swingin' sunday

city of rocks

we've been planning a camping trip all summer, but haven't gotten a chance for it to actually happen. we realized that summer is now over, so it's now or never. we packed up the car, and my parents packed up their 5th wheel and we headed east to the city of rocks. joel has never been there, and it has been over 10 years since i have been there, so we were really excited. this was also the girls first camping trip, so we all had our fingers crossed that it wouldn't be a huge disaster!

the city of rocks is one of the coolest places on earth, i think. after a short hike around, it's pretty obvious how it got it's name.





it is the BEST place in idaho for rock climbing. at least, that's what i've read.



the girls loved hiking around with dad



i did too....


the second day there, my brother and his son, jordon, (known just as "cousin" to my girls) arrived. rosella and johanna were in heaven at this point. "cousin" is the coolest kid on earth, in their opinion.



off on another hike




i told them to "get together" for a picture. this is what they did.



i can imagine her yelling "i'm king of the world!!!!"



grandma took control of the dog during our walks



our campin' crew



it was meiko's first camping trip too.



camping's hard work.

the first caller wins.

the other day i went in to work to process some new shipments (side note, go try the new lace ipex demi bra. seriously a beautiful bra, and the colors this season are TO. DIE. FOR.), and when i got there found out that we hadn't gotten any new shipments that day, so i volunteered to go home, to save hours. plus, i really wanted to go home and enjoy my family for a bit! i called joel to tell him i was on my way home and said i'd pick up a pizza on the way home. why not my a good night a GREAT night, with some take n bake!? so i was listening to the radio and they were talking about the sun valley ice show up in sun valley, id. i have ALWAYS wanted to go see a show up there, especially when they have the greats, like kurt browning, johnny weir, brian boitano, and sasha cohen performing. the tickets are pretty pricey, but it's a great summer treat. so he's talking on the radio about how this is the last weekend for ice show, so he's going to give away some tickets. i grab my cell phone, poised and ready for him to give me the phone number. waiting....waiting....waiting... 766-KSKI GO! it rings. i figure i'm on the second line or something, and totally lost out. then he answers. i was totally caught off guard, so i have a really high pitched squeal come out, and then i squeak "did i just win tickets?!" and he says....."yes. you. did." i then respond with a very mean girls "shut UP!" thankfully he just laughed and got all my information. i was so giddy when i went in to get my take n bake that the lady at papa murphey's probably thought i was high or something. i called my mom and they agreed to watch the girls overnight, since we'd be getting home late.

the show was great. the seats were crap, but hey, they were free!

the show started at dusk (whatever that means), so we were an hour early. it was a beautiful night, though, so we just sat and enjoyed the mountain air.



you can also get buffet tickets (which we DIDN'T have), and you get this huge spread, and heated seating. whatever. that's why God made mittens.



we looked into staying at the sun valley resort for the night, but a single room was $300. yeah, we'll just drive the 90 minutes home after the show, thanks.



this is the only skater picture that i got. you couldn't use any flash, so everything was super blurry. i really wanted to get a picture of this one guy that was wearing spandex chaps, no shirt, and suspenders. you'll just have to imagine it. go ahead, imagine.

cowgirl hats rule, too.

so, i was hoping that living in cowboy central wouldn't rub off on my daughters, but it appears they have been bitten by the hick bug. they LOVE cowboys. REAL cowboys. the ones with the white hats and the big belt buckles, and the smart horses. so of course, when we went to the county fair a couple of weeks ago we had to visit all the horse barns and invest in some pink cowgirl hats. i was considering belt buckles too, but i couldn't find one smaller than their heads. in the belt buckles defense, my girls do have rather large heads.





here's where the cowboy fascination comes from. my dad, the original marlboro man. there are a lot worse heroes to have.

boots rule.

i just ordered myself a pair of fall boots, and now i just need the weather to cool down a bit!! the girls love the box they came in. there are little polka dots on the inside of it, and it has become a bit of a playhouse for them.


the girls also like wearing my new boots, even if it is too hot.



rosella modeling for you



johanna loves that there are buckles on them.


they flipped out a bit when i told them i needed to put my boots away, so we had to dig out some boots for them to wear. drama queens.

wordless wednesday

spill-proof top? really?

summer lovin?

is anyone else glad summer's almost over?! well, i LOVE summer, but man am i tired.
i have been so busy the last month, it's unreal. i have been working a LOT more hours, so i think i am technically no longer a stay at home mom. my parents are great, and have been watching the girls pretty much every day, so i'm guessing they are getting pretty tired too! i haven't blogged in a month and a half, and i have over 150 blogs on my reader still to read!! i'm not sure how many of those i'll comment on, but this week i am going to get all caught up in the blogging world.

i wish that i had taken pictures of all our adventures the last 5 weeks, but of course i was "too busy" to bother myself with a camera. oops. well, i'm glad to be back, and now i'm off to comment on 150 posts. youch.