We meet half way, sometimes exchanging vehicles when dropping or picking up the kids, sometimes flying home, sometimes just leaving kids.  This year I just dropped off the kids with my mother and enjoyed two weeks at home.  The kids on the other hand were busy.  Starting July 30th to Labor Day they had been gone 28 out 36 days.  Wow!   Two weeks of that was with my mother. 
Mes enfants visitent ma mere cette ete.  Elle me recontrantes au millieu pour prendre Isaac, Job et Lona.  J'ai peu avoir du temps de faire des chose a la maison.  Les enfants et ma mere vont a South Dakota pour un semaine.  Des photos en bas sont tous qu'ils ont faire.
The agenda for Camp Grandma 2011 was something like this:


Warm Springs
Un lac avec des coiusins


Fishing
Des peche


Slip n Slide
dans la jardin

Reading
lise les livres

Mount Rushmore



Devil's Tower



Bear Country




Reptile Gardens







Crazy Horse Monument

Needle's Highway
and a myriad of other things.

This girl scares me.  She scares her Dad too.  Every year he gets wrapped tighter and tighter around her finger.  Sometimes we get these glimpses of what she might look like or be like as a teenager.  I don't think we'll survive it.  I bet Isaac $50 that someday his friends would want to date his sister.  I don't  want it to happen.  In fact I dont want her to date ever but I know it's going to happen. 

She likes to do things:  wakeboard, water ski, snow ski, catch frogs, play soccer, ride her bike, and yet can be very girly: scrapbooking, embroidery, knitting, beading, dresses, jewelry and wanting a feather in her hair.

We are terrified!

C'est fille me fait peur.  Sa pere fait peur aussi.  En peu de fois, je vois comment elle est quand elle grandi.  Je suis faire de peur des garcons qui aiment ma fille.  Elle aime de faire des choses comme le ski, le ski nautiuqe, attrapper les grenouilles, jouer le football, prendre sa bicyclette, nauger mais des choses des fille aussi comme broder, tricoter, scrapbook, etapporter les robes et les bijoux.  Nous sommes terrifies.

Love by her Dad Aime par son pere

We decided to head to Lake Whatcom this morning for a little time in the sun.  It was time to ski, board and tube before school started.  It might be our last chance for the year.  Soccer has started and so as of this week our Saturdays are taken up with soccer games.  We put into the lake around 10am and immediately had Isaac on skis.  He started with the big skis, quickly went to the little yellow ones.  These are great because they help train you to keep your feet together.  He just popped right up. Then he decided that he was going to wake board.  John has been thinking about how he gets up on the wake board. 








Here are his pointers:
1.  Bend your knees a lot so the board is close to your body
2.  Put your hands over the board
3.  Bend over as much as you can
4.  Roll forward as the boat pulls you up and you end up standing on the board.
This eliminates you slamming your hands on the front of the board.  Isaac did exactly as John told him to and he popped right up.  In fact he got pretty cocky and let go with one hand.  We encouraged him to try jumping and going outside the wake later in the day.
After Isaac was tired, we threw Lona in the lake and made her try skiing.  She just popped up.  She gets such a serious look on her face - it's hilarious.  After a couple of times skiing she just let go and slowly sunk into the water.  It was now Job's turn.  He is so light that John barely gave the boat any gas and he was on top of the water.  Unlike Lona he does not wear his emotions on his face.  His face is just so nonchalant.  Of course John just couldn't help but show the kids how to wake board.  They think that he's awesome because he jumps the wake.  I gave Isaac and Job the camera because I had to drive the boat.  I wanted photos of him doing his stuff.  He tried a 360 but couldn't quite pull it off.  He also showed the kids how to slalom ski.  I would love to be able to do that, hopefully next summer. 
A little time on the tube and then the kids were back in the water trying the wake board.  Isaac loves the wake board and thinks it's better than tubing or skiing.  Lona started it off with her and Job.  I bribed her to take out the wake board by telling her I'd put a feather in her hair.  I wish that I would have been that daring at that age.  It was so fun to watch her board.  Job commented that if Lona could get up then he could too.  The problem was that he has smaller feet than Lona and the bindings are made for adults.  Easily solved, he just needed to wear his water shoes and place them in the bindings.  Up he went. Not to be out done by his little siblings, Isaac decided that he would try going out of the wake and jumping it and try he did.  They rocked today!  Lona has goals of steering the board by the end of next year, and being able to jump by 16.  I think she could do that.  She has five years to go.
Nous avons passe la jour au lac.  Je suis en fier de mes enfants.  Ils ont appris faire du ski nautique sans aider et faire du wake boarding.  C'et le premiere fois les trois peut faire wake boarding.  Apres aujourd'hui, Isaac commence avec l'ecole et tous samedi est pour les matches du football.  Alors c'est le derniere fois nous pouvons aller au lac tous ensemble.

So a friend and I were thinking about what we were going to do when our kids are out of the house.  I mean really, after spending an hour cleaning house, throwing in some laundry, grocery shopping, and cooking what else am I going to do.  It's not like that will take all day.  With two people it takes only a couple loads of laundry.  There's barely enough dishes to run the dishwasher twice a week.  What am I going to do?  I really have no idea.  That's where the national guard came in.  I figured that I could pass basic training.  I looked at the physical requirements and I was quite capable of that.  The age requirements, I was still able to get in.  The husband requirement:  definitely absolutely not!  So I was lamenting to my friend what am I going to do.  We needed just a little excitement too. I think I'm having a midlife crisis and there isn't a sports car showing up in my drive way.  We came up with the idea of shooting.  I've shot BB guns, pellet guns and .22 rifles but never a hand gun. 



So I texted John and went to Yeagers to purchase a hand gun.  I didn't realize that they were that expensive and then I had no idea what kind to get.  The lady behind the counter asked why I wanted it.  Protection maybe?  No.  Why would I need protection?  I'm a middle-aged, van-driving, homeschooling mother of three kids.  It's not like I'm attracting that kind of attention.  No I just wanted to shoot something.  This lady was nice and kind and pointed me to the Plantation Range in Bellingham.  They rent guns.  Perfect.  You pay a day use, rent a gun and buy the ammo.  I grabbed my friend and her husband and to the range we went.  The guy let us rent a Sig, a glock and a Browning.  The Sig and glock were 9mm.  Way to big and loud for me.  The Browning was perfect.  I could load the clip fire off 10 rounds and take out the clip.  I learned how to carry the gun, and hold it without scrapping skin off my thumb.  I think I know what I want for my birthday.  Another friend told me that a Ruger .22 was a good handgun.  Anyone have suggestions please let me know.  I'm wanting to take a class maybe in October. 
 L'autre jour une amie et moi decidons d'aller tirer sur les armes a feu.  J'aime beaucoup.  J'apprendre d'apporter un arme a fue, charger les balles, et stander correctement.  Peut-etre je vais demander un pistolet pour mon anniversaire.