Oh, Summertime- it is such a study in contradiction: a time when perfect day after perfect day tempts you into apathy, the schlepping movement of the sun suggesting that time will never end and that mañana is yet a long ways off. At the same time, it is the moment for action- a time when this same slowing-down leaves windows of opportunity wide open and unguarded to all who would seize upon its ripeness.

As for our family- we do both. We definitely have our lazy days, punctuated frequently by bursts of action, usually on the weekends. It is a great time. 

This past weekend there have been two important moments of action- Lindsey's party and a family backpacking trip. We'll hit these first and then go onto some of the more laid back moments.

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In the last post, Rachel told about Lindsey's birthday and gave a brief update on how she is doing. This weekend, almost a month later, we finally celebrated with her third, and last party- the one with all her friends. We did it at our house and everyone had fun. Here are some pictures:

Of course Rachel had to make a cake. The theme was fairies. As always, I am impressed.

Lots of games, but the pinata was my favorite. The next picture shows why.

A very happy birthday to my sweet Lindsey.

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Next up is our family backpacking trip. This is Lindsey's first, and also the first time we have gone as an entire family. Everyone carried their own clothes and sleeping stuff; Rach and I carried food for the group. Everyone helped with camp set up/take down and with the cooking. There was very little complaining, and a great deal of laughter, exploration, imagination, and fun. They all did great.

Here we are about to start hiking. Jack decided to carry his sleeping bag in his hands so he would have room in his pack for other stuff. I was hesitant to allow this, but he never complained about it and was usually racing in the front of the pack far ahead of everyone else.

Ev was a great partner to Lindsey.

Snack stop at the creek 

We made it!

Another hiking pic

Maren's picture of her favorite place on the trail

Back to the car in good spirits

Every good backpacking trip needs to end with junk food. This has always been a rule for me, and it's not about to change.

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Besides the two activities listed above, we have also had a lot of good, lazily fun ventures. Here's a few more pictures of things we've been up to:

This is what happens when a 9 year old is the photographer on a bouncy boat

Of course we have been spending time at the lake- on the boat, at beaches, and on hikes around it. I love this place.

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The adults got some climbing time in while the kids held down the house

This is a lot of kids for just two families.

We had a quick visit from Jon (my cousin) and Liz and their kids.

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"Live after 5" has two locations this year- Here we are in post falls enjoying one of our favorite local bands.

The showing of "Spring Awakening." I don't think either of us were fully prepared beforehand for the gravity of this show.

Rach and I have gotten out on our own a little bit as well. 

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A bake sale was only one of the ways he saved up money for this purchase

And then there is this. It's a hampster. Jackson worked so hard to earn money, has demonstrated so much responsibility, and was so excited about this smelly little rodent that we couldn't say no. He lives on Jack's shelf and his name is Cosmo. That is all.

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Have a good week!

Thanks to phone apps, we can see the cool old man that I intend to be. Apparently, however, either my eyesight or my coordination will be faulty at this age, because I only shaved half of my face.

How is it that time can pass at such different speeds? Sometimes there is a lackadaisical feel to the lapsing of time and other moments slip through so quickly that in a blink they have passed. It seems that Summer prefers to take on the later approach. This can create the need to sneak back in time and reclaim the lost moments so they do not disappear. This is the case with our Hurricane Almond Family reunion a few weeks ago, and I will get to that at the end of this post, but first I must capture the essence of what it is to be five years old and full of wonder.  I think that our sweet Lindsey encapsulates this feeling perfectly. 

Lindsey's Birthday

July third was finally the day that Miss Lindsey could officially say she was five! She has been counting down to that day consistently for the past nine months! Any given day of the month I could know what time of year it was in relation to the distance to this girl's birthday, and I could give you a pretty accurate day count for the past six months. For the fifteen days preceding the big day, without fail she would wake up and announce how many days were left. I don't think I have ever met a girl so excited to be five! Guess what the first words out of her mouth were on July 4th? "Guess what! I am almost SIX!" Speaking of passing time, this girl needs to slow down and enjoy right were she is!

In previous posts we have mentioned that birthdays around here seem to last forever! This one is no exception.  Lindsey had a fun shared birthday party with the other late June/early July birthdays in the Almond family, then she had a grandma birthday party on the day of, and this week she had her official family birthday party. Also, wait for it, she will be having her first 'friend' birthday party this Saturday. Can I just say that Summer birthday parties are hard! We may be doing her friend birthday parties at the end of the school year for the sake of simplicity!

Lindsey does the five year old gig well! She has a charming personality and loves all of her BFF's at school, she is a social butterfly in any situation, and her smile can melt anyone's heart in a second flat! She loves it when her Dad comes home from work and she has a smile, cheer, and hug ready for him every day.  Lindsey will ask for a bath multiple times a day and her playing with bath toys and singing will continue for extended periods of time. Lindsey loves playing dress up and has been known to have a new outfit for every event of the day. She can dress up and accessorize with the best of them.

One thing that stands out about Lindsey is her memory and attention to detail. I am constantly amazed at the small details that she remembers about things we do together. It is not uncommon for her to start talking about a memory and then go into detail about what she was wearing for the event! I think if I blindfolded her she could recall the exact outfit everyone was wearing at that moment.  She is the first one to notice when I cut my hair, change my earrings, or have new shoes. We were walking around the boat dock today and she was examining all of the boats and issuing a running commentary on each.  As we walked she made friends with all of the boat owners and she would point out all of the similarities and differences that their boats had in comparison to ours, plus she added a few compliments about what she liked on theirs.  I enjoyed watching her walk down that dock like she owned it. She has an amazing confidence about her that I admire.  

Do you remember how she counted down to her next birthday? She did the same thing with planning our next adventure in boat camping. Let me just say that mid November is not the best time to be planning a weekend boat outing.  She could not comprehend the idea of waiting until Spring (whatever that means) to be able to go boating again.  Every day that had any kind of sunshine that was warm was a perfect day to mention and plan her next adventure. This paired with her avid interest in different kinds of boats makes me think she will probably own one in the future.



The time for boat camping has finally arrived sweet girl!

Lindsey's sweetness with a little pinch of sass will definitely get her places. I am excited to see where her dreams take her!

Continued Almond Reunion

Last week's post finished off with the official end of the Almond family reunion.  Logan had to fly home and the reunion was over. However, there were a few days in between the Almond reunion and the Hurricane reunion that we simply could not let pass without playing a bit.  Playing with the Almond family generally involves a boat, and if you throw a few tents in the mix and a group of crazy kids then you have a party!

Jack and Brandon made a marvelous boat captaining team

The beach group made good use of the kayak we rented for the occasion

During the reunion we all worked together to make renovations on the playhouse that my dad built 

step 1; go to the park step. 2; find the highest point on the playground. step 3: create an imaginary game. Nailed it.

Hurricane Reunion:

Rodeo

The first event of the reunion was a Stout Family Rodeo.  The Stouts are all of the relatives on my dad's side of the family and their numbers are formidable! We had enough people to overflow the local rodeo grounds and then some. As we lined up for the pony rides I had the distinct feeling that my kids and I were the city folk visiting the country. I must say that I had fun introducing my kids to this memorable and distinct part of my childhood. I also had a fun time trying new things at the rodeo. We watched barrel racing and pole bending demonstrations and participated in a relay race (milking a goat, roping a steer, running obstacles, balancing an egg on a spoon), a cowboy boot race, and the kids all took turns riding a scary looking animal hide being pulled by a tractor, and I can't leave out the kids chicken chases! Oh my, now that is entertaining. To give you an idea of the size of the family, the under five group had 32 participants and the 6-10 age group had more than 50.  

Obligatory city-kids-meet-the-country horse photos

Saturday

Saturday morning was spent at a family auction that was raising money to do renovations on the family gathering home. We discovered that professional homemade cookies (package of 5) and fresh shelled pecans (a family tradition) were the winners going at over $100 each. A piggy back ride by Uncle John was also a hot item... I guess you just had to be there.

The kids all had fun, organized group activities, while the adults visited and caught up with each others lives. It was a lovely day with a group of fun people.

water games are always a hit

We found a little cafe with a terrific balcony view

Showing off the view

My childhood

Walking around Hurricane brought back so many memories of my childhood. I loved sharing these with my kids!

Do not underestimate the joy that a well placed hallway mirror can bring! Oh the memories!

This tree!

Thank you for indulging me in this little blast from the past. We can continue now...

Logan's week:
Of course we all know that Logan isn't going to sit around all day moping while we are gone.  One morning he woke up and decided to go and do many of the most difficult climbs in Q'emlin park back-to-back, because, why not?  First thing in the morning he sent 8 climbs rated between 11a and 12c. Then he took himself out to breakfast because, why not?

A morning well spent

Have a good week! 

Home again and out on the lake in our boat. Love it!

What a week!

I don't even know where to start, and I don't think I will have time to give this week the write-up it deserves. Nevertheless, something is better than nothing, so here we go.

Rachel and I did our "anniversary trip" this week. It wasn't really our anniversary- that happened back in May. We do the trip when it works out best though, and this year it was the beginning of July that the stars of work, childcare, and recreational opportunities all fell into a nice even line. The previous week Rachel had been down in southern Utah for an extended reunion. Her mom drove back up with her, and for a full week Wendy took charge of our house and kids so that we could go and pretend for a little while that we were still in our 20s. And man, did we have fun.

The first day we stopped over at Vantage for a pretty night of camping and some great rock climbing. I was actually still a little bit high from my previous week's climbing accomplishments (see next week's post), and was able to carry that energy onto some pretty awesome routes with neat and unusual moves. "Vertical dancing," I think, is what Rachel called it. Good times.

From there, we went down to Seattle and met the host of the hostel where we would spend the next few days. We had a private room that was just big enough for a bed and a 2 foot walkway in front of it. And a window with a view. We don't need much.

As for activities, we planned to hit all the points that put Seattle on the map. Grunge rock- check. Coffee- check. Quirky landmarks- check. Techy stuff- yep, did that too.

Seattle really is a neat city. The University of Washington campus is beautiful with a lot of historic buildings. The campus gardens are even more beautiful and make for nice walks where it is easy to forget that you are in a downtown urban sprawl. Walking along the coast downtown is the opposite of this, where it is easy to get caught up in the frenzy of activity, people everywhere, smells of fish and cured meats permeating every corner. From there we go to a more tranquil beach where we can listen to the water lapping the shore, smell the salty air, feel the sand on our feet, and admire the lighthouse in the sunset. At nighttime there are endless opportunities to catch good live music while eating dinner, relishing the energy of the city- the intermixing of diverse cultures- the constant movement- the sounds- the smells- the feel of something so big that it- the city- is almost like a living organism itself- with us and everyone else being the cells within.

Unfortunately, my phone broke on this trip a few days later while rock climbing and all my pictures were lost. What we do have are the ones that we had sent to Wendy back home to show the kids. And so, as limited as they may be, here they are:

Starbucks reserve roastery.

At the top of the Seahawks stadium.

Top of the Space Needle

Look how dressed up we are! Actually, no. That picture is from Brandon's wedding last year. But I did superimpose it over The Crocodile because this was a fun highlight for me.

From the Seattle website: "Since 1991, music fans far and wide have recognized the Crocodile as Seattle's best live music venue. There is no other spot in the area with such a storied and beloved past, and no other rock and roll venue that has earned its right to occupy the hearts of so many. Incredible bands played within the walls of Belltown's much loved living room, including Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Cheap Trick, R.E.M., Mudhoney, and Yoko Ono."

The band we saw wasn't famous by any means, but it was really good and made for an enjoyable night out.

Here we are really "dressed up" in front of the Museum of Pop Culture. This was a neat place with cool interactive exhibits. My favorite were the jam rooms- soundproof rooms with a setup for a band where a person could play instruments and belt out music to their heart's content without anyone else being able to listen.

The guitar tornado inside the MoPOP.

More superimposed pictures- This is but one of the displays at the Chihuly Garden of glass sculptures. I have never experienced art like this before. Pretty neat.

We were in Seattle for a total of two and a half days. They were wonderful days and left us with an appetite for more. Maybe our kids will go to school there and we can have an excuse to visit more often (hint, hint).

From Seattle, we drove down to Olympia where we had tickets for Man of La Mancha. An unexpected surprise for us was when they changed the script a little from the original- placing a Deaf actress in the role of Dulcinea/Aldonza. Rach and I both thought the substitution was extremely effective and poignant, and we would both place this performance as the best show we have seen so far this year and probably in the top ten that we have ever watched. Not bad for a relatively small theater. Not bad at all.

After our brief stop in Olympia, we continued our drive South into the Portland area. The time spent here was split roughly in half between taking in the natural beauties of the Columbia River Gorge and the creative artistry on display at the Waterfront Blues Fest. There really isn't much more to say- stunning waterfalls and lush forests followed up by mesmerizing music at the largest blues gathering West of the Mississippi.

What an event- some of the biggest names in Blues, Soul, and Funk playing one right after the other in a giant three-day long concert. The atmosphere was positively electric.

Our seats, right in front of the stage. Blues, my favorite kind of music, is best appreciated when you can see the musicians up close working their magic.

The Blues Fest ended too early for us, but we had to be on our way to our next, and final stop. Smith Rock. This is one of the finest rock climbing destinations in the US- and when it comes to good sport climbing, has some of the best routes in the entire world. It is also a spellbinding landscape to take in- almost enchanted-like, with the slowly winding river below you and the towering cliffs of red basalt rising above.

We spent most of our time pursuing high quality cracks to climb since we don't have a lot of those close to where we live. And boy, did we get what we came for. Perfect dihedrals all over the place, textured walls, clean routes- I was in heaven. Besides these, there were some great sport routes that we did, following stunning lines up small knobs and pockets. The climbing here was definitely varied, and in the course of just a couple of days I found myself pulling out tricks that I hadn't used in a long time.

This was...interesting. This is also the only picture we have of the actual climbing (actually sliding through a tunnel in the rock on a descent) since my phone got erased.

We were smelly and our hands were raw as we loaded the car at the end- the trademark signs of a great trip. Also, of all the things we did, the moments in between are actually what provided some of the best times. The conversations. The getting lost together. The holding hands and secret smiles and sidelong glances. The laughter. The tears. The frustrations and small personal victories. All of this, compounded by fourteen years together, made this one of the best trips we have taken together.

Have a good week!