Skiing Pictures!!

With the close-up lens (I'm sure there's a technical name for it, but I don't remember what it is) on the camera, I was able to get some good skiing pictures one morning. Our boat was, unfortunately, out of commission this year, so Grandpa would call over to his cousin, Clyde's, cabin in the morning and see if they could get a morning ski in on his boat. So here they are, out skiing while the water's smooth. The temperature of the air at 9 AM was about 50 degrees, which made the water feel warm.

Here's Grandpa:



And David:


And Clyde, who was the youngest skiier of the family, at 6, setting a record as the oldest skiier in the family (we won't reveal how old!):

Driftwood Classic Sailboat Race

This is a kayak and sailboat race held every year on the lake. The kayak/canoe/whatever-vehicle-you-want-to-use race is in the morning, with the larger sailboat race in the afternoon. Kids are encouraged to participate, especially in the kayak race, with the format being almost a scavenger hunt: you stop at several docks along the way and pick up a treasure and a playing card. One of the prizes at the end is to the team with the best poker hand.

Here are Carver and David, setting off. They came in third, behind another kayak, and this crazy bike-on-floats contraption that's apparently very efficient.



Here are Grandma and Grandpa, setting off for the sailboat race. That race was divided into 3 classes: big boats, little boats, and catamarans. You can see some of the little boats in the background. It sure made the lake pretty with all those sails out that day. Grandma and Grandpa had quite the adventure, including flipping the boat and losing Grandma's favorite hat (it did turn up later, perched on some kind person's dock).



Here's Carver, all ready to jump in the lake after his hard morning of watching Dad paddle:


And here is Great Grandma and Great Uncle Ed, watching all the festivities:


The day ended with a big potluck for all the participants at one of the cabins on the other side of the lake from us. We didn't meet too many new people, but we did run into some Talcotts that own a cabin on yet another side of the lake. So we got to introduce Carver to his two third cousins and two second cousins, once removed (I think I've got that right--all those relationships get a little coufusing). All in all, a fun day, although I'm not sure Grandpa Talcott would recommend taking the Hobie into the big part of the lake.

Family Portraits

First Day of School...

...was actually yesterday. It started great, but we had to take a mid-morning field trip to Southern Indiana Orthopedics to get Carver's arm in a real cast. Ellie got to take her trip to her friend, Naomi's, house. Here are the kids, sitting at the kitchen table doing school while Laura naps. Carver's working on reading, and Ellie's working on play dough. You can see his cool new blue cast in the pictures.

Montana Trip, Part 5

Unsurprisingly, my memories are starting to blur together. Here is a trip up to the Double Arrow Lookout, which looks out over Placid Lake one direction, Seeley Lake and the town of Seeley Lake the opposite direction, and a small little lake commonly known as Turtle Lake (we actually have no idea who calls it Turtle Lake but us, we learned that the official name is Tuppers Lake). This was one of our last outings with Joy, who left halfway through our visit to go back home and help with church camp, and eventually, off to Biola.

Here's our mountain man, overlooking Placid Lake.

Dad's getting his workout...

This is sitting on the steps up to the lookout.

Here is cute little Turtle Lake:

And here is where trees burned in last year's fires! Much closer to the cabin than we're comfortable with...

Ellie With Grandpa

Montana Trip, Part 4

Our second day at the lake, the kids got up early, so we took them down to the Day Use area to throw rocks in the water. It took me a few visits to the lake to realize what this means, but this is basically it: Just down the road from Great Grandma Talcott's cabin, there is a space made accessible to the public by the Montana Parks system. It is nice and flat and has a dock and a boat launch. The nice slope is perfect for letting kids throw rocks or wade. So here we are, trekking down there.

Montana Trip, Part 3

Our first day in Montana, we checked out the water. We think the temperature of the lake was the same as other years (which is tolerable, but breezy when you first get in), but the temperature of the air was about 10 degrees cooler, which made it a little harder to stay in, especially when the wind came up. But the kids loved it anyway. You'll notice there are no pictures of Mom in the water...




We plopped Carver's life jacket on him, and he loved the water. Here he is getting used to it, but in no time, he was jumping off the end of the dock by himself.

The girls loved the floats that we got for them--Wal Mart water toy shopping is definitely best halfway through the season. And Ellie was happy anywhere Grandma Talcott was.

This last picture is the HobieCat in the water. David and Grandpa Talcott are on the boat, Joy (David's youngest sister) is trying not to get hit.

Montana Trip, Part 2

Days no. 2, 3, & 4: The second day we spent in the car, going from St. Louis to Denver to stay with the Franciscos. The kids did remarkably well, but the DVD player and GameBoy were definitely a necessity.

The third day we chilled in Denver with the Franciscos, doing no major driving. We took a short jaunt to the park with the kids, and in the afternoon the dads took the kids to a Bass Pro Shop. Apparently these are very fun with kids--they have huge naturescapes involving stuffed animals of all types, waterfalls, and a giant aquarium.

Here is a picture of Carver doing this cool zip line thing they had at the park, and one of Dad pushing Ellie in the swing. We're pretty sure Ellie would live in swings if given the option. Fortunately, she did take a few breaks to check out the slides.





Day four was again spent in the car, this time going from Denver to our final destination: Great Grandma Talcott's cabin on Placid Lake!

Montana Trip, Part 1

My first project as a blogger will be to recount the tales of our summer vacation, an extended trip out west. David and I decided last summer that we wanted to make a big trip, and we eventually decided on 5 weeks: 4 days driving out, about 2 weeks with the Talcotts in Montana, about 2 weeks with the Brays in Spokane, and 5 days driving home.

Day #1: We drove to St. Louis and spent the night with the Mullers and their little boy, Tommy. After some shopping at the Galleria and yummy dinner, we took the kids to a nearby park with great toys and some water stuff (I don't know what you would call a park like that--water spraying up out of the ground at random times for kids to run through???).

Carver loved the water...

Ellie hated the water...

And little Laura liked the spider sculptures climbing the walls.

Here are a few more playground pictures.

Now a Real Boy...

Carver has added an important item to his list of accomplishments at the age of 5: a broken arm.

He ended vacation with a bang and a trip to a St. Louis ER, where he learned all about the cool world of doctors and splints. He is currently doing just fine and is expected to heal quickly.

Blog Debut!

I am pround to announce that I will never join facebook. While I have wondered many times if I would have to give in and join simply so friends could see pictures, I have always hated the idea. And now, I have found a way around it! So, here we go...