Grande Ronde Lake

Last weekend we went camping at Grand Ronde Lake Campground-near North Powder just north of Baker, Oregon. We choose this place because there is only 8 campsites so it's quiet and it's so beautiful +it's a great place to do some fishing. Here are a few pictures of the Lake:

Here are some pictures of the cousins fishing-Whitney and Michael caught 4 Rainbow Trout-which we all shared for dinner (at least those who like fish did).

We even got to see some deer while up there. One walked into our campsite. Another we saw eating in the meadow down by the lake. And we actually had to stop our car to let three cross the road in front of us as we arrived. It was so fun for the kids to see the wildlife and experience the great outdoors-including the mosquitos, a little bit of rain, smoke from the campfire and chilly nights.

I am going here for the weekend!!!

Our 4th of July

Saturday we packed up a picnic and took the kids to a park that wasn't very crowded and had lunch. It was relaxing and pretty hot after a bit-so we decided to take a walk down by the river for about an hour.

The girls really loved it and it was great to be around nature on such a beautiful day. We decided to try and take a family picture and so when the area was clear of cyclists, i set up the camera on the stroller. Then tried not to laugh as we heard a cyclist coming as we were waiting or the timer to go off. I was thinking great-i went through all that trouble to set it up perfect and the camera will go off right as the bike goes past. Luckily it took our family picture before the biker came-but unluckily-the camera fell over as the cyclist went past. Again luckily the camera didn't break. Another cyclist actually stopped to take our picture after witnessing the first attempt-he was so nice because he took differnt shots. After he left-i was wondering if that was his day job. LOL.

After we got home-we had a quick nap/dinner and then back out for fireworks. We went to a different show than we normally go to and were pleasantly surprised how nice this show was. We found a great spot and next year will go back. The girls loved it-except Brooke-she was a little uncertain at the loud booms and wimpered a bit..but by the end she was content. Amber was hilarious-jumping up and down the entire time like a jumping bean.

So you think you can dance

Alright My favorite dances from tonights show were:
Cha Cha Jeanette and Brandon-Smokin' and fun.
Classical Ballet by Melissa and Ade -Beautiful-I loved it.
Quickstep by Karla and Vitolio-Entertaining to the max

Judging from tonights performances the couples I think are in the most trouble for going home are Evan/Randy and Caitlyn/Jason.

Phillip/Janine and Kayla/Kapono 's routines were both good so I really don't know who the third couple would be to join the other two.

With that said my choices to go home would be Jason and Karla-because neither of them really stand out to me in any of their routines.

Latest Albertsons Deal

120 pouches starkist tuna fish (5 cases of 24)
6 loaves of Roman brand bread $1.99 each1 reynolds wrap alum foil 1 alb. brand syran wrapFrenches classic yellow mustard Frenches honey mustard
Total after taxes and coupons $18.93 + got two survey printouts to earn $4.

Cherries and Park Fun!

I am so lucky-I was given 2 gallons of Cherries today

by a dear friend-look at those red beauties!!

Here are a few pictures of the girls playing at the park last week.

Climbing.

Comparing sizes

Sliding.

Making MusicLast but not least: Getting drenched!!

Whitney's Party

Whitney wanted to have a turtle-themed birthday party this year. We made her invitations in the shape of turtles and that's where it all started. We started out the party with some games. First was goin' fishing. The kids sat in a circle with one child in the middle who was blindfolded. The kids passed a fish around the circle while the child in the middle counted to 20. Then whoever had the fish when the counting was done hid it behind his/her back and the child in the middle guessed who had the fish. The next game was a turtle relay race..we split up into two teams and the kids had to crawl on their hands and knees to the other side of the room with a laundry basket on their back *turtle shell*. Next we made a craft-Turtle habitat jars. The kids each got their own toy turtle and decorated jars with foam seaweed-starfish and other fish life to create a little home for their turtle. Then Whitney blew out her candles and everyone enjoyed Turtle cupcakes, gummy sharks and fish and goldfish crackers as treats.

Thanks mom for the turtle mold-the cupcakes turned out so cute!!

The Turtle Habitats: