Rocky & Bullwinkle at the Cabin

 We always have good times at Scott's family's cabin. Most recently, we invited some couples from our neighborhood to come for a barbeque. While we were hanging out, we had 5 surprise visitors.

We had two bull moose, two calves, and a cow moose come into the tub for a drink. Scott's Dad put the tub in many years ago to draw the animals in so cabin visitors could enjoy a closer view of the native wildlife. He later added a recirculating pump with rocks to create a nice "babbling brook".

 His work has provided us with many opportunities to view moose and deer at incredibly close range.

These guys hung around for several hours.

As always, many thanks to Gary and Kathy. What a fun opportunity this was for all and what a beautiful evening and delicious barbeque we all enjoyed.

My First Grader

 This school year is different from last.

This year, everything is about "outfits", shoes, "fashion" and Kate's sense of "style" - and Kate uses those words. 

Kate knows exactly how she wants her hair done and the whole thing is driven by her. She would never dream of leaving the house without every hair in place and a layer of lip gloss slathered over her lips.

 This year she has FIVE pairs of shoes: 

purple ballet flats, blue "indian-esque" sandals, Nike sneakers, COWGIRL boots!, and pink snow boots.

 Kate quickly founds some friends from the neighborhood: Sarah Young, Kate Bailey, Kate, Becca Bailey {sweet Becca is the youngest in her family and she just walked down with her siblings to be part of their first day. Her mom came down to pick her up before school started, she's adorable, right?}

This year, Kate is at school more. 

She has three recesses instead of one and she brings a lunch, which consists of snack foods for now. Since Kate is allergic to peanuts, she doesn't go for traditional fair and hasn't learned to appreciate a good meat sandwich yet either. So far we pack a yogurt, something salty like corn chips, pretzels, or goldfish; something sweet like cereal and fruit snacks; and a treat. Not the healthiest lunch but I'm not under any illusions that she will actually eat vegetables or fruits without me hovering over her. They will probably end up in the trash.

Kate and a neighbor, Kaelie Knox. {I need to get a better look at Kate with her classmates. I'm not sure if Kate is really this gigantor or if Kaelie is just short.}

This year, Kate is brave. {and we haven't seen that movie yet}

But it helps that she has built-in friends from the neighborhood and last year's kindergarten class. When we got into class in the morning of the first day, I helped her find her hook to hang up her backpack, find her seat, put on her name necklace, and say "Hi" to her new teacher. After that, I watched her greet each of her familiar classmates  as they walked in. She showed them where to put their backpacks, helped them find their desks, and put on their name necklaces. After a few minutes of seeing lots of familiar faces and helping them, she went to her teacher with enthusiasm and exclaimed, "I know everybody here!" And she pointed out all the children that she already knew.

Kate and I are so excited for all this new stuff and all that this year has to offer both of us. Kate has already told me THREE times, "Mom you are being SO NICE this school year." I'm thinking, how bad was I before? AND This poor girl. AND I'm so glad she "thinks" I'm being nice. AND I love how she talks about "this school year" like it's been considerable when it's really only been a few days.

Labor Day at Silver Lake

Sam & Kate.

 Cousins.

 Us.

 Silver Lake.

 Daddy. Daughter.

 A "Cow-a-pitter".
We also saw a woodpecker, small bull moose, chipmunk, and some other kind of round rodent that made a bird-like noise.

 Sam had this bright idea...

 It left a mess of sliver-like, itchy, prickly hairs on her lip. All the rubbing and scrubbing with my sock and she still had to remove some with tweezers when she returned home. As I was trying to extract these itchy little things she laughed and said, "It seemed like a good idea at the time."

 Kate.

 Snack time.

Nap time.

What a beautiful place. This was our second time coming to the lake. The first time we just walked around the lake. This time, we added the 2-mile hike up to the upper reservoir.  When I say "up" I mean it was an intense incline. I was worried for a moment that Sam wouldn't make it. At the top of the hill, half-way through the hike, she informed me that she hadn't had anything to eat or drink all day! When we returned to the truck, we promptly filled her with food and then followed that with frozen custard from Nielsen's. Our plan to get a chocolate malt from Nielsen's Frozen Custard was what Kept Kate going for sure.

And now, we say goodbye to Summer. Thank you for the fun.