Hiking to the Old Cedars

Tops on my list of hoped for activities on this trip was a HIKE!  Not too surprising this summer.
Our family went with Jesse and Amy's family on a great four mile hike to the "Old Cedars". 

There were a lot of bees and bugs on the hike-- that's the not so good part.  But it wasn't too hot or too hard of a hike and we were with great company-- that's the good part.

Maybe you can't tell from this picture, but I got bit by a mosquito and by the next day my inner, upper arm was affected.  Weird.  I don't know what kind of mosquito it was and I probably have all sorts of West Nile virus in my blood now.  Oh well.  Add it to the Mad Cow disease I may have (the Red Cross doesn't want my blood). 

But I digress.  Greta loved riding with Uncle Jesse.

Peter has been telling everyone who will listen that his full name is Peter Jesse Fox, so he's a pretty big fan of Uncle Jesse as well.

George caught this big, mean, feisty garter snake, which in turn bit George.  The circle of life.  It was totally worth it to George.  He did let him go because, like I said, it was a big, mean one.  "Catch and release"... "Catch and release".  Say it with me, "Catch and release".  It's something new we're trying in our family.  We'll see how it goes.

 Greta is so happy on hikes.
What am I saying?  Greta is pretty much happy all the time. 

And I know I give Peter a hard time, but actually, he has been really, really happy and quite flexible on this trip. It's been lovely.

Tweenies are so cute.

 We loved hiking with the whole gang in the morning...

 

... and we enjoyed a tasty lunch out in Coeur d'Alene with just the four of us later in the day.

Reunion Sunday

We got up and got ready for church and then we rediscovered Grandma's old VHS copy of Chipmunks Big Adventure which is... let's just say, I can't believe I don't own my own copy.  I adored this movie as a kid and several of my children were more excited than was quite reasonable to watch it again. 

Ahh... the beloved pinball machine. 

A little pre-church golf cart ride.  The helmet Cannon is wearing is probably the safest thing that happened with the golf cart all week.

Hello, gorgeous young ladies!  Church with Jesse and Amy's family was great.  The kids all enjoyed their classes and we enjoyed the lessons.

Sunday evening we drove to Rathdrum, Idaho to spend the evening with Abe's oldest childhood friend and his family.  Justin and Abe are great friends and to listen to them for more than 10 minutes it is clear why they have remained so for forty years!  Fortunately for me, I admire and respect and enjoy and adore Justin's wife, Emily.  We have a lot in common with the gospel, homeschooling, dancing boys, ages and numbers of children.  I always feel so understood after a visit with Emily!

Maybe Cannon has found a ballet partner!

Mostly we had a great time visiting and sharing talents and telling stories and jokes.  It was a time for interacting (without screens!) and laughing and catching up and it was marvelous.

We don't see them nearly as much as we would like, but it's always good when we do.

Justin and Abe.

It's Reunion Time 2018

It is a much anticipated event--or rather series of events-- each year.  THE FOX FAMILY REUNION!!!  In which all nine of the Fox siblings converge in Spokane, Washington (or round abouts) for a week of Foxes, family, fun, food, frolicking, frog catching (actually they're toads) and much more that doesn't start with an "F".
The boys were in the car as well, but they were tucked away in the far back and please remind me that this is the ideal car seating arrangement in our family.  It was an unbelievably peaceful ride-- especially considering we didn't leave home until noon on Saturday.  Bethany had a play practice in the morning she needed to be to in the morning.  So even with the late departure, it was a great drive and believe it or not, the car rides too and from are some of our favorite parts of the whole week. 

Like our dirty window?  If you can see through the bug guts, notice the green sign showing that we are about to cross over the "Clark Fork"-- a river we cross over many times on the way to Spokane.  Don't you think "Clark Fork" looks an awful lot like "Clark Fox"?  Don't you think it was reasonable that I shed many tears on this first drive to Spokane we've taken without him since he was born over nineteen years ago?  I think we would have missed him anyway, and it would have felt tender and I might have gotten teary-eyed, but certainly seeing his name on the road signs over and over again didn't help. 

We got in about 10:30 and it was a real treat to get to see Grandma right off! 

Somehow little children just know that Grandma is a safe.  Grandma is love.  Because even little Peter went right to her and hugged her. 

The girls went straight for Grandma's movie collection to find a show to watch down in the basement.

 Peter excitedly settled into the race car bed-- the right and privilege of every little boy who gets to stay at Grandma's house.

George "called" the sofa sleeper.  I'm not sure he was left with any other options, but I'm glad he felt like he came out ahead!

Greta was a little nervous about sleeping in a new bed, but that's what a big sister is for.

More Summer Fun

Da Boyz and Da Dads on an early morning Saturday bike ride.  Good for boys.  Good for dads.

They rode ever so slightly farther than the moms and dads rode a few weeks back.  Good for them.  I'm really happy for them. 

I CHALLENGE THEM TO A DUEL!

  My Jolley Foxes.

Cannon is a  most remarkable little lad.  Maybe it is being 5th in the line up of large family... but he went to Webelos day camp this past week and pretty much completely got himself ready by himself... including his lunch packed and his swim stuff and his spending money. He woke me up in the morning and told me it was time to go.  For the record I would have gotten up in time--- and was a very eager beaver, but still!  He's 10 for crying out loud.  I think he has an old soul.

The neighborhood parade.  Good times.  Cannon took his color guard job very seriously.  Does he take his Cub Scout career more seriously than his parents do???      No comment.

The front of the pack of the parade got away from him.  He was too fast for the second grouping.  He went at it alone.  He's a loner, Dottie.  A Rebel.  There's things about Pete you wouldn't understand.  Things you couldn't understand.  Things you shouldn't understand.

My apologies... we recently watched Pee-Wee's Big Adventure. Which I don't care how old I get.  It's still funny.

I unexpectedly ran into my sweet nieces in line at a grocery store last week!  What a surprise!  I was purchasing tissues and ice cream for my dear friend whose daughter left on a mission.  Before Clark left I had no idea that such a happy thing would call for such reinforcements.  I know better now.

 Faith has been a life-saver to me this summer.  Faith, thy name is "helpful".  Seriously, she is willing and cheerful and happy to be home with me.  I realize this won't last.  She is twelve and she'll get older and get busier and be gone more and I'll miss her.  But let it be known, I appreciate the heck out of her!
She and I went on a hike recently.  It was a lovely hike-- except for the huge cows along the trail.  It was super freaky to us.  They were tagged, so they belonged to someone.  I don't know who gave this person permission to let their cows graze in Rosecrest Canyon... but we did not appreciate it. 

One of the offending bovines.

Sunday night game night.  It feels like something of a risk to expose our loud and obnoxious "game night" behavior to new friends, but we had a great time and with any luck, we'll still be friends:)

Charming children.

Charming, indeed.

Greta Turns Two At the Top of the World

You know how sometimes something bad happens that you don't like and you don't think you deserve?
But then sometimes...sometimes you know you got something so much more wonderful and better than you could ever deserve or even hope for?
Her name is Greta and she's two and she is joy and sunshine to my heart.

She is talking so much and so well that she "graduated" from her speech therapy sessions this past week.  It was remarkable how quickly she learned to talk when she could finally hear properly!

Her favorite people in the world are teenage boys.
So that should be fun.

Her favorite toys are chunky puzzles and shape sorters.

I think I love the sight of her big huge smile more than just about anything else in the world.

We celebrated her birthday with a family hike up to the top of Little Cottonwood Canyon.

Catherine Pass Trail was an unbelievably gorgeous hike to Lake Catherine with loads and loads of beautiful wildflowers. 

Once again, no big girls with us-- they were probably working or rehearsals or workouts and whatever.  

The very best part was singing "Happy Birthday" to Greta at the top of Little Cottonwood Canyon, looking down into Big Cottonwood Canyon.  Greta loved it!! 

Let me give you a little bit of backstory on this picture.  Moments before, someone passed gassed.  The kids were cracking up while also making continuous "air biscuit" sounds.  You can see from Faith and George's lips, they are mid-sound making.  Ha ha ha.  Even I must admit, it was pretty funny.

I keep saying it, but I can't get enough of the great outdoors this summer.  And then I look back at the pictures and it brings me such happiness.

At one point, during a challenging section of the hike, George was complaining.  I said, "George, I just barely wrote on the blog about how tough you were and what a good hiker you were.  You can't start complaining NOW!"
He responded, "Well, you should take that down!"

A little sample of the wildflowers.

Oh, my dear little Peter.  I love and loathe hiking with him at the same time.  It takes such patience and yet is so rewarding at the same time.  He's so loud.  He's so intense.  He celebrates his victories so intensely and laments his challenges with such passion.  He's almost four and may I just say, I think he and I will both be spectacular when this life is all said and done and much of that will be because of each another. 

We topped off the evening with some shared shaved ice.  It doesn't get much better than that.