Finds

We decided to go out to the Metolius Preserve Friday and had some great finds like:

this crawdad a couple owl pellets

(this one contained a tiny talon from a small bird- among other things)
a tonne of beautiful wild flowers
a few different species of butterflies

This lady was conducting a "butterfly walk" and informed us that the above butterflies are a Western Sulfer (the yellow) and an Artic butterfly. The Artic butterfly is only found in this area in even numbered years as their metamorphosis takes 2 years, so we were lucky to see them this year, as they won't be around next year.

Butterfly 911

The butterfly lady is trying to fix our butterfly's wings

And...We also found some coyote scat.

(No, I didn't take a picture)

How did we know that's what is was?

My mom got Ethan this book a year ago.

It is a fun book. Click on the image to check it out :D

It was a toasty day and everyone was "dying" of thirst by the end, but we will be sure to visit this area again to go on some of the other trails in the area (they vary from .6-2.5 miles).

Samson?

Now that we have cut the boy's hair will his luck continue?

or was his luck in his locks?

p.s. I am so sad his hair is gone

Winners!

Tonight was "Cap Night" at the Bend Elks baseball game (collegiate summer baseball- Jacoby played a season for the Elks :D). We, of course couldn't miss out on a free hat!!

We met up with our friends the Jacksons at the game.At the bottom of the 4th the score was 6-0 for Kelowna.

By the top of the 6th the score was 9-3 for Kelowna, and it looked like the only good thing going on tonight was the sunset.

Then came the "dance competition" The announcer started playing the YMCA and announced that he would give prizes to the best dancers. While I missed the enthusiastic beginning of Ethan's dance... check out the video of Ethan dancing with the Jackson girls. Listen carefully to the announcer in the video.

Of course he won!! He wins all the time!! The Jackson girls were clearly giving it their all, but still Ethan won! He had to go to the announcer's box to get his prize and was a little confused about how to get over there.

Ethan with his best dancer prize :D

The night started to get chilly, but that's when things started really heating up!

(Mark clearly chilly)

At the top of the 9th (around 10pm) the score was 9-8 for Kelowna. The comeback was very exciting.

(Because of the big brim on the hat, Abby had no clue I was filming her LOL!)

Through a series of events I won't bore you with the Elks ended up winning the game!!

What a great night!

Wife Test

Brad sent me this first page of a 1930's wife test. You will probably have to double click the image to see the questions. Time to lay off the face cream ladies!!
How did you do? I surely hope YOU or your wife doesn't wear red nail polish, and be sure to let the hubby sleep in on Sundays and holidays!!!
Check out the full article here.

"My Legs Relay Hurt"

That was the name of our relay team for Saturday's "High Desert Dash." It was a 5 person, 35 mile run from Bend, up the road to Mount Bachelor (ouch!) and then back down to Sunriver. We were lucky that it really was the perfect day to run, for the most part the day was overcast and even a couple of showers. Each team member ran approx. 7 miles over 2 legs of the race (although some had much harder, longer, and steeper runs than others) I got off pretty easy :D
I thought I would share a couple pics of the days events.

The "Dashers"

Deborah, Jill, Me, Emily & Stefanie

The Exchange

This gal Stephanie (in the green) was awesome! She has Type I diabetes and is on an insulin pump and she took on the hardest, longest legs of the run. She was awesome!

It was a fun event and by the end we could honestly say

"My Legs Relay Hurt!"

Chinook

Lake Billy Chinook, that is.
On Friday we went to the lake with our friends, the Victors. I couldn't believe how warm the water was for June.

We sunbathed (my friend Emily)

The kids swam (Sammy and Elise)

Horsed around

Played in the sand

and contemplated the meaning of life

(Bailey and Ethan)

We had a great time and will definitely be doing this trip again!!

Kids Camping

Since we're going camping in a few weeks I thought I had better pull out the tent and make sure it wasn't all moldy since it had been through it's share of floods in the basement over the last few years.
Surprisingly the tent was just fine.. I couldn't believe it! It has proven to be a great hang out for the kids the last few days. Monday night the kids decided they wanted to sleep in the tent. We set them up with the portable DVD player, TV and gamecube and they had a great time.
I fully expected the kids to be running back in the house by 1am, as the temperature was dropping down to 40 degrees, but they lasted all night!!

They were decked out pretty well though in their winter hats, gloves, and extra blankets!

These kids are hard core campers!!