Becoming Habit

The Best Part

First Test Drive

This past Saturday we took JL's new toy out for our first family boat ride. It was GREAT! The kids absolutely had a blast! And to my surprise, I did too! James enjoyed squirting anything and everything with his squirt-gun and Isabel loved sitting in the nose and letting the wind blow her hair around.





We invited Dario and his family out to share our adventure. James thinks Dario is his 2nd Dad, and we knew his kids would help ours realize the fun boating has to offer in ways JL and I couldn't. And it totally worked out that way. We boated around for about 5 hrs! I don't think we could have lasted that long just on our own. Everyone had a great time - so much so that the kids were begging to go back on the boat after dinner. Had it not been pitch black outside, we probably would have. Ah, well there is always next weekend!

Summer 09 Vacation

We spent our summer vacation this year in the beautiful mountains of Utah. The kids had a great time at Grandpa and Nana's cabin. They played in dirt, ran around outside, fed some deer, chased some chipmunks, went on Grandpa's boat, did some fishing, and just enjoyed themselves. JL did some major fishing, and caught some nice ones! I soaked up some rest, and caught a few nice fish of my own.

It was a fantastic trip! WAY too many pictures to post - but here are a few highlints.

Day 1
An early morning start required lots of hugs from friends and lovies
A few hours later and the coloring books come out
Stopping for lunch in the middle of somewhere NM
Eating at RealBurger in beautiful Santa Fe, NM. (We couldn't keep James in his seat long enough to eat
The kids LOVE tent sleeping! They always end up in a heep, huddled together in the middle by morning

Day 2
Back in the car - but the kids did GREAT!
They entertained themselves by looking at pictures of animals, and singing songs, and coloring...
...and sleeping
MOAB! We are getting close!
Finally arriving to see Great-Nana before heading on to the cabin

Day 3
Ready for a frosty morning
Everyone loves a big, chocolately milk shake!
Izzy sipping on some lemonade
James driving the train
We ended the day by trying out JL's new boat!

Days 4 - 7
Pancho turned feral
Izzy touched a Kokane
James and Isabel really enjoyed the fish hatchery
James and Daddy on the early morning fish trip
Me and a very poofy Izzy on the same morning trip
Wagon riding around the cabin
Aunt Muggs telling James about the big fish she is going to catch
Grandpa and James getting ready for the last evening fish trip
Grandma and Aunt Muggs teach James how to call for the fish 'here fishy fishy fishy'

Days 8 -10
The trip back was a little rough. We ended up getting a flat tire in the middle of nowhere NM. BUT we came out of it ok. The kids (given the circumstances) actually did really well. It did delay us a day, so we were all pretty pooped by day 10, but we made the best of it, and the kids were more than happy to have an extra night playing in a hotel.
The start of our journey back
The end of our first day
Snacks along the way
Snacks in the hotel room
Nobody loves the hotels more than Jamesie Bug!