Magrath Days!

Bright and early on Saturday David came and picked me up. We were the only crazy ones that decided to run the 5K that morning. I was kind of second guessing myself but I did it anyways! So glad I did. My goal was to beat my time from Raymond. Which was around 35.45minutes. Guess what???? I did! I made it in at just over 34mins. I was so happy. Very tired, but happy!

We had a busy day planned. I came back home and quickly cleaned the house and ran up to Rooster's and got some lunch stuff. I haven't been home all week. So it was a little crazy, but I got things ready. Then we walked down to main street to sit down and watch the parade. I didn't take any picture of that. Forgot my camera. But the kids loved the parade and got way too much candy. I ended up throwing it all away a week later. There was no way they were going to eat it all and I didn't need to eat it either!! They didn't even miss it. Yes, I'm sneaky!

After the parade we came back home and had a BBQ. Just a simple one with hotdogs and chips and drinks. It was perfect though. Fun for the kids to run around and play with their cousins and us to sit and visit. Richard had to take off to help set up the booth to sell water and pop, for the Archery Club. By this time it was so HOT out.

The kids and I went to check everything out. Of course we had to stand in line for the bouncy houses. The one, which was called boot camp, was so fun! The kids loved it. It was an obstacle course that 2 people at a time ran through. It was a huge hit. Renee and I even raced each other through. So fun! DJ thought it was a blast!

Brianna and DJ went through together.

I was shocked that DJ was able to swing across on this rope.

Cadence and Abbi went through and were right behind Brianna and DJ.

All of my kids are in this picture. Brianna and DJ are coming under the ropes.You can see Abbi and Cadence's feet. 

Brianna coming down the slide!

DJ coming down the slide! He thought that this was so much fun!

Then we went and checked out the petting zoo. The kids always love to pet each animal. They were trying to get the bunnies. We did get to hold one but it was very nervous and kept trying to get away. That really scared my kids.....so I just held it so they could pet the bunny!

Cadence and DJ petting the pony!

Brianna was the only brave one to hold the bunny!

We went and found Richard and we all got some nice cold drinks and I also spoiled the kids and got them some cotton candy. DJ was in heaven. He didn't want to do anything else but sit down and eat his cotton candy. So we went and sat under a tree while the girls stood in line again for the Boot Camp bouncy house. I had to run him into the swimming pool to wash his hands and face off. He was one big sticky mess!

DJ eating his cotton candy.

Oh what a sticky, yummy mess!

My kids also loved watching the lawn mower races. It was hilarious to watch. Some of those guys really took it seriously! DJ and Brianna were the ones that were really into it. DJ loved the loud ones and the fast ones! He would get all excited. So we stayed and watched them race.

DJ and Brianna watching the lawn mowers.

They are watching the lawn mowers race around and trying to hit each other.

After that I took the kids swimming. It was so hot out that it felt so nice. I had to go be one of the volunteers at the bouncy house afterwards. So we just swam for an hour. But it was a perfect way to cool down. Then while I supervised kids coming off the slide, my kids went through it so many times. I sat there for an hour. It was all fine and good till I got a really bossy 7yr old boy who informed me that his mom is the boss there and he's suppose to take care of this!! Ha ha!! It was kind of funny. But got kind of old, because he wouldn't move out of the way. Some people would come flying out and would almost kick this kid in the head. I kept pulling him out of the way and he would give me a really annoyed look. He even went and got a friend to stand there for him while he ran to the bathroom. Sheesh! So annoying! Oh well, at least it made it a little more entertaining for me, or else I would of gotten bored!

We decided to go home after that. It was almost 6pm by the time we got home. I was so tired. I had a really bad headache. It was so bad that I needed to lay down for a little bit. Richard made us a delicious dinner and cleaned everything up too. I really appreciated that. It was a tiring day but a lot of fun!!

On Tuesday we went and met my family at St. Mary's Dam. My mom, Megan, Trayden

Cadence playing in the sand.

DJ playing in water.

My girls on the tube with their friend Mia (she's behind Abbi).

DJ was trying to swim out to the boat to go for a ride but was too late.

Here they are...Brianna, Mia, Cadence, and Abbi. They had a blast!

Here's DJ sound asleep sitting by his Aunt Megan.

We tried waking him up and this is what he did. Oh so comfortable!

Wally's Beach and Camping With Grandma Spencer!

As you have guessed we've done a LOT of camping this year. With the trailer at Echo Lake, I've just loaded the kids up and gone a lot. We've loved it. But when we're at home we've tried to keep the fun rolling here too! We've gone to Wally's Beach a lot too. My cousin, Rachel, and her four kids came with us one afternoon. She has twin boys who are about 10 months old. It sure was fun to play with them! The kids had a blast running around and playing in the water and the sand. It makes the afternoon just fly by. I loved it! I got a lot of cute pictures of everyone on my phone, so not the best quality. Oh well, better then nothing!

My cousin, Rachel's, cute little twin boys. They're names are Josh and Tyler and I can't tell who is who in this picture.

Emily, Cadence, Brianna, Jonathon, and DJ ready to jump off the dock.

YEAH!!! They had so much fun on that old dock!

Abbi and DJ being alligators in the water. Cadence and Emily playing on the beach.

Abbi loved playing with the babies. So cute!

Nice and clean babies ready to go back to the car! It was a fun afternoon!

My MIL, Shelly, said she would come camping with me. So I got everyone ready and we took off on Tuesday afternoon. We were planning on coming back home on Thursday...but we were having so much fun we stayed till Friday. It was SUPER HOT out the whole time we were there. After lunch on Wednesday, Shelly's friends the Harris' picked us up in their boat. We spent the whole afternoon with them. It was great fun. The kids had a blast playing with the other kids and going on tube rides together. They insisted on me trying to surf behind the boat. I got up but was having troubles getting down the wake. I face planted it really good. Oh well! I tried! They took us to there special spot for swimming. That was a lot of fun. We really appreciated the Harris' including us in their fun!

The girls were excited that they actually had a beach to play on! They were making a beaver dam!!

DJ had fun swimming around with these boogie boards! It took him a bit to figure it out then he wouldn't stop.

There goes the girls on the tube, they were on with some boys too! They sure had fun!

Everyone getting off the tube!

On Thursday we just stayed around the trailer and swam at the dock. Then we packed up our stuff and took Grandma down to the cause way. It's the perfect place for swimming too. The kids actually had more fun trying to catch things. They caught a big toad and played with it for hours. Abbi actually had tears when I told her to put it back in the lake. She begged me to bring it back to the trailer to let it go by our dock. So I let her. Silly girl. The toad was probably happy to get away from these crazy kids. DJ just loved to swim and swim and swim. I was usually swimming with him. It was so hot that I didn't mind staying in the water either. It was a fun afternoon. We went back to the trailer and gave everyone a shower and cleaned their hair. Then we packed up and went into Big Fork for dinner at DQ's. Perfect way to end the day!

We all had to run over and see the minnows that Brianna caught.

You can't see the minnow, but Brianna was sure proud of her catch!

DJ and I swimming in the lake.

This was the favorite spot to catch the fish. Love that I can see my and DJ's shadows!

Fuzzy picture of the girls looking for fish!

The toad that they caught. They actually saved it from getting eaten by a fish. It was a little crazy. But I'm not sure if the toad was safer with my kids or not!

DJ had fun taking water to the toad!

Friday we packed up and got ready to go. The kids played while I finished packing up. Then we went and did a bit of shopping. Richard asked me to pick up a bunch of pop and water for Magrath Days. So that was some fun shopping!! ha ha! Not! But it sure loaded up the suburban. After our shopping we stopped at Pizza Hut for lunch. It was delicious. We got there just in time for there buffet. It was perfect. Everyone was happy and ate lots. Then we loaded up and went home.

We dropped off Grandma Spencer and were in shock with how bad Cardston got hit by that bad hail storm. It was crazy. Cars, trucks, trailers, and houses were destroyed everywhere. I couldn't believe it. The hail was the size of a golf ball and some were a bit larger. Everyone in Cardston and area was effected. So crazy. Well we dropped her off and took off to pick up TraydenMagrath Days....which I have a whole other post on. So that will be next!

More Camping!

Since we have our trailer down at Echo, I've decided to try and go there as much as possible. After the kids finished their swim lessons I decided to go down for a bit by myself. So I packed things up and we took off one Sunday after we had dinner. I had thought that driving at night would be better. The kids were all in their jammies and got comfortable with their blankets and pillows. I have to say that the drive down went perfectly! I put a movie on for them and stopped at East Glacier for bathroom breaks and put a new movie on. They all travelled great.

We got there around 9pm. I let the kids get out and they ran around like crazy. I unpacked and got everything in the trailer and got the beds all made up. Then I had the kids come in and watch a little movie to settle down. Then we did our bedtime routine and we all went to bed.

The next morning we all slept in till about 8:30am. It felt so nice. We had breakfast and got ready for the day. It was a little cloudy out so I decided we'd go into Kalispell for a little bit of shopping in the morning. I needed to get food too. So away we went.

Oh I decided to treat the girls and myself with a pedicure. They have never had one and were so excited. It was so cute to watch them. They loved it. I'm glad we did it. DJ did so good siting there and watching us. The owners put on Spider man on the TV and he sat there and watched. After we got our toes done, we went and got lunch at McDonald's so they could run and play at the play place.  Then we ran and got some groceries. By this time all my kids were tired of shopping. Oh I think we stopped at Shopko first and checked out the sales there. Got some awesome beach towels that are normally $22 for $8. I was pretty proud of that purchase!! I also got me some shoes there too. Then we went grocery shopping, the store was right beside Shopko. We had a few melt downs over who was riding in the car cart. Drive me insane. Then we had a bathroom break and all the kids went and I told them to stay in there while I had my turn! ha ha! Well they all flew out the door, trying to be the first to get in the car cart. I could hear all of them screaming and yelling and then DJ was SCREAMING loud. So I knew he got hurt. Well I was still in the bathroom! Yeah, bad mom moment! he he! I came out to total mayhem. I`m sure people were wondering what was going on. We hurried and finished shopping and then we were on our way home. DJ zonked....which I kind of knew was going to happen. I let him sleep for an hour then woke him up....that way we could all go to bed at a decent time.

Abbi and Brianna went first. They were pretty relaxed and watching tv.

Cadence and I had ours done at the same time. She wasn't sure at first but then relaxed a little bit!

Ta Da!!! Our nice and pretty sparkly toes!

DJ playing in the trailer! He's a funny boy!

So I unpacked the food and figured out what we were going to have for supper. Then woke up DJ and we all went down to the dock to do some swimming. I was smart this time and brought a life jacket for me too. It made it so much easier. My kids love swimming in the lake. Then we went back up to the trailer and had supper. Then back down to the lake. Where we swam for a couple more hours. There were some other kids there, so it made it fun for my kids to play with them.

One morning we went for a drive and came to the Flathead Lake. It was fun to explore! Here are the girls!

DJ was trying to sneak out of the picture!!

We basically just had a fun time hanging around the trailer and swimming in the lake. It was a lot of fun. We headed out Wednesday morning. The kids were a little sad because they wanted to swim first. It was a little cool that morning, but I told them that after we shopped and on the way home we would stop and swim somewhere. So away we went shopping. I got a lot of shopping done at Herberger's and then I went to J.C. Penny's to see if they had any deals. The kids were whining and wanted to go have lunch. I kept saying just one more store. Well I should of listened to them. Sheesh. We got in the store and I was checking out the deals while all my kids took off running to "hide" from me. They hid in the clothes hanging up. Well the manager of the store happened to walk by and yelled at them. Really, they weren't hurting anything, but whatever. I told them to settle down. We walked over to the ladies section and I was checking out some more work out clothes. I heard Cadence do her wicked giggle (that always means something bad is happening). I looked and about died. There was Brianna (my good one!!!ha ha) that climbed up on the stand where the manikins were. She was dancing with the manikin and DJ was climbing up. Then she said in a loud voice, "Oh I wonder what's up here." As she lifted up the shirt and looked underneath. Well by this time everyone was watching her. I told her to get down......all my kids were laughing so hard. I gave up. I dropped all my clothes and told them we were leaving. So away we went. I was just a tiny bit embarrassed. We got to the entrance of the store when I realized DJ wasn't following me. I then heard an ear splitting screaming and I ran back where I left him. A bunch of ladies were saying to him, "It's ok your mom went that way." He just stood there screaming. I got to him and he screamed, "MOM YOU LEFT ME." He was not impressed. I had to carry him out of the store crying. Sheesh! Next time I'll just take them to lunch. It would be much easier!! ha ha!

I just had one more store I wanted to hit. Which was Target. So I had the bright idea to just go to Target and we could eat there at the little cafe there. So we got to Target and I sat the kids down at the bar with stools. They loved it because they could watch everyone go through the tills. They all ate so good while they were staring at people! So funny! But then they started having comments about people. I told them to not talk as loud. But then Cadence was always pointing to people and saying something. Like, "Look at him, he has short hair." It wasn't anything terrible or rude, but I asked her not to point at people. I told her it makes people feel bad and we don't want that. She sat there and said, "Ok mom I will just do this." As she stuck her hand out like a stop sign and said, "Look at her......." Seriously it was so funny. Then a lady walked by us and when she passed the back of her shirt was just a string holding it together. Brianna piped up and said, "Oh mom that shirt is not modest." It was a very good observation and I agreed with her. My kids are so funny! We finished shopping got a few snacks for the way home and got back in the vehicle to start driving.

By this time it was super hot out. So I started heading home. The kids were excited to see where we were going to swim. We had to drive for about 45mins and they kept thinking I forgot. But I turned into Lake Five. We got there and everyone got changed into their swimsuits. It was such a beautiful place. We stayed there for a couple of hours. Everyone had so much fun running in and swimming and playing in the sand. I'm glad we decided to stop and play.

Abbi and DJ loved to see how far they could go out, while they could still touch. Crazy kids!

It wasn't the best sand, but good enough to make sand castles. Brianna was in heaven.

Cadence taking a little break....it sure was hot out!

Abbi having a snack break too!

Brianna having an M & M break!

I just missed DJ running and jumping off the dock. He thought he could touch but went right under. It was pretty funny, but there was no way he was going to do it again. He likes to keep his head dry!

Before we left I got all the kids changed into their jammies and set up with their snack supper and drinks. I put on a new movie and drove over to the bathrooms so I could run in and change. Then we were out of there. They did so good on the way home. It was perfect. It was a fun time!

Camping and Richard's Birthday!

Richard's birthday happened to land on a Friday this year. So we planned ahead of time to go to the trailer for the weekend. We took off Friday morning after the kids swim lessons (I have a whole post to do on that!). I packed up ahead of time and we had lunch and then took off.

The kids are so good at this 3 hr drive. I think they are getting used to it. We go to Kalispell and area a lot lately. I just put in a movie and they watch and eat their snacks. It's great. Even though, one time we got the "random" car search at the border. I think they were bored, because we were the only vehicle around and they decided that they needed to search it. I was laughing while we were sitting in the waiting room, watching them search the suburban. I'm sure they found a whole lot of crumbs and random hard forgotten food. Oh yum!! Nothing exciting in our vehicle. The kids were horrified and kept asking what they were doing with our suburban. Oh well, it only took about 20 mins. Crazy border!

Anyways, we stopped in Kalispell, to get some food supplies and a few things for Richard's birthday. The kids were so excited to celebrate their dad's birthday at the trailer. We got there and unpacked and right away everyone wanted to go swimming. Oh I bought a little floating island that we tied to the dock. It was the best buy ever. We use it all the time when were down there. So away we went down to the dock. It was super hot out. We had fun jumping into the water and swimming around. We found out, though, that the water was super deep. It kind of freaked Richard out! Ha ha! So we decided that we need our life jackets too, next time we come.

I made us some supper and then the kids were so excited to sing to their dad. We cleaned up and I put candles on the cake. We sang him Happy Birthday, and everyone helped Richard blow out his candles. The kids gave him his gift. I gave Richard his gift the night before we came, which was a BBQ (also from my parents too).

The kids picked out the chocolate cake for their dad.

We sang happy birthday and everyone helped blow out the candles.

The kids were so excited to give dad their gift for him! It was a big squirt gun and a football.

The girls made their dad a special birthday card. I love this picture.....so cute!

On Saturday we got up and the kids played around. We went into Big Fork to get a few things. Then came back and had lunch. We decided that we were going to buy some sort of swing set to have there. The kids needed something to occupy them, when were not playing in the water. So Richard went into Kalispell to go buy one. I took the kids down to the dock to play. They had a lot of fun splashing around and playing. We were down there for a while. We went back up to the trailer and there was Richard working hard on the swing set. He spent the rest of the day putting it together. I made supper and he took a little break to eat. Then I cleaned up and took the kids for a drive down to the cause way. We heard it was flooded and we wanted to check it out. So away we went. The kids had so much fun walking on the road, with water over it. They thought that that was hilarious. I had to get them away from Richard, because they all wanted to help him and kept touching everything that he had all set out and organized. So we played down at the causeway for awhile. DJ and Abbi swam around everywhere. It was a lot of fun.

Saturday morning all the kids were singing and playing so good together. I had to take a picture. It was cute to watch them!

They were riding their bikes everywhere too. This is DJ's bike that we stripped and made into a strider. It works great.

We came back and the swing set was almost together. I got the kids showered and cleaned and in their jammies, and by then they could go on. They were super excited. They all took their coloring books out and sat at the little bench and colored and ate a snack. It was so cute. Then we put them to bed!

The kids eating their snack on their new little playground!

A picture of our campsite.

The swing set is in front of our trailer and the bath house is the little shed in the background. It's the perfect set up and we love it!

We took off Sunday morning to try to make it back for church. It didn't work! I made it for primary so I could play the piano. I dropped Richard and the kids off at his parents so they could eat some dinner and I flew into Magrath to play the piano. So that was our weekend. We had a lot of fun!

We went home through Logan's Pass. It was beautiful. The kids loved all the waterfalls!

We had to stop for this mountain goat to cross the road. All the kids loved watching it!

This was at the top of Logan's Pass. Crazy that there was still all this snow there. I took the picture, then they all had a snowball fight. It was cute to watch!