Santos' First Hair Cut

I have to admit, I was nervous the first time Jennifer decided to cut Santos' hair. He had the most beautiful curls, and so often they don't grow back after the first cutting. Wrong I was! His curls are back with full force!! He is so beautiful!

Stairs to the river

During this recent hike we came across a pump house ran by the city of Toledo. Behind the house there were stairs that went all the way to the river. Daisy and I attempted to walk down the stairs, but she didn't understand that it was the stairs that she should stay on. She proceeded to jump over the stairs to the "ramp" and started to slide down toward the river. Luckily, she was on leash, so I managed to pull her back onto the stairs. Needless to say, she stayed at the top as I walked down after that.

We continued on the walk after that, even though there was some embarrassment by some.

This spider did not want me coming any closer to his foxglove. Creepy!

Grass seed.....my latest nemesis!

Weekend Guests

We had a weekend full of wonderful guests that made our Siletz home even more enjoyable than it already is. I also don't think I would have realized how awesome the playground at the school is.

Crew enjoyed it very much also, and expressed his excitement with some impressive agility!

And I really don't think it is possible for these two to have been cuter! It is just crazy!

Oh, I mean these three......It is just crazy!

I was excited to see what a hit my Lowe's car was. It was almost as fun as plastic bottles.

It was sad to see the weekend come to an end, but hopefully it won't be the last time we have weekend guests! ;)

Second Float....Beyond our home

For our second float of the summer, we were interested in exploring what was down stream from our house. There is a Elks campground (very nice looking) just a few miles away, so Jered parked his rig there, and we launched from out in front of our house. Less than 500 yards from the starting point, we had to get out and walk for a minute to get around a giant tree that crossed our path. Other than that, it was smooth sailing......kinda.
The Cow Parsnip is blooming everywhere. It looks great with the green.

There appeared to be an abundance of agriculture land down stream from us. These guys (and two more) decided to come down and visit us as we passed by. Maybe they thought we were going to drink all of the water, so they needed to make sure they got one last drink. Yum, that makes me thirsty just thinking about it.

There were just as many beautiful waterfalls below us as there was above.

Yay, after almost three hours we passed the first bridge, one more to go. I didn't think it was going to take that long.......

But then yet, as we approach the second bridge (which equaled out to over six hours of floating:) I appear to be so sad........

It was a long day, but there wasn't another place I would rather be. More floating to come!!!!

The wait was worth it!

Got the new appliances set up early this morning. On the fourth or fifth load right now. The set up is a little funky right now, and with them being so short, the hoses are sticking out of the washer. We will figure it out though. We already changed the way the dryer door opens, first step into the refining period.
What an exciting day!

It will be a late night of celebrating and clothes cleaning!

State Park Day!

State Park Day is a super fun day where the parks are celebrated and they give tons of stuff away! It started out with donoughts in the morning, thanks to Jenette, Millie, and Royetta.
And of course Lorraine!

Joanne and Barry were nice enough to show up for the special event, and Sharon (right) was one of the many volunteers.

Lisa and family managed to compile together and make it out!

JR Beaver even stopped by! JR and Hailey.

Maya in her stroller.

Jennifer, Santos and Tony also stopped by for the barbeque.

Rhyson being a goofball.

JR Beaver, Santos and Jennifer. Santos would not give JR Beaver the time of day, it was really funny. JR Beaver hugging Trace and Hailey. This is a big advancement for Trace, last year he was scared to death of JR Beaver, so it was nice that they came to an understanding (very adorable!).

Tony, looking as uncomfortable as a little boy could be, hugging JR Beaver. He was a little cranky though.....:)

JR Beaver with his stick hot dog. Also a very cute little girl in the background.

There was a little fiddle and guitar band playing all the while inside of the woodbin, because of course, it is sprinkling the entire time and they needed to keep their instruments dry. But they added to the greatness of the festivities this year. Kate and JR sure seemed to like it!!

Hailey and Trace got to try out cooking some hamburgers and hot dogs. They look so super impressed.

Oh, wait, now Trace is having fun!

Gavin is sneaking a hot dog while Hailey is hard at work!

Pete is giving Trace further instructions on the art of "burger flipping."

Trace then becomes board and eats a boat full of yogurt covered animal crackers. It should be an interesting afternoon.

At the end of the barbecue the last of the hot dogs were poked to death by Trace, Hailey, Gavin, and Melina, but it was all in good fun.

They cleaned up their mess anyway! What good kids!

The clean up was quickly followed up by a water balloon game in the day use area. Very good thing that I did not bring my camera to that event!

Although this may have been the smallest overall turn out that I have seen (in 4 years) for the park activities, I think this one was very special. There was a really fun vibe in the air, there were tons of people I care about there, weather working, volunteering, or just hanging out. JR beaver was awesome! The music rocked as well, it was a great idea. Events like this one are always a little stressful in planning and performing, but well worth it when it is as fun as it was today. Days like today I have to stop and go, "I can't believe I get paid to do this!!"

Sneak Peak

The excitement has been gradually building after what seemed to be an obsessive amount of shopping/price checking, finally deciding to order from Sears, then finding the order is two weeks out. Friday was the big day, so here goes the overly complicated process that has only gotten us a sneak peak of our new appliances.

I had to be at work at 8am, the shipment with our order arrived at 9am. Jered had to work at 3pm, and he had worked until 8:30 the night before. We measured both of our vehicles the previous night, so Jered was to find the dimensions of the boxes our appliances were coming in. He was not able to get that information from the employees from sears, so he drove into town with the idea to at least take one appliance home (the lighter one that he may be able to unload himself?)

But what does he come to find?? Well, neither of the appliances will fit into his truck! Whatever is he to do? He measured the boxes and thought for a second, then headed north seven miles to my office. Before I knew what was going on (there were interviews going on all day, so I couldn't keep up with the texting) there was a WASHER & DRYER in my car!!

Yes this whole blog is an advertisement for Honda Elements! I love my car so much, and this is just another reason why they are super awesome. Also, since we had a somewhat poor experience with sears, I was also super excited that we were done going to the store, and I don't think we will go back. But yay, a washer and dryer fit in my car! My car is so cool.

So I drove the washer and dryer home around 5pm, and by 12am when Jered got home, I was too tired to get up and unload them. I had to be at work at 8am the next morning (today), so we unloaded them early before I left for work.

And there they sit, which brings me to the sneak peak........
We are saving the very last part so we can see the end result of this closing comedy together. Jered will be home tonight around 12am, so if I can manage to be awake still or wake up at all, we can start unpacking and hooking up. This whole experience has felt like quite a comedy of errors at times! I am so flipping excited to have a washer and dryer, I get goosebumps when I just think that they are right outside my door, just waiting to get hooked up. I am so happy I won't have to go to the laundromat anymore! Time is not going by fast enough! :)