Camping and Busy Weeks

We have been staying very busy and I'm excited to finally get some pictures up.  We have spent lots of time enjoying our yard, in the pool, the garden, gathering raspberries, and on bikes.  We have had enough raspberries to make 2 big batches of jam, a couple pies, fruit leather and freeze 5 or 6 quarts.  The week before last I cooked extra large portions each night and froze at least 2-3 extra dinners per night so our freezer is getting pretty jam packed full of food.

  Last weekend we were finally able to go camping.  We chose to go up to Island Park, ID for 2 nights and the boys were very excited.  I had been too busy to plan much, but it turned out great.  They enjoyed making bows and arrows, spears, and every other weapon they could make a stick into.  We had some light rain both afternoons/evenings, but our stuff stayed nice and dry and we were still able to have a campfire both nights.  S'mores were a big hit.  Our campsite was a short walk from the Henry's Fork of the Snake River, so we enjoyed walking along the river and throwing rocks in.

Tent silhouettes...very pregnant belly

 Saturday morning we decided to rent a canoe and float the headwaters of the Henry's Fork, called Big Springs.  We should have planned ahead and borrowed a canoe.  The place we rented from provided a shuttle which was nice, but it was very busy and we waited for a long time.  The float is 5 miles and this was the third time Jim and I have done it, but the first for the kids.  It is slow moving and pretty shallow for the most part.  We have seen moose every time and weren't disappointed this time with a mom and baby moose sighting...slightly surprising considering how many people were going down the river.

a strange little caterpillar we found

This past week was extra busy for us.  It was Jim's long week and I picked up an extra day of work for a co-worker, plus we had Vacation Bible School at church every night.  Wednesday I did a presentation at our work meeting on ultrasound and I pulled a very late night to get a Powerpoint presentation all put together.  All week I would change clothes at work, get the kids from daycare, go straight to church (they were serving dinner to the helpers, thank goodness) and meet up with Jim.  I was helping with the 4-5 year olds and Emmett and I wouldn't get home until nearly 9pm.  Jim would help with some clean up from dinner and then take Ezra home. VBS culminated last night with a short performance by our group for the parents, followed by a really amazing magic show by a family that travels doing magic shows with the story of salvation interwoven.

Baby E3 (his current nickname) is doing well.  We demo'd some new ultrasound machines at work and got some amazing looks at his face, spinal cord, etc.  He currently weighs about 5 1/2 lbs.  I feel very laid back about his arrival as I have saved most baby things and haven't really done much to get "ready" for him.  Our weeks ahead shouldn't be nearly as busy as the last few, I'll work up to his arrival, but no more extra days and not too many things on the calendar.  However there are only 3 more weeks of summer before Emmett starts kindergarten and I'm expecting baby E3 to make his appearance the 1st or second week of school...so that might get a little exciting.