The Last Summer Hurrahs

"More fun!  We must squeeze in more fun!"  This was our motto as we waved goodbye to summer during the last week of August.  On one of these days, we met the cousins in Post Falls for one last outdoor swim.  Angela was just beginning her week of vacation, and Jen and I were present in person, but our brains were already moving toward school.  Ahhh, those August days!  Cling to them!

 Little Lauren

 Henry didn't want to miss out on the fun either...here they all are in the sand.

 Gracie using our very official recycled sand scoopers.

 Joshua and his Nemo water gun.

And the Janers--probably her last picture taken before she became a Kindergartner!

Harvest Days

So harvest started on an August Monday, and we stayed at the farm for the entire week.  This year we had lots of help:  Cousin Sam hadn't left for college in Texas yet, and Cousin Levi didn't start CHS football until the following week, so that meant SIX lunches every day:  Dad, Ben, Jerry, Jeff, Sam, and Levi.

And of course this year, we had to make it fun (and confusing for me and mom, lunch-makers extraordinaire) by creating theme names each day for the lunch coolers.  The first day's theme was Top Gun, so Dad and Ben and Jerry and the gang became Striker, Maverick, Hollywood and the rest.  Seinfeld names were quite a hit, but we stumped the younger crowd with Cheers and M*A*S*H characters.  How can you grow up not knowing who Klinger is?  Or Cliff Clavin?  Unbelievable!  Star Wars helped us go out with a bang.

They were having a pole building put up when we were there--too much machinery was spending the winter months outdoors.  Each night we had to go check out the builders' work.

On Monday, we went to visit G'ma Trudy and Papa LeRoy--we picked cucumbers and filled G'ma's bird-feeders.

G'ma Joan found this backpack for Joshy--$1!  He LOVES his new Buzz Lightyear backpack!

On Tues/Wed/Thurs, Brookie came up to watch the kids when they needed me to drive truck.  I wasn't needed ALL of that time, so we had fun taking the kids into Genesee, to see where "Mommy" went to school.  (And yes, Gracie is wearing MASCARA in this picture!  Darn those teenage cousins!)

The Genesee School looks a lot different than when I was there!  It looks so nice with the new renovations it's had...but I still remember the stairs that used to be at this front entrance!  We lined up on them after recess each day...

The kids LOVED time with Brookie.  She was a pro--she had them making cookies, drinking their milk, down for naps efficiently...  I told her that I noticed she was so comfortable with kids and she replied, "That's my life, Ellie."  :)  Cousins are MUCH easier to watch than sisters, I'd bet...

The kids were very excited to ride in the combine with Daddy.

Ben's driving the big combine...we were finishing up the fall wheat.

 Jerry and Sam

 Levi and Sam...truck driver extraordinaires!

 And the party in the unfinished machinery shed after the fall wheat was finished!

Sweet Millie posing with her cousins.  5 months old...

The Bald Butte Swim Party--Year 2

Papa LeRoy and G'ma Trudy bought the Bald Butte Swim Party Package at the school auction again this year!  Lucky us!  This year it just happened to fall the day before Dad and Ben were going to harvest.

We couldn't pull these kids out of the water!  G'ma and Papa joined the fun--and even Papa Greg and G'ma Joan got in the water!

They feed us a delicious dinner...  ...don't we all look so summer-like:  all dried out with our mouths full of food?

This was all new for Millie this year--she participated with wide eyes for MOST of the day.

Love this picture!  Brookie helping Josh...

And seriously, is there anything cuter than kids wearing goggles?

G'ma and Papa with the Weber/Moser great-grandkids

Cousins!  Brooke (almost 16), Abby (8) and Megan (almost 7) Morrow...Gracie (4) and Josh (2) Lochhead...and Millie (5 months) Moser

G'ma Joan wanted the March birthday buddies in a picture...for the calendar!  Gracie and Megan felt a bit left out, so they took their own picture:

"Fishy, Fishy, in the Brook..."

Every August we wait for "The Harvest Call," announcing that we're needed to help bring in the wheat.  This year Papa Greg told us that we'd start on Monday, so we decided to come two days early so we could take G'ma Trudy and Papa LeRoy fishing!  They've been leaving their boat in the driveway this summer, waiting for someone to invite themselves to go with them!  We didn't have to hear this twice...

So on Saturday, Gracie got to wake up early with Jeff and I, and ride with G'ma and Papa to Dworshak Reservoir, near Orofino, ID.  We thought the day would be too long and hot for Joshua, so he got to have a G'ma Joan day all to himself!

The fishing was on the slow side, but we weren't complaining.  After all, isn't it known that a "bad" day fishing is better than a "good" day doing anything else?

Grace was quite excited about the fish that we did catch.  She didn't reel this one in, but inspected him closely on the boat and then in the bucket.

It was  a sweaty day.  Gracie thought a dip in the lake would be a great way to wash all of her sweat away.

She could have done this for hours, if Daddy's back would allow it.

Gracie practiced reeling in SEVERAL times during the day so that she'd be ready...

Finally we gave up on the fishing and headed to the floating dock that they have for SWIMMING.  Jeff couldn't help himself--he couldn't go to the lake and NOT jump in.  Seemed sacrilegious or something.  So the two FISH jumped in...and then even I got in.  SO refreshing!!!

It was such a fun day--filled with fish (dreams), summer sausage sandwiches, gorgeous views, sighting osprey, singing fishy songs from my childhood, and reliving all sorts of memories that we had made at this fairytale place while I was growing up.