Cascade Falls

While on Orcas Island I took Brody, Darby & Bo on a hike with my friend and her two kids. It was supposed to be a quick mile and a half hike but turned into almost four miles. The kids were mostly troopers but thankfully my friend had some extra snacks with her. That always helps kids get through hikes. 

Ice Cream & Orcas Island

We had our annual soccer campout. We missed our 7:20 ferry (barely) so we had to wait around for the next one at 9:00. It ended up being behind schedule so we ended up leaving Anacortes at 9:30. It was a late night but the kids were great. I think the ice cream helped a little. 

Painted Rocks

While Brad and the boys were on their way back from Oregon, I took Ollie, Darby and Bo to the Kids Club at Michael's. They painted some canvases and decorated them with puffs then they painted rocks. I like the activity mostly because I don't have to clean up the mess. 

The Big Nine!

The only downside to selling Eclipse glasses is that we were selling on Colt's birthday. So we didn't do much to celebrate. We made up for it the next day by having cake, ice cream and presents. 

Thankfully he didn't seem to mind too much.  

Solar Eclipse Glasses

Brad was telling me how most of the people who were buying shirts were local people in Prineville. There were also other people set up in the Rite-Aid Parking Lot trying to sell things and they were all selling to each other. Brad told me one guy was even trying to sell him glasses and Brad's response was "I don't need to sell anything else, I'm knee deep in T-shirts." 

When Brad told me this, I said "You know, people up here are looking for glasses and they are willing to pay money for them."   

So, Brad ended up buying 500 glasses from this guy.  They started driving home on Saturday.  In the meantime we posted something on our neighborhood facebook page telling people we would be set up in our park at 2:00.   

By the time we were set up we had already pre-sold 200 glasses.  It was crazy! 

We hung out at the park for a few hours selling our glasses. 

Brad decided we should get some more so he paid his cousin to drive more up on Sunday morning.  We set up again on Sunday and spent the whole day selling glasses.  It was non-stop.  In fact we sold all the way up until the eclipse started.  

We are still thinking about all the craziness that happened. 

Through it all the kids were rock stars!  They complained a little but I think they had fun with the constant activity and just hanging out at the park all day. 

Selling T-shirts

When we were in Oregon a few weeks ago, Brad's mind started spinning. With all the talk of the upcoming Eclipse he was thinking about ways to make money off the 40,000 people who were expected to head into Central Oregon. He couldn't get his ideas out of his head. That's a business mind for you. So, he put in a lot of work and finally decided to sell Eclipse t-shirts in Central Oregon. 

He took Brody & Colt with him.  They left on Wednesday night and sold t-shirts Thursday and Friday. 

T-shirt sales were very slow.  It was discouraging for Brad and me as well, although I could distance myself from it a little bit.   

My prayer for them was that they would be safe, have a good time and learn some good business lessons.  Even if they were losing money.   

 

I talked to Brad Friday evening and things started to turn for us.  

Blackberry Picking

I took the kids to go blackberry picking. It is one of my favorite things about summer. I could do it all day but my kids only last an hour, or less. Brody was actually really enjoying it so maybe soon we can have our own day of picking. 

We took them home and I made a few blackberry cobblers. 

 

Colt's Party

On Saturday we had Colt's party.  Papa Bob, Grandma Shari, Fafa, Grammy, Uncle Jason & Zephyr came.  Uncle Brian, Aunt Angie, Abi & Andrew were already there. 

They played. 

Then Colt opened presents.  

Tinkham

We moved up Colt's camping birthday weekend a week early. Everyone was able to rearrange their schedules and we were very thankful.  Colt said he wanted to go to Tinkham, like last year but as we were driving up he said he wanted Denny Creek.   Well, we barely found a spot at Tinkham so we are guessing Denny Creek would have been full.   

We went up on a Thursday night and got a spot then we switched to a new site right on the river the next morning.  The only downside is it smelled like poop....for a reason.   We found some dog poop but also some other poop that may have belonged to the people who were there before us.  Thankfully the camp hosts helped us clean it up.  Then we forgot about it and played the rest of the day. 

Patient Appreciation Picnic

The boys orthodontist has a patient appreciation picnic. They rent out some space at Vasa Park and had lots of different games and activities. They even had lunch, cotton candy and ice cream. 

Abi & Andrew go to the same orthodontist so they were there too. 

 

We also spotted one of Brad's cross country runners, Matthew Roberts, at the park so we said hi before we jumped into the water.  (He was one of the lifeguards)