Lake Chelan

We just got back from a week in Lake Chelan. This is the second year in a row that we have rented a house there with 4 other couples. There were 5 guys, 5 girls and 5 babies (all boys!!!). All of us girls played volleyball together at Central and all of the boys were forced to become friends after they married us:) However, I think the boys had even more fun than the girls this trip, the 5 of them are quite a group. As usual it was so fun to catch up with old friends and watch our kids play together. I have so many wonderful memories of playing volleyball in college and this group of girls are some of my best friends in the world. I just wish we all lived closer!! The house we stayed at had a huge deck that faced out over the lake. We put a couple smaller pools out on the deck for the kids to play in. Crew is in the back (2), Jaymin is towards the front (2 in August) and Colt is sitting down (13 months).
Colt loved getting to play with the bigger boys!
He tried pretty hard to keep up with them too but Crew and Jaymin were a little quick for him.
Sharing the toys with Jaymin.
We had our own private dock and it was wonderful!! We did not have to deal with a bunch of other people running around and it made it easy to keep track of the kids. I had got this little crab floaty for Colt and he actually enjoyed the lake water. He was a little cold at first but then got used to it. Dave even got him to put his face in the water.
He had so much fun!!
Family picture.
Shane and Courtney brought a boat so we took a boat ride. Colt wanted to walk everywhere and was not too happy about having to be held the entire time!

Jessica and Wyatt (5 months).
There was also a small yard in the front of the house which was fenced in. We got out the bubble machine and let the boys run around. They had so much fun.
Colt kept trying to catch the bubbles.
He loved it!!
After running after the kids all day we looked forward to putting them to bed and having some time to ourselves. One of the nights we got all the husbands to take a break from there games and fill up the kiddie pool on the deck with hot water and we soaked our feet. They also brought us chocolate covered strawberries (which Jess had made!) and a warm cloth for our face. It was so fun to have the entire week to catch up and have some girl time!

Here are the boys starting in the middle going clockwise is Shane, Chris, Tyler (cowboy hat), Dale and Dave. As I said before the guys had a great time, they spent the entire week in a decathalon competition and they even kept score. I believe Dale ended up winning. They played water polo, golfed, ladder ball, beer pong, putt-putt, Wii bowling and tennis, holey board, yahtzee, poker and I am sure some other ones but I can't remember them all. I think part of the time they wished the girls and the kids would just disappear. It was hard for me to get Dave to help with ANYTHING, he just wanted to be a kid again and play with all the boys. It was so funny to watch all of them get so competitive about every little thing. They all have a blast together but I am sure every single one of them is exhausted right now!!
The girls are a bit more mellow, we spent most of the time talking, going on walks, drinking coffee and taking care of our kids. We did get away one night and went into town for dinner and drinks. The guys had the kids, we were home by 8 as the night had gotten a bit crazy and we were in desperate need of water and lots of sleep!!
The boys and there kids.
Group picture. From left to right: Price's, Chase's, Pemberton's, Kerlee's, and Stacy's.
So sad to leave but we had such a great time. We can't wait till next year!!

Where have we been??

I wish I could say that we have been spending the last two weeks in Hawaii or Australia!!However, the truth is that we have been at home and we have been sooo busy! I spent the last two weeks working in Dave's office. The summer is such a busy time for them and one of his staff members was on vacation so I went in and did my best not to mess anything up:) Colt spent the time with my mom for a couple days but then she had a class she was taking for school so I had one of my former volleyball players come over and watch him. He loves her so it always works out well! Dave and I are both looking forward to a vacation very soon!!

Colt seems to be growing so fast in the past 3 weeks. He has become a master at signing now, he sure would know a lot more though if his mom and dad knew more signs. I am going to the library tomorrow to check out a book on baby signing. He picks it up so fast now, this morning I gave him a banana and did the sign for it, by the time breakfast was over he could sign banana and he would continue to sign it whenever I asked him to throughout the day. It amazes me how kids pick up on these things so quickly. I was not too excited about teaching it to him but my sister-in-law Kenzie convinced me that I should do it. Colt's cousin Camryn has gotten very good at signing so I gave it a shot. It took about 2 weeks for him to figure it out but once he figured it out there is no stopping what he can learn. He now knows the signs for: more, dog (which is funny because dog was one of his first words so now he will say it and then sign it!), milk, baby, banana, please (this one is my favorite!!) and done (which he also can say but signs as well.). Tomorrow I am going to work on cracker, I really need to learn the signs for more animals because Colt has recently really been interested in being read to. He will bring me his books and then sit on my lap and then I give him a shortened version of what the story actually says. If I spend too much time reading he tries to turn the page on me:) His favorite books are the animal books, he loves to point at all the animals. He has become pretty steady on his feet and prefers walking as his main way of getting around. He loves to give kisses and recently has figured out that when we leave he should blow us a kiss good-bye. Dave was leaving tonight to go and finish a tile job and he said bye to Colt and Colt puts his hand to his mouth and makes a kissing sound with his lips. Well, along with all the wonderful things Colt is doing there have also been some not so wonderful times:) He has started to throw little fits when he does not get something he wants, which can be embarrasing when we are really trying early on not to give in to what he wants so he will eventually learn that he can not act that way. For now though he continues to throw a fit until he cries himself to nothing and then comes over and gives us a hug. I think the terrible 2's have started early!! Remember how I always bragged about what a great baby he was, it was like the minute he turned 1 he has started testing us a little bit!! If anyone has any ideas on how to discipline a 1 year old let me know:) Overall though Colt is doing great and the good times far outweigh the bad!

Colt and Camryn

Colt and I drove over to Kennewick today to spend the day with Camryn. Julie and Mike were out of town and Kenzie and Andy both had to work so I volunteered to come over and play with the kids. It was so fun!
Camryn is so cute! I can't believe the difference between her and Colt. Camryn is small and dainty. Colt is big and burly! I was giving them raspberries for a snack. Camryn would very carefully pick one up between her two fingers and put it very carefully in her mouth and chew it. Colt would grab about 4, smash them between his fingers and then proceed to shove it in his mouth and swallow without chewing! I must say I prefer how neat Camryn is to Colt's messiness. I hate messes!! Ask Dave, he gets annoyed how I just can't let dishes sit in the sink, or let Colt's toys be left on the ground all night. I love clean and if its not clean I can't relax!
The kids had so much fun, they really interacted with each other this time and that was fun to watch.
They spent the majority of the day going up and down the stairs. After watching Camryn go down the stairs backwards Colt finally started doing it himself. Dave and I have been trying to teach him this for a long time but the problem was that he never wanted to go back down he always just wanted to go up:)
After chasing them around all afternoon I put them in the crib for awhile so I could sit!! They were hilarious, laughing and poking each other.