Beach Days of Summer

It's not really that the beach is HOT here, but you still gotta keep a boy hydrated while he's watching the waves come rolling in.

Jordan came home from here summer travels and was dying to hit the beach. So for my birthday we took here.

She quickly realized the water here is FREEZING!!! However, she still enjoyed about an hours worth of playing in the waves.

We spent another day at Rialto Beach which is littered with huge pieces of driftwood. Makes for a great playground for imaginative minds!
It also makes some pretty amazing photo opportunities (click on this picture to make it bigger, enhances the picture so much more)

We found the perfect family size chair, sitting for 6! To bad Chad couldn't pick that up on his shoulder and take it home :)

How's this for trick photography? Footprints in the sand or are they sculptures of our feet? You decide.

Tori really did have a birthday

I promise she really did get to have a cake,

and presents

and grandma and grandpa being their normal silly self!

Just because this post is a month late doesn't mean her birthday party was. She celebrated on her special day!

Another school year has begun

School started yesterday! The girls were all a bit nervous, afterall with any luck this will be the last time they have to do the whole "new kid" thing. At least that is our plan for now.



Kordale was studious also while his sisters were gone. He wasn't to sure about being the only one home all day. Next year he will LOVE it I'm sure!

Random Madness!

There is are a few resident squirrels that live in the trees outside the house. They are named Shirley & Sylvester. Grandma Burt feeds them on a regular basis and when they are out of food they sit on the feeder and cry until they get more. I took the opportunity to catch Shirley at the feeder one morning.


Tori played soccer twice this summer. She is getting pretty good at kicking that ball around where she wants it to go and a superstar when it comes to out running everyone else.

Morgan took a try at playing also. This is a rare action shot of her actually chasing the ball, usually she would stand on the field twirling her hair or talking to someone while watching the ball go by!

We went to see the sand sculptures in Port Angeles. There are a number of artists that come in and participate in the competition each year. It's pretty fascinating how they can take a clump of sand and turn it into such creative art.

Chad went on a house call to check on a horse and we all decided to tag along. The kids had a blast riding this old coin operated horse and buggy.

Jordan goes to Alaska

Jordan was the lucky one this summer and went to Alaska where she visited with cousins and went to Girls Camp with them.

They got to stay in cabins with actual bunks! Things have changed since I went to girls camp and we slept in tents on the ground, after having built little moats around the tent to keep the water out.

She was fascinated with the vegetation there, especially all the wild mushrooms. I guess after having spent 6 weeks in the desert of Nevada any form of green would be fascinating.

Camp was at Ladasa. The lake was beautiful to look at but Jordan said it was FREEZING!!!

This was their campfire they sat around.

Upon returning back to Anchorage to Yvette's house they crammed in as much activity as possible in the last two days Jordan had there. They went to the zoo where Jordan was enthralled with seal lions,

caribou- the most interesting part of this was that they bleed from their antlers when they shed the velvet from them.

The only bears she got to see were luckily in the zoo!

Albino Alpaca,

and of course the polar bear.

A view across Cook Inlet

Mountain Goats in the wild

Portage Glacier, this is a view of all three glaciers.

She really liked the huge iceberg that was floating in the lake. It was SOOOOO blue!

Oh look she really was there. A picture with Smokey the Bear at the museum at Portage Glacier.

Jordan really did have a good time for the 2 whirlwind weeks she spent there. She came home telling me she and her Aunt Yvette had already planned for her return in 2 years. However, Tori said she's going next time also.

Thank you Grandpa & Grandma Harris for giving up your flight miles, letting Jordan stay with you and getting her off on her trip and to everyone else who contributed to the fund raiser that was held in Alaska to raise money for the girls to attend camp. It really was a trip Jordan will never forget!

A true boy

Where there is mud, he will find it
If his sisters leave their clothes laying around he will wear it
through the mud puddle while chewing on a stick

If there is water to get wet in he will be drawn to it

If there is a tree to climb he will attempt to be big enough to master it

Luckily, he has a sister who likes to do all that stuff too!

What to do in Forks?

When company comes to visit you need to get out and show them the sights. We started with the Twilight spots first of course, afterall isn't that why all tourist come to Forks?

A stop at Bella's house,

then to see if Dr. Cullen was at work (he wasn't, his parking spot was empty).

There was a quick jaunt through a small section of rain forest.

Three days of camping and singing around the camp fire.

Of course, if there is a campfire you must have some roasted (or in Tori's case burnt) marshmellows.

We spent an evening playing at the beach!

Some tried to capture the sun and store it up for the winter months when we will really want that sun to shine!

Chad showed us how to retrieve a buoy when the dog refused to swim across the river and get it.

All the kids had a good time floating down the river,

whether is was with just their life jackets or on a tube.

Fishing is also a good thing to try when in Forks.

Once again the method doesn't really matter,

but I will say Tori caught the most with just her bucket and quick hands!

You can even fish like true REDNECKS when in Forks, just like Chad and Eric did!