Kids Being Kids

Life is constantly hectic and stressful with these kiddos, but looking at them sleeping it's easy to forget all that.

Selfies!

Hunting season was a little low on legal targets and high on morons. Our first day a guy came through the gate and shot an illegal deer. We had to call the DFW and it killed our day. The next Saturday a crazy lady scared the deer away and told us to "go to the grocery store where no animals are hurt". If she tries that again next year Nick will mount her on the wall of his apartment.

At least we had cute spotters and helpers.

I walked up towards 4th of July before dawn, didn't see any bucks but I had a great sunrise.

Jens wanted to come with me one afternoon, she lasted a whole five minutes.

Nick and I walked all over the freaking forest to find something we could shoot. We saw some great scenery but no stinkin' bucks.

Before Thanksgiving we had the traditional cider pressing festivities. Jens acted as one of the unofficial cider taste tester.

DeA won't drink it (after seeing the kids dipping their cups) but she'll happily bottle it for everyone.

Ryker continues to love his Raf-gato.

The kids still visit me at the office and try out the massage tables.

I flipped the tables on them and visited them for lunch at the school. Ryker was more excited about the mac and cheese than he was to see me.

Even Rafi looks cuter while sleeping.

Poor gato.

I knew some pictures got out of order, but here are more Halloween shots of the cuties.

Yes, Jens had more than one costume.

Rock did his own face pain.

So did Ryker...

We did our best trying to remove it before bed but failed. They went like that to school the next day.

Fall Catch Up

Raf-gato disappeared for three days shortly after school started. It was a tragic time, Ryker came home each day asking if Rafi had returned during school and then cried when his cat was still missing. I had given up and had identified a Rafi doppelganger by the school to make Rafi II. DeAndra went on one last sweep of the neighborhood calling his name when she heard a little meow behind her. She turned around to see Mr. Meowgi running towards her. It turns out that Sra. Guerra was feeding him delicious Mexican food and grasa during his three day walkabout. 

This is the look of a cat that isn't quite sure he wants to come home.

 Ryker was very happy that Raf-gato was home.

 Very, very happy!

 Rafi seemed happy to be back with his Gyker.

 The hospital did their annual fun-run which the kids and I did without anyone having to be carried (despite numerous requests for me to put them on my shoulders) 

 Rock isn't in these pictures because he took off running with his "friend" Amelia. You can tell that Ryker and Jensley weren't quite ready for that much effort.

 After the walk/run they held a drawing and Rock won a freaking bike!

  The next day at church he proved that he really was human and needed sleep after all.

 Jens learned what selfies are and asks to take one every time she sees my camera.

 Papa Dale just had to visit Stehekin the last weekend that the bakery was open. The boys and I accompanied him to make sure the bakery was properly put to bed for the winter.

 It wouldn't be a helicopter ride without a sleepy Ryker.

 It was a beautiful stormy morning.

 The colors in Stehekin were vibrant.

 The Stehekin airport is pretty cool and rustic.

 Ryker didn't let a lack of forks keep him from enjoying his cinnamon roll, he just used a knife like a real man. 

 A cinnamon roll and 7Up, it shows how much say dad has when Grandpa is around.

 The sun started shining through the clouds on our way home to end the morning right.

Gone Fishin'

This guy loves fishing:

 

So does this guy, not as much as the first guy but still a lot.

Maynard graciously gave us access to his dock to try and pull some fish out of the lake. His dock is on Dry Lake which meant that DeA for sure wasn't going to jump in to save any of her children like she did in Lake Chelan.

The boys weren't sure about my method of using earthworms and pessimistically dropped the hooks in the water.

Jens anxiously waited "fowever" for a fish to bite.

Suddenly there was a sound like a clap of thunder, a great splash revealed a mighty beast on the end of Ryker's line. After an epic battle he shouted over the water "YOU WILL NOT BEAT ME!" and conquered his foe. Jens was impressed.

He was really excited about his catch, Jens was a little concerned.

The trophy catch.

She's holding it out in front of her to make it look bigger, just like a real angler. 

It was a successful day, Rock also snagged a couple of sunnies. 

Jens was more than impressed with the Rafi food that we caught.

She makes a crazy ex-girlfriend look way too well...

Rafi doesn't always love Jens, but he does when she's sleeping