Camping at Farragut State Park

Farragut State Park is a public recreation area located at the southern tip of Lake Pend Oreille in the Coeur d'Alene Mountains of the Idaho Panhandle in the northwest United States.  Once a Navy Training Center, during WWII, now a great, huge state park right on Lake Pend Oreille with a lot of campgrounds, trails and water access. The gem of the park is the Navy Training Center Museum in the former Navy brig.  We had heard Farragut was an amazing campground.  There are so many bike trails through the woods.  10 minutes after we arrived we were set up and on our way to check out some trails.  We found some cool down tree's and even a fort.  We followed one of the trails to the Brig Museum.  The museum was closed, but we checked out the statue out front.  It had faces of soldiers carved into it.  Then we headed back to camp to start a camp fire.  The boys found some friends to play with at the park/play ground area nearby.  

Below: While Jason was gone this last week and I was working late we had Hannah put the boys to bed (like she always does when we're both gone) and Connor convinced her that it was now okay for Piper to sleep on his bed.  Jason had let Piper sleep on the boys bed while we were camping in the RV, so now the kids think she can sleep on their beds at home too.  Originally Piper was not suppose to be allowed on the furniture.  Jason and I came home to find her laying on his bed and she knew she wasn't suppose to be on his bed so she wouldn't move a muscle except her eyes.  She laid perfectly still.  We decided since the boys love having her sleep on their bed with them that we would allow it.  So, currently the only rule we have is that she can't get on our bed or the couches.  She's also not allowed to beg for food, which she's never done so far.  She likes to lay on the mat I have in front of the stove while we eat dinner.  

Below that: Kaiden and I joined Connor at his school for his family picnic day at lunch time.

 

 

braces

The boys playing with their drones.  Both of them have gotten pretty good at flying them now.  Although Kaiden still crash lands his.

 Kaiden and Landry drawing with chalk.  Connor and Raheem having an in depth discussion.  Then the boys showing Landry and Raheem their "roly poly (pill bug) condo," otherwise known as my flower pots that I'm not allowed to plant anything in now that the boys have taken them over for their bugs.  LOL

 Above is Piper playing her favorite game... catch me if you can with all the boys.  She's so fast!
Below is Connor before and after his braces.  He only has braces on the top teeth for the first 6 months and then he'll get the bottom braces added.  He chose bright rainbow colors for his bands.  The first few days were rough.  He got the braces put on after school Tuesday.  I had to come to his school Wednesday to help put wax on the back brackets because they were bothering him so much.  Then Thursday morning I put some throat numbing spray on his gums before school and that seemed to help for a little bit, but again I got called to come to school because he was in pain.  I stopped by the pharmacy and bought some orthodontic numbing cream designed to help ease the pain of orthodontic work and took that to school, along with some ibuprofen to reduce the swelling and help with pain.  That seemed to do the trick.  I gave him a couple more doses of the ibuprofen and cream and by Friday he was completely fine.  He didn't need the wax or anything.  He's so good about brushing his teeth after he eats too.  I can't wait to see his gorgeous smile!

 

Connor's 4th grade class pictures

Coffee Pot Lake

I always end up working on Memorial Day weekend.  The boys decided to go camping at Coffee Pot Lake for the weekend with Piper.  I stayed home to work.  I was going to try to join them Monday on my day off, but it ended up being a crummy rainy weekend and they came home early.  Sounds like I didn't miss out too much on this camping trip though... they saw quiet a few dead snakes, so the boys didn't want to venture outside the motor home.

Jason's birthday

Kaiden and I surprised Jason with balloons, cupcakes, his favorite no bake cookies and a card at work.  We visited with his co-workers for a bit and he gave us a tour of the building.  After wards we took Piper to the dog park to play.  While we were at the office with Jason, he picked Kaiden up and threw his back out.  His back had been bothering him for a week prior and he knew it was about to go out, but this finally did it.  By the time he got home from work he could barely walk.  We had to cancel our dinner plans.  It was so bad that he was using a cane to get around.  It took a week of rotating ice, heat and a massager to finally get things to loosen up.

camping

Breakfast outside followed by one last hike before we packed up for home.