Birthday Shenanegans!

Maren:
I'm eight!  Though I can't say that I feel any differently now that I am... it feels like I have been waiting for this day since I turned seven!  The second my seventh birthday was over I started talking about my next party!  Maybe its because mommy does such a great job at throwing parties!
Since we always have so much fun I decided to once again have a water slide and I decided that I would have a dolphin themed party.  Mommy decorated our yard like a luau with swimming dolphins everywhere!  It was so beautiful!  We of course had a blast... the water slide is just oodles of fun!  So many of my friends came to help me celebrate: Emily from K Falls, the Oppelt Family, the Chick Family, the Clelland Family, Sonja, Art, and a bunch of girls from the ranch, but the best visitor of all was probably my Pica, Grammie, and Cousin June!  They drove up from Reno to surprise me for the day!  It was so great to have them here!
The day after my party was the actual day of my birthday.  Since school will be starting up again soon and daddy is leaving town for hunting camp next week we only have a short period of time left to get on the river.  Daddy packed up the raft and the entire Chick clan joined us for a float!  The morning of the float mommy gave me my most favorite gift of all... a mermaid tail that I can actually swim with!  I was so excited about it and wore it the entire day down the river!  So many people saw it and commented which made me feel very special and very beautiful!
Mommy also did a pretty good job with my other gifts which comprised of clothes.... even though I didn't get any toys I was pretty happy with what she got for me.  How can you beat a sequined coat and shoes to match?  The following morning I wore it to see Nonna and Nonno and the whole car looked like a party!  One time we passed through a section of shade and Maddox said... "Who turned off the disco ball?"  So cute!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good Friends and Summer Adventures

Maren:
Last summer I met a really great friend when we were at mommy's 10 year veterinary reunion.  Emily, the daughter of one of mommy's classmates, and I hit if off instantly.   Since then, I have only seen her once but we still both talk about each other often.  A few weeks ago she and her family came to town (they live in Klamath Falls which is about 1.5 hours away) and I got to spend the day with them.  We had a great time at the family fun center and seeing The Lion King together.  Then a few weekends later we drove over to pick her up for a sleep over.  On our way back to town we stopped and played at the Emigrant Lake water slides.  Then, mommy took us home where we made our own pizzas and had super yummy sundaes.  We all slept out in the fort that night and had a great time together.  I can't wait until my birthday when she gets to come back and stay again!  



Maddox:
This summer has been great so far.  Things are lining up perfectly for us to be at home with mommy and daddy or at Nonna and Nonno's most of the time which means we haven't had to be at Mustard Seed at all and that makes me a happy boy.  
Our summer adventures have been fantastic!  Daddy's dreams came true just a few weeks ago when he got a brand new raft.  Of course, that meant we had it loaded and on the river in no time flat!  Our maiden voyage was a family trip on the Rogue for an overnight stay.  Mommy and daddy are trying to see if Maren and I are ready for a trip down the Wild and Scenic section next year so this was a trial run.  We floated from Hog Creek down to Galice where we stopped and had dinner.  Then we jumped back into the boat and floated a ways further where we found a nice little camp site.  We unloaded the boat, set up camp and slept under the stars together.  The following day we stayed in camp for a layover day.  It was a great day full of swimming and playing.  We even walked back up river to float the rapid just above our camp in our life jackets!  After another great night under the stars we loaded up the boat and spent another day floating.  It was a great time!