Finishing off Summer, Kim's Birthday, Henry's Birthday, Backpacking, and Back to School for Lyza

 The boys found a snake down at our beach

Kim's friend Bessie was in town

So the girls got together for a beach day

The boys playing at the park

We played ga-ga ball for FHE that evening

Kim went out to dinner with her friends

These four were all matching

This is our new roof. I don't blame you if you don't see the difference

One day we had a black cat show up at our house and it was really friendly

It stayed outside our house all the time

The boys playing in the backyard with a friend

And on the trampoline with the sprinkler going

The kids were in love with this cat

They even named her Athena

Gnome?

Mason got the table ready for breakfast

Lyza made toys for the cat to play with

The cat was here almost 24/7 for a week and then mysteriously disappeared. The kids had so much fun with her.

Look at those crocodiles

Playing with another friend

We had one last trip to the blueberry farm

Lyza got her photo taken at school for her ID

And she did an orientation the week before school started

Kim took the kids to the County Fair

They got to make balloon animals

Lyza has been taking good care of her ants

Kim took the kids for a lake day at our friends' cabin

They even got to throw axes and throwing stars

Speaking of warriors, Mason made this all out of paper, maybe not the best material for armor and a sword?

We had Nixon's friends over for an outdoor movie

Nixon pulled out his own tooth

We got to celebrate Kim's birthday

The kids gave her very thoughtful gifts

And she made a delicious peach pie

The next day we went on a hike together to Evan's Landing on Lake Pend Oreille

The hike was king of backward because the first half was all downhill (hiking down to the lake) and the way back was all uphill

There were some cool guys on the trail

Show off

The kids had lots of fun playing on the beach at the bottom

We ate some snacks and rested

And I flew the drone and took some pictures

The kids loved throwing rocks into the lake

And then they stuffed rocks into each other's shirts

Then it was time to hike out

When we got back to town we took the kids out for ice cream

The following Monday Lyza started 7th Grade

Kim had her first shift at Kootenai Health (after not working for 10 years!)

That evening they helped me set up my conference table at my office

Nixon borrowed a diablo from the library and has gotten pretty good with it

Nixon is also backflipping again

The days before Henry's birthday Mason was busy making decorations

Henry got to pick up donuts for breakfast on his birthday

He got some money from his Grandma and Grandpa Keyes

He chose to go to Burger King for lunch

Then they played at the park

He had lots of fun opening more gifts before dinner

Check out his reaction to this one...

He had lots of fun playing with his new Hot Wheels toys

Then he got to do a pinata Mason made for him

Then it was time for chocolate cake

He put the candles in himself

Happy 6th Birthday, Henry!

It is hard to believe our Henry is 6!

Two days after Henry's birthday the boys took our annual backpacking trip. This year we chose to go to Roman Nose Lakes. You drive all the way up to the first lake, then you can hike to two more lakes

After a long and bumpy drive we were happy to get out and explore the first lake

There were ripe huckleberries all along the trail

Then after having lunch we strapped on our packs and began hiking

The trails were well marked

There were very nice views along the way

A little rest for these boys

We hiked to the second lake to check it out

Mason was happy to get his head wet

Then we got back on the trail

More hiking to get to our final destination

A snack break eating some Eat Mores

Getting close to the third lake

At the head of the lake there was a nice camp spot

We decided to hike further to see what other options there were. We got some beautiful views of the lake

We eventually turned back and set up camp at the first spot

Tested out the sleeping bags

Then filtered some water

Then it was time for some swimming and cliff jumping

Nixon was brave and jumped with me

The little boys enjoyed cooling off in the cold water

After that we did some exploring

Then we made some dinner

And started a fire

Meanwhile the girls were having a blast

We played some Sleeping Queens

Henry made sure to blow on the fire ;)

We all slept pretty well for backpacking. It was chilly the next morning.

The lake was beautiful with the morning light

We warmed up with some hot chocolate

Then I flew the drone

I got up high to see the different lakes

This is the one we camped at

In this photo you can see all three Roman Nose Lakes and a fourth lake (Snow Lake) to the right and over the ridge.

Some panoramic photos showing Roman Nose

The views were breath taking

We hiked to the other end of the lake to explore

Nixon and Mason loved climbing on these big boulders

Henry and I didn't go up as far

Some pretty wild flowers

After that we had lunch and took down camp

One last photo courtesy of the drone

Then it was time to hike out

We stopped for Frosties at Wendy's on the way home

Our boys backpacking trip was a success!

Here is a video of the trip

And here is one of just drone footage showing off the beautiful area

Take Care