So, what have we been up too? Come along and I will show you....
Last Wednesday was the kidlets last day of school, and on Tuesday, they had a little dress up party/ball thingy that they do every year. Once again, Eric was a cowboy, while Miss Katie was an English rider, complete with her 1/2 chaps and all.....
It was really sad this year, because as I have mentioned before, their school has been closed down due to budget cuts. On the last day of school, when I picked them up from school, I stood out in front with the other parents that I have stood out front with for the last three years, and I cried-we all did.Which is pretty amazing in itself, because I don't cry. Oh sure, there are plenty of times that I want to cry, but I hold it all in. Well, on Wednesday I did not, and I sobbed like a baby for about 30 minutes. I tell you what.....
Then on Thursday, we got up early and helped a couple of the teachers move out of their classrooms and into their new schools. That was also pretty sad, but it was good for the kidlets I think. It gave them closure.
Along came Friday-my riding day-and it happened to be absolutely down pouring outside. Finally, during the afternoon, the rain stopped and me, Amber and the kidlets took off on a bike ride. As you can tell from the above pictures, we stopped at a couple of marshy areas and caught salamanders and tadpoles. Aren't they just the cutest things ever???
The bike ride was gorgeous and very peaceful/healing, as it was in an area that I used to ride my pony and play when I was a tween....
...Until it started to rain again. We hid under some tress for about 20 minutes, but when it became apparent that the deluge was not going to stop, we turned back around-we had ridden about six miles out-and pedaled for home.
Just look at poor Katie's face!
Okay...where were we ??? Ah yes, Saturday. Saturday was the Jr. Log Show, and this year, both of my kidlets participated in it. For those of you who are newer to my blog and are wondering what the heck a "log show" is, please refer to this post, this post, and this post, so I don't have to write about it all over again. :)
Katie was able to compete in the ax toss-notice that her "ax" is really a plastic toy ax-the rope climb, and in choker setting. She looks pretty excited to be tossing that ax in the above picture, doesn't she?? Do you suppose she was imagining her brother at the other end??? LOL!!!
Eric had to compete against a girl in the choker setting, and you can just see his smirk in the below picture. He looks like he is thinking that he can take her any day, doesn't he?? Well we'll see about that....
They look pretty close here, don't they?
And here....
And maybe even here, but.....
Eric pulled ahead and won by a landslide. Of course he did, he is my son, isn't he??? LOL!!!!
He also ended up taking first place in the ax toss for his age division-for the second year in a row!-and his ax was real. Sent shivers down my spine, that did! Katie got really mad that she didn't win any trophies, and she said that Eric better watch out next year, because she is going to win everything. Should I tell her that she will never be in his age division??? Nah...
Finally, we had fathers day, which we spent out on a small cruise ship on Puget Sound. Kevin's cousin had a small wedding ceremony that took place on the boat, and do you think I remembered my camera???? NO!!!! I was so mad. It was a glorious day, filled with lots of food, laughter, family, and fun.Anywho...hope that this updates me for awhile, and I hope that you are all doing well out there! :)
As fellow Western WA people know, we always have a lot of the yellow stuff in the spring, but this year, I swear it has taken over everything.
We have literally been surrounded by a sea a scotch broom on our rides. It is kind of pretty though, right? LOL!!! 
...and Katie lost her first upper tooth!!! She pulled it out herself!
Speaking of teeth, Eric had his palate expander removed and was fitted for a retainer. 
It was kind of ironic, because when Amber and I were out riding two days before, we were saying how it felt like summer in the woods, but also how it didn't yet smell like summer in the woods.
Therefore, I was really surprised when we got a phone call from the fire department (Kevin is a volunteer) asking Kev if he knew which road would give them the best access to the fire. I was like "Fire??? What fire???" But sure enough, if you looked towards the mountain, there were two distinct plumes of smoke rising up out of the foothills.
Now....the reason I called this post the "Twilight Zone" is because there was never any mention of this fire on any of the local news channels. In fact, had we not taken these pictures, it would almost be hard to prove that there ever was a fire. (I am 
And every year, Kevin and hundreds of other poor suckers...I mean hunters...purchase passes and are given keys that unlock the numerous gates to allow them to access these privately owned woods, and I must admit that we do get a lot of enjoyment out of them.
Okay...back to the fun stuff!!! While we were driving along, we noticed these old bear tracks in a dried out mud puddle. Pretty cool, huh??? Unless you are not in your truck driving down the road (I thought of you Chelsi, I swear I did!!) 
Further up the road, we came across fresh bear tracks, and they appeared to be from two different bears. It is hard to tell from the pictures, but there were two sets right next to each other. I had Eric put his hand down next to the tracks to give you an idea of how big they were.
And for those of you who may be thinking that Eric has small hands-which he doesn't- here is a shot of my size nine foot-and really white leg!-next to the tracks.
