Lake Roosevelt

My side of the family gets together every summer for our annual Loon Lake trip. This year we tried Lake Roosevelt, still within a couple of hours of Loon Lake. I'd say the water temperature felt about the same; warm enough to spend your day in the water. So I have some pros and cons with this new location.

Pros: 1. The lake house was MUCH better. It fit all of our families and still had plenty of room for a ping-pong and pool table. 2. There were no cats! The Loon Lake house owner has a few cats and their hair is everywhere. Some family members are allergic to cat dander so they have been miserable with dealing with them in the past. 3. The larger lake allowed us to discover some really cool spots like a waterfall and caves.

Cons: 1. I do like how Loon Lake is literally the backyard of the house. We don't have to walk down a sandy path to get to the shore. 2. There is no dock. The kids like to jump and fish off of the dock. Instead there was what is called a "Lilly Pad" that floats on the water. But you still get very wet just trying to stay afloat on it. The kids had a blast playing "monster" on it though.

Something new this year were paddle boards and kayaks. I have been wanting to try out paddle boarding for a long time now. I thought the challenging part would be balancing, but instead it was learning how to turn exactly. For sure the kayaks were easier, but I still prefer the paddle board because of the extra challenge.

I loved the house we stayed in! It was big, decorated in beachy themes, and most importantly- clean! I wish I would have taken pictures of all the rooms because they were so cute with different beachy themes in each room. Our family had the "captain's room." My sister, Sanni probably had the most "questionable" room with it's dozen or so nude mermaids catching your eye no matter where you looked. We all had a good laugh with that room! The loft where the kids slept was cabin-themed, and the rec room was adorned in pirate-wear.

As the kids are getting older they are discovering the joy of game nights which we typically do after our days on the lake.

One of the highlights of the trip was Uncle Teem renting a party boat so everyone could enjoy the waterfall on the opposite side of Lake Roosevelt. It was a pretty little cove that even the wimpiest of cold-water swimmers enjoyed.

We made another stop at another waterfall to discover the hatching spot of THOUSANDS of tadpoles and frogs. The kids loved this. Paul and I were grossed out.

Another unique adventure was a challenging hike to a cave. The hike itself was rather short, but it was very steep. Luckily, we all made it up and down safely.

Before our vacation came to an end we took an extra day and went to Silverwood Theme Park just a short drive from my brother's home. It happened to be the one cool day there so we didn't go to the water park. Since I couldn't do any of the big rides, I took Baelor on all of the little rides while Paul went with Reina and the older kids on the big rides. I actually am not surprised Reina went on all the rides her height allowed. There were only two she wasn't quite tall enough for. She loves big rides like her parents! I think Baelor is following the same suit as he caught everyone's attention with his joy of being jostled.

Vacation with family is really the best!

Guinn Family Reunion

Every five years the entire Guinn family gets together for a much needed reunion. This is not soon enough. I think it should be yearly but it is quite difficult with family members all across the United States. We had a great reason to celebrate though; Grandma and Grandpa Guinn's 50th wedding anniversary! It was supposed to be a surprise party for them, but Grandma had to find out since we needed some information from her. It was fun to see their expressions as they entered the cultural hall at church all decked out in party decor and pictures reminiscing their lives together this past half century! Nobody deserved a better party as they have always been there for their six children, twenty-two and a half (prego me) grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. I love to hear stories told and re-told of their first blind-date, young married life woes and silly experiences as young parents and FINALLY retired lives.

Brothers around the grill...so Fourth of July

We are so lucky to have them just minutes away. We had tottered the idea of moving ever since Paul graduated from chiropractic school but opportunities have not outweighed the joys of having so much family near. I love it! After the party, we of course went out to karaoke! Always so fun.

My simple indoor Fourth of July display

The day following the party was the official Guinn Family Reunion at Lewisville park on the Fourth of July. We met some family members for the first time. It was HOT so all the kids (and the adult kids) quickly made our way to the river to cool off and play on the rope swing. I considered it, but had nearly everyone against a pregnant lady doing this. They won.

That evening instead of sticking around the neighborhood or going to many firework shows offered, a good chunk of us decided to spend the evening participating in simple fireworks at brother, Bryan and his family's brand new house in the country. It was nice to get away from the fireworks chaos that is such a big deal where we live (you see, fireworks that leave the ground are banned just across the river in Oregon AND due to fire danger this year, were completely banned there so everyone came to Washington to light them off). Baelor especially enjoyed taking part in this. Reina on the other hand mostly enjoyed playing with her cousins of the same age, Madeleine, Logan and Lauren.

All the same age: Reina, Madeleine, Lauren

Logan, Baelor, Reina, Madeleine, Lauren, Benjamin, Corbin

Can you tell Paul's side of the family seems to make blondes?

 With everyone still in town on Sunday, recently married brother Steve and his new wife Katie (one of my childhood best friends) had a house-warming/newly married party at their house. It was fun to see the feminine touches Katie has made to Steve's once bachelor pad. Although I do wish they lived less than 45 minutes away. I would love our children to grow up together.

Most everyone left soon after this, but we still got to visit with Paul's brother Matthew and his family a couple of days. We went to OMSI one day and to the river on another.

Apparently this "age machine" shows the cutest 90 year olds!

Our Rose from the South in Her PInk Shoes

This is Reina's second year in her ballet class at Dayley Dance Academy. She has been continuing her learning of basic ballet poses and various leaps. We have seen such a drastic improvement in her ability to maintain the poses in proper form, flexibility, and overall skill. Being her mom, of course I am proud of her but I do feel she is one of the top students in the class. I'm not sure what to do about next year as the new baby will be born right as dance class starts again, AND the fact that she is above skill level as most of her peers in class. Her teacher, Angela, suggested she try out for the elite group but it just so happened she was very sick the day of tryouts and I"m not sure that I can commit all the time and money. It's just a very stressful time right now so I'm gonna have to play it by ear.

 Even Baelor sometimes gets to join in at dance class

I snuck a few cellphone pics as they were posing for class/individual pictures

Reina and her cousin Heleena (who are in the same dance class) performed two ballet routines to "Roses from the South" and "Barbie and the Pink Shoes". Reina looked like a perfect, pink ballerina despite the goofy grin of new, loose, and freshly fallen teeth.

She waited to get two things until after her performance: ears pierced and a haircut! She has been waiting for weeks now so I took her straight after the performance. A little nervous but she picked out some cute little silver heart earrings.

 And now that she doesn't need a bun, a new haircut!