New Backyard Pool

Our old pool had a slow leak so we decided to get a new pool.  It was suppose to be 100 degrees yesterday and today I really wanted to get the pool out and filled so that the kids could play in the water.
So yesterday we went to Costco and got this really cool big pool.  It has two seats on each side and four cup holders (not that we really need them, but they work nice for holding goggles).

So yesterday Tony pumped up the pool and filled it with water.  The three older kids immediately got into their swimsuits and jumped into the cold water.  It is way too cold for me out of the hose, but the kids didn't seem to mind at all.
Allie wanted to get on her swimsuit but wanted nothing to do with the pool.  She just kept shaking her head no.  So we decided to pump up her little pool and see if she would go in there.  No such luck.  She didn't want anything to do with that pool either.

So Allie and I sat on the swing watching the kids play in the water.  Tony got out a chair and sat in the little shade that we had in the back yard.  Tony did get out the beach umbrella and set it up next to the pool so that they kids would have a little shade in the water.  Smart move.
After a while Tony and Allie got hot and went into the house to cool down. I decided to stay outside and put my feet into Allie's little pool.  I could tell that her top ring of the pool had a leak because it was slowing deflating.

I lasted about 20 or so minutes of putting my feet in the small pool while holding an umbrella to keep me shaded before I headed into the house.  It got to be 101 degrees yesterday.
After dinner however, I did get in my suit and sat in the big pool.  The water was warmer, but still really cool.  It felt oh so nice.  Megan got back on her suit and played in the water with me.  It was fun.  I love the water.

So today after a busy morning of going to my parents house, Megan said she wanted to go swimming this afternoon.  The boys had just gotten home from summer school and wanted to join in the fun too.
I changed all three kids (Allie is napping) and sprayed them really well with sunscreen and let them go wild.  And wild they did go.  They are so noisy back there.
Allie's pool water is super warm and the kids pretend that it's their hot tube.  The top ring is definitely deflated, but Megan doesn't seem to care.  We have all the pool toys out and the kids are having a wonderful time.
Megan also liked stacking the floaty rings and then throwing the diving rings in the middle.  She kept doing different things and then asked for me to take her picture.  I hope she always likes me to take her picture.

It is so much fun to see the kids having fun in our backyard and not just playing on the electronics.  I wish that they would fight less, but that is all part of being a sibling.  Conflict resolution skills.  They are so lucky to have each other to play with.  I love me kids so much and am so lucky to be their mama.

Grandma Camp/Cabin Fun

My mom decided to have a Grandma Camp this summer up at our cabin.  It was this last weekend and the boys had so much fun.  My mom did it for the grand kids who were six and older.  A couple of the older grand kids couldn't go, so my mom had four boys up at the cabin.
Sherri was her assistant and was instructed to "just spoil them".  My mom had the boys shoot a BB gun, taught them to use a bow and arrow, they rowed the little boat in the pond, and even built a bird house.

My parents picked up the boys Friday morning and took them up to the cabin.  The boys all spent the night and then we went up to the cabin Saturday afternoon to have a BBQ and to take our boys home.
The boys wanted to show us how they did the bow and arrows.  It was Josh's favorite activities of Grandma Camp.  Josh did impressively well at shooting a bow.  He hit the target most times that he tried.  Tyler did good too, but I think Josh had him beat.

Tony helped Megan shoot the arrow once and she got it super close to a bulls-eye.  It was pretty impressive.  Tony had a good time trying out the bow and arrows too.  It was pretty fun to watch them doing something new.

While the others were playing with the bow and arrows we went down to the pond to play.  Allie loved playing on the bridge and running around the pond.  She was totally freaking me out while she ran around the pond because some of the sections are tilted and I worried that she would misstep and fall into the pond.  Oh the worries of a mama.  She loved it, so that was very good.
Megan was going around the pond holding Gavin's hand.  She has learned that she can boss around kids that are littler then her and she loves it.  It was pretty cute to watch.

Allie's most favorite thing this trip was going for rides in Boyd and Julie's Rhino.  We had gone on a four-wheel ride before Julie had gotten there and she really liked that.  When Julie got there we went for a ride in the Rhino and Allie was hooked.

After our first ride we all got out and then Allie pointed towards the Rhino grunting.  It was pretty funny.  We went on two more rides before we went home that evening.  Allie loved it all.  We would go over a bump and get some air and Allie was giggling and so happy.  She just took in the air blowing threw her hair and it was adorable.  I hope she keeps up this adventurous side because I think that she's going to love roller coasters.

The boys finished up their bird houses while we were there.  We tried to leave the campers alone while it was still officially Grandma Camp.  But I did take some pictures of the boys building their bird houses.  They had some mad hammering skills.

Allie never misses an opportunity to swing.  She has figured out that it is pretty awesome.

Bend Vacation: Winnemucca

 The breakfast at the hotel in Klamath Falls wasn't very good so we decided to stop and eat at McDonald's before heading out of town.
After eating we went to fill up on gas and noticed that the tire pressure light was on.  We filled up the tire at the gas station where Tony noticed a screw in the tire.

Luckily their was a tire store in town and we were able to get the tire fixed before driving for 5 hours in the middle of no where.  It took about a half an hour and they had some yummy popcorn for us to enjoy.  We felt blessed that Tony noticed the screw and that kept us safe.

After our long drive through Oregon and Nevada we finally made it to Winnemucca and boy was it hot.  We were a little early to check into our hotel and we were all pretty hungry because their was literally no place for us to stop and get lunch on our long drive, so we went and got some food at a local diner.

The food was good and we all ate pretty good.  After we got checked into the hotel and went to check out their pool.  It was really hot so we all really wanted to go swimming.  The pool was perfect.  So we all changed into our swimsuits and went swimming.
The water felt so good.  I love going in a nice cool pool on a hot day.  Josh had one of his arm floaties break, so he was pretty bummed about not being about to play in the water as freely as he normally would.

Josh then decided he wanted to learn to swim.  So I tried to teach him.  I didn't really know the best way to teach him, but I tried.  He did pretty good to pick up on some things.  He still isn't swimming, but he is closer then before.
We then spent a little time in the hot tube before Margie and I decided to get out and dry off.  While we were doing that some more kids came to the pool and the boys had tons of fun playing games with them.

After swimming we all showered and then got into our jammies.  We then let the kids hang out in the room for a relaxing evening.  Tony and Margie took the girls and got us all some frozen yogurt.  It's kind of tradition for Tony and Margie to get frozen yogurt while we're on vacation.
After a good nights sleep (that was cut way too short because of my peeping phone), we had some breakfast and then checked out.
The drive home was pretty good for the most part.  Allie woke up from her nap crying uncontrollably until she threw up.  That seemed to make her feel better and she stopped crying.  Luckily we were about a half an hour from home.  Thankful to Margie for taking us on a super fun trip and I'm so glad we went.

Bend Vacation: Klamath Falls

After we checked into our hotel in Klamath Falls we checked out their pool.  It wasn't as cold as our last hotel, but not even close to being warm enough for us to swim in.  So we decided to go and get some dinner.
We found a yummy local BBQ joint named Red's.  It was pretty good food and we all had plenty to eat.  After dinner we decided to drive around and see the town.  Margie told us that Grandpa Steenblik came to Klamath Falls while she was dating Lloyd to build a LDS church.  So we decided to see if we could find it.
Tony looked up the address for the LDS church's and there were two.
I noticed that we were close to one of the streets from the car's GPS, so we went to that church first.  It looked like a church built in the 70's so we decided to see if we could find a plaque that said when it was built.  We didn't see any on the outside so I went inside the church and the bishop happened to be there.  I asked about the building and he said it was indeed built in the 70's.  The other church in town was built in the 40's.  So that was in fact the church that Grandpa Steenbilk built.  Pretty cool find in Klamath Falls.

Bend Vacation: Crater Lake - Part 2

Megan, Mama, and Allie at a different view point of the lake.  Lots of snow at this one.

Megan being brave posing for a picture.

Tyler, Megan, and Josh

Mama, Allie, Megan, Tyler, and Josh in front of Cater Lake.  It was sunny.

Allie insisted on sitting on the little rock wall towards the lake so Megan joined her.  Too cute.

Too pretty.

So pretty.

Another view of Wizard's Island.

Another different view point.  We weren't able to go down to the water, but we were able to see most of the view points from above.  One part was still closed because of the snow.

At our last view point Tyler really had to go potty, lucky for him they had a out house.

This last view point had a big view area for people to walk around.  The kids like climbing on the fence that was away from the cliff going towards the water.  No kids were in danger on this fence.

Josh wanted his picture taken with "just him" but I let Tyler sneak in the background.  After this we went to the Lodge and we all picked out souvenirs.  After we all had our gifts we said our Good-byes to Nate, Amy, and their kids.  They went back to Bend and we went on to Klamath Falls.

Bend Vacation: Crater Lake - Part 1

Their was a surprising amount of snow when we drove up to Crater Lake.  This is in the parking lot to go to a view point.

Grandma decided to write Megan's name in the snow.  I though that looked like fun so we all did joined the fun..except Tony.

Josh by his name in the snow.

Tyler by his name in the snow.

I wanted to make my mark too.  Michelle was here!

Our cute little family in front of the view point.  They didn't have a very secure railing system and I was wigging out a little bit.

A bunch of Steenblik's.

Mama and Allie enjoying the pretty views of the lake.

Pretty view of the lake.  It was perfectly still and beautiful.

I think they call this Wizard Island.

Another pretty view.

Tony looking so good by the edge.

Grandma being daring.