first cheeto experience

we got to dad & mom's and the fun began. they had a bag of cheetos, and i knew jack would love them! a little too late did i realize i should have put his bib on, or taken his shirt off. he had so much fun with the cheeto. the best part...they dissolve quickly. my favorite moments are watching him discover something new. by the end of it, he was an orange and sticky mess!
-ash

favorite line of tonight...

"we own this country"

simply stated by clint eastwood

bear lake

we planned months ago to pick a weekend up at bear lake. before we knew it, it was time to pack. it is so different getting packed with a baby. before, i was able to pack to my hearts content and i would be done in an hour or so, and now...well, lets just say, it takes hours longer. it was a lot of fun to get ready, and to see a small pile of babyish things was the best. i was so excited to to take jack. i was a little nervous to go in the car with him for 3 hours, but miraculously, he slept the entire way. it was a great weekend and we look forward to planning a new one.
-jack waking up the second we pull into our campsite
-raspberry shakes each and every night
-pulling into the pizzaria 3 minutes after closing. i went inside to ask where a good place to eat would be...the woman laughed in my face and said "good luck, most places close at 9" and walked away leaving me there with my mouth open in shock
-setting our tent up in the "perfect spot"
-sprinklers at 2am hitting our tent every 5 seconds. paul finally got up and changed the direction of them to hit the restroom.
-dogs, dogs, dogs! (none of them were mute)
-jack did.not.sleep.well
-we walked up and down the beach to find the perfect beach for the kids. we woke up early on friday and set up our stuff to reserve. the day was perfect except for the wind. saturday morning, we did the same thing, and because there were more people there, some people set up their stuff literally right next to our canopy...right.next.to.it
-skipping rocks contest with money rocks
-chocolate covered raspberries
-paul rolled his ankle the night before we picked up the rented boat
-paul's ankle was a lot better so he was able to wakeboard and he had a blast
-the boat we rented said it was a 7 man, but if there were more than 3 people on it, he would be extremely bogged down
-paul had a nice sunburn on his forehead (red, white, red)
-the best tinfoil dinners each night with no dishes and cereal in the morning
-kelsie had a cold the whole time
-one of our neighbors was an extremely impatient dad
-saw a skunk. that night i had to go bathroom so bad, but i refused to be sprayed so i stayed in the tent
-jack LOVED the water
-so nice to get away
-conrad sang 'forever in blue jeans' by neil diamond
-phoebe would wake up every morning screaming (they don't know why). ransom would run her to the car so she didn't disrupt the neighbors
-saw our friends toby and trish there
-kelsie asked mom if she ever got tired because she (kelsie) got tired just listening to her
-paul rolled is ankle again (the same one) as he tripped down a little hill while holding and protecting jack
-no tv or email...so nice
-while i was being pulled on the tube, i remembered how young and wild i used to be. now i prayed to have dad stay straight and go slow. he went a little faster, and now my body feels like it had the time of it's life
-we have now unpacked and are ready for bed

-ash

wards lane

when i got home from work and a sign saying 'wards lane' was there. our good friend mark was doing some work up north and the city was doing some road construction and this sign was in the "throw away" pile. he was nice enough to think of us and he knew we would love it. right away, we were trying to decide what to paint on it. i looked over and over for a design of oakleaves, but nothing looked like us.
we had some time to find a design because we needed to take the old address off (which was a lot harder to do than i thought), and take off the other side that had the city emblem on it. that part was such a pain, so  i ended up painting over it. then one night it hit me...paint a flag on it. it took me a while to get the measurements on it and to make sure the lines would be straight. once that was done, the painting went a lot faster and it was done.
it felt so good to get a project done and out of the house. i love pulling into our driveway with our sign. thank you mark!
-ash

costco buddy

when we make our run to costco, jack loves to look around, but, most of all, loves to hold onto the cart and think he is pushing. we like to move the cart faster and slower to see him really grasp the handles. seriously...cannot get enough!

-ash

 

reading the paper with dad

jack is wanting anything and everything that we have in our hands. i love the look of concentration and determination as he tries to wrap his fingers around the object and then finally excitement when he has won! i must admit that we love watching him as he discovers textures and tastes.
when paul got out his cabela's magazine, jack looked it as though he was ready to devour it! paul took him, and handed him the pages he was finished with. jack let the magazine have it...when he was finished, paul couldn't find the section with the guns & ammo. you guessed it...jack got to it first and when he was finished it was unreadable!
-ash

splitting wood

this time of year seems to come around a lot quicker than any other. i can tell it's time when paul looks at the wood pile, is found wandering about it, i get onto the computer, and there are images and prices of log splitters (he dreams of owning one, but will just ace rent it for now ☺). before i know it, he is out reorganizing and getting ready to add to it. this year, dad came and helped, and we even had a visit from paul's mom. we were able to get a lot done in an afternoon. it's true what they say...many hands make light work!
-ash