Long Lake

My sister and I made one of our many annual trips to the Lake today. We had fun watching and swimming with the kids. We have been doing this ever since River was about 4 months old. We really noticed how much the kids have all grown. River started out in a baby carrier and stroller being completely protected from the sun to wading and playing and being watched by a nervous Mom. Now he wears his life jacket and plays by himself while I relax in the grass. Josie has made progress to. She used to be by the shore or only out with Lori. Now she has a big girl life jacket and swims where she can't touch. Carson too! Carson is beginning to float and swim with no life jacket. He can even jump right off the dock by himself with no fear at all.

So far we have taken 3 trips in the camper. Two to Westport and one to Lake Quinault rain forest. We had a good time at the rain forest. It was so pretty there. We stayed in a RV park right on the lake with big trees around us. We explored the area and drove all through the woods. We found a great primitive campground along the river that we will picnic at the next time we go. River threw rocks into the river and Foxy caught one in her mouth! She ended up with a broken canine tooth. Happily she's not in pain but I will have to take her to the vet to have it removed before it rots. The camera battery died as soon as we got there, so no pics. To bad!

We had some of the work done on our bathroom. It has been stripped to the 2x4's, all the rot removed and a new sub floor installed. We need to do all the finish work but have put it on the back burner until fall.

River is changing everyday. He is getting to be more and more like a little boy. No baby is left in him. He is so much fun to talk to now. We have full conversation's and he shares his observations with us. I love it! He is getting more silly and likes to try to get us or play jokes on us. He is really getting to be a good little boy. He follows instruction with out fighting me about it. I can let him do more things he wants because he listens to me so much better. He can walk across the parking lot without holding my hand because he stays with me and looks for cars by himself. He is getting to walk around in the grocery store without being in the cart. No more fights about getting into his car seat because he is big enough to do it by himself now. Gaining some more independence seems to make him happy, but he is still my little cuddle boy. I get more kisses and more loves now too.

All in all things have started to settle down for us. We are caught up on house projects and chores and have settled into a routine of work week followed by camping on the weekend. The best part of having a camper is that it is a breeze to get ready to go and to unpack. Brian has a project to finish in our front yard and that's about it. I will try to get some photos from around the house posted this week.