A few more lake pictures

During one of the big storms we had last week the wall behind our condo took a tumble...

 Our landlords are busy getting it fixed so they can start showing the condo again.  Sometimes it's nice to be a renter :)
A picture of Asher at the lake

 CK took Reese out on the kayak

 She loved it, of course

 She also loved looking at all the fish, worms, frogs, etc. that her cousins managed to fish out of the lake

Camping at the Lake

Lucky for us the LaFond camping trip this year was at Hauser Lake which happens to be a convenient 20 minutes from our house.  So last week CK's parents, sisters, Aunt and Uncle and some cousins all camped in their RVs at the lake and CK, Reese, Asher and I headed out a few nights/afternoons.  We came in most nights to let the kids sleep in their own beds (ok, who am I kidding, so we could sleep in our own beds) and it worked out great.  Friday night we braved it and stayed on an air mattress on Craig & Jan's camper floor.  That simply reminded us why we drove home to our beds the others nights :)  2 adults and 2 kids who kick on one air mattress = not much sleep for the bigger people.  The week was great, though, and both Reese and Asher had a wonderful time playing with their cousins, second cousins and keeping Mom and Dad on their toes chasing them around the campground.    I even managed to get on a jetski for the first time in 4 years.  The ride didn't last too long but that's another story.  Here are some cute videos from the last few days.
This is Asher with his 2nd cousin Owen whose family just moved to Missoula from California so hopefully we'll get to see them more often now!



This one is Reese playing with her second cousins, Ava and J.J. (brother and sister to Owen).  She LOVED the lake and we had to drag her out each day.



It's been a great 3 weeks at home.  Tomorrow I head out again on the road- this time to Charlottesville, VA, where apparently it's been 107 lately.  I managed to work 40 hour weeks and cook dinner just about every night.  Neither of those have happened in years.  It was a great break but I'm looking forward to a new project and seeing what Virginia has in store.

In other (very exciting) news, Reese is doing great with her potty training.  She's about 90% trained so all the hard work is paying off.  Guess I'll have to find another reason to clean my house now ;)

Adventures in potty training

CK has been helping out our neighbor Dave with his backyard landscaping  He gets to dig with the backhoe and then Dave does all the manual labor.  Not a bad deal.

 Reese posing with Mommy during our first meal out in a long time (to celebrate our anniversary).

 Reese built herself a throne and then sat on it overseeing the playroom

 and feeding her baby

 I managed to get a not-so-great shot of Reese and her potty chart before she ripped off all the stickers...oh well.  She's doing very well.  She's only had one accident this week at daycare and is about 50% at home.  A huge improvement from last week.  Hopefully we're making progress.

Happy Fourth of July

Our weekend has been pretty low key and here is the reason:

 Yes we've started potty training Reese...again, and hopefully for the last time.  She hasn't shown much interest the other times we've tried but I'm hoping with 3 weeks of both of us around and some incentives (stickers, treats, whatever it takes :) we can win her over.  So far she's added 3 stickers to her chart.  Sounds good until I tell you (which I won't) how many super clean carpets, chairs and floors there are in our condo now from the various cleanups we've had over the last 3 days.  Oh well, if nothing else, our condo is getting a good spring (summer) cleaning.  With a non-diapered, unpredictable daughter, however, we've been laying pretty low and hoping routine will pay off.
CK got life jackets for the kids so hopefully we will make it out to the lake sometime soon.  I also hope they like wearing these as much on the water as they did in the kitchen.

 Reese is checking out her 4th of July attire

 and twirling for the audience

 Reese using her sippy cup as a Sproutoscope (if you have toddlers and watch the Sprout channel you'll recognize the reference)

Happy 4th of July weekend everyone.  Have a safe and happy one.

Future Diva?

Reese's favorite song is an .mp3 version of Long Tall Texan that CK has in the Edge.  She requests it every time we ride in the car, although she calls it "Giddy Up".  Recently I found her peforming it karyoke style into her cat piano.  For those of you who don't know this song (ok, let's be honest, for those of you who are related to me and not CK), here's the version Reese listens to (by the Beach Boys with Doug Supernaw).

Graceland

I stopped in Memphis on the way home this week for an end of project celebration with my team (next week is our last week in Jackson!).  We visited Graceland and I got some inspiration for the new house.  I'm thinking this look for our master bedroom:

 The kids have discovered the "miscellaneous utensils" drawer in the kitchen and have been having fun with their findings...

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there, especially Grandpa Greg, Grandpa Craig and, of course, the best father in the world, CK.  I have been delinquent in blogging and taking pictures but managed to snap a few over the last week or so.

This was last weekend at Val and Steve's house...perhaps Med School is not in her future?

 Reese still loves to read, though.  This is a pretty common sight in our house.  Asher, however, can't be bothered to sit still long enough to read :)

 They both like to help in the kitchen

 Daddy and Reese taking a snooze on Father's Day 2011

Happy Memorial Day

I'm finally starting to feel a little better after 6 weeks or so of cold/laryngitis/cold again/ugh!  I'm still coughing a lot but it's much better than even Saturday was.  Here are some pictures from last weekend and this weekend.

Reese and Tyler playing at Aunt Jennifer's house

 Successful pigtails...finally! (they lasted about an hour)

 Asher managed to steal the horse away for a ride

 Kaitlyn and Reese cuddling up for a nap?  Yeah right!

Venus and Dan's wedding 5.14.11- Newport, RI

Last week we flew to Newport, RI for Dan and Venus's wedding.  The wedding was absolutely beautiful and it was great to see everyone but the trip was tough.  All four of us were under the weather when we arrived and CK and I both got progressively worse throughout the week, culminating in me completely losing my voice (laryngitis) on the day of the rehearsal.  It was a bit of a challenge to talk to family and friends all weekend (I couldn't do more than whisper) and to chase after the kids.  But we had a good time anyway.  Congratulations to Dan and Venus!  Congratulations also to my sister Sarah who received her MBA on Sunday after many years of balancing work and classes.

This was our situation on the airplane.  3 flights both directions, short layovers and sick parents.  Two tough travel days but worth it to see everyone and be there for Dan and Venus's big day.

 Reese after she snatched the bride's sunglasses

 A rare family photo...all cleaned up for the rehearsal dinner

 Sarah and her niece

 Me with the groom

 Awww....(this lasted only long enough to snap the photo)

 Cowgirl Reese

Asher and Reese swinging at the beach in Newport

Reese all decked out for the rehearsal dinner

My cousin Robbie (all the way from Seattle!), my brother Jeff (all the way from London), CK, Asher and my uncle Bill (Seattle)

Asher looking pretty handsome for the rehearsal dinner

The good looking bride and groom at the rehearsal dinner

Reese and I before the wedding

The flower girl boarding the trolley

Mother of the groom and Dan

Sarah in the sea of gowns

Sarah with my Dad and Yelena

Sarah and Mom

Reese walking Denali and Jameson (and the cabbage patch dolls Mom found that were MINE in the attic- ha!- note the one with red (orange) hair- yeah I begged for that one for a long time)

Sarah and Fred practicing posing for their own wedding in a few short months