Last Day of SUMMER...

Well..today was our last day of summer...really tomorrow is but it is full of meet the teacher, first day prep, and early bedtimes. We have had an awesome summer and are bummed to see it come to an end. Today we wanted to just enjoy the day...so we did!! We started off the morning with a run and then the boys went frisbee golfing with Will and Sam. Allie and I met them at the course and enjoyed watching the boys share their love of frisbee golf with their friends. After frisbee we got the bike tires fixed for our first day of school ride and then relaxed a bit and played a mean game of Battleship. After a long game of Battleship we rode bikes to get an afternoon ice cream treat! On our way home we rode through Ruhkala and peaked in all the classrooms. As we were leaving we saw they were posting the class lists (EXCITING TIMES PEOPLE). We saw the boy's class lists and we were very excited. We ended our evening with soccer practice, dinner, baths, and bedtime. A very exciting end to the day was when Luke was laying out his clothes for "meet the teacher" and he said, "mom, I think I'm going to wear a collared shirt." I stuttered a bit and said "ok, let's pick one out." This boy would live in his pJ's if I let him, but finds comfort everyday in sports shorts and t-shirts. I gave up the collared shirt battle quite some time ago. As usual, Luke surprised me and even picked out a pair of Andrew's dress shorts to wear with his collared shirt! Can't wait to see my handsome kindergartener tomorrow!! BYE BYE summer it's been GREAT!

Gettin' Ready

My Luke is very excited about starting kindergarten. We are beyond happy about this because we were worried he would be very nervous. He got the call from his teacher last Monday and his face lit up! He was so happy with his teacher and having all his buddies in his class. The next day we made a countdown chain because he kept asking about how many days until the first day. He even made a chain for Allie. I just love seeing his excitement!!

Cousin Day

After getting home from our long journey we planned a day to have a "cousin Day." We had a fun day playing and hanging out with each other. The girlies were the only ones who would take a picture for me!!

OUR SUMMER ADVENTURE 2011

We DID It!!! We arrived home safely and it felt great to be back in our house. We were gone for 1 month and 1 day, traveled to 11 states, 2 countries, and drove over 5,400 miles!!! We had a few picture problems at the end, so we didn't get a Nevada or California sign picture. Next time :)

June 25, 2011 – Rocklin to Hume Lake = miles
June 25 – July 9 = Hume Lake
July 9, 2011 – Hume Lake to Kingman, Arizona = 479 miles
July 10, 2011 – Kingman, Arizona to Grand Canyon = 172 miles
Grand Canyon to Flagstaff, Arizona = 79 miles
July 11, 2011 – Flagstaff, Arizona to Moab, Utah = 323 miles
July 12, 2011 – Moab, Utah (Arches National Park) to Denver, Colorado = 371 miles
July 13, 2011 – Denver, Colorado to Grand Island, Nebraska = 383 miles
July 14, 2011 – Grand Island, Nebtraska to Fargo, North Dakota = 480 mil
July 15, 2011 – Fargo, North Dakota to Winkler, Mantoba, Canada = 200 miles
July 15-July 21 = Winkler and Winnepeg, Manitoba, Canada
July 21, 2011 – Winkler, Mantoba to Bismark, North Dakota = 375 miles
July 22, 2011 – Bismark, North Dakota to Billings, Montana = 410 miles
July 23, 2011 – Billings, Montana to Yellowstone =
July24 – Yellowstone Park = 60 miles
July 25, 2011 – West Yellowstone to Jackson, Wyoming = 127 miles
Jackson, Wyoming to Elko, Nevada = 412 miles
July 26, 2011 – Elko, Nevada to HOME in Rocklin, California = 400 miles

Grand Tetons & Jackson Hole, Wyoming

July 25….We drove through the Grand Tetons and enjoyed a picnic lunch in the park. The Tetons were awesome and so beautiful. We drove to Jackson, Wyoming where we met Uncle Jesse and Aunt T.T. We spent a few hours walking around Jackson with them. It was a very cute town and would be a fun place to visit for a couple days. We were feeling ready to get home so we decided to bypass our hotel in Jackson and drive a bit further that evening.

Yellowstone National Park

July 23-25….We LOVED Yellowstone. We took a longer way into the park and we were so thankful that we did. We were able to see so many animals. We even saw a grizzly bear, which was very exciting. As we drove through the park we would stop at different locations to check out the sites. We ended our afternoon in the west side of the park at a ranger station where the boys took a class to earn their Junior Ranger Badge. After their class we headed for our hotel in West Yellowstone. West Yellowstone was a cute little town filled with shops and restaurants. We walked to Buffalo Bills for dinner and then daddy decided it would be fun to drive out to the rodeo, so we did!! It was a small town Wyoming rodeo, but the kids thought it was great fun. On Sunday we had a lazy morning and then headed to see Old Faithful. Seeing all the geysers and mud pots was amazing. We hot to Old Faithful in time to see it erupt. After watching Old Faithful the boys completed all they needed to do to earn their Junior Ranger Badges. They went to the Ranger Station and got sworn in so they could get their patches. They were very proud of themselves. On our way back out of the park we stopped for a picnic lunch along the river. The kids thought it was great fun to run through parts of the river and feel the water rushing against them. We were very tired on Sunday so we headed back for rests, a swim, and then dinner. It was time for a good night’s rest. On Monday we woke up and headed to the park early. We went to see some of the mud pots and small geysers. This was a place Andrew really wanted to go and it was definitely worth the walk because it was very interesting to see. The mud pots were a bit stinky though, especially for Miss. Allie. After our stop we headed to the south end of the park to make our way to the Grand Tetons.