Let's be crafty, here

Found an idea in the Family Fun magazine this month...looked right up the boys' alley.

Collect pebbles and make clay and bake.

Easy. Fun. Entertaining.

We ventured to the river early this morning and walked along the shoreline and found many shapes, sizes, and colors of pebbles and stones.

Beautiful and pleasant morning. Stunning.

We came home and arranged the stones into Parker's homemade clay, baked, and voila! Instant stone plaques!

Fathers Day Weekend

We spend our Father's Day a day early, on Saturday.  Just because we are usually busy on Sunday's and we wanted Aaron to be able to just "relax" on Sunday.

We left about 8am, grabbed coffee and chocolate milk and drove a quick 2 minutes to the Bowl and Pitcher at Riverside State Park. 

Aaron and the boys have had "boy days" here before--hiking and exploring, but in all the years that I've lived here, I've never seen this part of our city.  It was pretty cool.  Lots of trails to hike, nooks to explore, and a breathtaking view, any which way you look.

Colton gathered hiking sticks for everyone and we set off on an unknown adventure.  We took trails that were marked and trails that deer and other wildlife had created for us.  We found an oooooold abandoned car that was rusted out and the kids explored inside of it.  We also saw a man-made shelter that someone had built, made of sticks and branches to keep the elements out.

Of course, Mr. Landscaper himself saw the basalt cliff and the shapes of the basalt on the side of the mountain are what they take out and carve into water features and decorative rocks in people yard---the hexagon shape.

After our hike, the boys had a t-ball game, followed by a church softball game that Aaron had, and immediately after the softball game, we drove to Avista Stadium for a baseball game.   The boys' school reserved a section so we sat with NWC students and parents and enjoyed $1 hot dogs, drinks, and ice cream sandwiches.

Good day.  Good day.

Dad and his boys, at the river

Thanks, Colton, for the hiking sticks!

What a cute kiddo.

The man-made shelter

The old abandoned car....we determined it was a VW Bug.

Hey!  Usually its the kids with the cheeseball grin!

Exploring and analyzing the shelter.

Here is the basalt rock.  See the shapes of the rock?  They take the rock out in sections and they come out as a column and they bore holes through the middle to make fountains.

Love me some ice cream!

YAY!  Gramma bought us souvenier bats!

It was almost as big as him!!  For only $1!

Mason, Parkers friend was sitting next to him :)

Beautiful night for a baseball game.  See that white shirt guy?  That's Aaron's dad!  They came too!!

When Mom is away...

On Saturday I left really early to help Mrs. B. at the brand new Northwest Christian Elementary --- lots of unpacking and organizing!

This is where the boys will hang their "quiet time" towels and put their lunches.  Backpacks will go in the hallway where they have their own lockers!

What a huge room!!!  A blessing!

The full kitchen for "Friday Cooking"

Let the unpacking and organizing BEGIN!!!

Aaron took the boys out for a morning donut and then drove over to Bowl and Pitcher to take the boys on a little nature hike. They threw rocks and pine cones into the raging river and then walked across a suspension bridge. Colton said, "I was scared the first time and had to hold dad's hand...but not the second time."
When they got home they helped Aaron work in the yard and got some spring cleanup done.

On the suspension bridge at Bowl and Pitcher

The water was MOVING!  WOW!!