More Family Visits

This blog turned 12 this week. Here's a funny story that explains one of the reasons I've kept this blog going for so many years. 

Today Charlotte, Lydia, and Veronica got into a dispute over some toy farm animals - specifically a toy horse. Veronica said it was from her farm themed birthday cake last year. Charlotte said it was from her farm themed cake from her 4th birthday. We settled the dispute by pulling up the blog posts about each birthday and comparing the horse to the horses in the pictures of the cake. It was like we were in court. We identified the horses in question  on the cakes then compared them to the horse the girls were fighting over.  The horse on Veronica's cake had a brown mane. Charlotte's had a black mane. The horse they were fighting over had a brown mane. So there was indisputable proof that the horse belonged to Veronica. 

Without the blog it would have been a little harder to find the pictures. And that's one of the reasons I keep blogging and try to stay on top of this. 

I've been uploading pictures and videos to this post off and on all day. If I can't get it done today I'll be caught up for the first time in over a month.  So let's zip through the last 2 weeks. 

I was sad after my sisters left, because it had been so fun to have them visiting. The house seemed really empty without my sisters and their 8 kids running around. So I was happy when my brother Billy called me up and asked if he and his wife and new baby could come visit. They would come on Thursday July 30th and stay most of the weekend. It was great to have something to look forward to again.

One night Brandon cooked something with the dutch oven and then let the kids roast marshmallows over the coals. They liked that. 

The kids like to mess with the color settings on my camera. Here's a lovely black and white study of our living room. 

Charlotte and Lydia are ALWAYS creating something. They worked hard on making a school house for their dolls. They were working on these and other projects while Brandon and I were having a zoom call with one of the teachers overseeing the Homeschool program we are doing.  I was like, "Yeah, this is one reason we are homeschooling."

The desk had lots of supplies. 

Charotte made lots of things out of her fuse beads. Check out these cute pencils. 

This is a water bottle, notebook, paint set, brush, scissors, and glue. 

We made to the pool for our 14th time. At the beginning of the summer I'd made a chart where I wrote down how much each visit to the pool would cost. I'd figured out that our 14th visit would cost us $2 per person. So I'd set a goal to go at least 14 times. Now I'm thinking we could make it 20 or 25 times before the end of the summer. IF we make it to 28 times then each visit was only $1 per person. 

Here I am celebrating the 14th visit. You can't tell, but I am actually super tan. No more pale white shoulders for me. 

Charlotte and Lydia passed their swim tests again and could go off the diving board.

Veronica wished she could pass the swim test. But she can't get the stroke down or swim across the pool yet.

On Tuesday Charlotte and Lydia finally had enough money to buy a toy they've been saving up for almost all summer. They've wanted a LOL Surprise doll RV. It cost $79 and they've been combining the money they earn by babysitting themselves and mowing the lawn. 

A few weeks ago Lydia convinced me it was a good idea to order the RV ahead of time.(She made a very convincing case that we couldn't be sure it would still be in stock thanks to COVID.) So I've had the RV hidden for the past few weeks. When I got home from work on Tuesday Charlotte and Lydia were so exited to be paid the last dollars they needed for the RV. I counted out their money and then went to get the RV out of it's hiding spot. They were thrilled!

They were very sweet and let Derrick and Veronica help unbox everything. 

It really is a cool toy. There's even a pool in the RV.

Here's what LOL Surprise Dolls look like. Normally they have clothes on, but these ones were going swimming.

This is the table. 

A waterslide down from the bedroom.

The bunk beds. 

The Vanity.

There is even a DJ booth behind the driver's seat.

So it was very exciting to have the RV.

Billy and Becca arrived on Thursday night. I haven't seen either of them in over a year and it's been over two years since I saw them together. And this was the first time I've ever met their new baby - William Duncan Loveless the VI. Yeah the seventh. 

Thursday night was kind of a crazy night. Brandon and Billy went grocery shopping. My friend Melissa was driving back from Utah to Washington and so she stopped by with her family for a little bit. In all the craziness I didn't take a single picture.  

But I did take pictures the next morning. We wanted Billy and Becca to see all the fun sights that Lindsey and Emily had seen. So we started out our adventures at the Perrine Couee Waterfall. 

Even though we had just been here a week earlier it was still so cool to see this waterfall. 

Here's Billy,Becca, and Baby William. 

Lydia with the waterfall.

Here's what the waterfall looks like from behind. 

Me with the waterfall. 

And in case you haven't seen enough of the waterfall, here is a video of it.

 

We drove around and showed Billy and Becca the Snake River at Centennial Waterfront Park and from the canyon rim near the bridge. We also went all the way to Twin Falls Falls to see that waterfall.

Then we went home because it was HOT. Every day that week was over 100 degrees. When we had dinner that night it was like an oven even on our shaded patio. 

But that was okay because we were going swimming at Dierkes Lake again. ( I told you this was repeat of all the places from my sisters' visit.)

We went to see Shoshone Falls first, (I stayed in the car with William who was asleep.) Then we drove over to the lake. It was PACKED with people, but still really fun. I took this picture after we'd been there about 45 minutes. The crowds were starting to disperse. 

Here's Charlotte, Lydia, and Veronica playing in the deep water. 

Here's me and my tan shoulders again.

The kids were all over the place in the water.  Derrick acted like he wanted to go of the diving board, but then decided he wanted to go fishing with Brandon. Brandon was already across the lake so I yelled over to him that Derrick was heading his way.  He met up with Derrick and helped him back to the fishing spot. Brandon said Derrick caught a lot of fish. 

Later I took Charlotte over to Brandon and Derrick came back with me. Derrick was ready for the diving board. He chickened out two times, but on his third time he jumped right in. 

Billy and Becca took my keys and went home to put William to bed around 8:00. My kids showed no sign of giving up. Charlotte came back from fishing and jumped back in the water with the other three kids. 

I love this picture of them all swimming back to shore together. This was at about 9:00. Most people had left, but we were still going strong. 

The kids jumped and swam until 9:30. They all had a blast and begged to come back on Monday. (Which we did.) 

On Saturday Billy and Becca went to Boise to visit some friends there. We stayed home and did exiting things like get the Honda's tires rotated and buy a new Swim shirt for Veronica. (Her old one was getting super streatched out.) I tried finding goggles because the kids are all in danger of falling apart before the end of the summer but couldn't find any for under $14. Maybe I'll get lucky if they go on clearance, but it's hard to know these days.)

I also bought batteries which was super important to Derrick. He's wanted to launch a rocket for a few week. Brandon made a model rocket out of spare parts he had laying around. (I'm serious) and then bought a few engines. The kids were all set to launch a rocket last Saturday, but discovered the launcher's batteries were dead. 

That was disappointing to say the least. 

So I bought new 9 volt batteries and Brandon got all his stuff together to go launch the rocket again. I assumed we were driving to the park, so I was surprised when we started walking.  It was 2:00 on a over 100 degree day. Brandon's ideas of weather appropriate activities are very different than mine. 

We made it to the park without dying and Brandon set everything up.

He's such a cool dad. 

The kids were all super excited for this launch. I was all ready to film it, but somehow I never actually pushed record. So I missed getting a video of Derrick's launch. 

Veronica's was the second launch.I did get a video of that one. 

Lydia had a very specific idea of how she wanted her launch video to look. So she took care of filming the beginning and then handed the camera off to Charlotte. 

Charlotte's was the fourth launch. I couldn't believe the kids were still running around chasing the rockets by this point. It was so hot outside that my phone stopped working in the middle of a video because of the high temperature. (A message on the screen literally said that.) When we packed up to leave I put my phone in my pocket and I could feel the heat from it's black screen through my pants. 

It was a little bit of a trail of tears on the way home. But we all made it. We each had like three otter pops when we got home. Then we went in the basement and cooled off while watching Animal Crackers on Netflix. The kids loved it, I was okay with the bits I saw between napping. 

Billy and Becca came back in the evening. We were all entertained by them and Baby William. 

Brandon and the kids slept out in the tree house again. I stayed inside and played silly trivia games with Billy and Becca. Becca went to bed around midnight, but Billy and I stayed up until at least 2:00. Yes, that's exactly the same scenario as when my sisters were here. We Lovelesses LOVE to talk. 

In the morning I went on a walk on the canyon rim trail with Billy and Becca before it got super hot. We were able to see some people BASE jump off the bridge. Twin Falls is so cool.

And we looked at Pillar Falls again.

Billy and Becca left around noon. It was sad to see them go. In theory they are moving to New Zealand because Billy got a job with the Auckland Symphony. But COVID has their plans up in the air. So we might see them again before they move. 

I spent the afternoon playing, "Valerie's hair salon" in the kitchen. My kids all wash their own hair, but I'm not fully confident in how thorough they are. I've found it helpful to pretend to give them the salon treatment every three or so months. I'll wash their hair really well with the sprayer in the kitchen sink. Then I comb out tangles and give them haircuts. We make it fun by having towels, magazines, and a candle that they can blow out when their turn is over. 

Charlotte and Lydia provided a great before and after opportunity. 

When the kids weren't in the salon they built an elaborate tent in the living room. They played in it for hours and then begged to sleep in it that night. I told them they could. 

Monday was a good day to get back into the swing of things at work. I'm still loving my job and Brandon is loving his. We are both super lucky to have flexible jobs that we like. 

After work I took the kids to Dierkes Lake again. It was windy, but the kids had a grat time. They all went off the diving board non-stop. 

Brandon get's home at 6:00 these days which is super nice. I thought I wouldn't like it having him home later, but it actually gives me more time in the afternoon. With his old schedule he came home at 4:00. I'd get home from the pool at 3:00 and immediately feel like I had to start working on dinner. now I can wait to make dinner until 5:00. So I've had time to do some other projects and things. 

The kids discovered that Marcia fits Lydia's bat costume.  That dog is so patient with them and their antics.

She didn't tolerate the bat ears as much so Lydia started figuring out how to make ones she would like. 

Veronica found a baseball bat, ball and one of Brandon's hats.  She ran around saying she was a baseball player all evening.  We actually have her signed up for soccer in September.  She has so much energy and loves being in people's faces so I think she might have a good time doing sports. We

Lydia's quest to make new bat ears for Marcia turned into a bunch of other sewing projects. I let her use what ever fabric she wanted and she started making Halloween Costumes for her barbies. 

Here's the first one.  Charlotte made the hat. 

And then they made costumes for Ana's whole family. Ana's is a witch. Krostof is a wizard. Anya is a cat. Eve is a ghost. and Jojo is an angel. 

On Wednesday Derrick and I went on an evening hike with the boy's activity leader and another boy and his dad. We went to the Auger Falls area and hiked to the river. 

It was a really beautiful evening. The weather finally dropped down to the 90's and it was overcast a little so we weren't cooking down in that canyon. Here's a picture of a waterfall I want to hike to one day. I'm 95% sure that this is the Mermaid Cove waterfall.

Here's the old bridge. 

And a beautiful sunset. 

These next pictures uploaded in reverse order (blogger switched to a new setup and things are a little weird.) So I took these pictures today and then we'll see some pictures from Saturday and then Friday. I don't really want to take the time to reorder anything because I just want to be done. 

This is the view out our kitchen window. You can see the tall sunflowers poking up over the roof of the garden shed. 

These are my beautiful gladiolas. 

Pretty Poppies.

I love these litle violets.

More Gladiolas with wildflowers. 

This is a daliah (or maybe a zinnia I kind of forgot what I planted) that is about to bloom. 

These petunias have done so well. These get a ltitle scraggly looking, but with a little bit of water they come right back. 

My Aunt Vera recommended I plant morning glory flowers. I was a little skeptical, but it's not the type of morning glory that takes over yards. I planted it behind the rock fountain and I love how it is making this spot look so alive. And it grows FAST. Every day each vine is about 5 inches longer. 

We have a few raspberries growing. This makes me so happy. 

Here they are on the plant. 

I have some cucumbers that aren't very well spaced out, but they are still growing well. 

I decided the peas were officially dead this week and pulled them out. I think carrots are going here next. 

My pumpkin slings are working!

I love this white one. 

Look how many are growing here. 

And some are getting orange.

This was an experiment, but I'm happy it's worked out. 

The tomatoes are FINALLY turning red. (We had BLTs tonight with our tomatoes - so yummy!)

More tomatoes.

Look how tall that cherry tomato plant is.  Isn't nearly as tall as me. 

The sunflowers are also super tall. 

The beans have been growing like crazy. Charlotte and Lydia picked a bunch yesterday adn there are more growing. 

Here's what the wall of bean plants looks like. 

More of the morning glory. I'm trying to train some of it into the fountain 

And here's how tall the sunflowers are next to me. 

More morning glory. 

Okay now lets look at Saturday - in reverse order. 

We had a great day and finished it with ice cream cones on the patio. 

We spent the evening at the First Federal Park on the west side of town. This is the first time we've come here as a family. The kids loved the zipline chairs. 

I wore a hat all day - for reasons I'll tell you about when we talk about Friday. I liked how I looked. 

In the afternoon Brandon and Derrick were still on a camping trip together so I took Charlotte and Lydia and Veronica to a "surprise place." It was the First Federal Park and splash pad. I'd heard about this place earlier, and I know Derrick's been here a few times, but we had never come over here.  I knew if I told the kids we were going to the splash pad they'd just say it was a baby place. But when we drove up they were super excited to see it. 

They played for a really long time, and then begged to come back in the evening with Derrick and Brandon. 

It really was very cool. I'm not sure how we haven't been here yet. 

If you look closely you may see a little bit of green in Lydia's hair. That's because we tried dying our hair with koolaid again. Brandon and Derrick were camping so it seemed like a fun girls night thing to do. 

I tried to do mine red, but only really succeeded in dying my scalp orange. I think we need to use a different conditioner. 

And this is a really great picture to finish on. I finished reading Jennifer Fulwiler's latest book on Thursday. I bought this book for myself for Mothers Day, but May wasn't exactly the best month to be thinking about hobbies and passions.  I'm in a better mental state now and so I was able to finish the book. The book gave me so many ideas and got me excited about a few things I haven't really cared about lately. So be on the loookout for some new projects and some returns to old projects. (cough 51 cent adventures cough)

And we did it.  We are caught up. YES YES YES!

Thanks for reading.