Toutle, Birthday, Toutle, Fun

On Wednesday, very hot day, they started upstream and met Aunt, Uncle, Ava, Rielee, and Harper there. They floated around on tubes for awhile and then moved down to the lower rapids.

There it was more of a challenge for the others as it was their first time at this spot and there were a few turnovers. Here Rielee and Harper had a pretty good ride.

Then after separating for lunch, they went up to Aunt's for Ava and Harper's early 11th birthday party. They played many water games. Here they are dipping a sponge and trying to beat the other team to fill up their container. This is a competitive bunch.

Next they had to pass cups of water overhead to fill up their container. Getting wet but not minding that.

Next a game of toss the water balloon without it breaking.

One that didn't involve water was finding the gummy bears in whip cream. Tor declined on this one as he doesn't like whip cream.

After a big water fight with 100 water balloons they gathered for the birthday party. Everything was so fun and they were thrilled to see the twins after being apart for so long.

Thursday it was up to the Toutle river again for lots of fun in the water! Then after lunch Ava and Harper came down to play. It was about 95 degrees but they played outside the whole time they were there. Here they are decorating water balloons.

Later they relaxed in the gazebo and had snacks. They play so well together and they can't wait to get together again.

River Tubing

Scorcher day, so they were all prepared to go to the Toutle river with their new tube to ride on. There is a short stretch of rapids right below where it's calm where we set up. Somehow they convinced Tor to go first. I guess to see how safe it was. He did fine without falling off and found an easy way to walk back to our spot. Jillian went next and then Bridget.

 Soon they decided to go in pairs which was also a lot of fun!

 Here is Bridget and Jillian in the middle of the rapids. It's pretty shallow all the way so they said they hit their bottoms occasionally. They did not want to quit after almost two hours of continuous rides down the rapids.

 Earlier in the day, Robin came by and had them see the peacock that has been in their yard for a couple of days. They named it "Pete" peacock. Jillian got this picture of it. No clue who it belongs to.

Brock & Kaleigh's Wedding

It was a beautiful wedding and a fun reception, and afterwards, the kids kept talking about how much they enjoyed it.

Jillian and Bridget (Junior Bridesmaids) walked the aisle together, and later, Tor (Ringbearer) walked in with the ring. The kids took their roles very seriously.

The girls made friends with two other junior bridesmaids their age, and spent most of the evening running around with them.

Rehearsal in La Grande

We arrived in La Grande on Friday so the kids could join Kaleigh & Brock's wedding rehearsal at The White Barn. They practiced their parts, then we had dinner with everyone.

After a long night (Tor didn't sleep that well), we explored La Grande and found the Riverside Park. The kids loved the playground, then went to the river to skip and throw rocks.

The New Front Yard

It's finally done! The lawn was ready for activity, and it was beautiful weather, so we all hung out in the front yard this evening.

Jillian and Mommy played volleyball, Tor and Daddy played football, while Bridget was reading her book.

Neighbor Girls Pet & Plant Sitting

Jillian and Bridget teamed up with neighbors Hazel and Ila to create their new business: Neighbor Girls Pet & Plant Sitting. They made flyers and distributed them around the neighborhood. Today, they got their first customer. Bridget walked the dog Baxter for 30 minutes, earning them $5.

Volleyball & Basketball

Tierney started a VB lesson with Jillian, having Tor and Bridget shag. Pretty soon I saw Ty and Deb come to join the fun so they played 3 on 3 with Bridget keeping score. They did make Jillian do all the setting and serving for her team so she got lots of good practice in. Then later all 3 got to have their basketball camp with Brock. Brock says he sees a lot of improvement in their skills.

 They were pretty worn out then, so did crafts for awhile. Bridget made this cute turtle out of wood circles and painted it. Tor and Jillian decorated some t-shirts.

 There was a short shower after dinner so they got creative outside. Bridget and Tor made canopies for a bed under the eaves. Then Jillian acted as an emcee to give a weather report and involve them in some guessing games. Very creative.

 I had to include this pretty flower that Jillian took a picture of.

Adam's 16th B-day Party

We celebrated Adam with a football game in his front yard. He was joined by his high school friend Moose (and his younger cousin). It was a tough-fought game.

Afterwards, they rested in the backyard with cake and ice cream, and ladder ball.

The Little Red Rock

Out of nowhere, a little red rock showed up in the bathroom (right after Tor had taken a bath). It giggled a little when Daddy picked it up and carried it out, then threw it on the sofa. Shortly after, the rock disappeared.

4th of July

We spent our Independence Day at Hal and Grandma Cindy's place. The girls baked and decorated cupcakes to bring with (and Tor photo-bombed the pic):

Before the fireworks, there were some fun games to play, including "Monkey Toes" (grabbing marbles in a kiddie pool with your toes). Jillian dominated and won first prize with her long Piercy toes.

Before dark, Grandma Cindy pulled out bags of kid-friendly fireworks. They enjoyed using punks to light them themselves. When it came to the snakes, they made a huge pile of them and lit them up.

Hal had some awesome fireworks for the show, including a 180-shot one that took only 24 seconds ... but it was impressive! By the end of the night, we had some tired kids.

Dogs Spoiled

They had basketball camp again with Brock and then played outside until almost dark yesterday. This morning it was rainy so they gave Mocha and Sophie lots of love and attention. The dogs were thrilled with all the attention. Meanwhile Anna (the cat) was taking her nap so Bridget was reading. 

 Later Mocha got all dressed up from Tor while Sophie was trying to get Tor's attention.

 Then both Jillian and Bridget decided to do some crafts which they hadn't done in such a long time. Jillian dyed some white material and made a small pillow. Bridget worked on a key chain.