Lazy Sundays

Since no one especially wanted to cook today, these Hootenanny pancakes became our dinner.

Yummy

Sam and Reese, chillin on the couch

I was trying to nap, but Elle came in to give me some cuddles and snuggles....

Sam was supposed to count for the picture but snapped it right after "one".

Elle, reading to her babies

Audge, enjoying a good read on the newly painted deck she worked so hard on.

Nigel, enjoying Audrey's company

Thank goodness for at least one day where we don't have to run around!

Elle's Big Day.....and mine

Elle, with her ever-popular expression-of-choice, the thumbs up. She was so excited to get to preschool this morning. She's waited a LONG TIME. She'll be four in October and loves to keep up with her older brother and sister. She couldn't wait to get there, and I may have enjoyed a little me time for the first time ever with no kids at home! I mean scheduled, regular time that will happen again on a regular basis - not just Daddy taking the kids for a few hours kind of Yay! I'm so giddy I'm not even making sense...Isn't she precious? She already knows how to write her name and has recently become fascinated with writing and the alphabet. Good timing I guess! This Sunday in church she kept asking me how to write all our friends' names that were sitting near us. She practiced the whole time. This preschool gig is right up her alley.Later today, I coached Audrey's soccer team even though she wasn't there. Her dance class interferes with her Tuesday soccer practice. I am the assistant coach for her team and still have to be available to help whether Audrey's there or not. I LOVE soccer. I love playing, I love coaching, I love watching. So, all in all today was a great day.

So Long Summer

These pictures are courtesy of North Idaho, of course... I wish I could go on the lake one more time, I wish I could be wakeboarding; but I think the school year concept is slowing taking root. Soccer practices, dance practices, back to school nights, homework and assigned nightly 20 minutes of reading. I'll see you next summer, Coeurd'Alene. I'll miss you.

Last of summer + crazy

First, a picture of the girls... I love that Audrey still thinks this is o.k. and I love it when sisters

dress alike!

So, we've had quite the little adventure here in the Kienow house. It all started the week before school.... we went for one last hurrah in St. George and had a great time as always. We brought my friend Marrya and her kids with us while Sam stayed home for work.



Here's two of Marrya's kids, Seth and Audrey, Marrya's daughter is also named Audrey

The sun, it's blinding me!!

The week of fun in the sun and swimming was great.

Reese and his tricks!

So, while in Sunny St. George, my friends daughter came down with what we later discovered was strep. All of our kids and myself were soon to follow.

Our sickness lingered into the first week of school and Sam started to come down with what we assumed was strep. Not so fast, he ended up with the swine flu. I know, I know, crazy. He's been really ill all week long and is finally on the mend. So, we've had some fun times and some sick times.. here's to a wild start to the school year! :)

Audrey was the only one well enough for the first day of school

Thanks to everyone for all the wonderful meals, thoughts, and prayers! You have no idea how much you helped me!!

Tubbs Hill

Downtown Coeurd'Alene, there's a hill that's set aside for hiking called Tubbs Hill. It's about three miles all the way around, ( it goes in a loop) and has always been a favorite. When we were teenagers, we loved to come and jump off the rocks into the water. Here's a few pictures of our much more child friendly excursion on Tubbs.

Grandma and Grandpa with the kids!

Skipping with Grandpa!

Welcome Home

Ahhh... this is the view off mom and Dad's front deck. It's so peaceful there. I love when the wind blows and the green on the hill (or gold) moves in waves. I love waking up in the morning to the sound of turkeys in the yard or even hearing the coyotes howling at night when I'm falling asleep.

View from Sam's house

Here's a few more scenes from home. The deer was on my jogging route in the morning. Every night when we would drive back to mom and Dad's we'd have a contest to see who could guess how many deer we'd see. If it was right at dusk the usual average was around 20 deer in a two mile distance.

The kids in Grandpa's shop

Of course no visit home would be complete without friends from home!

I had trouble with this collage, sorry you won't be able to zoom it in. Also, Liz's head got cut off in the picture with her boys.... oops. From Top left: Susie, my childhood friend's little sister @ her baby shower, Nicole- one of my best friends who used to live in Hawaii, Nicole and her cute little family, Liz and I - I've known her since I was three; Heather and I another one of my close friends from childhood, Liz (sans head) and her boys, Liz's sisters and mom... space filler and a duplicate I couldn't get rid of from the collage grid! All other collages are zoom-in-able!

Our Own Private Idaho

I love visiting mom and Dad, their home is out where you feel like you've got room to roam and there's no one around to interfere. One of our daily rituals while home is walking down to the mailbox each day, here's the girls with Grandma Nyleen.

The kids were put to work during their time with Grandma and Grandpa, here they are out in the field picking up rocks for Grandpa. Each rock was worth five cents.... Audrey and Reese picked up a total of 815 rocks and earned $20.50 each! Thanks for keeping them busy and teaching them the value of work Grandpa!

On my jog, I decided that G&G's mailbox looked a little plain, so we decided to give it a little TLC from the grand kids; they thought it was tons of fun.

My parents have put a zip line in the yard for the kids to play on. Along with installing swings on the underside of the porch. They've made a haven for their kids and grand kids, and we thank them for it!

Fun on the Town

Here we are in front of the Coeurd'Alene Resort, one of my former places of work!

Lots and lots of things to do! Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for being up for anything!

Walks on the board walk (it's the longest floating one in the country) and trips to Figpickles Toy Emporium were among some of the favorites.

Shopping at FigPickles

Evenings in the park and strolling by the beach

When I said I used to work in the Resort, this was my old job; making the Gooeys. These are what you see here. GIANT desserts.

Art fairs, Street fairs, Farmer's Markets, pig outs in the park; you name it, we did it.

Dancing with my girls

Water, Water, Everywhere!

The main thing to do in Coeurd'Alene in the summer is play on the water! This is always our #1 objective during our stay. The whole area is surrounded in water. In the picture above you can see the freeway (the one we come into town on) bordered by two different lakes, the one up close is Fernan Lake, the one in the distance is Lake Coeurd'Alene. AKA, Paradise.

Sam and Dad about to take a beating from my driving

All the kids got to try out the knee board, even Elle! They all did great and really gained confidence! Thanks to Uncle Bryant for floating around in the lake for over an hour helping each one get started!

My girly-board... LOVE it! It worked amazingly great! I just wish I could use it every day.

When we weren't on the lake, we hit the rivers. This day was an especially new experience for the kids, (and us) while we were floating, we got caught in a massive rain storm. It was still a lot of fun and all we could do was laugh about it!

The rowing crew