Summer league sisters and cousins

Cousins in the back row-Tierney, Auna, Macee
Emmy on the other side at the net

 The last summer league volleyball games were tonight.  Emmy played on Judy's alumni team against the Rockets, and Auna was invited to play with the varsity, so they played each other!  It was so fun to watch.  Auna did really well, had several good digs and serves.  I know she was really nervous to be playing at that level but she held her own.  We were all very proud of her.  The Rockets won the match.


sweaty sisters

It's badminton season

We played our first badminton game tonight at the Dolans, and we're still bad at it.   Rielee came over and played, too,  she is very competitive and can play really well with the over sized racket she got for her birthday.  After badminton, she picked some peas and carrots out of the garden to munch on.  We didn't thin the carrots so they weren't very big but she didn't care.

Our future Zag

Macee came over this morning to tell us that she had just given her verbal commitment to play volleyball at Gonzaga in 2013..  Her disappointing Boise State camp experience this past weekend convinced her that Gonzaga is where she wants to go.   She was so happy and excited!  Her coach will be coming for a home visit soon. 

Lakefair Volleyball Tournament

Team Dolan

 Today we went to Olympia to watch Emmy and Auna play in the Lakefair Volleyball Tournament.  It is played on the Capital lawn, what a beautiful setting, I think there were 37 courts set up total so there is volleyball going on everywhere.  During one of the breaks betweeen games we walked in and around the capital, a first for me.

 That is Uncle sitting there on the side of the court, his job was to keep the ball out of the street.  He threatened to do cheers for them but they nixed that idea. 

 Auna got lots of good practice and made some great plays.  It was fun to watch she and Em playing together, and Uncle enjoyed teasing them while we hung out together between games.

Em taking a break with Jason

Castle Rock Fair

Ava, all smiles on her pony

Our trip to the fair was short and sweet since it started raining right when we got there.  The kids didn't care and after looking to see what ribbon Rielee got on her craft entry (big yellow honorable mention), we went to the pony rides.  Ava and Harper weren't scared of the ponies and got right on.  Harper was soon chatting up her handler, telling her about her brother.  They smiled non-stop the whole time.

Rielee asked for the big horse

After the pony rides, we walked through the barns to look at the animals, then let the kids play some of the "quarter" games, easy games for the little kids.  Ava and Harper were excited to win some little toys and gumballs.  The last game was throwing ping pong balls in jars, if you hit the big jar on top you won a goldfish.  Rielee's first ball when right in the big jar, she was so excited! 

Luke's state game

The girls went to bed pretty early last night.  Harper woke once and Papa found her with her head on the bed and body on the floor, whimpering,  but she went back right back to sleep when he put her back in bed.  Later he heard a thud and found Ava with her head on the floor and her body on the bed, still asleep. 

Charb, Kelly and Lexi picked the girls up at 9:30 to head back up to Luke's 1:00 p.m. game.  We decided to go to the game also.  The tournament is in Mill Creek, at a nice little sports complex with big fir trees surrounding it.

 The game was 3-1 after 4 innings, Luke's team (Cascade) leading, but in the 5th there was a challenged call at the plate and a long pause in the game while it was settled with the call being reversed and going against Cascade.   The momentum changed and Chehalis won 6-3.

  Luke's team in still in it though, they play again tomorrow afternoon.

 

Twins sleepover

Charb, Kelly and Lexi dropped off Ava and Harper today on their way back from Luke's Little League State Tournament in Mill Creek. Having not been here for a week, they were busy right away dragging out all the toys they have missed.  Then it was outside to swing, "big high" and "up to the sky" pushes, that's what they asked for.   They insisted on wearing the too-big flip flops I bought them a couple of weeks ago at a garage sale.  Funny what they will latch onto sometimes.

This was either carrot soup or sand soup, they couldn't decide.  They were happy to have Rielee come over to play.  Rielee also came with us when we went to watch Auna and Tierney play in summer league,  Macee wasn't back from camp yet.   The girls were good there, sitting quietly and coloring, playing with stickers, and munching a few snacks.

Our scorekeeper

It was a fun morning with Rielee.  Parker was gone, mowing at his Grandpa's, Papa was working on the pressure washer, so it was just the two of us, and all she wanted to do was play volleyball.  We were playing in the living room/dining room, with an imaginary net, trying to keep our own scores.  Then she thought of having a scorer's table for Papa, so he could keep score like he does at the summer league games.  Papa played along and the competition was on, but she didn't like that Papa tried to call lines, too, and argued with him on just about every call!   It was cute, she would roll the ball to me, under the imaginary net, and said she loved that because it was just like the volleyball players do it. 

Andy & Bax

This morning we took Parker to Andy & Bax, a sporting goods/war surplus store in Portland.  Parker has wanted an old gas mask for awhile and Papa told him he would be able to find one there.  He was really excited, loved the store and found an old (2004) Israeli gas mask.  He also bought an old (non-functioning, of course) hand grenade.  He and Papa talked about the military all the way home.  Rielee watched a Curious George video. 

Watching a video on the Israeli gas masks on YouTube, we couldn't figure out what the tubing it came with was for, turns out it is a drinking tube.  
The rest of the day we spent working in the yard, Parker and I both did some weedeating and he mowed.  Then we all went to the pool to cool off.

More twins

When Bob brought Rielee home from playing with Jillian and Bridget this morning, she saw 2 fawns and their Mother near the house.  She came running inside to get me, and when we went back out the twin fawns were separated from their Mom, they were beside Alan's shop and she was over by the playfort.   Rielee was so excited, I ran in and got my camera and they let us get quite close to them.  Rielee worried that they wouldn't find their way back together with their Mother, but pretty soon the doe had disappeared down our shop driveway and probably circled back around to get her babies because they soon ran off into the woods.
Rielee's plans for her future have changed.  She says she doesn't want to be a farmer anymore.  After the mouse scare in the chicken coop, taking care of her chickens has lost all it's allure and she realizes she just she isn't cut out for farming, she will just be a teacher. 

Ava and Harper adore cousin Rielee.

  We had an appointment this morning at Sears to have pictures taken of the three girls.  Getting ready for it was quite the process,  starting with Ava not wanting to get in the tub, then Harper's skirt was too big, so I had to take it  in at the last minute.  Then, one of Ava's sandals was missing, we finally left without it, figuring they could take barefoot pictures since the sandals we did have didn't match their outfits.  Once we got them there and  all signed in, to our surprise, Ava and Harper decided they didn't want their pictures taken, and no amount of cajoling was going to change their minds. They were both crying and clinging to us like we were going to feed them to the wolves!  They did let me take a few pictures of them when we got home though, which turned out pretty cute.

Rielee adores them, too.

 

Harper on the table blowing out the candle for Laury

In the afternoon, Auna and Will brought over some brownies with a candle in them and we had a little birthday party for Laury.  Ava and Harper were excited because Papa gave everyone some pop, and they have never had pop here before.  They wouldn't drink it though, maybe because he kept calling it "Ginger" (it was ginger ale),  he even showed  Harper it came from a green can and she still wouldn't try it.  They ate all their brownies, though.

Sleepover

Ava liked the big floaty chair

 Ava and Harper came up today to spend the night with us.  It was nice and hot out and perfect for playing in the water.  We set up the wading pool so they could splash in that, but they spent more time floating around in Rielee's big pool, the wading pool was only used to fill up their watering cans.  Parker tried to pull them around the pool fast, but they didn't like that, they just wanted to float.

 After getting out of the pool, Rielee showed the twins how the kids always warm up on the driveway, Ava said "I'm going to lay by Rielee in the parking lot", which made us laugh.  

Back in the pool after naptime, this time Harper got the big chair, she was happy that it had some green on it.   With help from Papa, Ava learned how to use Rielee's squirters, and soaked Auna, Harper and I.  She thought that was great fun. 

Lunch in Vader

We took the kids to Vader today.  Rielee rode with Papa, and Auna, Parker and I followed them.  It was a tense drive for me, I couldn't help worrying about them on that scooter.  Fortunately, there was little traffic on the road and it is a slow drive. 

 The Little Crane Cafe in Vader is a fun place to eat.  When we walked in, the cook was singing and he and the waitress were really friendly.  They both teased the kids and made jokes and asked them where they went to school.  Later, another couple of employees came in and they were equally friendly and funny.  Rielee ordered breakfast and was so tickled when it showed up looking like Mickey Mouse.   The cook said she looked like a little bobble-head doll as she was looking at it and eating it, ears first.   Papa and Parker had hamburgers that were great and Auna and I had grilled cheese sandwiches, those were delicious, too.

Rielee said it was the best breakfast ever.  With help from Parker and Auna, she managed to eat almost all of it, along with one of my fries.   We will definitely be going back there again.

Summer's here-scooter time!

 Finally a nice enough day for Papa to get his scooter out.  He and Rielee went for a ride to the feed store to get some grit for the chickens.  When they got back, Rielee and Auna got in the pool, it is still kind of cold so they went back and forth to the hot tub. 

They had fun trying out some squirters that Rielee got for her birthday.   Those things shoot out a serious stream of water and they kept getting me wet,  "accidentally", of course.

Luke All-Stars

Ava sharing licorce with Grandma Barb

Tonight we went to watch Luke play in a semi-final All-Star game, his team won so they play tomorrow night and if they win, they will go to State! 

laughing and playing "hot potato" with Papa Steve

 Adrianna and Luke after the game