Stehekin

This past weekend we were lucky enough to travel to Stehekin for a very special memorial for Bob Lehman. My family has been friends with the Lehman's for most of my life...Bob and his wife Shari have known me since I was really little..and really bratty!  They've seen me move from Redmond to Omak, graduate from HS, college, get married, have kids, and "grow up!"  Bob passed away last Spring and they waited until his 70th birthday (Aug. 13th) to hold a truly special celebration of his life.  They've owned a cabin in Stehekin for many years and it was the perfect place to remember him and spend time with a lot of really good friends. 

If you haven't been to Stehekin (or maybe haven't even heard of it) GOOGLE IT!  It's amazing!  Even with our gaggle of children, cousins, and friends kids, it is still the most relaxing place on earth.  Super Zen!  No phones...yeah, that's right...no CELL PHONES! I turned mine off when we got on the boat heading up lake and didn't touch it again until Sunday afternoon. Felt soooo good!  All the kids played outside all weekend and we enjoyed a lot of catching up and enjoying the breathtaking scenery.

 Stehekin sits at the very head of Lake Chelan...brrrr, the waters is icy cold!

 Beautiful!

 The view from our room!

 BFF cousin's riding the boat up lake!

 BFF cousin's and husband on the boat up lake!

 All 3 boy cousins!  Yes...cousin time!

 Nana and Beau checking out the old Lade of the Lake dock.

 Nana and Sissy on the boat ride up lake

 A whole lot of hitching rides takes place in Stehekin!

 SIL time... in the back of a pick up truck named Fiona...only in Stehekin!

The bottom of Rainbow Falls...so awesome!

Finley, Harper, and Presley checking out Rainbow Falls

 

Presley fell asleep on the bumpy dirt road!

 

Trevor...I've known this kid my entire life..some of my funnest memories of childhood include Trevor and my brofus Ryan. He gave a wonderful talk about his dad!

Another ride in Fiona!

Harper and Finny outside the kids play house that Bob built

Uncle Ryan on kid duty

Cousins snuggling before bed

Finny and Harper having a sleepover

"Tibby Wenatchee" enjoying a quiet moment before heading down lake

Toes in the lake...

We told you it was cold girls!

A Camping We Will Go...

The Sackman's haven't been avid campers since we became a family of 5...it's a lot of effort and not always so relaxing despite the great amount of work that goes into preparing to camp...plus, mama doesn't love to sleep on the ground.  But husband grew up going camping to Lake Roosevelt and I hate feeling like I'm the reason that a 23year tradition ended...so we went camping this weekend!!!!  The weather was gorgeous and we went with awesome friends, so overall it was a wonderful weekend! 

Everything we took had to fit on the boat..can you say "possibly exceeding the weight limit?"

 And boy and a shovel...what more does a kid need?

 The kids spent a majority of their days catching tadpoles in blue plastic cups

 Always patriotic...thanks Ryan!

 Finley, Coley, and Tj with their tadpole catchers!

Slip-n-sliding

 C-U-T-E Kids!

 Beau was totally not into touching a yucky, slimy fish!

 EEEEK!

 Jumping off the boat!

 Go Beau! This kid has come so far with his swimming this summer!

 Coley...sweet belly flop girl!

I need my hair brushed...I need a bath...I need a potty!

 Cannon up in the tree fort!

 Roasting mellows over..a propane fire. Classy!

 Time for "campfire"...and songs!

 Saturday night's entertainment...a wildfire.  Load up the boats and let's go check it out! 

 It was pretty cool to watch...and ended up being out before we woke up.

 Sissy was not happy...she was sure it was going to burn our camp up. Poor kiddo!

 Bugsy!

Coley and TJ playing horseshoes..these two kid's are quite the funny team!

Our Waterskier!

 TJ preparing to hit the water.

 Tips up buddy!

 Daddy giving a helping hand!

 HIT IT!

 ...And he's up!

 First zip around the lake!

I learned a few years ago that my kids will do things when they are darn good and ready...and not when husband or myself want them to do something. For example: swimming, jumping off the high dive, snow skiing, reading, counting, tying their shoe, peeing in the toilet...etc., etc., etc.  The problem is husband wants his kids to do things when he thinks they should be able to, sometimes forgetting they are 4, 6, and 9yrs old...and well, new experiences can be scary. And what I've tried to tell him over and over and over and over is that they WILL eventually do whatever new activity we want them to learn, but it needs to be on their own terms.

So water skiing was no exception to this scenario.  Husband is a crazy good water skier and assumes all 3 of his kids will be too....so last summer we bought kid ski's thinking TJ was ready...he was not and had a few meltdowns until I finally said, "FORGET IT!" I'm not into ruining a wonderful day boating by forcing my child into trying something that scares the beans out of him.  We tried a few more times this summer, on a different pair of skis, and TJ was more interested, but still a bit unsure. He got up for a split second last week and that kind of clicked everything into place.  This gave him the confidence he needed to realize he could do it and it wasn't scary.  So this past weekend we went to Lake Roosevelt with some friends for a camping trip and TJ skied the entire weekend! He voluntarily asked if he could try to ski, requesting that husband help him in the water while I pull the boat..and that was it!  He's now officially a water skier!  He got up on his first try and skied successfully all weekend, crossing the wake back and forth and really having fun...it was so awesome and I am so proud of him....but not as proud as husband....who was glowing with pride.

I know husband has good intentions with his effort towards introducing our kids to all sorts of activities...he wants them to love the same activities he loves...but sometimes I worry all 3 of our children will end up in therapy as adults because their parents are crazy! :) 

W.O.W.

So the WOW project (Within One Week) is something I've run across on a few different blogs...and not something that I've ever been interested in trying, mainly due in part to the fact that I easily lose focus and become bored, irritated, and quickly...move on. I also lack any great amount of crafty/talent and therefore I didn't really think I fit into the category of WOW project participator. Until now...Husband and I had a very out of date dining room set that my parents kindly gave us about 6years ago (I think they bought it before I was born..seriously!) It has always served us well and not really been an item on the forefront of my mind that we need to replace...at least while our children are still young and totally destructive. So when my mom remarked that we really needed to redo that table it started to bug me...fester...as I would walk by and notice how ugly it was...I'd find myself catching the table out of the corner of my eye and end up staring at it thinking, "Ugh...that is ugly!" So I decided I'd put one of my glorious summer vacation weeks to good use and embark on the WOW Project. Goal: Finish a small household do-it-yourself project within one week....and celebrate the joy and power of knowing how small changes really make a big difference.

Anywhoo's...I (we..my mom was such a help) did it! The table was sanded, stained..(then we switched to paint after realizing the stain sucked), sealed with a varnish/protector....all 8 chairs were also sanded, painted, and then I recovered the seat cushions. 6 of the chairs have a black/white upholstery fabric, the 2 end chairs have a pretty turquoise blue. It looks really good...makes a huge difference in the dining room and I'm so proud of our efforts! It cost less than $200.00 and was done in exactly 4 days!

The sanded table

The chair cushions (this awesome brown was under the striped fabric we had before the project started).

Ta-Da...finished project!

We store the 2 table inserts and 2 of the chairs because we don't need such a big table on a day-2-day basis..but it looks super cute just like this!

It's HERE!

The end of another school year is about 20hrs away...it's always a surreal feeling, but this year it's especially hard because several of my favorite work friends are leaving the school where I work. I just told Principal Ryan that this year has raced by; the last month has been HECTIC with a lot of stuff going on, and I haven't really processed that the end is just around the corner...now it's HERE! My last report card is done, my room cleaned and organized, and now just some small housekeeping issues to attend to. I've had a great year, my family has had a great year, and though I'm really, really, really, really looking forward to summer, I love teaching, I love my school, my kids, a lot of my coworkers, and everything that encompasses teaching. But I love summer too!!! I know summer is going to fly by and September will be here soon enough, so husband and I are going to enjoy the time with our kids, the sunshine, and the freedom summer gives us! Cannon Beach here we come!

My little Frankenstein's!!
Ms. Tikker I will MISS YOU more than I can say! Even if you do take naps during the field trip to the county fair! HAAA!

TJ's has just soared this year and we thank Mrs. Sproule for being the best 3rd grade teacher to our son!

Fred and Wilma...Bill I will miss you!

Don't be jealous that 4th grade teachers at East wear fanny packs and knee socks!