Dueck's Roost

And for some final, fast and furious pics from July!!  James striking a pose at 11-year-old Scout Camp. The poster the kids made for us for our 15th wedding anniversary. The fortunate I got and thought was way super exciting (although it didn't actually come true):-)!! Joseph getting his first real dental exam (very fascinating and post-worthy--I know;).  And Porter and G-ma Loo during one of their final piano lessons together. (He's since moved on to a new, more advanced teacher.) Nuff said! Moving on to August ... 

Oh goodness, where to start?! The Jacobs Family Reunion!  My dad's from a big fun family of 12 (10 kids and my amazing grandparents--both now passed on). When I was a kid, we got together every year for an exciting week of camping. Exciting because there were a TON of cousins to play with, exciting because we had volleyball tournaments and foot races of all sorts, exciting because you never knew what else we'd be up to--like riding horses up in the hills, repelling from a cliff face, putting on wonky fashion shows with bags of old clothes, or building small swimming dams/holes along the river.   Now my kids get to enjoy some of the same excitement (on a bi-annual basis). There are now a TON MORE cousins to play with (although, of course the dynamics have changed somewhat since we've grown), volleyball and foot races remain, and you still never know what fun thing someone will think up next.  As always, the kids had a great time by the river/stream playing wi...

I'm sure I've said this before (in a post as well as in conversation) and I'll go ahead and say it again. We love spending time as a family at Ensign Ranch in Cle Elum, WA! It's great that it's only a little over an hour from home, is big enough to provide lots to do but small enough that most of the kids can roam around on their own (preferably with a buddy), and is pretty much always sunnier/warmer than where we live. Trying to fit the bikes in the trailer is always nice as there are plenty of places to ride, including a nifty cement path around the lake. Porter's favorite pastime this particular year was to ride around and around the loop, looking cool in his fancy green Beats while listening to an audio book.  One of the huge perks of visiting the ranch for the 4th of July has always been the amazing fireworks show right there on-site. It's pretty much front row/lake-view seats and no crowds. Doesn't get better than that!!  (as a side no...

And now for the random June pictures that really couldn't take up an entire post, but I couldn't resist adding somewhere.  Mae & Gracie do random, messy, possibly disgusting or perhaps completely tasty homemade facials (I think this happened while the boys were away camping). Oh, and they had fun loving on the only member of the male species left at home (who looks a tad sick here but I don't recall for sure). Next up, I guess these pics represent all the crazy summer days we spent at Wild Waves this year. I actually have kinda a love-hate relationship with WW, but apparently this was a love moment since my little guy (far left) was having such a great time on the froggie hopper thing.  A picture I caught (from the treadmill, I believe) of my little bitty backyard (actually cleaned up), with two cute cousins hanging out on the swing. Cart is so great with little J!!  And finally, little J all tuckered out from what looks like intense hours ...