Look I'm Still Around

Hi there.

I know. MIA again. Summer is like that :)

I've been playing. A lot. We were go...go...go for awhile there. Chris joked that we were fitting a triathlon into a 3 day weekend.

Day 1: mountain bike around Lake Como. A little over 7 miles.
Day 2: hike to Baker Lake. A little over 3 miles.
Day 3: swim at Lost Trail Hot Springs. Then we added our own twist and rode our motorcycles up to another mountain lake.
Day 4: Rest!! :)

 On a weekend before that we put in a 35 mile ride into some beautiful country over in Idaho.

So, if you are wondering where I have been...there you go. I'm sure there will be more pictures and adventures to come. We still have more than a month to play!!

And since I missed last Tuesday's fun freebie I will have an extra goodie for you this week.

Always,

Rhoda

Happy Mother's Day

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. Filled with fun and activities YOU enjoy.

My brain has officialy moved over to "summer mode" after our weekend of fun. It's unfortunate since we still have 3 weeks of school left. Yikes.

We drove home to Salmon with our bikes in tow. And then we rode like crazy.

A full afternoon on the race tracks and dusty off roads. Sandy (my MIL), even challenged herself and learned to drive the 4-wheeler. Three generations out being motor-heads.

On Mother's Day, we did the same. A longer ride. Some fishing. A hot springs at the end of the day with my dad. A pile of worn out kids and mom on the floor watching a program on bears in Alaska. One of the best Mother's Day adventures so far!

I hope you all had a spectacular weekend!

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms :)

Rhoda

Making the Most of It...

We rode our bikes again this weekend.

Twice!

While we were zipping along a dirt road in the pines, I realized that we are already in summer mode. We still have 4 weeks of school, but we are already acting like it's summer.

Packing food and leaving the house on a moments notice.

Staying out late, sucking up the most of the sunshine.

Not thinking about the responsibilities and chores that we will have the following day.

Heck. We almost forgot about "school night bedtime".

When we were sitting around the table eating pizza last night, we decided that we are going to milk this summer for everything it's worth. And we started this weekend!! :)

Happy May. Bring on wildflowers, warm sunshine, the smell of hot pine, dusty roads, and high mountain lakes. We are so ready!!

Rhoda

Fun Friday Night

Our Friday night date nights just became a little more interesting.

Actually, they aren't really "date nights" any more. They are now "family fun nights".

A couple of weeks ago we took Chris' bike in to the shop to get it ready for summer. When we stopped to pick it up, there was a new bike outside. A new "used" bike.

We have been to a lot of bike shops together. We have looked at A LOT of bikes.

They all looked like bikes to me. Except this one. This one spoke to me. And it told me that it really, really, REALLY wanted to come home with me.

I listened.

That means that Kyla gets my blue Yamaha. And that Hayden didn't have a bike.

His question: "Does that mean I just have to chase after everyone on my pedal bike?" :(

Well, we couldn't have that. So I took all my hidden money and bought him a bike too. Now, we can all go out and play!!

And we will. Lots and lots of playing!!

Bring on Summer!! :)

Rhoda

Let's Just Run Away...

It's times like this that I wish we didn't live in such a secluded area.

For us to go somewhere completely different takes a few hours. It's always a drive to go someplace else...even to other little towns.

Right now we are smothered in smoke from the wild fires. Smothered so much that at 4:00 in the afternoon it looks like 8 at night.

Can't breath.

Can't think.

Don't feel like being productive.

I just want to run away...but where do we go?

I'm craving fresh air. Green trees. Water. Anything but this. One month has been too long. It's time for winter!!

Burning Sugar Stinks!

My kids are usually ravenous when we get home after a day at school.

They eat everything they see. Dig things out of the cupboard that I didn't know was there. Scarf up anything in their lunch boxes and then start hounding me for dinner.

Last weekend Kyla and her friend made little mini brownies from scratch. It was a great Sunday afternoon activity. She loves those little tiny cupcake tins so she baked them in that with her cute decorative papers.

Makes a perfect after school snack. Right?

Hayden and I came home together. Chris went to work out. Kyla was at volleyball practice.

Mr. Garbage Gut struck the kitchen with a vengeance and then decided he wanted a mini brownie, but he didn't want it cold. He stuck it in the microwave for 30 seconds and walked away. I was in the living room when I heard this awful whirring sound coming from the microwave. I glance at the kitchen and all I see is a HUGE plume of dirty black smoke.

"Hayden...what the heck did you put in the microwave?! Metal?!"

"No Mom. I swear. It's just a brownie"

I run for the kitchen and the first glance at the window of the microwave shows me that something is definitely on fire. The whole window is glowing yellow and orange.

I slam the stop button and then open the door.

The brownie is going up like a roman candle. There is flame all the way to the top of the microwave and it just keeps on burning. I blow on it like a candle on a cake and it goes out but smokes even more.

I grab a hot pad and take the whole microwave tray to the sink, thinking that I don't want to break the plate with cold water, but I need to put this brownie out! I slide it into the bottom of the sink and then turn the water on. More smoke. Lots of hissing. The thing is as black and charred as a charcoal briquette!

Hayden is watching by now. The smoke alarm is going off so I hand him a towel and ask him to go wave it in front of the alarm to make it stop.

Then it dawns on me. I ran for the kitchen. My son was running for the front door. I ask him "Hayden, were you going to run out the door and leave me in the kitchen?" His reply, "Yeah Mom. I thought the whole kitchen was on fire!!".

Wow. I feel safe and loved. My hero. Not!!

By the way. Burning sugar really smells bad. The house reeked for the rest of the night!

Rhoda

My Last Assignment...

I finished my figure drawing earlier this week (still have one more quiz, but no more major drawing sessions...phew!).

Today, I finished the last of the inking on my comic. All submitted. All done with that class :) I plan on playing this weekend.

I promised I would share:

It was intense. Time consuming. But I'm pretty happy with it :) It is based on true events...our cat is fat. Super fat. And he has managed to get himself stuck in the washer a few times. We have all learned to leave the lid down when we are done with the wash (even though it is super funny when he gets stuck in there and all you hear is a faint "meow").

Don't forget to post a comment and share a link on Facebook about the giveaway for a chance to win. Saturday is the day!!

Rhoda

Happy New Year...

10 days of break. And I can't tell you where they went...

Family. Food. Cleaning. Food. Family.

And then the flu.

That was fun. 10 people in the house, and it hit every single one of us! The little ones are the worst. They can't tell you when they are about to explode, it's never near a bucket, and it's always the worst possible place to clean up.

I slept away one whole day of the break. And I'm pretty sure each of my kids did too. We just rotated days.

But before the nasties hit, we played at the park:

Spent some time playing with rocks by the river.

And I did some Yoga!  I am working on mastering Crow Pose. One of these days it will just come naturally, but for now, I still am happy if I can just count to 6 or higher before I fall out :)

Here's to a happy, healthy, and creative 2012.

Rhoda

A Hunting We Will Go...

Time for a Christmas tree!!

We went into an old burn area, from the fires of 2000, hoping to find a regrowth tree at the right height. There really aren't any yet. Those fires burned so hot that the majority of the burn area barely has shrubs, let alone evergreen trees.

It was a nice day to be out driving and looking, so we just kept on going until we found a few pockets of trees that we could look through.

The kids are super excited to get it decorated. We will probably get it done sometime this week. We are waiting for my sis to come and join us in the festivities :)

Happy Monday,

Rhoda

Back to the Real World

I'm home.
I could have used a few more days of fun, but I'll take what I can get :)

The adventure weekend started at my dad's, with my sister and my kids. Dinner out. A movie.

The next morning, I delivered the kids to their grandparents (Chris' parents).  Cyra and I started our drive. The plan was to meet my sister Fauna by 4 in Southern Idaho.

We were ahead of schedule, so along the way, we stopped at a hidden hot springs. My dad used to work on the property when I was very little, and we used to swim there through the years. It's been so long that Cyra didn't remember being there. It was a perfect day for it! We even had coffee!

Then, we kept driving. And driving.

We met Fauna at Barnes and Noble, had our coffee and then found a hotel and some dinner. The next day, we shopped, the girls got their hair cut, and then we drove some more.

Our final destination was Lava Hot Springs, Idaho. Perfect. We spent two days, playing, swimming, relaxing, and just being sisters.

It was hard to come back to reality. We eased into it. A few stops along the way. Tea. A walk in the cemetery in Pocatello (one of my favorite places to walk when I lived there). Pizza and some catch with dad. And a new pasta hair style:

Now we are home. Back to reality. A day at school. Chores. Yoga. The usual :)

Happy Monday!

Rhoda

It's a Sister Thing!

Hi All :)

I am off on a sister trip. I will have some pictures to show soon.

Hot Springs with the little sister.

Hot Springs with both sisters.

Shopping.

Adventure.

More to come!!

Thanks for staying tuned :)

Rhoda

Rough?

We are back from camping.

If that's what we should be calling it :)

The lodge was built in the 40's. It has modern amenities (sort of).
The spring box had run dry. Dad had it fixed by the next morning.
The propane was easy to turn on for the gas range, but not the fire place.
Electricity, when the generator was on.

See. Not very rough. It was a great adventure though. (we won't talk about the part where I got stung by a wasp, or dad's friend's dog that was bit by a rattlesnake at the river, or the other dog that ate rat poison...all is well now and it just adds to the story, right?) Here is a snap shot of our weekend:

It's miles from anywhere. Up a very rough dirt road (and I've driven dirt roads all my life). We were secluded and had the run of the place. The kids were free to roam around where they pleased. Ride bikes. Play with whatever they wanted.

We had some very happy, very dirty kids! And they wore themselves out and slept like logs! We did wake up to the munching of a mouse, or rat, the first night.
(notice the custom way to carry cards back to the cabin?)

The weekend was my dad's idea. He works at this camp in the summer, cooking for all the girl scouts and counselors. In the off season, we get to use it.

Thank you dad! You made us very happy campers.

Vanilla cream soda anyone?

We spent an afternoon on the river (I forgot my camera). It was agreed that we would all just tuck those memories away to share with each other...not everything needs to be on film or digitally recorded.

And after a weekend of being secluded in the forest, we made a bee line for the nearest hot springs. Our favorite place to be this summer.

And that, my friends, is how you finish off a summer!

Happy Labor Day!

Rhoda