Finally....Silverwood!

It rained a little while we were at BoulderBeach. Too cold for us, so we headed for rides quickly!

We got there so "quick", that we spent a lot of time in lines......

Serves us right for waiting the whole summer to go.

Finally, a ride and we even got the hands up on the roller coaster!

Hanna is almost too tall for some of these rides, but wouldn't go on the big rides, so she would squish down to be able to go with Piper and Alizah.

The five blondies who had a BLAST at Silverwood!

Too Hanna's amazement she does not live in a family who deprives their children! She seemed to think that she was the only child who had never been to Silverwood. She begged and cried and guilted and what happend? It is not too much of a surprise to you is it? We took them on a Saturday at the end of the summer....we did this to just to ensure the adults in the group were about ready to pull their hair out by the end of the evening:) So here's the story...

We packed them sleeping into the car really early in the morning and drove to the closest Costco and sent them in with $20 and told them to pick something out. They thought we were taking me to the doctor and going shopping. We took them over to the Silverwood display and "happened" to run into their friends, Auna and Nikkia. Hanna then figured out what we were doing. We ended up having a great time at Silverwood and have again spoiled the kids!

The girls are actually in Idaho right now with the family. They flew home with Grandma Marsha and then we pick them up in Island Park on Labor Day. I've had a ton of meetings getting ready for the start of school. The girls will start the day we get back. I'm trying to wrap up summer and gut their rooms while they are gone! I miss them!! I got to talk to them today, but they are having too much fun riding horses, having tea parties, riding the motorcycle with Papa, and swimming with cousins.

Moses Lake Round-Up Rodeo

My cowgirls in their rodeo get-up! I didn't get their cute new boots in the pic. We finally convinced Alizah that her pants had to be "too long" so they would cover up her boots! They love watching the saddle-bronc and hearing about their Great-Papa Doodle and the team roping and dad tells them stories about his family. Their favorite, of course, is the queens and we tell them about Aunt Britni and Aunt Megan. These are the times I hate being so far away from what I grew up with. Horses were such a part of both Brandon and I's life in Idaho. The girls get quick tastes of it, but not enough in our books! Brandon is really wanting to find a horse. I hope that something comes up so that he can share that with his "girly-girls".

SHHH....we are surprising the girls in the morning and taking them to Silverwood-the big theme park in our area. It's a few hours away, so we are getting up early and packing the sleeping girls in the car and telling them mom has a doctor's appointment. Hanna has been bugging us for years to go. I can't wait to see their faces!!

Hanna's new bedroom set is almost put together. We got her a mattress today and started putting everything away. Our house is slowly getting put back together and everyone seems excited about their new rooms. The girls are leaving again on Wednesday to Idaho and we aren't going to pick them up again till Labor Day weekend. It's almost a week and a half that they will be gone and they are so excited to go see cousins again! This summer has been great for them. They actually seem to know their cousins and spent lots of time with them. While they are gone, I plan on.....working/cleaning....and READING in the sun:) I've had a little too much vacation too this summer. How will I ever handle school this fall??

Alizah's Accomplishments

Alizah has had an amazing summer! She has a wonderful swimming teacher who has been patient with her for years....last year she wouldn't even get in the pool. This year she has learned how to swim the backstroke, crawl, and a little butterfly! She will dive (stomach flop) into the pool and swim across to the other side! I am so proud of her. She works really hard and loves to go to her lessons. We have a very giving neighbor who lets us use their pool and a friend teaches her lessons there. Hanna is also in lessons and seems to be progresses quite a bit too! She loves to do her front flips off the diving board and tries really hard to outdo Alizah:) Now Piper's accomplishment is to put her nose in the water, we are working on getting her pig tails wet....

Alizah also has finally learned to ride her bike without training wheels. She showed an interest when her cousin stayed for a few weeks and would take off on his bike and she couldn't go. Within the week she'd conquered her fear. She's got a few cuts and scrapes, but seems to be willing to keep trying. I was in the kitchen and she came walking in and said, "Mom, it happened again, but it's not bleeding this time..-scrape from falling" She'd taken off on her bike to see the deer down the street. I didn't even know she'd left. Don't think I'm a terrible parent, anyone who knows Alizah knows she has not left my side for six years.... She's opened up a whole new life for herself!

The girls have one more week home and then they leave again for a week and a half to Idaho for the rest of the summer before school starts. We are going to hit the pool as much as possible and we are switching up their rooms to allow for a new bedroom set that Aunt Kiki made for Hanna. We'll post pics as soon as the mess is cleaned up!