Shhhhh--Don't Tell Steve

I have the best job!  Today I was thinking about how lucky I am that I get to spend my days reading book after book brought to me by my 15-month old daughter, Lila; listening to Ellie, my 4-year old's, endless stories; doing crafts until they pile up on the table and need to be sorted through; watching the girls interact and think the other one is "the bomb"; outings to library story time, swimming, and the zoo.  Don't get me wrong there are days when I wonder what in the world I got myself into--like when I take them to the Wildlife Museum and Ellie has to sit in the car for several minutes screaming and crying until she figures out that she does actually have to listen to Mommy.  But those kind of days are truly overshadowed with the great joy I experience every day.  As I was getting ready for bed I sat down at the computer and noticed this video on lds.org and it made me even more grateful for this time I have.  To women every where for your great influence on the family whether as a mother, aunt, sister, or friend--you are magnificent!

Why do bees make honey?

That is a question Ellie asked during breakfast one morning last week?

Another question during breakfast as we read scriptures, "Where does Jesus live?" I responded, "In heaven."  That answer was not good enough she wanted to know exactly where.  Steve finally explained that we don't know exactly where to which Ellie look thoughtfully and said, "I think maybe the temple."  And you know it is called The House of the Lord.

Lately, Ellie has been spending a lot of time in the bathroom and then she comes out looking like this:  

She loves to get her hair wet and brush it.  Lila will occasionally knock on the door and Ellie will say, "Just a minute, Lila." I cannot imagine what it will be like when they are teenagers.

Of course I can't leave this ham out.  Lila is all girl and loves shoes, sunglasses, jewelry, purses, etc.  She has also become quite the swimmer.  She loves to jump in and go under water so much so that she will find any opportunity to stick her face in the water which means I must keep a vigilant eye on her. 

Left: Lila accessorizing with sunglasses.  Right: Her diaper after taking a dip in our pool.  We normally use swim diapers, but she had just woke up from a nap and I was going to throw that diaper out any way--I wonder if that adds buoyancy?

Lila also really likes our dog, Zoe.  However, Zoe is a little hesitant around children so whenever Lila gets close Zoe usually bolts.  The other day I saw Zoe laying down and Lila crouched next to her petting her and talking to her, right in her face.  I wondered how this phenomenon had occurred and upon further inspection I noticed Zoe gnawing on a whole graham cracker I had given Lila.  I guess Lila was done eating it and used it to get Zoe to hold still for her.  

We have had a couple of wonderful weekends just hanging out with the girls swimming, playing our Wii, UNO, chasing the girls and just having fun.  We are truly blessed!  Love these little monkeys!

Summer Travelin', Had Me a Blast

Summer Travelin', happened so fast
Summer days drifting away . . .
To, uh oh, those summer nights.
Well-a, well-a, well-a, uh!
Tell me more, tell me more . . .

Our summer traveling began a few weeks ago when Mimi flew down, June 21 to pick-up the girls and fly back to Idaho with them so that I could attend girls' camp and Steve could continue working since he was going to take the next two weeks off.

I'm not going to lie, I was nervous about my Mom flying with the two girls by herself and I knew I was going to miss them and I was going to girls' camp (at some points I wondered what I was thinking when I planned this). I would even tease Ellie and tell her she couldn't go and she would get all upset and say, "You promised Mom and I'm going!" Well, it all turned out wonderfully. I had packed snacks, surprise presents, and toys galore and Mimi said the girls never cried, but traveled like true champs.

Here they are saying goodbye to us at the airport. They didn't even cry. Ellie was so excited and I think Lila just wanted to be doing what Ellie was doing so they never even looked back as they walked down the terminal. As I, a little teary-eyed, told this to Steve later he said that is what we want, we raise them to be independent (not real words of comfort, but I guess a moment to be proud).

Then I was off to girls camp to enjoy moments like these.

Can I just say that I have the BEST group of girls ever!! They performed all of their duties cheerfully, efficiently, and effectively. It sure makes camping a lot more enjoyable when you have such a GREAT group of girls and leaders!

Meanwhile, back in Idaho the girls were kite flying, flower picking (even if they were Mimi's potted flowers), and enjoying Mimi and Grandpa.

Steve and I arrived late, Monday, June 28. We went to the Twin Falls temple the following day. It was nice to be able to leave our children with my folks while we went. We are so grateful they have that temple so close to them so that we can take advantage of it during our visits.

Wednesday, June 30, Steve's sister Melanie and her family came down to visit. We took them tubing behind the boat and floated the river a couple of times. Ellie enjoyed playing with Natalie and Emery in the blow up pool. And Lila and Savannah were quite fun to watch interact. It was nice of them to drive down with their family to visit. We enjoyed seeing them (next time I'll have to remember to get pictures).

The rest of the week was spent floating the river and boating once more before the weather turned cold and none of us dared get in again.

 

There is typically a Buckley reunion held the 4th of July weekend. This year they added a fishing derby on Friday, July 2. So Grandpa signed team Ellie up and they began fishing at 3 p.m. Ellie lost interest after the second fish, but Steve was enjoying himself relaxing on the dock in the mild weather catching fish. So he fished until almost 9:30 p.m. He caught 18 fish mostly carp, a few suckers, two catfish, and one bass for a total of approximately 48lbs. He had caught the biggest fish 5lbs until 8:45p.m. when my cousin caught an 8lb 11oz carp thus pushing him to the top and winning the grand prize, but team Ellie still won $10 and had a good time.

Although there was one 28lb fish Steve caught that wasn't tallied in the final count because it was Ellie. I was up making dinner and Steve came walking in with a soaking crying Ellie. Steve said she had been sitting on the edge of the dock with her feet in the water and just leaned over a little too far and fell in. He quickly laid on his stomach (so hastily he got a scratch and a few slivers on his stomach) and grabbed her out. After I got her dried and calmed down she said, "Mom the saddest part is I didn't even see a fish while I was under the water." Later she said, "I think they were all over by Daddy's worm."

One of the first catches.

Since the 4th of July was on a Sunday this year, the festivities were held on Saturday, July 3rd.
The crew waiting for the parade to start. We setup camp in the sun this year since it was only 58 degrees at noon. Yes it was a cold weekend.
Enjoying the candy and loot being distributed by the floats.

We enjoyed a relaxing Sunday, July 4 playing games and visiting with each other before we began to head our separate directions.

Monday, July 5, once we had said our goodbyes to my family we headed towards California. We drove to the Sacramento area to stay a day with Steve's sister Debbie and her family. It was so nice to relax, visit, and catch-up since it had been almost two years since we had seen them. Ellie and Abbey played nonstop together in their heated pool (unfortunately I didn't get any pictures). Ellie didn't want to leave, but we needed to make it to Steve's home town that night so after only 24hours, we once again we hit the road.

Steve's sister Stephanie was in town also so we enjoyed hanging out with her and her family as well as the local family which includes both of his brothers and their children. The first day, July 7, we took the kids to Montana de Oro to visit the tide pools. The kids and adults love exploring.

Here the girls are feeling a starfish with Steve.
Ellie sharing her load of shells and rocks with Grandma (her pockets were stuffed and weighing her down).
Kids digging in the sand.

Thursday, July 9 we spent hanging out, running errands, and swimming. Russ took the kids in several rides in his Model-T and Model-A cars and even took the kids to a park for a little outing. It was a great park with shade (what a novelty for us Arizonans).

Our last full day, we went to Avila beach. Ellie could spend all day, every day at the beach so it was definitely a highlight to be there with all of the family.

Ellie and Sydney hunting for seashells. Lily and Lila enjoying the sun on the blanket (yes I think Lila is contemplating using the shovel to have another bite of sand and can you see Ellie and Sydney in the background still hunting for seashells).

Ellie spent her last night Friday, July 9 at her cousins house and they had a blast sleeping in a tent, painting finger nails, and talking and giggling past bedtime.

On our way home we stopped at Steve's oldest sister, Jessica's home in Redland. She is always gracious to let us stop and stretch our legs. She feeds us excellent food and then gets us back on our way. We had an excellent time visiting with all of our family and appreciate everyone letting us drop in and coming to see us.

Overall, we spent 43 hours on the road and traversed 5 states. The girls were real troopers and had a wonderful time with all of the family. I think they were a little disappointed to spend Monday at home with me, but we are getting back into the swing of things. We hope you all enjoy your summer and have safe and fun travels!