I pretty much do nothing but canning and skiing in September.
I turned this stuff into two varieties of spaghetti sauce, two kinds of salsa, and pickled jalapenos.
Derek was the best little helper while we made applesauce from Ele’s yummy pink Gravestine apples!
Fourth Grade with Mrs. Herbes
Second Grade in Mrs. Norstadts 2/3 combo
Northview Preschool with Mrs. Green
Derek is in preschool with his best buddy Grey Anderson.
First Day of Tap/Ballet Combo class for Derek and Olivia
First Day of work at Julie’s Competitive Edge Dance Academy for Kacey
Have I ever mentioned how much I love back to school? I love it because I can go out on the boat with my friends and we have the lake to ourselves! When you can see your reflection in the perfectly smooth water, it’s a great day!
Me, Julie Kellogg, and Sharon Robinson (who drives all the way from Pullman to ski with me!)
My cousin’s wife Jill invited us to her parents’ farm for a little “pumpkin patch party.” This FARM is a little more like a ZOO. They raise unusual animals, partly for fun and partly for income. They have emus, baby calves in their fenced front yard, camels, tons of chickens, turkens, pot-bellied pigs, pigeons, cows, cats, ponies etc.
Second cousins Olivia and Meron.
My kids were all super excited about riding the pony. Jill led them along and it was a blast.
Until both my boys decided to do it alone. The pony was obediently following Jill then for some reason decided to run past her. Derek was giggling and loving it while Snickers trotted then his face turned to sheer terror as he started to gallop. It ended in Derek falling off flat on his back, the pony running away and an angry Jill chasing him. It would have been funny except I think Derek was a little concussed.
He spent the rest of the party laying on the porch swing or moping in the grass. The poor guy might be a little traumatized.
Carter also decided to ride Snickers alone. He did a couple of rides and handled him really well. Unfortunately, he decided to ride one more time. I think Snickers had had it with kids on his back and he was being uncooperative. Carter pulled on the reins to get him to stop and Snickers dropped his head hard and threw Carter over the front. He was less hurt than Derek but liked to show off his battle wounds.
To finish out the day of fun, they did pig races with some of the baby pot-bellied pigs. So much fun!
Every farm house needs an electric bucking horse on the front porch :)
We always love it when Grandma and Grandpa Hawks make the long trip to come see us in Spokane! We spent one of their days at our park on the lake.
Olivia Sharon with Great Grandma Sharon!
This little girl of mine is going to be a great babysitter! While Jordan and Kailee were out on the boat, Sydney entertained baby Georgia all by herself.
Payton and Olivia playing “waterskiing” with two paddle boards for skis, a jump rope, and a tiny plastic boat!
We got to spend Labor Day camping with Norm and Ele. Apparently, Lost Lake has been a Hamilton favorite for many years but this is the first time we have all gone together. Garth has memories of going there as a kid so it was a fun trip to take. We grabbed the group campsite and this was our view from the fire pit!
We spent lots of time shooting rocks with Norm’s slingshots,
paddling around and fishing in Norm’s new canoe,
jumping off the dock,
Saturday we headed to Republic for their fair. It was kind of just an expensive lunch, but the kids enjoyed seeing the animals.
The kids laughed and laughed at this sheep. He was so loud! Anytime the kids came close or touched him, he bleated and it sounded like a belch. Too funny!
Norm whittled us all a walking stick so we could hike the big tree trail.
We all had fun making mustaches from the stuff that falls from the Larch trees.
We Larch were big, but not what we expected. They may have overstated their size. Old. . . yes, big. . . maybe. You can hardly tell the two “big ones” apart from the other ones.
We had a great weekend and it is definitely somewhere we will visit again!
