Thursday, August 11, 2005
It had to be done
So I did it. And now my phone sings one of the themes of "The Lord of the Rings" whenever anyone calls me. Heeheehee, I love it! Anyone wanna call me? Don't be offended if I take awhile before I answer. ;)
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
Preparing
Been Busy!
We're getting ready for our big trip. (11 days left - I can just hear those whales calling!) I keep thinking that we have lots of time left to do all the things we need to do... but that "lots of time" is dwindling QUICKLY!!!
For the last couple of days I have done little more than burn MP3s for myself and Acadia and then also burning extra copies of LOTR and some Hymns to keep in the car. Time Consuming!
Today I'm starting to recover from all that, getting dishes, laundry, and floors cleaned. Tomorrow will be a shopping day and soon we'll need to start gathering our camping equipment and actually start packing!
As soon as we get home from Canada, school starts. That is so crazy! Summer has FLOWN by!
We're getting ready for our big trip. (11 days left - I can just hear those whales calling!) I keep thinking that we have lots of time left to do all the things we need to do... but that "lots of time" is dwindling QUICKLY!!!
For the last couple of days I have done little more than burn MP3s for myself and Acadia and then also burning extra copies of LOTR and some Hymns to keep in the car. Time Consuming!
Today I'm starting to recover from all that, getting dishes, laundry, and floors cleaned. Tomorrow will be a shopping day and soon we'll need to start gathering our camping equipment and actually start packing!
As soon as we get home from Canada, school starts. That is so crazy! Summer has FLOWN by!
Monday, August 8, 2005
Shadowfax
Great News!
Last night as Ryan and I were reading The Two Towers, we came to the part where Gandalf calls Shadowfax to him. While in the movie, Shadowfax is a white horse, in the book he is descibed more as silver. I had forgotten that!
Do you know what that means??? ... My car is kind of silver...Shadowfax is kind of silver... I CAN name my car Shadowfax! (Though I would still like to have a Brego at some point. But I just don't see any car being called Brego - that will have to be a pet.)
This is a happy day for me! Excuse me while I go ride Shadowfax...
Last night as Ryan and I were reading The Two Towers, we came to the part where Gandalf calls Shadowfax to him. While in the movie, Shadowfax is a white horse, in the book he is descibed more as silver. I had forgotten that!
Do you know what that means??? ... My car is kind of silver...Shadowfax is kind of silver... I CAN name my car Shadowfax! (Though I would still like to have a Brego at some point. But I just don't see any car being called Brego - that will have to be a pet.)
This is a happy day for me! Excuse me while I go ride Shadowfax...
Sunday, August 7, 2005
TRAPPED
A few months ago Ryan saw a small mouse in the garage. He bought a special mouse trap, very humane, very simple, very Cinderellaesque. Yet after months of checking daily, we still had not caught our mouse! Occasionally Ryan saw it while working in the garage so we knew it was still "around". But he had also seen it run out to the yard so we guessed it's main residence was out there and only made random appearances inside.
This evening I asked Ryan to grab me something out of the outside freezer. While out there he exclaimed, "I got a mouse!" Upon closer inspection we realized we had NOT caught a mouse... We had caught a mole!
Also for the last few months, I have been cursing the moles who have been tearing up my backyard. (LOL! I laugh because if you've seen my backyard you'll know that we have done NOTHING to maintain it - it is not much more than some dead grass and mostly dead weeds. Now with occasional mounds of dirt and tunnels thanks to our new residents.)
But now that we've seen one up close - they are so cute! Really, it is little and cute! Cadi wants to keep it as a pet. lol... NO. But she has decided to name it. I asked how she knows if it is a boy or a girl. She says its a girl - she knows because it is her pet. I remind her WE ARE NOT KEEPING THE MOLE! She says, "I know. But it is still my pet."
Oh and by the way, "her" name is Ashley. To which Ryan responds, "And I will call him Bob." Rye and Cadi are now arguing over who's mole it is, who caught it, and who has the naming rights. (For the record, Acadia was actively involved in helping with the trap, putting food in the trap, and checking the trap... she does have a valid case.)
The plan: Take it out to the marsh in the park behind our house. We still don't want moles in our backyard (or front yard!) but we aren't going to kill it either. We will probably take a picture before it's release... stay tuned. (Yes I know you are all sitting on the edge of your computer chairs just waiting for a picture of our homeless "pet" mole.)
This evening I asked Ryan to grab me something out of the outside freezer. While out there he exclaimed, "I got a mouse!" Upon closer inspection we realized we had NOT caught a mouse... We had caught a mole!
Also for the last few months, I have been cursing the moles who have been tearing up my backyard. (LOL! I laugh because if you've seen my backyard you'll know that we have done NOTHING to maintain it - it is not much more than some dead grass and mostly dead weeds. Now with occasional mounds of dirt and tunnels thanks to our new residents.)
But now that we've seen one up close - they are so cute! Really, it is little and cute! Cadi wants to keep it as a pet. lol... NO. But she has decided to name it. I asked how she knows if it is a boy or a girl. She says its a girl - she knows because it is her pet. I remind her WE ARE NOT KEEPING THE MOLE! She says, "I know. But it is still my pet."
Oh and by the way, "her" name is Ashley. To which Ryan responds, "And I will call him Bob." Rye and Cadi are now arguing over who's mole it is, who caught it, and who has the naming rights. (For the record, Acadia was actively involved in helping with the trap, putting food in the trap, and checking the trap... she does have a valid case.)
The plan: Take it out to the marsh in the park behind our house. We still don't want moles in our backyard (or front yard!) but we aren't going to kill it either. We will probably take a picture before it's release... stay tuned. (Yes I know you are all sitting on the edge of your computer chairs just waiting for a picture of our homeless "pet" mole.)
Friday, August 5, 2005
Dog Days of Summer
This evening the neighbor's dog dug under the fence (again!) and came into our yard. This wouldn't be so bad... EXECPT the dumb thing gets over here then starts barking like mad at my dog and daughter! As if they have come into his space and bothered him! When we go to get him to take back home, he gets freaky scared and won't let us near him. DUMB DOG!!! After having done this several times, you would think he would figure out that he doesn't like coming to our yard. Yeah, YOU WOULD THINK!!! But this is a DUMB DOG and he DOESN't THINK!!!
Moving on... It has been HOT this week! Fortunately we have had things to keep us busy and our minds off of it.
Yesterday Acadia had her second horse riding lesson. This week she got to ride Beauty. And Beauty certainly was a beauty. She was another great horse to ride and learn on. Cadi is doing well. Here is a picture of her with this week's horse...
Today I went with some of the YW leaders to Girl's Camp. I was so glad to see my girls and even more glad that when they saw me they ran up to me to give me a hug! Awww!
They are having A BLAST!!! And I am so happy for them! I'm especially happy to see my less-active girl, A. having such a great time and making even more friends! That is all I could ask for and I'm thrilled to see it! Here are a couple of pictures of my girls...
Isn't it pretty there? And did you see, they got a nice lake to swim, canoe, or go tubing on. Plus there's a waterfall where they could swim and also go repelling.
Bishop talked to the girls while we were there. He talked about some of the characteristics of sunflowers and how they always follow the sun. He related it to us, how we should aways follow the Son and that we will receive light, nourishment, and direction if we do. Then we all got a melted chocolate candy bar, S'mores. He wants us all to want "smore" of the Son's light in our lives. Cute. I brought mine home to stick in the freezer. Some of the girls ate theirs, they say it was really good. lol
Here some of the girls were teaching the others how to play a cute/fun hand and cup game. I can't remember what its called but I remembered it from when I was at Girl's Camp years ago. It was fun to jump right in and do it with them.
And here is our gang! There are two girls that had to leave yesterday for a family reunion. Bishop is our Captain (the theme was nautical). Do they look like they're having fun?
Moving on... It has been HOT this week! Fortunately we have had things to keep us busy and our minds off of it.
Yesterday Acadia had her second horse riding lesson. This week she got to ride Beauty. And Beauty certainly was a beauty. She was another great horse to ride and learn on. Cadi is doing well. Here is a picture of her with this week's horse...
Today I went with some of the YW leaders to Girl's Camp. I was so glad to see my girls and even more glad that when they saw me they ran up to me to give me a hug! Awww!
They are having A BLAST!!! And I am so happy for them! I'm especially happy to see my less-active girl, A. having such a great time and making even more friends! That is all I could ask for and I'm thrilled to see it! Here are a couple of pictures of my girls...
Isn't it pretty there? And did you see, they got a nice lake to swim, canoe, or go tubing on. Plus there's a waterfall where they could swim and also go repelling.
Bishop talked to the girls while we were there. He talked about some of the characteristics of sunflowers and how they always follow the sun. He related it to us, how we should aways follow the Son and that we will receive light, nourishment, and direction if we do. Then we all got a melted chocolate candy bar, S'mores. He wants us all to want "smore" of the Son's light in our lives. Cute. I brought mine home to stick in the freezer. Some of the girls ate theirs, they say it was really good. lol
Here some of the girls were teaching the others how to play a cute/fun hand and cup game. I can't remember what its called but I remembered it from when I was at Girl's Camp years ago. It was fun to jump right in and do it with them.
And here is our gang! There are two girls that had to leave yesterday for a family reunion. Bishop is our Captain (the theme was nautical). Do they look like they're having fun?
Thursday, August 4, 2005
Water Baby
Today was Acadia's final swimming lesson of the summer. I took some pictures and feel like sharing...
Bobbing
Free-style. We need work on this one. Acadia is more comfortable with putting her face in the water than she used to be, but still has a ways to go. She has a hard time keeping her face in the water while she swims. And instead of turning to the side, she lifts her head straight out of the water - which of course makes her feet sink and keeps her from swimming properly. However, even doing this is a huge improvement this year! Before lessons started in June, she wouldn't put her face in the water and couldn't float at all!
Back stroke. Here she is much better! She likes floating on her back, glide kicking on her back, and here she is practicing the back stroke. (Even though you can't see her arms moving much in this picture.) She swam on her back all the way to the other side of the pool!
Here they learn how to dive. When it was time to do the actual dive, the teacher held them and dove along side them. Hard to explain, but it worked and it really helped the kids.
Reward - going down the slide into the deep end! Acadia wanted the teacher to catch her, but the teacher knew Cadi could do it alone. Acadia went down and then swam (doggie paddled) to the edge all by herself!
Way to go, Cadi!
Bobbing
Free-style. We need work on this one. Acadia is more comfortable with putting her face in the water than she used to be, but still has a ways to go. She has a hard time keeping her face in the water while she swims. And instead of turning to the side, she lifts her head straight out of the water - which of course makes her feet sink and keeps her from swimming properly. However, even doing this is a huge improvement this year! Before lessons started in June, she wouldn't put her face in the water and couldn't float at all!
Back stroke. Here she is much better! She likes floating on her back, glide kicking on her back, and here she is practicing the back stroke. (Even though you can't see her arms moving much in this picture.) She swam on her back all the way to the other side of the pool!
Here they learn how to dive. When it was time to do the actual dive, the teacher held them and dove along side them. Hard to explain, but it worked and it really helped the kids.
Reward - going down the slide into the deep end! Acadia wanted the teacher to catch her, but the teacher knew Cadi could do it alone. Acadia went down and then swam (doggie paddled) to the edge all by herself!
Way to go, Cadi!
Beaches
Yesterday it was HOT here! Okay, well to some of you I suppose it wouldn't have seemed hot, but to us it was. It was our 9th day this year at 90 or above. We average about 11 or 12 days at 90 or higher each year. Yesterday it was in the mid 90's. (Today is even hotter - 98!!! But then tomorrow we cool down and this weekend should be back in the 80s.)
So, to "beat the heat" we headed to the coast. We decided to try a new beach this time, so we went to Lincoln City. If we were looking for cooler temps - we found the place! It was breezy and much cooler on the beach - almost cold! Ryan and I threw a football around which got us warm enough to actually wear our bathing suits. Cadi didn't wait to feel warmer, she just ran to start playing in the little creek on the beach and stayed there until it was time to eat dinner.
Here are some pictures...
Doesn't Ryan look great with his Princess towel?
No comment...
It got cold once we stopped moving and sat down to eat. I tried to put my dress on without taking off my hat and sunglasses, uh...it didn't work.
While we were eating, there was a seagull nearby. Cadi tossed a piece of bread to it... all of a sudden we were surrounded by sea gulls. At one point, we counted 18! We didn't keep feeding them, but one got really gutsy while eyeballing my sandwich. He eventually came up on my mat and grabbed a piece out of my hand! Look, you can see the sandwich in his mouth!
We hung out for awhile after eating, even though it was chilly.
Ryan spotted this little guy. We wonder how he survived with all those vultur - I mean sea gulls around!
Finally we had enough and left! But it was still early evening. So after grabbing some ice cream (of course - can you possibly NOT go to the beach without getting any???) we decided to take the "scenic route" up Highway 101 on the way back home. While we drove, I kept my eye out for the possible location for that Secret Beach I've been wanting to go back to for 14 years. I have seen a couple possibilities, but we didn't have time to explore them to find out for sure. Another day, maybe.
Instead, we happened upon Arcadia Beach! Yes, it is not Acadia, but close enough! We saw it was a quiet, calm beach so we stopped for the sunset and a few rounds of wuffle ball and frisbee. There was no wind which made it even nicer!
Pretty huh? Well, we thought so! Well, all but one of us. I guess someone felt it wasn't worth getting woken up for. Can you guess which one?
After she woke up, even Cadi loved it. And we've decided that our next beach trip will be here to see what it's like during they day.
As I mentioned, today its even hotter! But with swimming lessons this morning and horse riding tonight, we don't have time to run to the coast. We've closed up the house and its been nice inside so far. *keeps fingers crossed* Most likely, we'll end up in the wading pool this afternoon with a few popsicles in hand.
To view all of the beach pictures, click here.
So, to "beat the heat" we headed to the coast. We decided to try a new beach this time, so we went to Lincoln City. If we were looking for cooler temps - we found the place! It was breezy and much cooler on the beach - almost cold! Ryan and I threw a football around which got us warm enough to actually wear our bathing suits. Cadi didn't wait to feel warmer, she just ran to start playing in the little creek on the beach and stayed there until it was time to eat dinner.
Here are some pictures...
Doesn't Ryan look great with his Princess towel?
No comment...
It got cold once we stopped moving and sat down to eat. I tried to put my dress on without taking off my hat and sunglasses, uh...it didn't work.
While we were eating, there was a seagull nearby. Cadi tossed a piece of bread to it... all of a sudden we were surrounded by sea gulls. At one point, we counted 18! We didn't keep feeding them, but one got really gutsy while eyeballing my sandwich. He eventually came up on my mat and grabbed a piece out of my hand! Look, you can see the sandwich in his mouth!
We hung out for awhile after eating, even though it was chilly.
Ryan spotted this little guy. We wonder how he survived with all those vultur - I mean sea gulls around!
Finally we had enough and left! But it was still early evening. So after grabbing some ice cream (of course - can you possibly NOT go to the beach without getting any???) we decided to take the "scenic route" up Highway 101 on the way back home. While we drove, I kept my eye out for the possible location for that Secret Beach I've been wanting to go back to for 14 years. I have seen a couple possibilities, but we didn't have time to explore them to find out for sure. Another day, maybe.
Instead, we happened upon Arcadia Beach! Yes, it is not Acadia, but close enough! We saw it was a quiet, calm beach so we stopped for the sunset and a few rounds of wuffle ball and frisbee. There was no wind which made it even nicer!
Pretty huh? Well, we thought so! Well, all but one of us. I guess someone felt it wasn't worth getting woken up for. Can you guess which one?
After she woke up, even Cadi loved it. And we've decided that our next beach trip will be here to see what it's like during they day.
As I mentioned, today its even hotter! But with swimming lessons this morning and horse riding tonight, we don't have time to run to the coast. We've closed up the house and its been nice inside so far. *keeps fingers crossed* Most likely, we'll end up in the wading pool this afternoon with a few popsicles in hand.
To view all of the beach pictures, click here.
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