Monday, September 1, 2008

A Recap of Mr. Sexton's Birthday, and Sniff... So Long Our Beautiful Summer!

Birthday Card for my Husband
Dick's Birthday was Saturday.
We all took the day off and had a grand play day.
See? Life.. Nothing else matters.



My Crew
First we went to the Baker City Farmers Market,
as shoppers instead of sellers!
Boy, was that fun!! Really.. To just stroll.
We toured an organic orchard.
And came home with lots of fruit!
Peaches, pears, apricots and plums.
We saw a praying mantis, ate at a greasy spoon cafe,
took a dirt road loop and saw some cool old buildings,
came home for a nap.
Then, drove for an hour to go to one of our favorite restaurants,
which was closed.
Then went to another restaurant, and had a fabulous dinner!
Funny, it was right in Haines.
Whoda thunk?
Then home to open gifts.
Mr. Sexton scored.


Here the kids are inspecting a motorized apple press
Sami got her head wacked shortly after this shot

Jake - Totally Diggin' the Tour
See that heavy metal handle?
Sami, was not a happy camper.
She got her head a little too close
when the 'demo' with the crank smacked her in the temple.
Ouch!

Sami's Gift to her Daddy
I love this sweet gift.
It captures Sami and her daddy perfectly.
Sami picked it out and bought it all by herself.
At Hallmark.
But we made our cards.
Because, that is what we do!

****************
Sigh....

Today is our last glorious day of summer vacation. And, ol' Mother Nature is being a sassy little thing! It's been super chilly in the morning, breezy all day, cold at night. This morning it was 35 degrees... Only three degrees from a hard frost! Rats... It's officially turning to fall here in our world.

We had a lovely short stint of summer... even though the kids could not recollect what they did, I gave them a run down of their very busy and active summer... It went something like this:
  • Learning to saddle a horse all by themselves and riding almost daily
  • Moving hand lines and irrigating (summer job)
  • Going to the Farmers Markets with their mom
  • Bowling (instead of the water park, because it rained!)
  • Camp outs in the backyard - 2 for Jake, 3 for Sami
  • Backyard campfires... I forget how many, 5? 6?
  • Picnic on Fathers Day at the Creek
  • Having our friends over for a lamb kabob BBQ and campfire, only to have a huge thunderstorm and we ate inside by candles and lanterns
  • Touring the Organic Orchard in Richland, Oregon (1 1/2 hours away)
  • Walks with Patchie
  • Real French Toast, Huckleberry Waffles, Scones and Lemon Curd
  • Sami's new love for Chai Tea on a cold morning (non caffeine)
  • Staying up late (9pm, 9:30 pm, 10pm)
  • A record crop of bummer lambs
  • A bummer calf
  • New puppies
  • A few sleepovers
So... even though we never officially went on a vacation, we managed to make the best of it, right here at home and in our own stomping grounds.

School starts tomorrow, along with the soccer routine and school volunteering scene.

I am already stressed about our first school fundraising project - our PTCO is serving lunch to 2,500 cyclists (the pedal variety) for Cycle Oregon, a week from today. Guess who opened her big mouth and said she would organize all of us? That would be me...

Someone please, scratch my eyes out and make me mute so I don't volunteer for anything soon..

So, it will be an early to bed night for the kids and a shock of a morning wake up call. 5:45 for the kids... OH.. Guess I am back to the morning chores.. Dang..

Off to make some phone calls, and twist some arms... aka recruiting more help!

4 comments:

Kerilou said...

I am so sorry summer vaca is over! It makes me sad to hear you talk about it, cause it is exactly how I am feeling! You guys had some wonderful memories, and now you have to hold on to those, until Spring! Happy Birthday to Cowboy Dick! Kerilou

Jacqueline said...

A card fit for a cowboy - it's really special Andi!

*karendianne. said...

You did an exceptional job of making grand summer memories!

Tami B. said...

What a beautiful summer and such an amazing bday. Your family really knows how to live. So glad you share a peek of it with us. My hubby is wishing he could join in on the cycle oregon lunch. It sounds like a great outing.

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