our hands, who kept thanking us over and over, and telling me that they were “mountain men” and didn’t need any mattresses or anything to sleep on.

At around 8 o’clock, Joe and the boys went on a “boys only” hike, and left us girls back at the trailer. I worked on this here blog post, while the girls watched a movie on the portable DVD player.

By 8:30, Joe and the boys were back, and we all walked down to the day use area. They had their telescopes out again, and the girls and I wanted to see them… There wasn’t much to see yet, but we were able to see Venus. Pretty cool! … And that telescope! OMGoodness! They had a HUGE one, and the ranger lady said that it would cost $3000 to replace it! I was almost afraid to look through it.

After that was shower time for a couple dirty girls, and some boys as well… And now I’m about to climb into bed… NOT that I will get much sleep, between the burns on my legs, arms, face, and head… And the fact that the boys are SLEEPING OUTSIDE IN A TENT. ACK!!!!

After finally getting all my pictures off my camera, and the files renamed, I was too lazy/tired to write last night, so I went to bed instead, *lol* … So I thought that I would give you the 411 on yesterday while the kids are still asleep and Joe is off taking a shower (which he was too tired to do last night).

Joe decided that he wanted to take advantage of being on vacation and he wanted to sleep in, as he never gets to do that anymore. So I think it was 9:00 before any of us climbed out of bed on Sunday morning. While it was the day we left Silver Falls to go to the Prineville Reservoir, check out time isn’t until 1:00, so we weren’t in a hurry… Mainly because Joe thought it would only take a couple hours to drive to Prineville… He was so very wrong about that, by the way.

Anyway, we got up at 9:00-ish, and after the kids got dressed we sent them outside while we cleaned up the trailer, made beds, etc. Then we called them back in for an easy breakfast of either leftovers from Saturday, cereal, or something easy like that. Then Joe and the kids left again while I did the dishes, took a shower, and got the inside of the trailer ready for the drive to Prineville.

When I was done, I went over to Bev and Joe’s campsite (Bev is Joe’s Dad’s cousin) and Joe came back to get the trailer unhooked and ready to go. Then we stood around and chatted for a while… It was 1:00 before we were finally pulling out of the campsite… Though we didn’t get to leave right then, because we had to go to the dump station first.

The drive to, and through, the Santiam Pass was a lot longer than we anticipated.

We did make a pit-stop at 3:30-ish, at a view point to see Mt. Washington and Suttle Lake. I wanted to take some pictures… Also, that area had been burned by a severe forest fire sometime, and Josh was quite interested to learn more about that. You could see miles and miles of burned timber. The trees were no longer black, but had turned white-ish, and it had been long enough that small trees and undergrowth had come in under the burned trees… The signs said that the fire had burned for aprox 90,000 acres… Suttle Lake seemed to be on the edge of where the fire ended… Once we have internet service again, Josh and I will have to google it, and see if we can figure out when the fire was (the signs didn’t say).

From what I could see from the highway, it looks like there is a pretty nice government campground on the east side of Suttle Lake… I wouldn’t mind going camping there sometime, as it’s very beautiful!

We made it into Sisters sometime between 4:00-4:15, and we stopped for some gas and to grab a (very) late lunch at McDonald’s. Then we were on our way again … On a side note, Sisters is a very beautiful town! It would be fun to go back there, when there was more time to look around town.

We had wanted to hit the Walmart in Redmond when we drove through, but it wasn’t on the main drag going through town, and we didn’t want to go looking for it while we were pulling the trailer. So we just kept on driving and FINALLY made it to Prineville Reservoir @ 6:15 pm.

The first thing we did was to visit the restroom and then set up camp… Joe and I decided to actually try and use the awning… Normally we only use it when Joe’s parents are there to help, as we don’t seem to have a knack for getting it out and then back in… But we decided to live on the edge and give it a go… And it was a rather interesting time. … It took us a while, and passer-bys were giving us odd looks, but we did finally manage to get it out. I’m glad too, because it gives the campsite a homier look to it.

By 7:30 we were finally able to go on a walk… Which felt really nice after being cooped up in the Durango all day! We walked down to the reservoir and took some pictures… And I kept thinking about how much better those pictures would be, if only I had my Cannon Digital Rebel! *lol* … I also need to get better about holding the camera straight while on uneven ground… It felt straight, but the horizon line is QUITE off in some of the pictures. *sigh* … Thank goodness I can fix that in Photoshop Elements when I am scrapping the photos!

We went to the amphitheater at 8:30 to see the show that the rangers were putting on. They do them on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays… Unfortunately, we missed the ones on coyotes (Friday night) and cougars (Saturday night). The one we saw last night was on the different owls in the area. It was actually pretty interesting.

When it was over Joe and the boys took us girls back to the trailer, and then they went to the day use area where the rangers have a big telescope. They got to get a close look at the moon, and see some of the constellations. The boys really enjoyed that… Maybe tonight the girls and I will have to go down too.

By 10:00 we were settled down in front of the campfire. We roasted some hotdogs, and Amanda got the roasted marshmallow that she had been whining for since we left home on Friday. *lol* … While it was nice kicking back by the fire, we were all pretty tired. So after eating a SUPER late dinner (the hotdogs), we decided to call it a night… I brought the girls into the trailer to take a bath while Joe and the boys watched the fire burn down.

We were in bed by 11:45… Late for Joe and the kids, but not so much for me! *lol* … Actually, I was up later than that, getting the pictures off the camera and getting them renamed.

Well, it sounds like the kids are starting to wake up, and Joe is back from the shower, so I shall let you go… I looked the weather forecast up on my phone, and it’s only going to be 77 today (and get hotter throughout the week), so today we’re going into town. We want to go to Bend, to visit the High Desert Museum. Then we want to see the Dee Write Observatory in the McKenzie Pass, and have lunch/dinner at the Black Bear Diner in Madras… I also want to visit the laundry mat and also get some groceries at Walmart… Should be a busy day!

Here’s coming to you live (well, at least for now) from Silver Falls State Park. I thought I should check in from here at least once, before we head over to the Prineville Reservoir tomorrow.

Anyhoo…

Yesterday was a busy day… It was Joe’s last day of work, before his vacation, and I was busy getting ready for our camping trip. We had been out late on Thursday, so I didn’t get much of a head start. Also, we had invited the twins to come with us to Silver Falls, since the Johnson Reunion was today, They spent the one night with us here, and then went home with Scott and Debbie this evening… So we had a couple extra kids in the house while I was trying to get things ready.

I was up and into the shower by 6:30, and I just kept on going… I had to make the cupcakes for Amanda’s birthday party (which was today, after the reunion), wash a ton of laundry, fold it all, and put it away. I had to pack for all 6 of us, clean the kitchen, get the kitties set for the week, and load the trailer. It doesn’t sound like much, but I was going from 6:30 until around 3:30, when Joe finally got home and started hooking the trailer to the Durango, etc. I only stopped long enough for some breakfast at around 10 o’clock.

By that point I was too pooped to pop! *lol*

Andrea asked about the cats… Only Cuddles was allowed full run of the house. At 6 years old, she is very well trained, and just too lazy to get into mischief. *lol* We left her one of the litter boxes in the laundry room, a casserole dish full of water, and a round cake pan filled with food. (We have someone coming by on Tuesday to check on the cats and make sure they still have enough food and water.) … As for Buddy, he is spending the week in the kids’ bathroom. I’m sure he’s not happy in there, but we can’t trust him in the house unsupervised, and there is no way we’re leaving him outside, day and night, for a week. He probably wouldn’t survive that, not with coyotes and cougars running around. Anyway, we put a litter box in there, gave him a bed, and he had the same amount of water and food as Cuddles, though he doesn’t eat as much as she does. *lol* … As for Tootsie and CeeCee, we put the both of them in our bathroom, with a litter box and twice the amount of food and water as the other two got. We also made sure they had some toys to play with, since they are still extremely playful… I took every last thing out of the bathroom, so they wouldn’t break anything. *lol*

On a side note… Speaking of cougars, Joe actually saw the cougar on Friday morning!!!!! Turns out that there must be more than one. The one that friends of ours has seen is full grown, but the one Joe saw was only about half grown. It was about a half mile down the road, and was running along side the street. Joe said it’s paws were huge!

Scary stuff!

Anyway, back to our vacation… I think it was sometime after 4:00 when we were finally able to leave the house… Since the kids and I hadn’t eaten since breakfast, we made a quick run to Mickey D’s for a burger, before heading out to Silver Creek Falls.

I’m not sure what time it was when we got here… Maybe 6-ish??? … Once we were in our site, the kids ran off to play in Grandma and Grandpa’s campsite, while Joe and I got our campsite ready to go. Then we grabbed our chairs and moseyed over there. We pretty much spent the evening chatting with the relatives around the campfire, being too tired to do anything else. *lol*

Sleeping two extra people in the trailer was an interesting feat! There is a triple bunk bed in the back of the trailer. Jared sleeps on the top, Josh in the middle, and Alicia used to sleep on the bottom (but now I use it to hold the kids’ duffle bags with their clothes). Anyway, we had Jacob sleep in the bottom bunk… Now Jacob is a big kid… And that bed never looked so small, until Jacob climbed into it! I don’t know how he did it! I would have been way too claustrophobic! He never complained and said he slept well, but MAN! *lol* … While we’ve never done it before last night, the table turns into a bed, and that is where Alicia and Amanda slept. It was quite roomy enough for them, and they were very happy there… The couch turns into a bed as well (it’s where the girls usually sleep), and that is where we put Jamie. She is too tall for the table/bed, so this was the best option for her… But the funny thing was, she is so tall that her feet hung over the end of the bed. Every time I came out to use the bathroom at night, I would accidentally run into her feet.

Since we had gotten to bed late, we ended up sleeping in until around 8 o’clock. We had the kids get dressed real quick, and then sent them outside… There was no way I could cook breakfast with that many bodies in the trailer. It just isn’t humanly possible. As soon as they were out, Joe and I turned the beds back into the table and couch, and picked up the trailer. Then I made biscuits and gravy for breakfast… After we ate, I did the dishes and took a shower.

It was 11:30 before I was done. *lol*

I was able to kick back for half an hour, and then back to the trailer I went. The potluck was at 1 o’clock, and I needed to make the spaghetti that I planned on taking.

After lunch, and after the kids played a game of “Apples to Apples” with their cousins, Joe and I decided that we wanted to go on a walk to the South Falls. So we, along with our nephew, Shandon, took off… From our campsite, it is probably 3/4th to a mile walk to the top of the falls. It was a nice walk. It wasn’t too hot, and it’s really pretty around Silver Creek… But MAN, was the park busy! … When we got to the top of the falls, we stopped to take some pictures, then we turned around and came back. There is a nice trail down to the bottom of the falls, but while it’s nice going down, the trek back up makes me literally feel like I am going to have a heart attack. *lol* I have some more weight to lose before I try that again!

Actually, there is an even longer hike down there… the short hike takes you behind South Falls, and then down to the bottom and back up. There is also a 7 mile hike that takes you on the “Trail of 10 Falls” … Someday, when I am closer to my goal weight, and when Amanda gets old enough to handle that long of a walk, I want to go on that hike and see all the water falls.

When we got back to camp, we let Amanda open her birthday presents… She had been bugging me about it All. Day. Long! I was so glad that I no longer had to listen to it! *lol*

She got some nice things… Joe and I got her a Hannah Montana fleece blanket, a Hannah Montana beach towel, and two Tinkerbell DVDs. Josh got her a Hannah Montana shirt, and Jared got her some Hannah Montana jeans to go with the shirt Josh bought. Alicia gave her some Hannah Montana headphones and a Hannah Montana mini purse thing, that is meant to carry cell phones or mp3 players. Grandma and Grandpa gave her an outfit with a 3 pack of socks and a Hannah Montana place mat. Gene and Dorothy gave her a Hannah Montana sticker book, a Hannah Montana bag thing, with a mini notebook and pen, as well as a shirt. Bob and DeeDee gave her $15, and Scott and Debbie gave her a Hannah Montana bike helmet and a couple of those fuzzy posters that you can color with markers.

She is one spoiled girl!

After roasting hotdogs for dinner, and getting into the cupcakes, I took the girls down to the showers… I had wanted them to just bathe in the trailer, but they begged to be able to go down to the showers… But I swear, they will be using the trailer from now on! (and I think they agree with me!) … As soon as we got in there, a huge group of teenagers came in, and the girls had to hurry to make sure they got hot water. Also, the water pressure was so hard, they were extra loud about their complaints. It was embarrassing! I was glad to leave and get back to the trailer.

When we got back, I settled the girls into bed with the portable DVD player and one of Amanda’s new Tinkerbell movies, while Joe and the boys went to take their shower… It was late when they got back, so everyone, expect for me, went to bed… But I am about to head there in a couple minutes! *lol* … I’ll check in with you next from Prineville! (I sure hope our phones get service there, as they don’t here… I haven’t been able to post on face book!)

Just wanted to drop by and let ya’ll know that I won’t be around for the next week. Joe is on vacation as soon as he gets off work tomorrow (Friday), and as soon as he gets home, we’re heading out on a week long camping trip. We’ll be back on Friday the 27th, but it may be a day or two after that before I get a chance to blog… I’ll probably be writing up blog posts throughout the week, but I will want to post the pictures onto Flickr before blogging, and who knows how long that will take.

There hasn’t been too much going on around here… A whole lot of bowling is all! *lol* … But as of this afternoon, all the summer leagues are officially over. Last night was the last night for the Have-A-Ball league (The Johnson Boys came in 2nd place for the league!), and today was the last day for the kids summer free league… Jared was excited because he got to bowl against the Hartrampfs today, who pretty much make up the dream team of bowling.   Jared’s team beat them on all three games! … Of course, it’s because they have a higher handicap. The other team actually knocked down more pins, but our team was bowling above their averages, which brought the pin count higher because of their handicap score.

I spent a good portion of yesterday baking cookies for a couple birthdays, and for our camping trip. For the first time I made peanut butter chocolate chip (I used mini chocolate chips), and I think they turned out pretty yummy! … I also made a bunch of regular chocolate chip cookies.

You want to hear something funny though… I put a bunch of cookies in a ziplock bag, to take to the bowling alley for the employees. I gave the bag to Teri (one of the owners), and she took the bag home and didn’t share a single cookie! Next time I will have to give her a bag, and then put one on the counter for everyone else!

I am just about ready for school to start… We’re going to start on September 6th… I now have all the lesson plans done for all four kids, for the entire school year. The only thing left to do is to print out the lesson plans and get the kids’ binders ready for the year. But right now I am out of ink, so it’s going to have to wait until we’re home from vacation. Once we’re home, we’ll have one full week of vacation left, and then it’s time to hit the books.

I CAN NOT believe how fast the summer went by! *sigh*

August is flying by at an even faster pace than the rest of the summer! It’s insane that it’s already the middle of the month! … In a couple 2-3 weeks I won’t be a lady of leasure anymore, as school is almost upon us.

Wow!

We’ve been keeping busy, as usual… When we’re not out and about (read: at the bowling alley), then I’ve been busy working on lesson plans for this coming school year, and also working on my heritage blog. I finished typing out Mom’s Memoirs, and by the next day I had 3 or 4 comments from people who had gone to the same school in India that Mom went to. How amazing is that?! I forwarded all the comments to my Mom, and she sent Emails to all of them. One of them wrote her back the same day, and even sent Mom pictures of the school and surrounding area. My Mom was THRILLED, to say the least!

The internet sure makes the world a whole lot smaller, doesn’t it?

One thing that’s going to be nice about homeschool starting up again, is that means the neighborhood kids will all be at school too. It seems like our house has become Grand Central Station! Every time I turn around, another kid is knocking on the door, wanting to play… And they ALL want to play inside (though I don’t always let them). The girls even talked me into letting Darian spend not only Thursday night here, but Friday as well… And, along with Darian, Hunter was over playing with Josh all day on Friday as well. They even want to eat meals with us, and don’t seem to need to ask their parents’ permission either… Darian and Hunter are good kids, but they can both be jabber-jaws, and I get enough talking from Jared, thank-you-very-much. … Sometimes I have to make the kids play outside, just to get some peace and quiet!

We even took Darian and Hunter to the bowling alley with us on Friday. Hunter was THRILLED, and even brought his own bowling ball… Darian had fun, but she did drive me more than a little crazy, with her asking for soda, slushies, and money for the vending machines. She doesn’t seem to understand that no means NO, and that it also means to STOP ASKING BECAUSE THE ANSWER IS STILL GOING TO BE NO!

Hunter wanted to spend the night on Friday as well, but Josh whispered to me that he really didn’t want him to sleep over. So I let Josh make me be the “bad guy” and he told Hunter that only one friend could sleep over at a time, and since Darian was already staying, he couldn’t stay… I felt bad for Hunter, but I can’t force Josh to have a friend sleep over, can I? *lol*

On Saturday, after making hashbrowns (etc) for breakfast, we sent Darian home and got to work. All 6 of us teamed up and got the house cleaned. We did bathrooms, floors, kitchen, bedrooms, etc… Oh, and I gave Joe and the kids hair cuts too, before we started cleaning… We were done by around 3-ish, and then (after I took a shower) we headed out the door.

Amanda had wanted to eat dinner at McDonald’s for her birthday, but her birthday falls on a Monday this year. Joe works late on Mondays, and is too tired to do much of anything when he gets home… So we took her (and the rest of the kids) to the McDonald’s in Oregon City, as she wanted to go to one with a playland, and the one in Molalla doesn’t have one. She was quite happy with her Happy Meal, and the play time in the play-place.

After leaving McDonald’s, we went to Kmart… I had finished going through the kids’ clothes, and had a small list of things they need for the winter… Jared needed some underclothes, Josh needed a couple more pairs of jeans and a couple more t-shirts (we had to buy him smalls from the mens’ department!!!!!), Alicia needed a couple pairs of pajamas, and some summer sandles (as her’s fell apart), and Amanda needed some socks and 2 pairs of jeans.

Amanda was THRILLED, because she found some jeans with sparkles on them.

I was a little put out with the pajamas though… We had to go to the junior section and bought 2 pairs in a size small… But once we got them home, and the tags off, I noticed that while the shirts are both small, the bottoms were not. One was a medium and one was a large! They are HUGE on her, and had to be pinned so they wouldn’t fall off. (Well, the mediums weren’t as bad as the large ones, obviously.) … It doesn’t seem to bother Alicia though, and she says that they are very comfy, which is highly important to her. *lol* … I’m going to get my needle and thread out and sew up the sides, so she won’t have to have the safety pins on them.

When we got home, I wanted to color my hair… You know the grays are starting to show when you’re 10 year old asks you when you plan on dying your hair again. … Anyway, I usually do it in the bathroom. I like to lock the door and strip down to my underclothes, so I won’t get dye on my clothes. It also makes it easier to rinse it out of my hair, as I just jump into the shower when it’s time. But, since my hair has to sit for 45 minutes before I rinse, it can get a little boring in there. *lol* Normally I take a book in (and a chair), and read for 45 minutes, but this time I wasn’t in the mood. So I took in my portable DVD player and watched 2 episodes of “Mad About You” while I waited… That sure made the time go by faster!

Today (Sunday) we had the Lane Family Reunion to go to… They had it at Eagle Fern Park again, which is where they had it last year… But for some odd reason, they had it on a Sunday this year, instead of on Saturday, like they normally do… Since it started at 2:00, we had to go straight there from church. We stopped by the Thriftway in Estacada and got some chicken, since I didn’t have time to cook anything (since we went to church) for the potluck.

The funny thing about the Lane Reunions, is that we rarely talk to anyone, except for Joe’s immediate family. We all put our chairs out together, and stick together. Joe parents do mingle, but the rest of us don’t do much of that. (Though we did talk to Jean for a while… She is one of the daughters of Charlie and Nellie, who owned the house we rented in Sandy back in ’06.)

They had some games and prizes for the kids, and they all seemed to have a good time.

To help pay for renting the area for the reunion, they were selling disks with pictures from the Lane heritage on them, for $15. Since I love that sort of thing, we picked one up… OMWord, are they unorganized! What a mess of photos on that disk! The scans are poor (a lot of “extra” around the sides of the photos, and no touch ups done to the pictures themselves), and some of them are not even labeled as to who the people are! I copied the pictures to my computer, and will be sorting and editing them the best I can… I hope I can find out who everyone is in the unmarked pictures. Geesh!

We had to leave there at 4:30, to make sure we got to the bowling alley on time… Tonight was the last night for the “Some-R-Kids” bowling league, so they were having awards and a pizza party.

All four of the kids got trophies (all the kids get them). Jared got one for “Most Improved Average” … He improved his average from 105 (from the fall league) to 140. Coach Mick said that it was a huge improvement, and very impressive. Josh got one for “2nd Most Improved Average” for bringing up his average from 91 to 117 … Sad thing is, in his other two leagues his average is in the 130s, so he’s actually brought it up higher… But for some reason, he doesn’t bowl well on Sunday nights. *lol* … Since Alicia and Amanda were in a bumper league, they didn’t get trophies for anything special. They just put their high game and high series on their trophies… But that didn’t bother the girls at all, they were just thrilled to get trophies at all!

The summer leagues are just about over. Like I said, tonight was the last night for the “Some-R-Kids” league. Then this Wednesday is the last night for the “Have-A-Ball” league, and Thursday is the last day for the “Summer Kids” free league. There is a free kids tournament on the 26th, but we can’t make it as we’ll be camping in Prineville.

The fall leagues start next month… All four kids will join the kids league on Saturday (Amanda will be on the bumper league, while the other three will be on the Molalla Nuggets). Then Joe has decided to join the Sunday night adult/junior league with Jared, Josh, and Alicia… It’s going to be a stretch, money wise, but this is something that Joe and the kids really enjoy doing together. With Joe’s insane work schedule, he doesn’t get much bonding time with the kids, and this is their thing now…. I don’t think the boys even know that he’s decided to do it yet (he just decided tonight, but then the boys went home with the Mewings to spend the night), and they are going to be THRILLED when they find out. … They love bowling on a league with their Daddy.

Jared and Josh got quite the compliment… There is a family of bowlers (who actually live in our neighborhood), called the Hartrampfs. Anyway, the entire family bowls really well, and they are all always going all over the state (and beyond) to different bowling tournaments. They’ve even got to Las Vagas for a huge, important tournament. I think it’s mainly the boys (Craig, 18, Austin, 16, and Jared, 14) who do the tournaments… They are a really nice family. They are fellow believers, and Karen even homeschools them… Anyway, Karen was telling me that her Jared has an eye on the boys. He says they are really good, and in a couple years (when they are a little older), he’s going to recruit them into the special “Molalla Boys” bowling team that goes all over doing the tournaments… My Jared couldn’t be more thrilled, and can not stop thinking about it. It’s something he really wants to do… He has one more year in the “Molalla Nuggets” (bowlers up to age 12) before he goes into the “Teen Olympians” on the main fall league, and he has set himself a personal goal to get his average up to 180 before he enters the Teen Olympians… He started bowling 13 months ago, with scores in the 20s and 30s, and now he usually gets 140 to 180 … So I think he may just have a chance to do it, if he tries hard enough… And trust me, he will try.

Speaking of bowling, Josh has tried out a new kind of bowling… Bandaid Bowling.

The boys have done so much bowling this summer that they keep getting blisters on their thumbs. Josh had one on Friday, but only wanted a small bandaid. He was worried that a bigger bandaid would make it hard to get his thumb into the thumb hole on the bowling ball. So anyway, after bowling a couple frames, he noticed that his bandaid had fallen off into his bowling ball hole, and then been deposited a few feet up the lane. I told him to tell either Coach Mick or Terry (the maintenance guy) about it, so they could get the bandaid off the lane… But the next thing I knew, a ball ran over the bandaid and took it more than halfway up the lane… Then the next ball grabbed the bandaid and took it the rest of the way. ops” Oops! … Some day Terry is going to be working on the machinery at the end of the lane, and wonder how on earth a bandaid got down there!

The kittens are doing well… But… Clueless Cassie strikes again!

I swear, sometimes I don’t think that CeeCee is playing with a full deck of cards! *lol* … One thing that Tootsie and CeeCee are bad about, is getting onto tables. We have trained Cuddles and Buddy to stay off, but the kittens are there quite yet. Anyway, I got tired of getting up to get them off the table, so I put a spray bottle next to my desk, for use in their training. Sure enough, not long after getting it, Tootsie got on the table. I gave him one squirt, and he hopped off the table, lickety-split… A little while later, CeeCee tried it… Now, it was laundry day, so I had an empty laundry basket sitting on the table (I always fold the clothes on the table). So when I gave CeeCee a squirt, she ran around the basket, trying to get away from the water. So when she came back around, I would squirt her again… So here is this kitten, running circles around this laundry basket, getting squirted with water with every loop around. You’d think she’d get a clue and GET OFF THE TABLE! … I had to get up and remove her myself, because she just kept running around and around that basket! … Then she seemed happy to see me, so I think she thought I was rescuing her from the water.

She is so clueless!

Tootsie, on the other hand, is the best kitty ever! Other than the occasional hop on the table (which is getting less often, thanks to my water bottle ), he is so well behaved! And he’s so patient and so sweet! All you have to do is touch him once, and he’s purring. He’s just so loveable! … He’s 16 weeks old now (CeeCee is 13 weeks old), and he’s starting to get so big! He seems heavy for his age too, and I am wondering if he’s going to be a big, sturdy cat when he’s finished growing. He’s a LOT heavier than CeeCee, who’s quite delicate.

Well, I suppose I’ve bored you long enough. See ya on the flip side!

Since it’s the beginning of yet ANOTHER week, I thought I’d  better check in with ya’ll … Though, other than a whole lot of bowling (what else would we be doing?! ), there isn’t much else going on.

We’ve been to the bowling alley every day from Wednesday through last night. The kids wanted to go last Tuesday too, but Joe was super tired and couldn’t talk himself into it… What are those kids going to do when school starts back up and we won’t be able to go even half as much as we do now? They are going to go through some serious bowling withdrawals! … But maybe then we can stay home and I can actually get some work done on some of my projects, instead of spending half my time at the bowling alley.

At the Wednesday’s “Have-A-Ball” league, Josh bowled yet another new high game! His high game is now 209! Amazing! He seems to bowl best at the Wednesday league, for some unknown reason.

On Saturday we finished paying for, and got, the new bowling balls from the Have-A-Ball league… We had wanted to do it on Friday, but the lanes were CRAZY BUSY, and Shawn (the owner) just didn’t have time to drill the balls. He said he would be in at 5:00 on Saturday, so we went in there, planning on having dinner there as well (we’re eating at the bowling alley WAY TOO MUCH).

The boys, including Joe, were SO EXCITED about getting their new balls… They are nothing fancy. Just plain balls, unlike the ones we bought the boys for Christmas, which are reactive (will curve, if you hook them right), these are just for straight bowling… But that didn’t stop them from being excited. *lol* … In fact, when we got there and were climbing out of the Durango, Jared says, “Getting a new bowling ball is more exciting than having a new baby!”

I beg to differ!

Bet he’ll change his mind once he grows up and becomes a Daddy himself.

Josh… being Josh… has named his balls. His reactive ball is called “Hulk”, because it’s the same colors as the Incredible Hulk. His new ball, which is green and black, is named, “Josh Johnson Jr”, because Josh’s name is on the box the ball came in.

Anyway, Joe… being Joe… had to name his ball too. His ball is patriotic colors, so he named it “Betsy”, after Betsy Ross… OMWord, it’s been a while since I’ve seen Joe this excited about getting something new. He was teasing me that I would have to sit in the back seat with the girls, because Betsy needed to be buckled into the front seat, next to him… Then, in the middle of the night, he was busy tooting in bed. I was getting annoyed, so I woke him up and told him that to either go to the bathroom, or at least aim his rear in the other direction. He just looks over at me and says, “You’re just jealous because I got a new bowling ball!”

I swear, 99% of the time he acts like one of the kids!

Amanda’s been bowling a little more than normal… Of course, when Shelby is there (Shawn, the owner’s daughter) she doesn’t want to bowl, because she would rather play with Shelby. But on both Saturday and Sunday she bowled her free games… In fact, on Saturday she ended up bowling 5 games, which she has never done before… She didn’t bowl on Friday though. She decided she wanted to color instead. She wanted to draw me something…

Amanda: “What’s your 2nd favorite animal, Mama?”
Mama: “A cougar.”
Amanda: “But I can’t draw a cougar.”
Mama: “Well, what can you draw?”
Amanda: “Butterflies!”
Mama: “Then that’s my favorite animal.”

So she drew me a picture of some butterflies.

The girls finally got their league shirts on Sunday. We paid for them in April, when the league first started, and Coach Mick ordered them from USBC right away… But MAN, are they slow! Alicia’s been rather impatiently waiting for them since then, and was SO EXCITED when they finally came… Just in time for our last summer league night next Sunday. *lol* … But at least they will have them for the fall league.

It’s weird to think that all the summer bowling leagues are just about over. There is only one more Sunday night “Some-R-Kids” league, two more of the Wednesday night “Have-A-Ball” leagues, and two more of the free kids league on Thursday… The fall league starts up again on September 18th.

Let’s see… What else is going on…

Oh, I know… Jared FINALLY lose another tooth. It had been almost 3 years since he lost his last one. This was tooth #9… So yes, he’s 12 1/2 years old and still has all his baby molars. *lol* … It came out faster than it probably should have… About a week ago it was barely loose. But then he accidentally wiggled it too hard. He heard a cracking sound, and his tooth was painfully much looser. Then, when he lost it, he was wiggling it and accidentally pushed it out, when he meant to push it down. He said it hurt, and it was bleeding a bit. Poor guy! … But at least it’s out!

Our newest kitten, CeeCee is SUCH a baby! … You know how some babies like to be walked, and the moment you sit down, they start to cry, and you have to get up and walk until you feel like your feet and arms are going to fall off? … Well, we never had that issue with any of our kids, but CeeCee is Just. Like. That… Seriously! She always wants to be held by whoever is standing. As soon as you sit down, she’s off and running to find someone else who’s standing/walking around. It is so funny! She will perch herself up over the shoulder, and stay there… As long as said person is upright and moving.

When we’re not at the bowling alley, I’ve been continuing to work on my heritage blog. I am currently working on typing out my Mom’s story she wrote, that is pretty long. I think it’s already over 7000 words long, and I still have some more to type out… I’ve also been googling places she mentions and getting pictures to go with it. Those pictures will go into the heritage book I am making.

Speaking of heritage books, the other day I sent an Email out to all the family on the Andersen side, asking if people would be willing to write some short stories about current families… But so far, no one has replied. I have no idea if anyone is willing to do it or not. *sigh* … Maybe they are just waiting to get it typed out, and then they will Email me?!?! … But it sure would be nice if they sent something that said they would get back to me, or that they would rather not… Whatever…. It just would be nice to know one way or the other.

I’ve also been working on lesson plans… The school year is sneaking up on us fast! … I now have the entire years lessons done for Josh, Alicia, and Amanda. I still have to finish Jared’s. I am about half way done… Then, all I will have to do to get ready for school is to get their binders ready to go, and print out the lesson plans… Need to buy ink for that first though.

Well… I suppose I’ve bored you long enough! See ya on the flip side!

I can’t believe it’s August already! … This is our last month of summer vacation. … The summer just FLEW by, faster than they normally do. Probably because we were busier this summer, than we normally are. I will be so sad to see the summer turn into a wet, Oregon fall, filled with school work and rain. *lol*

I measured and weighed the kids yesterday. I try to do it a couple times a year, but it seems I haven’t done it since last December. Ooops! … But I also noticed that I had done it last August too, almost to the day. So it was fun to be able to see exactly what they’ve grown in the last year.

Jared is now 4 ‘ 10.5″ and weighs 70.4 lbs. In the last year he has gained 3.25 inches and 8.6 pounds.
Josh is now 4′ 9.5″ and weighs 82.8 lbs. In the last year he has gained 2.5 inches and 11.2 pounds.
Alicia is now 4′ 7″ and weighs 70 lbs. In the last year she has gained 3 inches and 12 pounds.
Amanda is now 3′ 10″ and weighs 38.8 lbs. In the last year she has gained 2 inches and 2.6 pounds.

Jared is now only 1 1/2 inches shorter than I am, and is LOVING the fact that he is almost as tall as I am. Of course, he also loves the fact that he is a full inch taller than Josh, for a change… But Josh wasn’t impressed with that. He wants to be taller than Jared. (At least he still outweighs Jared by a good 12 pounds! )

On Saturday, I planned on doing some work in the classroom. I was hoping to get some work done in there, and then asking Joe if we could hit Kmart in the evening… So I got a lazy start to my morning, and didn’t really start my morning chores until 10:30, figuring I had lots of time.

Not so much.

Joe calls me from work at 11 o’clock, saying that his sister had invited us over to their house for a BBQ at 2:00, and that after that we would be going bowling.

So much for my plans.

So I finished cleaning the kitchen, did my workout (45  minutes), and took a shower… At around 1:45 we left to go to the Mewings.

I was thinking that we would be eating at 2:00… But they wanted to watch some Brooks and Dunn special that they had recorded off TV. I usually eat lunch at 1:00, as my little bowl of instant oatmeal from breakfast is long gone by then. So I was pretty much starving when we got there, and Scott didn’t even start BBQing until 4 o’clock. *sigh* If I had known they were going to wait so long, I would have eaten lunch as soon as I was out of the shower.

By the time we got to the bowling alley, I pretty much just wanted to go home. I was tired, and my feet were complaining about the shoes. I was glad when it was time to come home. *lol*

We had to be up early on Sunday, so we could get to church on time. I’ve started getting the kids up at 7:30, instead of 8:00, and we’ve managed not to be late the last 3 weeks. Yay! *lol*

It was communion Sunday, and since we had already talked about the meaning behind communion, and Jared’s been born again since he was 5, Jared took his first communion. I was so proud! He is growing up to be such a wonderful young man, and it makes my heart happy that he’s made the decision to follow Christ. … After the service was over, we went up front and I took a couple pictures. They didn’t turn out the greatest, as both Jared and I felt weird doing it, but I am still glad that I got what I did. I needed a picture to commemorate the day.

After church, Joe took us to Pizza Hut, in Oregon City, for lunch. (Yum!) Then we went to Kmart, since we weren’t able to go on Saturday… I thought it was sweet that Joe would give up his Sunday afternoon, which is his only lazy day, so we could hit Kmart.

We needed to get the kids fall/winter clothes on layaway, and Alicia has been dying to go get her first training bra. *lol*

And boy, is she happy with those bras! … At first she went to look at the ones with the A cups, and I had to tell her that she is not ready for those yet. So I found her a 2-pack of simple, cotton training bras. I wasn’t to get another set, but it was the only one in her size, in every brand… Anyway, they sure make them a lot softer and more comfy looking than my first bra! … And thankfully, the set came with a white one and a pink one. She had really wanted a pink one! … We’ll have to look at Walmart this weekend and see if we can find her a couple more, since Kmart didn’t have anymore in stock.

By the time we got back to Molalla it was 3:30, but we didn’t have to be at the bowling alley (for the kids’ league) until 5 o’clock. Joe didn’t want to go all the way home (we live 7 miles outside of town), so we just stopped by the small park in town to kill some time. The girls played on the playground, and the boys tried to learn how to play with their hacky-sack… without much luck. *lol*

At around 4:30-ish we headed to the bowling alley… The league doesn’t start until 6:00, but we figured that the kids could bowl their two free games before the league started. Normally we get two lanes, but this time we had Alicia and the boys share one lane, just to drag things out a little. *lol*

By the time they were done with the league, Joe and I were more than ready to go home. *lol* … I was thankful that Joe works late on Mondays, and I knew I wouldn’t have to go anywhere!

As for Monday, besides doing some housework and laundry, I decided to get some work done in the classroom. I had finally bought some banker boxes, so I packed up last year’s work and put that in our closet. Then I got the new workbooks put away in the kids’ cubbies, and I also put all the 7th grade stuff on the shelf. I also got the 7th grade teacher binder ready to go.

All that’s left, to get ready for school, is to finish the lesson plans and get the kids’ binders done… I have ordered those from Walmart.com (as they never seem to have enough at Walmart when we go), so I will finish that as soon as they get here.

Joe ended up working late yesterday, and he was feeling too tired to drive, so he ended up crashing at his sister’s house, which is a LOT closer to his work than we are (he has about an hour commute, one way). I was teasing him about having a sleep-over with Gene, since his sister is spending the summer at the farm, working for the Toepfers. *lol* … Turns out that Joe didn’t get much sleep at all, and while he was glad that he didn’t have the extra driving, he would have gotten more sleep at home… So he’ll be home tonight.

Well… Guess that’s all… It’s been nice boring you, but I should run! … See ya on the flip side!