Tor's Dentist Appointment

Tor went to see the dentist Dr. Pond for the first time. It was just a check-up, and mostly meant to introduce him to the dentist, so it went pretty quick. He jumped right up in the chair when we arrived, and followed all of the directions from the dental assistant. Tor took it pretty seriously, opening REALLY wide, and he never said a word or showed any signs of being afraid or upset. Plus, his teeth looked good! He was very excited to receive a new toothbrush, and a token that he used to buy a bouncy ball.

Summer Swim Lessons

It's time for the second set of swim lessons at Briarcliff. Jillian is in the upper half of level 3 they are working on diving in the deep end, the elementary backstroke and the underwater "dolphin". She continues to swim like a fish. Bridget is in the upper half of level 2 (no floaties, EVER!) -- they are working on swimming across the deep end, floating on their backs and breathing to the side. She is making a huge improvement, especially in going underwater. Tor continues in level 1 (floaties all the time) they are working on paddling with arms and legs. He is still working on speed, since he likes to drift and just look around.

Kitty Sitters

Jillian and Bridget have been a good job of taking care of Anna Ashley while Grannie and Papa are in Europe with Ty and Brock. Jillian was shown how to feed the kitty, and she pretty much takes care of all of her meals each day. Bridget likes to hold Anna in her lap (as does Jillian). Most times Anna is well behaved, but sometimes she gets a little frisky and wants to "bite" and "scratch" (in her playful way - - she's probably stir crazy from being penned up for so long with her broken leg). The girls want nothing to do with that and will put her back in the cage. As for Tor, he'll give the kitty a few soft pets, but that's it.

Family Vacation 2016 - Days 10 & 11

The next two days were eagerly awaited by the kids -- our trip to the Silverwood Amusement Park! We met up with The Paul Family and Grandma Cindy at the entrance when the park opened at 11:00 am. Our first stops were the BIG rides on the far side of the park. We started off with easy with the log ride, and the kids enjoyed getting wet.

Jillian nearly attempted the Panic Plunge, but got off at the last minute. Next, we went on the huge wooden rollercoaster "Tremors", and Jillian rode with Daddy. It was very fast and very rough, with lots of scary drops. Daddy was scared, and Jillian was terrified ... she rode most of the way with her head tucked away in the car. That was pretty much the end of big rides for Jillian.

Later, we all went to Boulder Beach Water Park. Tor and Bridget spent nearly all of their time in Polliwog Park and the Lazy River, while Jillian tried all of the tube and slide rides with McKenna and Lindsey. This was followed by some time in the wave pools where we got knocked around a while. We finished the evening with some more amusement park rides. Mommy and Daddy rode another wooden rollercoaster "Timber Terror" and got scared and beat up even more, then ended with the Tilt-a-Whirl with the kids, which made us nauseous. We had some very tired and worn out kids after the first day.

On the second day, the kids tried some rides they hadn't seen yet. One of their favorites was the Tiny Toot Rollercoaster, which actually went pretty fast.

They also liked the Krazy Koaster and the Paratrooper. Tor did most of the rides, though he always had a very serious expression on his face, so it was hard to tell if he was scared. But when we asked what he thought of the ride, he always said "Great!"

A highlight for the kids was playing the carnival games and winning some prizes. Tor had seen a stuffed Batman, so we played the water shooter game for him (Jillian actually won, but let Tor have the prize). Bridget spun a wheel for either a stuffed animal or candy ... and luck was on her side - she got a blue stuffed bear that she called "Woody". Finally, Jillian threw bean bags at ballons and popped two of them, earning a sparkly stuffed owl.



Our final destination was the train ride / western show. The kids were both excited and scared when the bandits boarded the train and took people's money.

That night, we went back to our hotel in Spokane Valley. On Saturday morning, we took off for home. It was a long trip, but a lot of fun for everyone. The kids were very good little travellers.

Family Vacation 2016 - Day 9

We made the drive to Coeur d'Alene on Wednesday, to meet up with The Paul Family and Grandma Cindy in the afternoon. We arrived a little early, so the kids had some time to play on the incredibly large playground structure on the waterfront park, as well as play on a small, rocky beach.

At 5:00 pm, we met up on the dock to board our rented ski boat, equipped with an inflatable tube. Everyone (except Tor) took turns riding on the tube as we spun around the lake. The water was actually not too cold. Jillian enjoyed going fast and bouncing around, while Bridget probably spent the most time on the tube, wanting to ride at every opportunity with whoever would go with her. Mommy set the pace for falling off the tube (3 times). Tor wanted nothing to do with the tube; he insisted on staying on the boat.

Family Vacation 2016 - Day 8 (PM)

The second part of our day involved going to the Crazy Horse Monument. When Mommy and Daddy had seen it long ago, it was just a mountain with nothing carved into it. We could only remember the tall, white statue. Now, the face had been carved and they were working on the arm.


For a souvenir, we picked out a large, sparkly rock from the visitor center bin. After visiting, we made a long drive to Bozeman, Montana. Because we spent so much time sight-seeing, it was a race against the clock to get there by 11:00 pm.

They're Back!

 I just got these skateboards and Rielee and the girls were excited to practice.  They had just started in these pictures.  Rielee had the big skateboard and they had the little ones.  I'm not sure what kind of balancing pose Bridget is using.  By the end of the day and a couple falls, they got pretty good.

 They all wanted to cook so Rielee made a dump cake.  They all chopped up apples for half the cake and put blueberries on the other half.  It turned out very good.

 They roasted hot dogs outside on the new fire pit.

 Next they made smores with Papa supervising while I fixed the graham crackers with peanut butter on some.

 I found this Darth Vader costume at a garage sale and Tor was all over it.  He would push pretend buttons on the front and make Star Wars noises.  The light saber was a little scary as he swung it around.

When Rielee was here they make a volcano so after she left they made another one.  They had it erupt and said the dinosaurs were now extinct.  Busy day and tired kiddos.