Couer d'Alene Lake

For our last day we hiked around Couer d'Alene Lake. It was so beautiful and just the right temperature. We found a nice rocky beach and the kids..and adults...had at it for several hours. Brookie wasn't quite sure about the lake, but truly didn't seem to mind.

John being the adventurous soul that he is, found a log floating just off the beach and decided to make a toy out of it. 

Bradley was quite scared, but the rest of the kids really had a blast.

Hazel loved the lake and splash around in her birthday suit!

Parks and Gardens

 Directly across the street from Ryan and Emily's house is this huge, beautiful park. I was seriously in awe at how pretty it was!

 They have several different themes of gardens, this was the English garden I believe.

 Grandma face!

 They had all different types of plants inside the conservatory, it was really interesting

 Sage, Mila, Emily, Brooklyn and me inside the conservatory in the park

 Mila and Bradley were playing with sticks and water in the Japanese Gardens.

 We literally had to tear him away from here to continue on.

 Ryan and I did this pose when were in Costa Rica several years back, we just had to re-create it.

 Brad had absolutely had it when we were walking through the rose garden to home. He was like a little ghost wailing, crying and following us around the garden. Can we say no naps, indeed!

Jackson and Sage became such good little friends!

Spokane Fair Grounds

Our kids got along so well. It was so nice to let them just imagine and play together. Brookie did not want for loves. Mila, 3 years old, was never to far away from her.

 Hazel, 7 months old, and Brooklyn were like twins and just rolled with the flow. They were such good babies.

 Sage, 5 years old, Jackson and Bradley loved to play "house." Here Sage is in her beautiful wedding dress. Jackson loved playing with someone who could actually play make believe with him.

 We went downtown to see Spokane Falls and play at the world fairgrounds.

 Emily and Ryan were so good to take us around everywhere and see the cool things in Spokane.

 Emily, John and kids on some of the rides at the fair.

 The airplanes were by far the favorite, I don't even know how many times they went on these.

 We really did so many fun things: a train ride, ferris wheel, IMAX movie, hiking and lots of playing.

Twins?!?!

Road Trippin' It...

 Our little crew decided to trek across several states to visit my brother, Ryan, sister-in-law, Emily, and their 3 little girls. It was a long 10 hour drive to Spokane, WA, but we did it in style. John and I rigged a pulley system that would take things from the passenger seat all the way to Jackson in the back. It really came in handy when Bradley was asleep and Jackson needed things. It was also a fun toy!

 Poor Brooklyn had to do the whole drive looking at her toes. She only fussed for a little while and considering the long drive we were very pleased with her temperment. She spent her time playing with her toys, watching her brother and sleeping.

 Jackson and Bradley tried out these headphone that went to the DVD player in the car. It was bliss not having to listen to their shows! They spent their time snacking, coloring, reading, watching shows and playing toys. We really didn't have any melt downs from them and couldn't have asked for more well behaved boys!

Look Mom, no hands!

 I walked into the room after putting Brooklyn in the bouncer to find this funny little girl! She cracks me up!

Minions for my minions!

 I saw this cute little cupcake on pinterest and decided to give it a try. They were a big hit for our treat during our Despicable Me movie night!

Yard work...

..this is the never ending battle for homeowners. John and I have tried really hard to win the battle of yard vs. homeowners and this year I think we are evenly matched. I'm hoping that we actually leave the season with our yard in descent shape. 

Brooklyn got caught in the thick of it while we pruned the trees!