Five.Ten Years Old

 5.10 Years Old

• WE have had cousins at our house. We are watching Jessie and Rita for 9 days while their parents take Sonora to Mexico and Amelia joined us after our Utah trip so she could be in Oregon for her birthday. It has been great for you to have Jessie to play with all the time. You two get along so well. You all have been making these movies about the different fairy tales. Dress up is all over the house and yard, but you all have had fun.
• Some other highlights from the month, having Kaylana and Fritz here for a few days. Going rafting with Cassie's family and you got to snuggle with Loli on the boat. Having a great night at the park for National Nights out. You got your face painted and ate a lot of sweets. 
• We got to go backpacking as a family to Pamelia Lake. I love how you never complain when hiking, and this time you were carrying your own pack. You are such a huckleberry queen. I think it is because you are shorter so you can see them, but it is hard to get you off the huckleberry plants. We camped right next to the lake. There were logs all over the place so Maggie, you, and Millie used them to build this big lean-to style fort. We slept in hammocks. Having the hammocks up during the day was a big hit. You loved swinging in them. When we hiked back, you asked me to give you math fact questions and spelling words. We ended with getting milkshakes from the Gingerbread House place in Lyons. 
• We seem to not being able to slow down this summer. We were able to go camping at Crater Lake. We drove down and spent two nights in the park. The lake was beautiful. We hiked up to the look out and then hiked down to the lake. We brought our swim suits this time and swam in the very cold water. You jumped in for about 1 minute, then found a hot, big rock to lay on like a lizard. We played games, ate yummy foods, and even went back at night to watch the sunset. On the way back, we hiked Diamond Falls and Salt Creek falls. They were so beautiful. I am so happy we made the stop. For dinner that night, we ate pizza and drank root beer. 
• Summer is wrapping up and so I wanted to be able to have one more big day on using our Berry Pass. I called it, "Big Summer Blow Out!". We met the Prices and the Smiths and tried to cram in all the activities that we could in one day. We started with Get Air. You loved jumping around with Jessie. Next, we made our way to the driving range. We had to take turns using the driver and chipper. Your favorite was using the driver because you could smack it hard and far. Afterwards, we headed to mini golf. I was in your group with Jessie, Millie, and Sonora. Counting the swings were very loosely done, but there was a lot of giggles. We broke for lunch at Chick Fil-A. The last event we got in was bowling. We ended the night with pizza at Annie's to celebrate her birthday. It was such a fun day.
• The last thing with our Berry Passes that we got to use them for was going to Enchanted Forrest. I have heard such mixed things about the place. People either love it or think it is creepy. We were excited to experience it ourselves. We met the Prices there but they were going to be late so we went early and waited in line for a few rides. The log flume was really fun and the other one was sort of like a mini Hatterhorn. Once the Prices showed up, we walked through storybook lane (even went down the slide in the house). We listened to an Irish band and water show. We walked a Jack in the Bean Stalk play. And at the end, you went on the log flume ride again with Uncle Dusty.