Another Busy Week

Last week began with blueberry picking. We went as a family and picked 28 pounds of blueberries. Bring on the blueberry pancakes, smoothies, cobbler, muffins, crepes...

On Wednesday we headed over the river and through the woods to Grandmother Susan's house in Sunriver.

On the first full day we went to our favorite place, East Lake. It is a great lake 45 minutes from Susan's house. It is a caldera (an exploded volcano that has filled with water and become a lake). The water is really warm (compared to other Cascade Lakes). It is usually great fishing although you can't eat the fish because of the high mercury in the fish. The weather was perfect and we were able to spend the entire day.

Before my mother freaks out that I let the girls go out in the raft be aware they are only in a foot of water and a few feet from shore.

Leo found this dragon fly. Little did we know until it was too late that he ended up bringing it back home in his shoe.

Little Miss has developed in the past two weeks an irrational fear of bugs. She will scream at the top of her lungs if a tiny little bug lands on her. We believe this fear is somehow attributed to thoughts provoked by her older siblings, but as of yet we have no definitive evidence through which to officially ground them. Of course any time she starts screaming bloody murder the two of them are laughing hysterically. Just wait you two she will get even. In the below shot I had noticed that a butterfly had landed on her back. I wanted to get a few shots before I told her because I wasn't sure how she would react.

It started climbing up her back on to her shoulder. After this shot I told her and she tried to remain calm, but all she really wanted was to get it off her shoulder. The entire day I would try to work with her regarding her fear of bugs. I thought we were making progress until I walked down the beach towards Ken and then I (and everyone within a one mile radius) could hear her screaming, "A bug. Get it off me!"

We have discovered that we are in a new phase of our lives in that our older two are capable of going full force, while our younger two need to stick to a more relaxed schedule. As a result we have found that often we will take the older ones on a separate activity. On this day Ken took the Midge and Leo hiking to Benham Falls. They also took Susan's beagle Kara.

When they got close to the water Kara must have been hot. She pulled Midge down the hill and jumped into the river. In the process Midge fell and skinned up her leg.

I love how close these two are to one another. They can fight like cats and dogs, but in the end they truly love one another.

The highlight of their trip was feeding the chipmunks. This was the first thing they told me about when they got home. They were so excited they would eat out of their hands.

Later that night once Little Miss and baby Huck had taken their naps we headed to Fall River Fish Hatchery. This is a place that Ken and I always went when we were first married before we had kids. We haven't been there since Leo was a baby. I was walking around with my four kids and I was able to reflect back on the past years and how much has changed. I remember being there when we were first married and thinking that one day we would share this place with our kids and now we had come full circle. Sometimes those moments catch me because I still feel like the same person inside and yet life has flown by and things around us are so different.

The kids had a blast feeding the fish. Little Miss thought it was great she could control all of these fish and dictate when and how much they could eat.

I know in just a short time baby Huck will be following this pack.

Anytime we are near water these three have to get in.

Later that night we promised them a treat at Goody's.

Midge took these shots from Grandma's breakfast window. The kids think it's great to eat breakfast next to the squirrels.

On the way home we stopped at Sahalie Falls to feed the chipmunks and see the falls.

Our kids love music and they love to dance. At Grandma's house they set up her three stepping stools in ascending height. Each of them used a stool as their personal stage. It was so funny to watch them. They really know how to let loose and dance.