The Phillips Family

Thursday, September 5, 2013

Summer fun!

We rented a boat again this year out on Lake Coeur d' Alene. It was a hot 90+ degree Saturday. The kids were thrilled. We hit the water and tubed for about 2 hours then we shut the motor down and had some lunch. When I went to start it back up again, it made a horrible grinding noise. Over and over and over. Long story short, we were stranded out on the lake for over an hour drifting toward the shore. Kent jumped in and held the boat in place and kept us off the bank. The owner came out on a pontoon boat, tied up our speed boat on the back, and we putted back to the dock. It took FOREVER! By that time we were done with the sun and heat. It all worked out and they ended up refunding our money, so we got 2 hours of tubing and a lot of lake time for free.

Brayden ready to bounce and jump.

Ellie, the little speed demon.

Dani, the cruiser, likes to take it slow.

Swimming with my babies.

Showing Brayden how to dive, look at that form. :)

He opted for a cannon ball.

Kent cannon balling in.

Dani with a little jump.

Kent and the babies. Memories were definitely made this day!

This picture cracks me up. It looks like Dani is in jail, but she's hanging at the skate park.

Girls weekend!

Ahh, girls weekend. The weekend I was looking forward to all year, and it didn't disappoint. When I say girls weekend, I mean a weekend away with those girls that know you better than anyone. Those girls that grew up with you, those girls who went through all of that drama time and time again and were there for you each and every time. These friendships have endured for 20-30+ years. I feel so fortunate to have found such true friends so early in life. Who knew that in Kindergarten Jocey and I would still have so much in common 30 years later?

I digress, but this weekend gave me a break from my regular routine and I could be me, not the Mama, or the wife or the caregiver, or the fixer upper, or the therapist or the lost and finder. I got to be me, the me that they know so well, and accept as is.

My weekend started Thursday morning at 3:16 am when I woke up and couldn't fall back to sleep. I had a 6 am flight to catch so I just went with it.

Kathy picked me up, we headed to Meghan's house, then we were on our way to Meghan's condo in Sunriver! I was beyond ecstatic. My parent's had a cabin there while I was growing up, we spent a lot of time there and I hadn't been back for over 10 years.

It felt like coming home when we took that familiar exit and navigated around the round abouts. I was like a giggly little kid. That night when everyone arrived, I was so content. We laughed until we cried, we talked about everything, put it all on the table, right off the bat mind you; husbands, kids, jobs, the funny, the dirty, the ordinary, the usually untalked about. I LOVE my 'Couve girls and I can't wait until next year, especially when Kym will be able to join us.

Cute Megs at 10 barrel after we hammered these amazing nachos.

Crux fermentation project

Our hiking trails.

The old road signs from when I was a kid, now a decoration in the village pub. I wanted to take them home. :)

There's my plane, 6am and ready to take off.

The girls and m in front of my family's old cabin. This is where we stayed for a week on our senior trip. Memories were made that week. :)

Pi & Lins

On our hike, Jocey, Lins, Kathy, Pi and Megs

Kathy and I rode the tandem all through Sunriver. The first hill we went down I discovered the brakes didn't work well, although the squeaked REAL loud. A guy moved off the path and said, "Wow, that looks dangerous." Kathy and I were dying laughing, we had everything under control. It was an adventure.

Megs, Pi and Lins.
Megs and Lins had cruisers, Lindsey was riding Meghan's husbands, which was a wee bit too big. She was not thrilled. Her arms looked like they were on ape hangers. (you know, those bad ass handle bars that are on some Harleys).

The infamous river in Sunriver.

Pool time! Cute Pi and Lins working the hats.

Sunriver airport that Kathy, Pi and I cruised by on our long bike ride.

Kathy and I cruised, Pi raced with her road bike and helmet. :) I love it!

Remnants from the hike.

Wednesday, July 31, 2013

My overachiever

This is my boy, Brayden. I have always thought that he was a good mix between Kent and I. However, with this whole scouting thing, I can just picture Kent as a boy. Brayden is such a determined, eager, honest, friendly boy, especially when it comes to scouting.

The honey and camp card sales took place in the Spring. Brayden was the top seller for our pack of 56 boys, for both camp cards and honey. He won a $50 Walmart gift card from the boy scout council for his honey sales. It is now JULY and I was notified just last week that Brayden won an iPad for his camp card sales! We wanted to surprise him, which meant that I had to keep the secret for a whole week, until it was presented to him. I am pretty sure he asked me at least 3 times if the winners were announced. (We were supposed to find out in June).

I think he was in shock and disbelief, it was pretty sweet. It goes to show that if you sell $1400 worth of products, you may be lucky enough to win the good stuff! Way to go Brayden, we couldn't be more proud of you!

Bring on the screen time battles. :)

River rats!

With the 100 degree days that we have been having, we decided to hit the river one Friday night. It's kind of crazy how warm the water temperature is now.

Brayden steering his passengers around in the boat that Kent had as a kid. The thing is so old, but in such good condition. I don't know how it hasn't dry rotted after all these years. But that's my husband for you, keeping everything neat and orderly. I love it!

These pictures were taken right before Ellie came over to me, where I was standing on the beach and said, "I have to go potty."

Me being the lazy mom (and apparently dirty mom) that I am, said, "Do you want to walk ALL the way to the bathroom, or just go in the water?"

E: "How do I go in the water?" With a look of amazement on her face.

Are you kidding me? So somewhat sarcastically I said, "You go in the water and you tinkle through your swimsuit. Make sure you leave your bottoms on!"

She scurries off and I proceed to put my camera away, and check my blood sugar, when I look up, not even two minutes later, to see Ellie standing on the shore, toes barely in the water, legs spread hip width apart with a steady yellow stream gushing out.

Oh my, oh my, oh my god! "ELLIE!" (Thinking, I can't believe she is doing this, I can't believe I wasn't more clear, I can't believe there are two women standing five feet away from her pointing and chuckling. I don't think I want to draw more attention to her. I really hope she doesn't come back here to talk to me. I really hope she goes directly out to swim....

Sunday, July 28, 2013

Photo session

When my Mom was here last weekend, I wanted to do a quick photo shoot with her and the kids. I am still trying to make an effort to learn how to use my camera. I have not been brave enough to take it out of automatic mode into manual mode consistently. (I am hoping I am smart enough to figure it out soon). I love shooting my kids and they are typically good sports, as long as I am quick. Like wrap up the whole shoot within 10 minutes quick.