Fishing at Grandpa Kerns' pond

Many of you have probably already seen pictures of other cousins fishing at Grandpa Kerns’ pond, but here are pictures of our fun fishing trip. The kids had so much fun. It was amazing at how fast the fish were biting. We literally didn’t have to wait more than 15 seconds to get a nibble, and only a few nibbles before we got to start reeling them in.

Samuel releasing his fish! He was the first to catch a fish! By the end of the day he was even casting his own line!

Grandma Baxter helped Jacque catch her fish!

Look at Calista's fish!

The next three pictures show Ellen's fishing experience. We got to take 3 fish home and eat them for dinner. We kept them in this bucket until it was time to go.

Ellen looking at the fish...

Ellen attempting to touch the wet, slippery fish...

"Ewww...look Samuel I touched the wet, slippery fish!"

I think Jacque was feeling bad that the fish didn't have anything to eat once they got in the bucket, so she gathered up some worms to feed them. I don't think they ever ate any, because when we emptied the bucket we found a whole bunch of soggy worms!

We took the fish home and Grandma gutted them. I was impressed at how the kids handled it. They all huddled around Grandma and started asking questions and listening for the description of each organ. I was afraid that the girls would get a little queasy, but they did just fine.

Aaron and Eli are building this monkey bridge. Aaron was hoping it would be a fun project for Eli, so he helped him get started. Unfortunately, it seems like people think it is Aaron's project, so nothing more has been done.

Jacque braving the monkey bridge.

Bremerton Trip

I know this trip is almost two months old, but I needed to document it. In May, Aaron had to go to Seattle to do a CAP inspection of a lab, so we took the opportunity to make it a family vacation. While Aaron worked, the kids and I had a great time with Nathan and Leslie and their family. It was so much fun. We got to go to the Seattle Aquarium (on a ferry) and to the Naval Undersea Museum. The kids really enjoyed seeing the animals and I was surprised that they did so well at the museum. Enjoy some pictures!

Our Ferry, the Walla Walla
This isn't our ferry, but it looks just like it. I liked seeing Seattle behind it.

Fun things we got to do at the aquarium:

I don't have many pictures of Samuel because he got to tag along with Nathan and Sadie. This was actually a field trip for Sadie's 1st grade class that we got to invade!

Fun things we saw at the aquarium:

Dory and Nemo/Marlin were there too!

They let the kids touch the starfish with one finger!

They had a big fish tank with two divers in it who were feeding the fish. If you look close, this diver is feeding an eel. The picture didn't turn out as well as I hoped, but oh well.

We actually made it to the seals at lunch time, so we got to see the seals do tricks for their food. It was a lot of fun.

Jellyfish

They had a real octopus, but it was sleeping, all curled up on the side of the tank and I couldn't get a good picture of it.

Leslie and the non-1st grade kids and I had had enough of the aquarium by lunch, so after we met Nathan, Sadie and Samuel for lunch, we took off on a walk down the street.

Jacque. The weather was crazy while we were there. Sometimes it would be hot and then the next thing we knew we were grabbing for our coats again.

Sleepy Ellen. I'm so glad that Leslie thought of bringing a stroller!

Calista, Jarom and Josiah loved this fountain. It was fun because the water patterns changed. Sometimes they were really high, other times it would go low, it would take turns shooting water around the circle too.

Naval Undersea Museum (Bremerton trip)

Pictures from the Naval Undersea Museum

They had an area that looked like the inside of a submarine. We stayed here for a long time. One of the periscopes actually looked outside at the parking lot. We could see our car and people walking around. The other one just had a picture of a dolphin or something like that.

At the end of the Naval Museum, they had a dress up area for the kids. It was probably the most exciting part for them, but I think they enjoyed the whole place too.

Calista the sailor

Ellen liked the toys

Sergeant Samuel

Jacque loves puzzles!

He didn't send us to Jail!

Last night I took the kids on a walk to the post office and then to the park to play in the creek. I needed to use the bathroom when we got there, so all the kids waited just outside of the restrooms for me. As I was in there, I heard the kids, "Hey, look there's a police car." Then I could hear a car approach and a voice said, "Is your mom or dad around." They said, "Yes, she's in the bathroom." And then the voice said, "Okay, just checking" and he drove off. Next I hear Calista say, "Hey mom, a policeman just came by...but he didn't throw us in jail!" Whew! I'm glad we escaped that one! Just thought it was cute and I'm glad to see that the police check up on things too.

Had a doctor's appointment yesterday, but I'm only dilated to a 2, so not much is going on yet. We'll let you know later when we have news! We're just learning patience right now.

4th of July

We went to Ukiah for our firework show this year. It is about 40 minutes south of Pilot Rock and we went with some friends. The show is pretty good. They had some amazing fireworks, although next year we won't be sitting in the park where they are lit off. We had so much ash falling on us that we think it will be better if we go a few blocks farther away next time.

I guess in Ukiah the cops must leave town or something like that because there are illegal fireworks going off all around you, some of them good enough to rival the actual "legal firework show." It was a fun experience.

Aaron read in the paper earlier this week that the firework show here in Pendleton had some of its own excitement. They had it at the community park, and I guess someone forgot to turn off the automatic sprinklers! They had some very surprised spectators!

Hershey Track Meet

We had our Hershey Track Meet about a month ago, but here are some fun pictures of it. I was so impressed that I actually remembered my camera. When we got out of the car, we decided we should put sunscreen on the kids and then I didn't have to carry it around the track with me. After we were done, we walked up to the field, and I noticed that I didn't have my camera. I had left it sitting on the hood of our car in the parking lot. Luckily Aaron was willing to run back and get it.

Ellen didn't want to race. Last year, she did so well, but this year she stood at the start line with Aaron while I went to the finish line for pictures. Aaron was trying to talk her into running, when they said go, she took just a couple steps and came running back to Aaron. Later we were walking to meet Aaron at the standing long jump, when they announced that Samuel had the 400m race. I turned to go with Samuel to the start line and told Ellen to keep going to daddy. I left with Samuel and then heard Ellen start to cry, so I turned back around and told her to come with me. I happened to be a good distance away, and so I actually got a picture of her running on the track too! It just wasn't in a race!

Here she comes!

Go Ellen!!

Calista's getting ready for her race! Getting a pep talk from Aaron!

Calista did really well. She ended up getting two 2nd place ribbons for her heats! (Lane 5)

Look at her run!

(Lane 2) Jacque didn't place, but she did a really good job, and she ended up getting 2 participating ribbons. That is one reason I really like this meet. All the little kids ribbons just for competing.

Go Jacque! (She's in lane 1)

Jacque doing the softball throw!

Samuel did really well too. He got two 2nd place ribbons and then a participating ribbon in the 400m! The same kid beat him in both races.

There they are! It was a pretty close one between Samuel and the other kid!

Samuel had a slow start on the 400m. They had two kids for every lane and just told them that they could scoot over as long as they didn't run into anyone. Samuel got blocked for the first 100m, and by then the kids in the lead were way out there. Aaron was on the back stretch cheering and Samuel took off. He hit the wall around the 300m and I think ended up walking the last 3 steps over the finish line. He did great for his first try!

Samuel's softball throw. We left the meet early and found out later that Samuel placed 3rd in the softball throw! He was excited to get another ribbon!