Helper Kitties

Obviously kitties are good at helping around the house.  Skippy seems to be more affectionate, while Jellybean likes to cause trouble...and Skippy always joins in:

A Useful Wind

I (Sarah) don't take to the wind kindly but on occasion it has it's usefulness.  Caitin and Jamie had been asking for a kite and this is what we came home with.

Jamie was the first to try it and did really good.  She had a huge smile on her face as it danced through the sky.  This might have been the first real kite flying experience that she can remember. 

Of course, immediately after she saw Jamie having fun, Caitin reminded us that it was her turn.  She did equally well.  We had a really great time as a family. 

About Me

Last week I finally plunged in over my head into the Boy Scouts of America.  I have been associated with the organization for the better part of my life, but as a leader I have struggled a little more with the premise of being deeply involved.  One thing I've been bothered by is the image (because I am terribly superficial). 

I know a lot of great (and amazing) men who have been scout leaders and are still very normal people...but there are always the few who are what I have dubbed "Super-Scouters" because for them everything is "Super!"  I should never have generalized the rest of scout leaders and workers under that image, but I did.  The fact is, I've watched several of the leaders I know do so much good that I can no longer sit by and be weirded out by those few (and really it is a small minority).  I realized today that I have always wanted to be a great scout leader, but have let that negative image keep me out of it.  OK, hopping off the soap-box now.  Just had to get that all out. 

Here's part of what I mean:

This here is my first complete BSA uniform (socks included).  I know, I know...no neckerchief and woggle, but I've got that now too.  I spent 3 full and intense days in leadership training last week, and another 3 days are in my near future.  I enjoyed myself thoroughly, and learned a great deal.  That's the woodbadge training for anyone wondering. 

ALSO, another thing about me is that I haven't given up running, despite the pain and suffereng that the marathon caused me back in May.  I decided to throw in for this year's Spokane Labor Day Fun Run.  It was 3.1 miles (5K for you metricized folks), which turned out to be perfect. 

 I trained for an entire week for this event.  It paid off too! 

That's 2nd place in my age category!  My time was 20:56, which I believe is faster than I ever ran a 5K in high school.  (I have not yet verified that.)  By the way, I'm not just representing my high school in color...those shorts are authentic Buckaroo training gear!

Just a couple things about me.

Camp-cation (Part 2)

In preparation for camping at Priest Lake this year, we heard from several people that there are natural waterslides up the canyon above the lake.  The Park Ranger informed us that the hike to these waterslides is generally pretty easy, and that there are smaller slides for kids to play on only 1/4 mile in.  Perfect.  Our kids begin tiring right at that point on any hike.  With our friends in tow, we headed up the mountain. 

As we drove up the canyon I realized just how much I miss being able to view rock formations like that.  Having grown up surrounded by sandstone outcrops and vertical canyons, I find it strange to live where any "cliffs" around are difficult to find and rarely reach higher than about 50 feet.  Of course, I have no pictoral evidence of any of this.

OK, ok, enough of the reminiscent boredom.  Here are the pictures:

The stream cascades down this clean granite path, which was really fun to climb around and look into the different pools.  The water was very refreshing, but not too cold.  In fact, after getting in the first time, I really felt like dunking my head under...it felt that fresh.

The first of our group to brave the slide was our friend Katie.  After witnessing her successful run and splash into the pool, her husband Steve and I eventually ponied up.  Pay no attention to the apparent squeal of my voice...someone must have dubbed that over the real video.

I was not actually dressed for getting wet on this hike, but once we were there, Sarah used the greatest device she could muster:  "You have to do it for the blog!" she said.

For the blog.  Hmmmm...perhaps my priorities are slightly skewed.  My great-grandparents never would have understood the persuasion of such a foreign sentence.  And yet, I did it.

Camp-cation (Part 1)

Quick note:  I'm all about the miniseries lately.  This here is a 2-part series.

We like camping.  We are a camping family.  We hang out with camping families.  Does it even matter that most camping families really only camp once a year?  No.  No, it doesn't.

What really matters is that a camp of this caliber:

Can fit in a minivan...

...and that little girls get their hot cocoa, cookies and marshmallows for breakfast every morning.  Despite this perfect wake-up routine Jamie would whine, "I want to go home!" Every.  Morning.  We're still working on that little Jamie.

Most of the time though, she was all smiles.

One great thing this year was playing at the beach.  Priest Lake is known for its beautiful water and forests.  We really, really, really enjoyed the beach!  Fortunately our first full day we spent entirely on the beach, because the next day a wind storm moved in bringing large swells to the north end of the lake.  It was still fun with the swells, but not quite as serene. 

Guess what else is fun about camping?

The air mattress.  Like a trampoline, only better...cause Mom and Dad are up in arms, and have no way to bring calm.  The fortunate part is that this craziness only occurs the first night.  The beach was good to us.

Stay tuned for more action as we explore the Granite Waterslides!  Next time on, "Camp-cation"!