Smiling Cousins

I wish Megan was in these, but she wasn't awake yet. The morning we left, I got some snapshots of our three kids having fun.

ALL THREE SMILING! IT'S A MIRACLE. I can't claim credit. Cassidy did it. She is just THAT funny looking. :P

Here was the beginning of the ride home.

Dora's pretty blue eyes...

I won't upload a video I took of them both screaming during the latter half, because that would be mean, but we left my mom a voicemail. I am sure she will vouch for the miserableness of the second half. :-) We had a great time, but we're also glad to be home!

Dora Dancing & Being Cute

Every night lately, Eli asks to go dance. It's usually around 7 pm and we dance for 20 or 30 minutes. Dora is just as happy as he is to do it. Now, though, she has taken it a step further. You have only to ask Dora to dance and she starts--no music necessary. It's really funny. Here are some shots I took of her dancing in her seat in Moses lake.

What a funny thing. Here she is playing chase with me. She LOVES to have you chase her and tickle her.

Oh and I include this to show she's getting some hair! It's really light and super fine, but it's there...

Papa Hugh and Grandma Lila

I took some cute shots of Dora with Papa Hugh and Grandma Lila (and a few with Megan too.)

Dora does this cute thing where she mimics the face you're making. I thought this was funny.

My baby still has huge blue eyes.

Obviously having fun. Lila plays so well with the kiddies.

Dora and I have had this game forever where I pull something she has in her mouth away from her with my mouth. No one else ever plays it with her, but she was delighted when Lila did!

Ahhh, sweet!

See? Lila is as crazy as me.

Cropduster

The field behind Whit's parents house is planted with crops and a crop-duster was treating it one day... so the kids watched with fascination as a plane passed right over them (on its loop around.) Actually the guy saw us and I think he flew low over the kids because it delighted them so. That could just be a fit of fancy on my part though. Everyone is biased about how cute their kids are.

I think the photos I took came out alright. I am no professional but I thought they were kind of artsy.

The kids loved the trampoline, too. And Dora loved sitting on Papa Hugh.

It was in the low 80s all week in Moses Lake (and back home in Grants Pass, too.) Wow, what a nice summer!

I liked these of Papa and Megan.

We had a great time, Papa Hugh! Thanks for playing with us!

Party

The first night we were there, Whit's dad threw a family barbecue party. We had all the Aunts and Uncles who live in town over to play. Sadly, it started at 7 pm. I put my kids to bed right on time, at 7:30 (before the adults had even eaten.) It was all going well. See the party?

Then Aunt Katrina asked me if that was one of mine.

Yep, and when he saw me he just grinned! It melted my heart. He was in there in bed alone and just happy as could be to see me... so I came and got both my kids out of bed and let them stay up late. Cute kiddo, huh?

Fun on the Farm

We went down on Sunday night to Moses Lake to visit Whit's folks for 5 days. (Really just 3 days there, and two days driving.) It was a fun trip, but pretty busy. I am about to post a flurry of little blogs, so don't feel obligated to read them all. I am just including them all for my blog book! The kids had a ball and Papa Hugh's and Grandma Lila's house. Eli is careful to always say Papa Hugh because the name "Papa" means my dad. I guess that's what happens when you get sloppy and call one Papa just "Papa" while you're living there for a few months.

We had a great time, but we also got a bit dirty, see? We had baths every single night. And a lot of interim cleaning too!

Whit orchestrated a little rafting trip. Sadly, since I went too, no one took photos. I didn't want to soak my camera. We had a great time though. (Dora wasn't happy unless dad was carrying her, so he didn't get to ride. Good thing the canal was shallow! This is Dora on the way there.

This was all the kids on the way home--FUN ON A FARM is all I can say. Let's just be a little less critical of Britney Spears now for one second... The kids loved it though. Dora kept sticking her head out the window...I just saw little blond wispies, but apparently she was smiling.

We also played in the sprinklers. The kids loved running to it, and then hauling it away as the water came for them.

I love their back yard--so pretty! I have grass envy.

We also loved the 10 day old baby goats--SO CUTE!!!

Dora loved them too, but I can't say they loved her back.

The boys both rode Babe, Whit's old horse. Cool that she's still around (albeit in retirement).

Also, they have lots of chickens. Their chickens lay brown, white, green and blue eggs (although I couldn't find a blue for the photo.) Cool, right?