Let the Countdown Begin.....

I'm officially starting the countdown......Two more weeks until the boys go back to school!!! Oh happy day!! School supplies have been bought and clothes shopping will happen this weekend. Monday I will take Clifford up to his school to find out who his teacher is (instead of letter mailed home, they post the entire list out in the main hallway of the school). Not sure how the school is notifying incoming kindergarters on who their teacher will be, but I hope it's soon. I've marked our calendars for the boys' teacher meet-n-greet before school starts. And I'm starting to fantasize on how I want to spend my days now that both boys are in the same school :)

Venting

I am soooo ticked off!!!! I'll try to remember to use proper language in this post, since this is a family blog after all. I've already ranted to Pete and on my Facebook. I just need to get this out, and possibly any (positive) feedback. I'm ticked off at my brother and his wife. My nephew's birthday is in a few weeks. I sent him a cute card with $1. Peter and I have TONS of nieces and nephews, all whom we love and would love to spoil, but with having two kids of our own, money gets tight. To try and make each one feel special, we send a birthday card and then a dollar for each year.

(SIDE NOTE: just to state a fact, Roddy and Tricia did not send either of my boys a birthday gift, a card or even a simple phone call to wish them happy birthday. and my boys adore both of them)

Pete and I wake up this morning to find this comment on my Facebook:

Roddy wrote: "We know what it is already not too happy but it is what it is....i know what you did for riley is not what u have done for all children I remember growing up with you come on"

SERIOUSLY???!! Oh, when I read this my face went blood red!!

(ANOTHER SIDE NOTE:) For xmas last year, my brother was in Afghanistan, while his wife and kid were in Cali. Peter and I made a good size care package to send to Roddy for his gift (as did my other family members), as well as went in on on the money with my family to buy a video game he wanted for when he returned home. We also sent Tricia and Riley their xmas gifts. I get an email on xmas eve from Tricia basically saying that what me and my family did wasn't good enough; wasn't right that Roddy only had one xmas gift (the video game) and she was giving her gift we gave her to him. REALLY??!! We had some (friendly but to the point) words back and forth, until she actually apologized to me)

SERIOUSLY???!! I'm going through this again? What we've done isn't good enough???? It's unbelievable. I'm tired of feeling like I've been slapped in the face by them because what we did isn't enough. Heck, I've already bought all of their xmas gifts for this year. Do I not send those in fear of it not being good enough??! And what are they teaching Riley? To act ungrateful?

Feel free to email comments to me on this

Gordon 'n Michelle's Baby Shower

Sunday we attended Gordon 'n Michelle's baby shower, hosted by her twin sister Jessica. They're having a baby boy and picked the name Caleb Joe Guthrie. This one was co-ed (Michelle will have another one next month hosted by her sis-in-law, which will be girls only). It was definitely more like a party than a typical baby shower. The location for the party was on a beach in Seattle. Weather was gorgeous. The party theme was luau, no baby shower games (instead just some fun lawn games), and a very relaxed atmosphere. And the food was delicious. It was potluck. I brought my strawberry pretzel salad. Within thirty minutes of me sitting it on the buffet table, only a small corner of it was left! (I made a 9 x 13 size dish of it!). There were tattoos and a treasure chest of goodies for kids to have. Jessica bought a balloon kit and immediately put Pete in charge of it. He did his best to follow instructions, but his creations weren't exactly as the pics showed. One little girl came up to him and requested a humming bird!! The look on Pete's face was priceless! I think he made her a dog instead, which looked more like a rabbit. Sadly, we weren't able to stay long, as Pete wasn't feeling too good (he ended up getting the stomach bug I had a few days prior). Before we left, Gordon and Michelle opened our gift. I made them a 'Baby's First Year' premade scrapbook (Pete contributed to the gift by forking out the money for me to make it haha). They loved it! Pete and I are excited for them to have their first child. For the longest time, out of all our friends, we've been the only one with kids. We like to joke and tease them about how much their lives are going to change once the little one comes. And you know what's scary? In a few years, our boys will be old enough to babysit their kids!! :)

Martin Lake

With Pete's big hiking trip cut short, he still had four days of vacation to use, so we decided to go out on our first family backpacking trip of the season (better late than never!). We met Daniel and his two older boys in North Bend for a middle-of-the-week trip. I loved that part. We left on a Wednesday and returned on a Friday, with the weekend still available to relax. We hiked for a couple of hours until we came upon the trail that led off to Martin Lake. It was just a boot trail (meaning it wasn't maintained) and from that point there would an 1800 elevation gain. Even though this first part of the hike up to that point was easy, kids and I were tired, and weren't looking forward to making that next section of the hike to the lake. Lucky for us, just a few steps ahead and off to the left, was a camping spot right next to a stream. We camped there for the night and rested up. After breakfast the next morning we packed everything back up and hiked up the trail that led to the lake. This portion of the hike was brutal!!! The trail just went up, straight up! I think it took us about three hours to hike up to the lake, and it was hard. But once we got there and saw the lake, it was worth it! The lake and its view was gorgeous. Kids played in the water while Pete and Daniel fished. We slept in late the next morning, which was wonderful. We ate a late breakfast before packing up. Our hike back down the trail was just as tough and tiresome. We finally reached the car at around 4:30pm, and drove directly to McDonalds to satisfy our craving for something greasy. This was a fun trip, but I don't know if I'd want to take the kids back and do it again. Especially me, since my legs were so sore and I could barely walk for days afterward (thanks to that steep 1800 elevation gain). I know Daniel and Pete want to go back. Maybe that can be a 'guy only' hike.

Never fails...this kid is guaranteed to always catch a frog on every hike we go on!
See these? It's a pair of frog legs Daniel cooked up. Clifford stabbed the frog in the throat because his cousins told him to (great, already dealing with peer pressure). Both Daniel and Pete were in agreement that the boys had to eat what they killed, so each boy had a taste of frog legs
View of Martin Lake






Daniel's typical 'power bait' shot and the results
Cooking the fish over the fire for our dinner. It was delicious!


Boys enjoying a late breakfast after sleeping in past 10am!

Daniel taking a pic of his boys before they got in trouble for playing on the log jam after being told not to
This was our view while hiking up to Martin Lake

Stevens to Snoqualmie 2011, attempt #1

As I posted previously, the guys had to cut their backpacking trip short due to there being too much snow. They made it a whole 3 days. I drove up Stevens Pass that Monday to pick them up (that was an ordeal in itself, since there was no sign directing me where to turn off for a particular forest service road). When I finally met up with the guys, they tried convincing me to drop them off down the road a bit so they could continue on their trip using a different pathway. I said "Heck NO!" Between the ordeal of driving up to pick them up and the boys' behavior, I needed Pete home. I had already mentally prepared my brain for Pete to come home. And I told Pete if they attempt to do this again next year, he HAS to make arrangements to send our boys down to visit his parents during that time so I can have a break too (seriously, Clifford and Kristjan's behavior was awful!!! I don't know if it's their age or a new stage they're going through, but it sucks). Here's pics from their trip. I don't have Pete next to me as I write this post, so I'm going off memory as far as any description I write on pics.











If you know Daniel well, you know he loves fishing...and is very competitive...he's so proud of his fish! :)



Nic caught a fish! (I think Pete did too, but he didn't get a pic of it)


They took this pic to show what they came upon...
..and this is when they decided they can no longer continue on their hiking trip


The guys stayed at Lake Hope their last full day camping. They nicknamed their campsite Lake "No Hope"




Tunnel Creek Trailhead. This is where I was to meet them to pick them up. There's no sign off the main highway to direct you to this place. On a hunch, I actually drove down the correct road, but after driving for 15 minutes and not seeing anything, I ended up turning around to look elsewhere.