Still Breathing!

I warned you about summer and my predictions were true. I haven’t updated in close to six weeks now. Sheesh!

We’ve been thoroughly enjoying our summer. The kids and I had a blast at Vacation Bible School. They are still singing all the songs they learned and counting down the days until next year.

Over the 4th of July my entire family came to visit. We even surprised my parents by flying in my older sister and her three kids in for the event (they were moving cross-country at the time and my folks thought she was coming a few days later) This is the first time in over 5 years that everyone had been together.

It was exciting catching up. We enjoyed the 4th of July parade in Buhl and a pie eating contest for both the kids and adults. Grandpa and Jack were our winners.

Unbeknownst to my poor younger sister, her kids had all been exposed to the Hand, Foot, and Mouth virus prior to making the trek to Idaho. They all broke in blisters on their feet and hands while here. That was ‘fun.’ By the time we all realized what they had everyone had been potentially exposed so the most we could do was become hand washing and house cleaning  tyrants. My poor dryer just about gave up the ghost trying to keep up with drying all the bedding. The kids were everywhere touch and walking on everything so everything had to been washed. I’m not much of a laundry enthusiast so it pretty much sucked. Thankfully, our efforts paid off and neither my nor my older sister’s kids caught it. Still it caused us to have to adjust some plans so we wouldn’t expose other just in case which was discouraging.

My older sister stuck around Idaho for a few days after the rest of the family left and the next week we loaded up all the kids into the van, kissed Kevin goodbye and drove to Washington to get her settled into their new home. We met her husband and father-in-law midway. They were driving and truck and trailer with all their worldly possessions including the cat and Guniea pig from Virginia to Washington.

We helped them move in and stuck around a few days visiting more with my folks. Lots and lots and lots of playing with the cousins with some blueberry picking thrown in. By that time the previous three weeks were starting to catch up with me so the kids and I headed back home with a new addition in tow…a Guniea Pig. Peppa, as she is called, was a belated birthday gift from my little sister to Emilie. So far she has not yet been loved to death, but more on that in another post.

We made it home to Idaho with no major hiccups. We even managed to stop in at the SAGE center in Boardman, OR. I recommend this to anyone driving I-84 through Oregon. It is totally worth the $5 admission fee. It’s all about agriculture and very hands-on. The kids loved it. We probably would have stayed longer, but the pig was in the car and we didn’t want to roast her.

I think, after two weeks home, were finally settling back into our routine. It takes me three days, at least, to recover from any trip and this one seems to have taken longer. The kids are busy swimming in the little easy-set pool in the back yard and playing games in the dirt. The garden is starting to really put out. I’ve already put up peas (which need picked again) and zucchini (relish & bread). Jack’s ‘pickle plants’ aka cucumbers, are producing. There are raspberries starting to come on. Even the beans, that took a hard hit from a now deceased ground hog (thank you dogs!), have made a come back and have blossoms. We may get green beans yet!

We’re hoping to get in a camping trip before the fair at the end of August and after that it is back to school. I’ve already started to slowly gather supplies as the sales pop up. It is amazing how fast the summer goes! There is really never a dull moment.