About three months ago I started writing and blogging for a company. It pays good for working right from home, but now I struggle to write on this blog. Once I bust out a few articles I am so burnt out on writing that I don’t even want to think about writing even more! But here is a quick post about our summer for the main part. I have been taking less pictures lately for my “less is more” theme I am trying. Who wants to see 1000 pictures of every visit we make to the beach? So if I took pictures at a location before, I left my camera at home the next time.
Trip to Idaho
Last year I took my boys to Idaho by myself, and I went again in July. It is something I plan on doing every single summer with my kids for 2-3 weeks until my parents hit 102 years-old. I hope it is something they look forward to every year.
Parade! We went to the pioneer day parade and it is the best parade I have ever been to, of course most parades we go to are so horrible that anything with a single float is amazing. This parade had amazing floats and there were more than ten. It was incredible how much work was put into them for such a small town.
Then there was a crazy lady, and no I am not referring to my mom. She was about ten feet in front of everyone else and was going nutso. I definitely feel a little mama-bearish at parades and want my son to get candy, but I don’t actually run around myself grabbing every. single. piece. of. candy. At first we were all super annoyed, especially since it was hard to enjoy the parade when you were competing for candy, but then we all realized it was the best show we’d ever seen.
Grandma and papa Jones of course had to buy Lincoln balloons. Lincoln a sword and Mavo a giraffe.
The kids spent a lot of time playing in this chicken coup my dad built for my sister’s pet chicken. Yes she has a pet chicken, yes it sleeps in their beds, yes it has its own house, and yes it is weird. Anyways, four boys fit in this coup and when my sister took it home, Lincoln had a meltdown. So, papa decided to build a giant playhouse. He is definitely papa’s little buddy. The two are always glued at the hip. While papa was working on it, he shot himself in the hand with the nailgun. Nothing crazy, it grazed him, but Lincoln is always talking about it. Two days ago Lincoln brought it up again to Scott for probably the fourth time.
Lincoln: Did you know Papa shot himself in the bone with the nail gun?
Scott: He did? Where?
Lincoln: In the circle bone.
Scott: The circle bone?
Lincoln: Yep, right in the circle bone.
Scott: Where is your circle bone? Can you show me?
Lincoln: Nope it is underneath the blood. Papa shot himself in the circle bone and said, “now that’s a mean sucker!”
Must have traumatized him.It is still being built, but every time we see pictures of it Lincoln begs, “please can we go there! Please!”
One thing I love about taking my boys to see my parents, is they get to experience things that they don’t get to in Washington. We got to ride four-wheelers, have a fire, pick berries, feed the chickens, hit golf balls in the field, ride the lawnmower, pick vegetables to eat for dinner, gather chicken eggs, go to monkey rock, go to the drive-in movie, go to the splash park, ride the carousel, and race in the huge backyard. It was fun to watch them play and do things I did as a kid.
ryan
me
shelby
andrew
shawn
me
I can’t wait to take Lincoln back to the drive-in! He was in heaven! He got his kids meal, drink, fries, corndog, and a treat and sat up his carseat on the trailor. While I kept falling asleep, he stayed wide-awake with ten thousands questions going non-stop. We watched “Turbo” and he loved it and would shout out things, “Go! Go!” “Yes! He won!” “Oh NO! What happened to him mom?” It was adorable. 
Maverick of course loved riding the lawn mower, but when we put him in the sled he freaked it. He wanted on the lawn mower, not some stupid motorless sled! 
Lincoln LOVES water! He is definitely my water boy and has always jumped right in. He probably went down the slides at least 20 times. Maverick on the other hand, doesn’t care for water. Although, he isn’t scared and loved his baths, if the water isn’t warm he ain’t touching it. This is probably my biggest relief. His personality is such a curious one, and I already am on edge with him when we go anywhere, but around water I can somewhat relax. 
The Beach
We spent a lot of days at the beach again, although not as many as last summer. Maverick is such a busy body and going anywhere is difficult because he wanders, but at the beach he just sits there and enjoys the sun. We spent a lot of hours relaxing and it is by far my favorite place to go. There is something about the ocean air that is so freeing that a lake can’t quite get.
Our summer was a good one, but with the stress of selling a house and a buying one, it was hard to get out as much as we normally do.
Summer is our families season and we are still not claiming “fall” until the leaves are all falling. I don’t understand why people wish it away? It is the best time of year!
