Dirty south....Here we come

I think that this may be the longest or most pics I have ever posted for a blog before and I am not sure why.  I guess it may be because it has been a while and we have had a lot of fun since then.

July 4 was a lot of fun with Brenda's parents coming up here and we headed to the Coeur d'Alene trail riding next to the lake during a day with perfect weather.

James did great and had a good time as well.  Ice Cream at the end in Harrison and then a BBQ with friends in Spokane was a great ending to this perfect day.  The next day we were off again though.  On the 5th we headed to SC to visit my brother and his family.  My parents were down there already and we had to really adjust to the 95deg heat and 100% humidity.

First things first....arrive and eat some food.  The place we ate was not quite what we thought it would be, but we remedied that later.

With those kinds of temperatures it was slip and slide into a kiddie pool time.  Brenda and I had a great time and the kids did to.

James got very used to the water and was having a great time going down the slide.

Nothing spells summer like fun in the water.  I sat in the pool and had a blast...even in 8" of water.

Got a ton of slip and slide videos and here is one that would upload.

 

We got a chance to take a family picture as well.  My sister brought her boyfriend and we finally got to meet him for the first time.  He is a very nice guy who was a good sport when it came to hanging out with us and playing games.

My niece is adorable and she wanted me to take pics of her crazy face.

Then my nephew did as well.

and together.

I also got a turn to make a face.

My brother was in charge of calming the kids down, as I got them way too wound up to sleep.

While we were down there we got to go to a Greenville Drive baseball game and watch the local team win.  The game was a lot of fun, but very hot.  I of course yelled various phrases like "lets go Drive", "go Greenville" and of course "Easy out".  The stadium was quite quiet so my voice carried to the outfielders and I had a couple glares from the people around me, but most of them were laughing histarically.

My dad and my boy enjoying the game.

James did not like this guy so much though.

Missy and Joel got to hold James who we referred to as the sweat factory that day.

Tami and Justin got this pic snapped of them, which I hear is one of a kind.  They do not live close to each other so there is not a lot of pictures of them together.

We also got a chance to go the coast and stay at a beachhouse my parents rented for 3 nights.  This is the view off the back deck.  The house was perfect for our family and was a great place to relax.  Immediatly we threw the crab pots in the water and in 3 hours we had a couple.  We left them in all night and next day and emptied them every night for some good crab appetizers.

Brenda and James out on the dock.  It was so nice out there.

I don't think anything needs to be added to this picture...it is an instant classic.

The next day was beach day so off we went.

James had a great time.

Delaney got to pet a shark one of the local fisherman caught.  Joey had talked about sharks all day and it was a shame he was not out on the pier at that time, because he would have loved it.

We also got to see two light houses on this trip.  this one we got to go up and view the top while Joel and Missy watched James.

Storms back at the house.  With the heat and humidity we saw a lot of lightning across the water, but almost none of it reached the house where we were staying.

That night Tami and Justin did Kabobs on the grill.  They were awesome and the locally caught shrimp were quite tasty.

James and Missy right before a game of hand and foot.

They next day we headed to Savannah (about a hour away).  I was told that the movie midnight in the garden of good and evil was filmed here, so we watched it a couple days before.  Let me advise you not to waste your time, it is one of the dumbest movies I have ever seen, but yes, it is based in Savannah.

The kiddos playing on a cannon in a park.  Cute does not even begin to describe this picture.

After a full day in Savannah James was quite tired.  This looks so comfortable, doesn't it?  I can barely get my leg to touch my head let alone sleep on it.  So cute.

Lighthouse numero dos.

The final cap was a tour of this plantation house on the way back to Atlanta.  We took a longer route through Augusta and had a great time driving the backroads through the SC countryside.

Longest time without posting

Seriously...I think this has been the longest time I have gone without posting, but I guess that is life and it will go on.  James is growing very fast and now can really run all over the place and is a riot to scare.  It is really a great time and we are enjoying every moment of it.

Waking up and seeing this kid is about the best thing that happens in a normal work day

 Two weeks ago we got a surprise visit from Matt and Janey along with the three rugrats they have.  They had a wedding in Portland and hit us up on the way back to Sioux Center.  Of course we had to visit Gus the local donkey.

 Addison laughed and laughed at him.  Animals are always fun.

Gladdy the goat is more timid and usually does not come to the fence, but Gus is a trooper.

Summer is the time of watermelon....and James can eat some watermelon.  He chews on the rind and does not yet know that is not what you are supposed to eat.

Our Peonies are huge this time of year.

And the oriental poppies are not that bad either.

Fathers day came and went and I was lucky enough to have a wife that let me take a cycle ride around the area and time to relax.  She really is the best wife I could ask for.

That being said, she just got back from a week in Sioux Falls where she and James went to visit her sister and family.  I did not get to go on this vacation, but am glad she had a good time.

Lindsey (our niece) got her ears pierced and Brenda got to go along for this momentous occasion.  I remember the first time I got......nevermind

Here are the ladies.

James loved hanging out, but it appears that it was a bit hot out there since James took all his clothes off.

Isaiah (Colleen's son) and James hanging out mowing the grass.

James also went to the zoo and liked to see the goats.

This looks like it was a lot of fun and I am sad I missed it.

James with all his cousins.

He also visited my mother in laws family homestead in Volga SD and rode the tractor.  Man it looks like it was a good time.

Meantime back here I rode my motorcycle in the Ironman CDA last weekend.  I brought the media spotter around the course so he could track and tape the changes in the lead for the race on the Ironman website.  He posted to the site realtime from the back of the bike and uploaded lots of pictures and videos.  I had a great time zipping all over the place and disobeying about every law that they have for the road.  It is amazing what having a sticker on you bike can do.  No good pics of the event, but I will have news of the cycle I am building next post and pics.  I got it running and am finishing some of the other stuff up on it this week to make it roadworthy.

Parents visiting and an actual video

This is what James has been up to.  He is now walking all over the place and loves to laugh.  I finally got the video to upload and have had a bugger of a time with it.  Blogger has got to do something about that feature, but maybe it is the fact I usually have longer videos.

In preparation for this summer we also purchased this from Cabelas recently.  Seeing as our other tent was scavenged out of a dumpster (literally) and has a broken zipper, duct tapped floor, is way to small, and has always had mold stains all over it, I think it was about time.  After a lot of looking I found one that fit the required criteria such as; can be set up in <10minutes, has a divider(at least so James cant see whats going on on the other side of the tent.....I will convince him it was a bear), could be bought with Cabelas points and no cash out of pocket, no mold stains, and big enough for our family.

The rents were here this weekend and we had a great time.  Of course I was given the duties of breakfast, a duty my father normally had growing up.

James has the job of being adorable.

Brenda had to go to church to confess she loves me...and yes that is a sin.

Dad took care of James.

 

James's favorite pastime is playing with the pans.

Here is the latest family photo.

This is a bit out of order, but here is James on mothers day after we got home from church.  Notice the carnation for his mom.

We had a chance to go to the Cataldo Mission with my parents this weekend.  It is the oldest standing building in Idaho and was built in 1862.  Pretty cool place and a great day for a picnic.

After the picnic we went for a ride on the trail.  This is a 72 mile paved trail going from Plummer ID to Mullan.  A co-worker of mine recently has resigned and had the duties of oversight of the trail and now I guess it is my responsibility.  You may be thinking to yourself, why would an environmental company be in charge of a recreational trail.  Well years ago it used to be a railroad and they used mine tailing's and waste rock to build it, so essentially it is a trail of contamination.  Here is the part where I am thankful for the good old days since their neglect of the environment has provided me with employment and will continue to do so for a very long time.  I am not saying the contamination is good, but if someone has to clean up the world and make it a better place, it may as well be me.

I never get tired of this view out the back porch.  My parents also loved the view and drinking coffee out here in the morning.  We had a great time with them and I think this is 2 straight years we have gotten my mother on a bicycle after a 20 some year dry spell.  I somehow neglected to take pictures of it, but that could be because James way crying for about 7 miles of the bike trip and no one was really smiling at that point.