First day of School... REALLY THE FIRST DAY!

So, today was the first day of school for the girls. I think they were excited because when I got up at 5:50am, Bekah was already up and fully dressed watching tv! Hannah was up already too, but still working on getting ready! I thought that I was going to be dragging them out of bed because they have been staying up late and sleeping in all summer!

This was also the REAL first day of Hannah's school. The Charter school had a ribbon cutting ceremony at 7:45. Hannah is really excited to be part of this brand new school. She is on the ASB as the Commissioner of Clubs and Athletics. She is already really busy. GO SPARTANS!!

Here are some pics from the morning!

Here they are in all their splendor, wide awake before the sun was up!!!

Here the ASB members are introduced. The look on Hannah's face is the "don't take any more pictures" look that I get alot these days!

The ribbon Cutting... Orcutt Academy High School is officially opened with its first graduating class, the class of 2012 beginning the journey.

Blue and white balloons, released with a cheer! GO SPARTANS!

After sending Hannah off to face her high school classes, it was Bekah's turn to head to school. She was greeted with screams and hugs from her bff Kiana and her friend Dorin.

Bekah with her Teacher Mr. Greenup. Off to 5th grade!

They are off to school and I am back to work... Summer is officially over!

OH, and Happy 51st Anniversary, Mom and Dad!!!

Concert Season

I hadn't been to a concert for a decade or so, until May that is. Julie and I went to see Carrie Underwood (see the post in May about that). Then we found out that Fergie was coming to the Paso Fair and Hannah thought that would be fun to go. So we bought tickets. The concert was Thursday, so we went up to the Fair, spent the day (it was HOT) and the kids rode some rides. Then we went to the concert. The opening band was HORRIBLE! Just HORRIBLE! Then Fergie came out and sang for about 40 minutes (minus the brief times to change clothes) and came out for an encore. Tim was SO MAD! He was upset that a concert would only be about 40 minutes long. I told him that Carrie Underwood probably only sang for about 15 minutes longer than this at her concert. He couldn't believe it. After the concert, the kids rode some more, we had funnel cake and came home. We got home about 1 am.

Friday, Tim and I had tickets to see James Tayor at the Santa Barbara Bowl. So Tim's mom came to stay with the kids and we got a hotel in Santa Barbara. We met Craig and Sue for dinner and then they went to the concert with us. The night was BEAUTIFUL! The Santa Barbara bowl is a unique venue. We could see the ocean from our seats. JT came out and did 2 forty minute sets AND a 3 song encore. So, Tim was happy that someone still knows how to put on a good show! I think that I have spent my Concert allotment for the next decade, but it was fun!

Just another Day in Paradise!

So we went to the beach today. Can I just say we live in a beautiful part of this state?!! It was a gorgeous day. Not too hot, not too windy, not too crowded. We got there at noon and left at 5:30. Stopped for dinner on the way home. Home by 8. GREAT DAY! We parked in a 3 hour spot, and hoped they weren't checking since it was mid week. We got to the car, NO ticket... just a great day! The kids explored the tide pools, found some crabs and other critters. They boogie boarded. They had a great time! I sat and talked with friends, took a walk along the beach, took pictures and had a fabulous time. The only problem is that I forgot to put sunscreen on my legs and right now the tops of my thighs feel like they will spontaneously combust any second! They are seriously the color of my red t-shirt! oops.

Can you believe that we live so close to this paradise and yet this is the first time to the beach this summer? We actually do prefer the beach in September after the valley folks have gone home for the season, and when our weather is PERFECT, but usually we would have been to the beach before the end of July! Here are some pictures.

I just want to go HOME... or two strikes and your out!

It is 3:30 am here in Cortez Colorado. We left Horn Creek today and drove here. We came over some of the prettiest country I have ever seen. We went from Salida to Pagosa Springs over Wolf Creek Pass. A must drive if you are in the area. We had lunch in Pagosa Springs and then drove to Durango and on to Cortez.
When we stayed in Cortez 4 years ago, we stayed in a really run down old hotel in a part of town that looks down right seedy. So this year, Tim really wanted to stay in Durango instead. The only problem was that would make for a long day tomorrow (or today I guess) as we need to get as far as Kingman Arizona in order to make it home by Monday. (ok, so some of you think that we are wimps only wanting 7 hour driving days, but with our kids, we would rather split it up than make a 10 hour day.) So we booked a hotel online thru Travelocity. Guess what? SAME hotel new name. SHEESH. Anyway, I don't think that we will be staying in Cortez again. If you happen to find yourself needing to make reservations in Cortez, find a big name brand hotel on Main street, not an independent motel on Broadway!
So, we got here at 5 pm and then went to Pizza Hut for dinner at about 7. Everything seemed fine with the meal. I got to sleep at about 11:30. I woke up at 12:30 with terrible acid indigestion. Took some meds and went back to bed. At 1:30, Bekah woke up complaining about stomache pains. She was crying about how bad it hurt. She can be a drama queen, so I was trying to get her to be a little quieter so as not to wake other motel guests with her complaining. Well, that went on for about 3o minutes until she threw up. Poor baby, it really is terrible to be sick away from home! Then she went back to bed for about 20 minutes and then got up again and started all over. This has now become the routine. Just as I started to drift off, she is up again. I figured I might as well get online since I was not sleeping. Oh and at 2:15 the neighbors upstairs must have come home from a bar, because they spent the next hour or so, stomping around, yelling, slamming doors, etc. At 3:30 when Tim went out to get some paper towels out of the car, they were out on the balcony yaking it up. Really loud... so I am not so concerned about how much noise Bekah is making now.
It is now 4am and she just got up again. We decided around 3:30 that we were not going to try to get an early start tomorrow. We will get out of here around 11 which puts us in Kingman at 9pm or so depending on how many rest stops we have to make. I just want to go HOME!

Quick Update

So, we left my parents this morning (thanks for all the good food, sleep and fun, Mom and Dad!) and drove to Lehi Utah. The kids are in the pool at the hotel, Tim is down there reading the paper, and I thought that I would get online awhile. I was able to get some internet at mom and dad's since someone in their neighborhood had unsecure wireless, but the signal was really weak and didn't allow much. I have pictures to post, but they are in my camera which is in the car. I am too lazy to go outside, so I will post pictures later!
We are on our way to Colorado (Gunnison tomorrow night and then Horn Creek on Saturday) and glad that the driving is over for this day.
Let's see.. we left off on the fourth. Well, the kids went fishing again and snagged another 20! So we cooked 20, and froze the other 23 to bring home and gave some to Grandma. After dinner, we decided to go watch the fire works. They are shot at the other end of the lake and if you go down there, you find yourself in a HUGE trafic jam coming back (only one way in and out of the resort, so you are in a 6 mile long line coming into the camp.) Anyway, we drove half way aroung the lake, pulled off and my brother scouted out a place to sit... we just had to jump a fence (ok, I am vertically challenged and climbing a 6 foot gate is not easy!), so we got all our stuff out of the car and just as we walked up to the gate, a guy comes and unlocks it. So Dad asked him if he minded us walking up and sitting on the hillside. He gave us the thumbs up and we had GREAT seats. We only had to climb the gate on the way out, as the guy had locked it back up behind us.
Saturday, we were just bumming around and Hannah said that she wanted to go up on the tram. I walked over to find out about tickets and they said they were having issues and were closed for the day. Here is the story.. 150 people were stranded on top.. really glad that we hadn't been more on the ball and gotten on the tram in the morning!http://www.wallowacountychieftain.info/main.asp?SectionID=9&SubSectionID=61&ArticleID=16341

We drove back to Mom and Dad's on Sunday (and said goodbye to my brother's family and my sister) and then kicked back at their house until this morning. I really enjoy sitting on my folk's patio and watching the humming birds and flowers. Very relaxing. So far this trip, I have read 6 books and slept in several mornings. GREAT relaxing time! The kids kept Dadad busy playing games, and Tim took them Golfing a few times!

I will try to update from Colorado at least once! Later.

Swimming, Deer, Eagles, Bumper Boats and Fish

So, we are busy with lots of fun stuff. Here are some pictures.


Swimming in the lake... COLD, but fun!
We see lots of Deer.. they wander right through by the cabin. They are pretty tame and come up to get food. That is what happens when you are deer who have been in a state park protected from hunters for several generations! Their biggest predator is a 3 year old chasing them!

We walked down to get more pictures of the bald eagles. The parents were off somewhere, but we spotted their nest and got to see the babies.

We went to the bumper boats last night. The whole crew took over the place and had a great time!The big hit this week has been fishing. They went out the first morning and caught one lone trout (the 4 kids) and then the second day, they caught 5 among them. Then Tim took the girls out the 3rd day and they caught 16 between the 3 of them. Today, Dadad took the grandkids out(by himself , brave man!) and they caught 20 between the 4 of them. They caught more this vacation than on all the previous years put together! We are grilling half of them tonight and the other half is in the freezer to take home.

Another fun thing we did was go make smores at the day use area.Here is a picture of the 3 generations of Drexell's playing catch.. with Fletcher trying to join in.

Tonight we will go and watch the fireworks. Tomorrow we have miniature golf on the itinerary. We love Wallowa Lake!

Wallowa Lake

We got to my parents house on Friday, June 27th. We enjoyed hanging out with my brother and his family. Then on Monday, we drove up to Wallowa Lake, our favorite spot. My dad had rented cabins for us all. So now we are hanging out in the mountains, enjoying the cousin interactions. We will be here over the 4th and then head back to Mom and Dad's on Sunday. Here are a few pictures. Here are the great grandkids with my Grandma.

Here are some pictures of Wallowa Lake.

These pictures are of a bald eagle. He was good enough to sit in the same place while I hiked around to get a closer view (I had to cross a stream to do it too!) I am going back in the morning tomorrow to get a better light. Hope he is still hanging around his nest.
This is the cabin that my parents and Tim and the girls and I are staying in. My brother and his family have one just across the lawn from us.

My Nephew, Fletcher, loves to pop "beeeg bubbles" and will ask you to blow big bubbles all day long.



The kids are out with Tim and my dad fishing this morning/afternoon. So I am just hanging out at the cabin looking at the beautiful view! More later...