Giant Bubbles

The girls got a book/ kit for making giant bubbles from Grandma and Grandpa Zeek who are here visiting from Kansas. It's a lot of fun and the girls played for quite a while.

I love simple pleasures like bubbles.

Molly's Frog

This is "Dumpy" Molly's new frog that she got as a birthday gift from Grammie and Papa.

It's a Whites Tree Frog also known as a Blue Dumpy.

This isn't exactly the frog she started with, but this is the one she has now.

The original frog that she got was called a "Pacman." He was cute however, wasn't a child friendly guy. He shouldn't be held, had teeth and could bite, would grow up to 6-7 inches, and he would have to be fed mice and fish as he got bigger. So with a little effort we were able to talk the pet store into exchanging the "man-eating Pacman" for this cute little guy. We're going to do our best to keep him alive and healthy. Molly is so happy to have her very own pet.

Happy Birthday Molly

Molly is 10 today! Where has the time gone?

Her birthday celebration was stretched out over a couple days with a slumber party, lunch out on Sunday and gifts on her birthday-eve. Tonight She is spending it with her classmates aboard the Pilgrim in Dana Point Harbor. It just happened that the overnight field trip was planned on her birthday. We tucked birthday notes in her pillow and lunch that we hope she finds. (We also hid some protein bars in her sleeping bag. Hopefully she won't get caught eating them. Shhhhh don't tell anyone!)

She received this special diamond necklace that we had made from some earrings that once belonged to her Great-Grandma Knick. Shari got a matching necklace on her 10th birthday.

A couple friends came over to celebrate with Molly and enjoy the FINISHED treehouse!

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!!!!!!

Hunters????

Yep, we're true "mountain folk." The kids are learning to hunt and bring home our supper!

The only thing our "tree hugger" will ever kill is a spider.... guess we may go hungry if we count on her for hunting.

Thanks Rick and Karen for teaching the girls something new.

Painting

The girls and I spent most of the afternoon in the treehouse painting. It's quite colorful and is getting closer and closer to being a finished project. The hope is that it will continue to be a place for the girls to play and have fun.

Molly painted this forest mural with bears, deer and Stubby the squirrel. Stubby was the neighborhood squirrel who passed away this weekend. We held a nice memorial service for him on Saturday. He got named Stubby because of his stubby 2 inch tail. He lived a good life and has been around for years. We'll miss you Stubby.

Shari did a great job painting this. She's aware of the misspelling, but says "if you know what it means it doesn't matter." (We couldn't figure out a good way to correct it. Oh Well!)

All will know who this treehouse belongs to.........

Here's the tribute to the contractor.

Notice the creative painting behind the girls..... It's coming together.

There's a new quick escape out of the treehouse, the slide is a great addition.

Next on the project front.... exterior paint, screens on the windows, window pannels to close the place up, and carpeting.

Lake Mohave

We started the trip meeting at IHOP in Hesperia where

the "Balloon Guy" made each of the kids the balloon of their choice. Then we got to listen to them being popped on the long car ride. So fun......

We launched the boat in the evening, explored a little, and this was the sunset. We're off to a great start!

The Shoemaker Family

Gunner

There was lots of rock jumping. Once Molly jumped she kept on going!

"Donkey" came to visit. The next day he brought the whole family but wasn't that friendly. We shooed them off by clapping, shouting and whistling.

There was plenty of time to relax....

and play....

and float.... (these hats are ONLY appropriate at the river and when there is no wind.)

Our Cove

We're being rescued in this picture. The fuel pump died and some nice guys towed us about 4-5 miles to the nearest boat launch. It took about 2 hours at a very slow pace. Thankfully it happened at the end of our last day.

Most of you know Zeek as a calm, mild-mannered man. Well, you don't want to be the guy to cut him off for the second time in two days. The first time we got cut off we ended up in the lane headed toward oncoming traffic, the second time we were nearly pushed off into the weeds. Zeek raced to catch up with the guy, rolled down his window, and started to let him know that he needed to pay attention and watch what he was doing. The guy followed us into our hotel parking lot, at this point Zeek jumped out of the car and the other guy came up and was ready to fight. The other guy was quite riled, screamed profanities and wanted to "Settle It." Security ended up showing up just as we were pulling away, Molly was hysterically crying and wouldn't you know the guy was staying at our hotel. Not only at our hotel, but on the same floor just 4 doors down from us and right across from the much frequented ice machine. You can just imagine the tension, however he did come up to Zeek at the ice machine and apologize shortly later. All is well that ends well.

The Fisherman

Brandon speared this 30 pound 40 inch Halibut.

It's quite the beast!